As such any competition that awards prizes to the winners can be termed as a tournament and in that sense wagering contests are tournaments. But wagering contests are fundamentally different from the pure online tournaments and players at online casinos should be aware of this. This is all the more important because of the practice at many online casinos of referring to wagering contests as tournaments. The objective in online tournaments is to increase ones chip balance by winning the wagers. The objective in wagering contests is to wager the most, winning or losing does not matter. This article describes in detail the structures of online tournaments and wagering contests.

Players pay a fee to enter an online tournament and their liability is limited to this fee. In rebuy online tournaments players can pay additional amounts to increase their participation and in these the liability may not be strictly limited, but is significantly less than what players would stake in wagering contests. Having paid the entry fee all players participate in as identical conditions as possible. They wager on the same game, they start with the same chip stack and play for the same duration. The chip stack is provided by the casino for wagering purposes only. The balance chips left with the players at the end of the tournament are returned to the online casino. The players cannot induct their own bankroll into the online tournament. The only amounts that the players take home are the prizes won in the tournament. Players who finish the designated number of top players share what is called the prize pool. In some online tournaments the prize pool is a guaranteed amount set aside by the online casino. In other online tournaments the prize pool consists of the total entry fees and the total rebuy fees collected. These prizes are usually directly credited to the players' cash accounts and can be withdrawn by them.

Many wagering contests require players to resister for the event, but there is no entry fee charged. The online casino does not provide any chips for wagering. The players bring in their own bankroll and can enhance it during the wagering contest. The chip balance left with the players at the end of the wagering contest, along with the amounts won, is their own and can be withdrawn by them whenever they want. Since the deciding criterion is the amount wagered there is no necessity of wagering on identical games in identical conditions. However, many online casinos do specify a list of games on which the wagering has to take place. In wagering contests the prize pool is always provided by the online casinos. Since there are no entry fees there is no question of sharing the pot collected. The players who wager the most and finish on top of the leader board share the prize pool. They obviously keep the amounts won in the course of wagering. Often the prizes awarded by the online casinos are treated as bonuses and the bonus terms and conditions like wagering requirements apply.

Players participating in wagering competitions should do so with caution. In the excitement of topping the leader board it is very easy to over stretch oneself and wager significantly more than one can afford. Low rollers should avoid wagering contests altogether.