Below you'll find a list of some of the biggest tournaments to go off on the 'net. While the Full Tilt tournament isn't quite a regular thing yet we think it will be-and anyway we had to mention it because the prize pool is guaranteed. This brings us to our next point-whenever you can find a guaranteed prize pool you need to give serious thought to entering, since if only a few players enter you're going to get an enormous overlay on your money. Imagine for a second what would happen if you entered a $100,000 guaranteed tourney and only 50 players showed up; every one of you would be smiling ear to ear! Of course nothing this extreme will likelyt happen, but the logic still stands. If the expected number of players don't show up you'll really be in the catbird seat.

Be aware that there are plenty of mid-sized tourneys constantly going off at almost every site on the 'net, so we don't think it's necessary to mention them all here. If you're looking for a $30 or $50 multi table tournament you'll have no trouble finding one at any of the bigger card rooms we feature on this site.


Full Tilt
Game: NL Texas Hold 'em
Date: March 12, 2005
Prize Money: A $200,000 guaranteed prize pool, plus the winner gets a seat in the $10,000 WSOP main event

How to get in:
1. Buy in direct for $216 ($200 tournament fee plus $16 administrative cost).
2. Win a seat in via a $24 + $2 satellite, running twice daily
3. Win a seat via $4 + $0.40 super satellites, running daily
4. Win a seat via a specially marked satellite Sit & Go's, running continuously
Afterthoughts:
This one is worth getting into-either via a direct buy or through a satellite. The last time Full Tilt ran one of these they had to pony up $75,000 of their own money to meet the guarantee. Needless to say, that was a real coup for the players. If they come up short with this one too you'll be glad you got in.



Empire Poker
Game: NL Texas Hold 'em
Date: Last Sunday of every month at 9 pm
Prize Money: $200,000 guaranteed prize pool

How to get in:
1. Buy in direct for $250+$20
2. $200K multi table qualifier satellite $5+$1
3. $200K multi table qualifier satellite $27+$2
4. $200K single table qualifier satellite $54+$5
Afterthoughts:
Empire, along with Party, is one of the few card rooms that has a large enough player base to allow them to stage these massive guaranteed prize pools. Anyone who takes a 'go big or go home' approach to poker-and there's nothing wrong with that approach-should take at least an occasional shot at this one.



Party Poker
Game 1: NL Texas Hold 'em
Date: Every Sunday at 4:30 pm
Prize Money: $250,000 guaranteed.

How to get in:
1. Direct buy in $200+ $15
2. Multi Table satellite $9 +$1
3. Multi table satellite $12+ $1
4. Single table satellite $24 + $2
5. Single table super satellite $6 + $1

Game 2: Texas Hold 'em
Date: Every Friday at 10 pm
Prize money: Determined by number of entrants
How to get in:
1. Direct buy in $200 + $15
2. Multi Table satellite $9 +$1
3. Single table satellite $24 + $2
4. Single table super satellite $6 + $1

Afterthoughts
Party is still the undisputed king when it comes to huge prize pools. The fact that they can hold two major tournaments a week speaks volumes about the number of players who frequent their tables. In addition to these two tourneys Party always seems to have a $100+ buy in tournament running, and the prize pools in these can get pretty gaudy as well.



Royal Vegas Poker
Game 1: NLTexas hold em
Time: Every Saturday at 3 pm
Prize money: $100,000 ($25,000 guaranteed)
How to get in:
1. Buy in direct for $100 + $10
2. Multi table satellite $10 +$1 ( held at 8:30 am , 2:30 pm and 7 pm daily)
3. 5 player single table satellite $20 +$2
4. 10 player single table satellite $10 +$1

Game 2: NLTexas hold em
Time: Every Sunday at 3 pm
Prize money: $75,000 ($25,000 guaranteed)
How to get in:
1. Buy in direct $50 +$5
2. Multi table satellite $5 + $1 (10 am daily)
3. 5 player single table satellite $10 +1
4. 10 player single table satellite $5 +$1

Afterthoughts:
Royal Vegas has made a real splash with these two big weekly tournaments. Until now Party and Empire (and to a lesser extent UltimateBet) have had the market cornered, but Royal Vegas has elbowed it's way to the front with the big boys. In addition to these two tourneys Royal Vegas is constantly running mid size tournaments (with buy ins ranging from $30-$100), making this card room a must play for tournament lovers.