Online casino tournaments are a great way to pocket a bit of extra cash by playing your favourite games. While I wouldn’t necessarily endorse joining tournaments that feature games you wouldn’t ordinarily play (just in case you don’t win), there are certainly merits to competing in competitions which feature your favourite slots. You’re going to be playing them anyway, so why not earn a little extra?
If you’re new to tournaments at online casinos, don’t worry. I’m sharing my expertise and advice on how they work, what to look out for and more. Let’s dive into this blog by explaining what online casino tournaments are.
What Are Online Casino Tournaments?
If you’ve visited an online casino of late, you’ll no doubt have come across Pragmatic Play’s Drops & Wins competitions, slot races or any other number of tournaments supported at sites. Casino tournaments are popular, and they aren’t just limited to slots from one provider, or even slots in general, for that matter. Most online casinos supporting tournaments will base them on slots, but some may also branch out into table games, like so:
- Slot tournaments and races are often valid on selected games, and these may change frequently.
- Table games tournaments may focus on RNG releases, but many are also tied to live dealer games, such as Evolution Gaming’s titles.
- Pragmatic Play’s Drops & Wins tournament (arguably one of the best-known around) has been known to feature both slots and live casino options.
The basic idea in tournaments is that you’ll play an eligible selection of games. Your performance will be ranked by several criteria to form a leaderboard. Each tournament has a built-in expiration date, and once the tournament concludes, you’ll be rewarded with prizes if you’re high enough up that table. If not, you’ll get nothing. In terms of prizes, the top spots will generally be paid out with cash (either real money or bonus funds), while those lower down may receive consolation and compensatory rewards, such as free spins. The prizes may differ in each tournament.
How To Win in Casino Tournaments
As touched on above, most casino tournaments rank players based on how well they perform in tournaments. However, the criteria for ranking at the best international online casinos can vary, depending on the tournament or casino involved. Ordinarily, online casino tournaments will rank players according to one of three ways, which are detailed below.
Wager the Most Cash
One of the most common ways to structure a slot tournament or table game competition is to rank players according to the amount of money they have wagered. This is popular with casinos since it encourages you to splash the cash in the hope of landing top-tier tournament prizes. Of course, the trick here is to weigh up how much you’re wagering on games compared to the total amount you can win. If there is a clear discrepancy in favour of the casino, it may not necessarily be worth forking out the cash, especially if the tournaments feature games that you don’t necessarily care about playing. One concern with this tournament is that it favours high rollers over the average player.
Win the Most Money
Other casino tournaments may rank their players differently. Another common way of doing so is to base the leaderboard on which players have landed the biggest wins. This type of tournament is also not the fairest if you’re an average bettor, as high rollers will likely be able to wager more than you and, thus, stand a better chance of climbing the leaderboard. However, big wins can occur to anyone, at any time, with any stake, so it is suitably more open and fairer than tournaments based on the amount you wager.
Score the Most Points
My favourite type of online casino tournament is one where players are ranked on the number of points they score. In these tournaments, the amount you win and the amount you’ve spent are amalgamated into a points total. This is much fairer since it doesn’t necessarily take into consideration “the amount” you’ve won or spent but the comparative ratio between stakes and prizes. This means that players who have won a decent chunk with a small stake may actually outperform players who have spent big and won big. Of course, these tournaments are rarer, so you’ll need to look around to find one with genuine value.
Prize Draw Competitions Are Not the Same
Be wary of casinos that advertise tournaments but really support prize draws. These are not the same thing. Common trickery can see so-so casinos try to claim that they support tournaments when what they are really doing is entering your name into a draw to pocket a prize. As there are far fewer winners in prize draws, and because winners are drawn at random, it is luck-based. Your dedication to playing games isn’t really the qualifying criteria here, so I’d encourage you to always make sure you read the T&Cs of any tournament to ensure that it isn’t a prize draw. Unless that’s what you’re looking for, of course.
Top Tips for Playing in Online Casino Tournaments
Having played in tournaments, I’ve accumulated a few dos and don’ts in my time, and I’m happy to share some of these top tips with you today as part of this blog. If you’re considering wagering on online casino tournaments, bear the following things in mind:
- Only play in tournaments that feature games you would ordinarily play. That way, you’re not going to lose out if you don’t win a prize since you’ll be having fun playing your favourite games anyway.
- Be warned that not many casinos allow you to use promos, such as a 100% casino bonus, to wager in tournaments. Normally, only your own funds can be used to bet in competitions.
- Always check whether the amount you need to wager to climb the leaderboard compares favourably with what you could win. If you find yourself having to wager thousands just to earn a mid-ranked spot on the table, it may not be worth it.
- Tournaments have expiration dates. Try to join the competition early on. The chances are that if you’re a late entry, you won’t climb the leaderboard to a high enough level to win top prizes.
- Try to choose tournaments that rank you based on a combination of what you spend versus what you win. These are fairer than tournaments that solely grade you based on what you spend and will allow you to compete with high rollers.
Lastly, not all online casinos support tournaments and competitions, and each of those may have its own rules governing how they are run. Check the casino reviews on this website to learn more about the tournaments offered by recommended sites and ensure that the competitions they support tick your boxes before you sign up as a new player today.