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For the online poker player, Sundays are the biggest days of the week. This is mainly because the big online poker websites hold their most expensive, big guaranteed tournaments on Sunday. If a player is a tournament grinder, he can find at least 10 tournaments with at least a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool across only the two biggest sites, Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars. Here is a guide about all of the biggest, best and most expensive Sunday Majors across the two biggest online poker sites.

Sunday Warm-up

This is the first Sunday Major of the day, found on Poker Stars. This tournament has a $200+15 buy in and has a guaranteed prize pool of at least $750,000, but it is always bigger after registration has closed. On average, about 4500 players sign up for this tournament. First place takes just over $100,000.

Sunday Brawl

This is the first Sunday Major on FullTiltPoker every Sunday. This tournament is a bounty tournament with a $240+16 buy in. For every elimination a player makes, he receives $40. The tournament has a guaranteed prize pool of $350,000. On average, about 2000 players enter this tournament and first place takes home just under $100,000.

Sunday Million

Probably the most famous of all of the Sunday Majors, this tournament is the biggest. Found on Poker Stars, the Sunday Million tournament now has a guaranteed prize pool of a whopping $1.5 Million. The buy in is $200+15 and field size is typically around 8000 players. First place usually brings home about $225,000. It is every online poker player’s dream to win the Sunday Million.

$750K Guaranteed

This tournament is Full Tilt’s biggest Sunday Major. With a prize pool of $750,000, first place gets about $135,000. The field for this tournament is usually about 4000 players and is very similar to the Sunday Warm Up on Poker Stars.

Sunday Mulligan

This Sunday Major was made for players who bust out of the bigger Sunday Majors early, thus the name Mulligan. This tournament has a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000 but usually attracts around 1400 players, making it much bigger. The buy in is $200+16 with first place getting around $55,000.

Sunday Second Chance

This is PokerStars version of the Sunday Mulligan. The buy-ins and guaranteed prize pools are the same. The only difference is that more players enter the Sunday Second Chance, with the field being around 2000 players.

Rebuys

There are three of these big rebuys on Sunday, two on Poker Stars and one on Full Tilt. Poker Stars hosts the $100 and $200 rebuy tournaments with Full Tilt having the $150 rebuy. Each has a guaranteed prize pool of at least $100,000 and attracts around 500 players each.

Satellite tournaments and sit and gos are available throughout the week for each of the big cash tournaments listed above. Players can either buy in directly or satellite their way in.

A popular type of online poker tournament is the 1 rebuy + 1 Add on tournament. These tournaments are also known as cubed tournaments. Cubed tournaments are very unique from a tactical standpoint because playing them like a freezeout can be wrong, while playing the like a rebuy can be wrong as well. In fact, these tournaments require their own strategy completely.

Just for a bit of a background, cubed tournaments usually do not attract huge fields, but the average player strength of these tournaments are some of the best on the internet. For example, the daily $100 Cubed tournament on Full Tilt attracts fewer than 200 players, but in the end the first place prize is over $10,000 and the whole field is stacked with great players. Out of all of the players that play in these tournaments, 95% of them use both their rebuy and add on. The key is being able to tell when to rebuy and how to play before rebuying.

Strategy

Before discussing the general poker strategy, players must not be tricked by the absolute poker cheating buy in. Although the buy in only says $100, players must have a bankroll as if the tournament was $300. This is because to play these tournaments properly, players should almost always use their rebuy and add on. This is the first major adjustment players must make.

The second adjustment pertains to how one should actually play a cubed tournament. In rebuy tournaments, most players try to accumulate a large stack early by simply shoving all in with the hands they play in hopes of doubling up early. If not, they rebuy and continue the process until they are satisfied with their stack. In these tournaments, players can do that, but only once. So when should they use it?

