When an organizer creates a poker tournament, he doesn't always get all the money he needs to cover the prizes he is going to offer. This is where the Overlay comes into play.
We can define Overlay as the part that the organizer contributes to cover the part of the prizes that has not been covered by the fee paid by the players who are going to play.
In order to attract the attention of players, online poker rooms usually create important tournaments, which come with important prizes. But sometimes they do not sign up the number of players needed to cover the cost of the prize to be offered. This is when the organizer has to bring in his own money to be able to offer the prizes he has offered.
Overlay is the word that is used all over the world to inform the part that had to be paid by the organizer to complete the prize that will be given to the winners.
To give you an idea, a tournament with a participation fee of 50 euros and a prize of 50,000 euros. In that case, you will need 1000 players to complete the prize. If 500 players sign up, then the Overlay should be 25000 euros.
Concretely we can say that the Overlay is the difference between the prize offered and the amount collected, when the amount collected is lower.
There are not always tournaments with Overlay. In many occasions the poker rooms usually calculate how much they are going to receive and with that information they usually create adapted prizes. But this is not always the case.
Sometimes the rooms themselves fall short and are forced to make the Overlay to offer players the prize they have promised. While other times they are aware that the Overlay will be mandatory because the players will not cover the fee. In this case, the main goal is to get the attention of potential players to make the tournament more famous. They know that attracting attention is important because they will attract many players and in the medium and long term the investment will be amortized.
Calculating whether a tournament has Overlay or not is really easy. The mathematical calculation is really simple. We only have to divide the value of the prize that is guaranteed by the number of players. If the result is higher than the value of the entry fee, that is, buy-in, it means that it has Overlay. If it is lower, then it will not have an overlay because it will not be necessary.
Depending on the strategy, the room that organizes the tournament may seek to attract attention with very succulent prizes or just make money, for which it seeks to cover and exceed the guaranteed prize. What is clear is that overlay tournaments are a great option to grow your bankroll.
Because there are so many different options, there are many players who are specializing in overlay poker tournaments. Many of them do it to increase their bankroll.
Knowing whether to opt for overlay tournaments or not is not always easy. It is essential to take into account the strategies you want to follow to get good results.
But what is clear is that, if you want to specialize in Overlay tournaments, you must learn some lessons. If you take into account the following tips, it will be a little easier for you to find them and take advantage of them.
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