How Do You Feel About Late Registration?

Flyer35 · Dec 15, 2025

Late registration is how the poker sites fund the tournament 'guaranteed' prize pools. That plus rebuy, re-entry and add-on fees. Most people, myself included, aren't hardcore enough to plan their day around poker. So they just pop in when they have some free time and search for the biggest 'prize pool to buy-in' ratio tournaments. The 'guaranteed' prize pool tournaments are almost always the most lucrative. And because they can have 2 to 2 1/2 hour late buy-in periods they have the slowest blind increases as well.

So the above makes them a plus. But, it's also a negative in that these tournaments can have many thousands of players and last for many hours, both of which work against the causal player who just popped in to play for a while.

RENEY444 · Dec 15, 2025

Some late registration is fine for knockout freerolls , but i dont like it in MTTs with a sizable cash investment .Its just extra hard to get to the bubble without rebuying . BTW , the addon option makes it even worse ! I almost never enter late in a bounty or PKO . Why join if some of the prize money/entry fees is already gone ?

NKGB13 · Dec 15, 2025

I love LR for PKO tournaments and I register at the first level. More time, more Bounty prizepool to fight for. on Vanilla I prefer not to register before the initial stack is worth 50 blinds, it's a good stack to play, and I don't keep risking my money for a long time in reg. period where the chips doesn't count that much

choprav · Dec 16, 2025

nabmom said:
If you do play this way, how successful are you with these”shove fests?”

Like half the times i hit, i am ahead or get lucky, half i los - so cos you're closer to the money - its basically like cashing moore ofeen or satty - getting a ticket half the time

bullkk · Dec 16, 2025

I like to check in late for the first all-ins to fly out

rdwr33 · Dec 16, 2025

I don't like tournaments with late registration. The plays are too crazy until the late registration is over.

tagece · Dec 16, 2025

I think it's OK when it ends before the first break. And I hate it when it goes beyond that.
I've seen tournaments with almost three hours of late registration, it's almost ridiculous. You already know you're going to spend at least four hours playing before you even make it to the money.

PHX · Dec 16, 2025

I am a serial late registrar. I have never had luck at cash games so played only tournaments and sit and gos. At start of tournament the game plays more like a cash game and does not play to my strengths. I prefer to play much shallower stacks it is what I am used to and good at.

The benefit of coming in late in a tournament:
-Takes less of your time
-You are more fresh and sharp for the important part
-You have less players to get through to ITM

hobojim1247 · Dec 17, 2025

I have no opinion since I don't care. I usually start on time but if I am late I appreciate the ability to still play. I find no advantage either way and I adjust my game as necessary to reflect those who alter their play.

mariale_1990 · Dec 17, 2025

I'm not a big fan of very long tournaments either, but I understand why they're long. I used to find it annoying, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I simply don't play from the very beginning of tournaments with long registration periods; I wait to register. Similarly, I used to find re-entry and knockout tournaments annoying, but they stopped bothering me a long time ago. I just try to play my normal game. If I'm eliminated, I don't buy in again, and in knockout tournaments, I don't obsess over eliminating any particular player.

dreamer13 · Dec 17, 2025

The lower the ROI, which is determined by your skill level, the more buy-ins you should have in your bankroll and the earlier you should register.The reason for this is that your edge over the field will be greatest in the early stages of a tournament. That's why you should register early to play as many hands as possible while you have that edge.The later you register, the stronger the field will be, because many of the fish will already be eliminated.I don't like late registration.You also have to take into account the variance that comes with late registration with shorter stacks.

hardongear · Dec 17, 2025

I wish poker sites offered more freezeouts or MTT's with only 30 min late registration and a max 2 rebuys.

Personally I'm always going to start early and chose longer blind level(10+ min) MTT's. The more hands you can get the less you're results depend on luck and the less variance you'll have. But then I've never been a very lucky guy. If I wanna depend on luck and win a lottery I'll spend $2-$5 for a chance to win 80m.

Cheers!!!