There are two theories on this subject. Some UltimateBet Cheats think the best way to play these is like a freezeout, except much more loosely. Take more risks and if the players busts, rebuy and then use the add-on right away. Other players think that the best way to play is to play like a freezeout until a certain point. For example, if they start with 300 chips, play loosely until the stack hits 2000, and then play wildly to try and double up to 4000 then use the add on to get even more. The goal is to build a stack, and these two ways seem to get the job done.

You probably read the title of that and thought, “Of course, a string of bad cards is all I need to jolt my concentration. It happens all the time.”

Well let me clarify, I’m not talking about the value of the Full Tilt Poker cards in your hand, I’m talking about the actual, physical cards themselves. Something often overlooked but a potential factor in playing with a player’s mind all the same.

What’s your brand? Most players are used to Bee. I know I am. It’s second-nature, you don’t even think about it. But what if a casino (either one you’re just trying out or one you’ve made a name for yourself at) breaks out a different brand, with a different feel to it? Ever heard of Carta Munti? Neither had I. You wouldn’t have even needed to see it written to tell the difference, though. These cards were light and thin, almost like printing paper. They felt awkward in my hand, and for a little while, I could concentrate on little else, putting me at a distinct disadvantage to those who were used to them already.

I mention this as a poker issue, because in blackjack you’re not touching your cards at all, but in poker you have to hold them, and arranging them (and how much time you take) is all part of the strategy.

This will sound vain to some, but I much prefer red decks to blue when I’m playing on Full Tilt, too. Just one of those superstitions I’m sure many poker players have (just like any other professional “sport”). If I had the option, I’d play red decks all day. Sometimes casinos throw a green deck in there, and I make due.

Going back to the deck stacks of different brands, though, there is one valuable observation to take away from understanding the differences, and that’s stack height. And this does pertain to blackjack. If you’re into deck estimation or shuffle tracking, seeing six to eight decks of a much thinner brand stacked will play tricks on you if you’re used to a Bee deck that’s much thicker. When you get to eight decks, we’re talking about half a deck difference in thickness.

Of course, the casinos have a reason for doing this, and it comes down to quality. These brands (including Gemaco) are often of much higher quality and durability that the tried and true but extremely markable Bee variety.

In the early rounds of a seven-card stud tournament, my experience has that’s it very hard to shake people early in the hands. Since there’s no real division of the hand (pre-flop vs. post-flop), it extends the period where players of all skill levels feel they can still hit their draw card to make a hand. Especially on internet poker sites with limit tournaments, you have to constantly hammer in max bets to even get players to start thinking about dropping out. So goes the early stages of a stud tournament. People are calling, and pots, it appears, are large. Of course, they look large because there’s so many stacks of chips, but it’s early on, so those stacks are of low-dollar amounts. The pots are respectable, but they won’t make or break anyone after a few hands.

Less often, but still in the mix, is the type of game that starts off at a snails pace instead of a NASCAR Cup series playoff. Everyone is tentative, getting their feet wet, feeling out the other players, etc… In these stud tournaments, for whatever reason, it tends to lean toward one extreme or the other the whole way through the table, instead of having a few players from all categories like you often see in Hold ‘Em tournaments.

My advice? Don’t worry about playing online poker tournaments coy early, or playing aggressive. This isn’t hold ‘em. Play smart from start to finish. Try not to let the fact that the money is only won at the final table affect how you play early on at your first table. Play as if your entire purse is at stake every hand. And, as mentioned, maintain your perspective on the size of your wins or losses at this stage. Three big wins might only be the equivalent of a single (or half) big win once the max bet goes up a few times. The same is true if you’re losing. Patience is called for and must be practiced. Your stack size always matters, but it’ll likely grow or shrink.

Also, don’t forget poker is poker. Just because this is stud, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to study and learn your opponents. Do this early, it’ll pay dividends in the middle and later rounds. Don’t forget to bluff when the situation is ideal. Establish yourself as unpredictable early, it also will pay off even if you don’t revisit that tactic often as the tournament progresses.