I've tried several structures over the years. Different players prefer different things. Right now we use 500 BB -- 25K starting stack, 25/50 starting blinds. I could think of structures I personally like better, but I have a mix of players who want fewer and more starting chips, longer and shorter blinds (20 min currently), longer and shorter tournaments (plan for 30 to end in the 4:00 to 4:20 time). I've tried 25K stacks in 25 chips, but right now am using 49 (16 ea of 25/100). Change rarely has to be made, at least at the low ends. Players seem to prefer more starting chips (as in # of chips) to fewer.
I don't use Blind Valet or anything like that. I figure out how many players max, and how long I want the tournament to go. Of course, you can't ignore your players on those issues or they won't come. Then I look at the projected end time. There are 2 formulas I use (A = Ante; # = # of players; $ = starting stack) below.
A+SB+BB=#x$x.05
BB=#*$*.05
This yields 2 different end times. I find though they are usually only 1 round apart, and those two times bracket the expected end between 75-90% of the time, depending on the group. What I shoot for is an anticipated 4:00 game. When my formula brackets 3:40 to 4:20, I have a structure that should work. It is extremely rare for the time to end more than 1 blind level off of that, meaning that 3:20 to 4:40 will cover 95% or so of the tournaments.
Another issue to decide is whether you like very gentle blind increases (I think BG likes that) or bigger blind increases. I find opinions on that vary widely. I used to do a 10K structure, starting 25/50, with 30 minute blinds, and the games lasted just as long.
One thing I love about home poker tournaments is you can create a structure that you like. There isn't really a right answer -- just an answer you prefer over other answers. It helps though if you have something to start with, and there are a lot of things out there that can help.
I've got a spreadsheet I'm happy to share with literally dozens of structures in it. You can vary the starting stacks, whether it's a (single) re-buy, the blind times, the SB, BB, and ante. It will tell you more about any tournament structure you want to input that you ever wanted to know. It allows you to play around with any tweaks you might consider to your structure. I use it for several things. I used it to help me figure out how many chips to buy. I use it to determine how much a tournament emphasizes skill (there is a science to that). PM me (anyone) with your email address and I'll send it.
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