It is human nature to test oneself against ones peers. Online slots, exciting though they may be, do not provide an opportunity to players to compete with each other. This is the reason that online slots tournaments are very popular at online casinos.

The format of slots tournaments is very straightforward. All players play the same online slot game for the sake of uniformity. All players start with the same starting stack, which is typically $300 or $500. All players are given the same amount of time to wager on the given slot game. This is usually 30 minutes or 60 minutes. Players can use up their time anytime during the tournament period that may be a few hours or a few days. The closing credit balance of the players is logged on to a leader board in descending order. When the tournament period is over the position of players in the leader board decide the winners. For example the top five or top ten players on the leader board will share the pool prize.

There are many types of online slots tournaments. However freerolls are most popular. In freerolls players are not required to pay any entry fee. In other tournaments an entry fee is levied that contributes to the prize pool. Online casinos offer freerolls for various reasons. One is to encourage new players to become familiar with online slots tournaments. Another is to popularize a recently launched slots game. Because no entry fee is levied the prize pools of freerolls are usually small. Sometimes freerolls have no cash prizes. The winners are given free entries to buy-in online slots tournaments.

Scheduled tournaments are another form of online tournaments. The tournament start and finish times are announced beforehand as are the other details such as buy-in amount, starting credit, playing time and the name of the slot game. Players are required to register for the tournament in advance. Such tournaments usually accommodate a given number of players and entries close once the number is full. Then the registered players can play at any time during the tournament period. The results are declared once the tournament period is over.

Vegas Technology is an online gaming software provider that is known for its online slots tournaments. The tournaments at two of its online casinos are extremely popular. These are Golden Casino and Online Vegas. Actually these online casinos belong to the Golden Casino group and run the same set of tournaments. The largest tournament they offer is the Guaranteed $30,000 Weekend Madness Tournament. The prize pool is guaranteed to be $30,000 irrespective of the number of participants. The tournament runs every Friday to Tuesday on a different Vegas Technology online slot game every weekend. Despite the entry fee of $20 the online slots tournament attracts large traffic.