Prophet · Dec 17, 2025

I never LR because I feel like I am left behind and especially in Bounty tournaments you are covered by everyone, usually in the last 5 min you get 10 BBs and low chances to get good cards and double up fast , and more to that , everyone willcall you because you are short and have abounty on your head

23maxim88 · Dec 17, 2025

I do not like entering tournaments during late registration and I do not like tournaments with a very long late registration, but there are addon tournaments or freerolls where late registration is an exception for me, otherwise I try not to register if the tournament has already been running for more than 30 minutes.

perrywh · Dec 17, 2025

Late reg. Is ok with me as long as it’s not longer than 20 min!

austral · Dec 17, 2025

If you enter with at least 25–30 BB and the field is weak, late registration can be very profitable.
If you enter with 15 BB or less, it’s only worth it in very soft tournaments or those with a fast structure.
In that case, I don’t avoid playing this type of tournament; I simply do the calculations.

GrannySmit77 · Dec 17, 2025

If it's a freeroll with thousands of players I prefer to register a bit later. I try to avoid getting my pocket aces cracked by some guy playing some random 78 not suite cards. The more players in the freeroll, the more crazy things happen in the first 15 minutes. And it's just a waste of time to try to play good poker, your hand will get cracked.

Happy Bobi · Dec 17, 2025

I always register for tournaments before they start. I've never liked being late. Late registration is like being late for a meeting to me.

Mantinhoo · Dec 18, 2025

I’m fine with late registration, but I don’t actively seek it out.
Starting on time usually gives more edge, especially in softer early fields. Late reg can make sense if stacks are still deep enough, but once it’s too short, I’d rather skip. Overall, it’s very structure and field-dependent.

BillyR23 · Dec 20, 2025

Like most community members that posted here, I'm also fine with late reg MTTs... I don't avoid them and I try to always play from the start(especially if it's a Bounty MTT* I might not even play a KO game if I can't play from the start), try to build a big stack without gambling too much by taking advantage of the small blinds, while taking notes on my oponnents...

nabmom said:
But I also feel that the “real” game doesn’t start until late registration is over.

I totally agree with this, especially if it's a tournament that allows rebuys...

Snikern · Dec 21, 2025

i dont like the late regs, and if they have to have it i think it should be 30 min tops

Chebchoub · Dec 21, 2025

Hi

It is not best or I do not recommend registering at the late registration time, especially in turbo or hyper turbo tournaments, as the blind does not leave us the time to choose the appropriate hands. Also, the opponents have enough chips to call and take risks with weak hands that may defeat the strongest poker hands. However, sometimes I may be lucky with the first three consecutive winning hands, so I end up with the average stack.
Generally, I think it's okay to register at the late registration if the tournament is slow and freezeout, because all the players become very careful with their chips, so it's possible to keep up with the game and catch up with the players.

oriole · Dec 21, 2025

I don’t mind late reg since it boosts the prize pool, but I always start on time because jumping in late feels like giving up too much edge.

MishkaZL · Dec 21, 2025

In general, it's better for me to register earlier, before the start, because it's just more comfortable for me to play that way. But sometimes I can register late if I don't make it to the tournament on time, which happens sometimes.

ironduke11 · Dec 21, 2025

Like most players you notice it's the loose aggressive that like the late reg because they have no patience....I usually avoid them unless the hand is strong until the reg ends then make them think about their tournament lives...

How Do You Feel About Late Registration?

Flyer35

Per Ardua ad Astra

RENEY444

Visionary

NKGB13

Legend

choprav

Visionary

bullkk

Visionary

rdwr33

Legend

tagece

Legend

PHX

Legend

hobojim1247

Legend

mariale_1990

Legend

dreamer13

Legend

hardongear

Legend

Prophet

Rock Star

23maxim88

Rock Star

perrywh

Common sense!

austral

Rock Star

GrannySmit77

Rock Star

Happy Bobi

Enthusiast

Mantinhoo

Rock Star

BillyR23

Legend

Snikern

Rising Star

Chebchoub

Poker is one of life's mysteries

oriole

Visionary

MishkaZL

Legend

ironduke11

Visionary

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