FAQ
What is an Overlay?
When a poker site announces a tournament with a guaranteed prize, there is an opportunity for an Overlay.
If the prize money collected from the players who signed up for the tournament does not cover the guarantee, the poker site adds money to make the guaranteed prize.
For example: a tournament has a $5,000 guaranteed prize and the buy-in is $20+$2.
The poker site hopes for 250 or more players to sign up so the guarantee is covered by the players
(250 players at $20 will cover the $5,000 prize pool).
If, however, only 150 players show up, they contribute only $3,000 to the prize pool and the poker site
needs to add another $2,000 of its own money to the prize pool.
These $2,000 are the Overlay.
Further explanation.
Why should I care?
When an Overlay exists - You get money.
It is as simple as that.
In the example above, your $20 ticket is now worth $33
($5,000 prize pool divided by 150 players).
Playing Overlay tournaments is a certain way to increase your tournament winnings, without changing your game.
Why do poker sites add money to the prize pool?
Why run guaranteed prize tournaments?
Poker sites run various promotional programs to attract players. One known
program is the sign up bonus. When you sign up to a site, they add money to your
account as a promotion. Overlays are similar. In order to attract players to
tournaments, the poker sites guarantee the prize, and pay for these promotions
in Overlays.
Will all the alerts Overlay Zone issues end up to have an Overlay?
Not necesserily. Overlay Zone alerts are issued based on your filter. If, for example,
the filter is set to alert about tournaments that have at least 1% Overlay 2 minutes before the tournament starts,
it's obvious that in the 2 minutes remaining for registration some of these tournaments will see the Overlay disappear,
as more players sign up.
Use the Filter tool to estimate what's the right threshold for you.
Late Registration
Overlay Zone's option page allows you to assume late registration for Full Tilt Poker.
When this option is selected, the end of registration is assumed to be 5 or 10 minutes after
the tournament starts (for turbo and non turbo tournaments respectively).
Full tilt information up to Jan 30 did not assume late registration.
All further data is based on an assumed 5 minute or 10 minute late registration period,
for turbo or regular tournaments respectively.
How often do Overlay tournaments run?
The sites we monitor run on average 7 Overlay tournaments per day.
What is OverlayZone's business model?
We are currently in beta and are not charging for our services.
In the future we expect to earn money from affiliation relationships with the participating
poker, as do most poker web sites and poker software developers.
How does it work?
You download an application
from our web site and install it on your computer. The application resides in
the background and waits for information from Overlay Zone’s central computers.
Our central computers collect the tournament information from the participating
poker rooms and send it to the application which then alerts you in real time
when an Overlay situation exist.
Our extensive testing has
indicated that although small delay may exist from the moment we collect the
information until you see it on your computer screen, this is delay does not
affect your advantage. However, always check the tournament information in the
tournament lobby, before signing up to that tournament.
Guaranteed: No Spyware,
Malware, ... Just Overlays.
Disclaimer
The nature of this application
is that it relies on inputs we collect.
Changes made by the poker sites may affect the information presented by the
Overlay Notifier.
Joining a tournament is your decision. Check the lobby before you make this
decision. We make no guarantees related to the accuracy of the information in
Overlay Notifier. [We sure do try to make it accurate though ...].
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