Tourney Allow Late Buy-in? (2 Viewers)

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For a home game tourney where the environment is more social and fun, does anyone allow late entries? For example, a player wants to join the tournament, but can't make it until an hour into the tournament. Do you let the player buy-in and sit down at that time? Do you tell the player that his seat will be chosen and chips will be blinded off until he arrives? The late arriving player is at a disadvantage either way, right?

Is a late buy-in any different than a someone who re-buys an hour in to the tourney? Both are shorter stacked compared to other players who have been building tourney stacks.

I have my thoughts, but would love to hear some others. Thanks!
 
I allow late entries until the first break. Vegas tournies put out a full stack when the player enters, so I do too. I hate blinding in players. There is no one there to defend the stack so it provides an advantage to the players to the immediate right of the stack and in a self dealt game the player to the immediate right is forced to deal twice in a row. As you say, the late player is already at a disadvantage if the blinds have increased.

However, I also give a chip bonus to players who buy in before 10 minutes to go to the tourney start which discourages players from showing up late.
 
I allow late entries until the first break. Vegas tournies put out a full stack when the player enters, so I do too. I hate blinding in players. There is no one there to defend the stack so it provides an advantage to the players to the immediate right of the stack and in a self dealt game the player to the immediate right is forced to deal twice in a row. As you say, the late player is already at a disadvantage if the blinds have increased.

However, I also give a chip bonus to players who buy in before 10 minutes to go to the tourney start which discourages players from showing up late.

+1
 
I allow late entries until the first break. Vegas tournies put out a full stack when the player enters, so I do too. I hate blinding in players. There is no one there to defend the stack so it provides an advantage to the players to the immediate right of the stack and in a self dealt game the player to the immediate right is forced to deal twice in a row. As you say, the late player is already at a disadvantage if the blinds have increased.

However, I also give a chip bonus to players who buy in before 10 minutes to go to the tourney start which discourages players from showing up late.
Exactly how I do it.
 
Early bird bonus is great for players who are competitive/want to win. Late entry is good for casual players who want to drink and talk shit. Works for everyone.
 
I always allow late buy-ins for our monthly game but I also set the blinds so that the first hour doesn't get you to an unplayable level. For example, if we start with 100BB stack, it'll be 75BB by the end of the first half hour and 50BB at the end of the second half hour. So if you arrive an hour late, you're starting with 50BB which is a very playable stack. The blinds then change every 15 minutes as we ramp up play and usually have a 4-hour game.

I also do this because we have guys who don't play so regularly so they have to be reminded (burn one, flop three etc) which makes the first hour a little slower than normal. Overall it has worked well.
 
No need to blind people out. Reasoning is that coming in late generally is a disadvantage especially in fast structures. They will be coming in with less than an avg stack (assuming people have busted) and when the blinds are higher.

Though I have argued that coming late in fast structure tournaments isn't that big an issue if the starting stacks are significantly large (250+bb). As long as you get there before your stack is below 100bb, you probably haven't missed a lot except time to chat and have a little fun.
 
We serve dinner before the game. It's a great incentive to show up on time.

Late entries get a full stack, up to the completion of the first break. A late player has the option of informing me that they will be later than the break and may Venmo or PayPal me their funds, in which case their stack goes live after the break.

Never had a player show that late, so it's an option that has never been exercised. With one player now running her own business, she has a realistic chance of getting tied up with a late client, so instead of a hard cut-off we came up with a TDA acceptable option.
 
We allow late arrival until first break if entry is known ahead of time. Empty seat stacks are not dealt hands, but appropriate blinds are removed from the stack (and from play) as the button passes the seat. This procedure eliminates any positional advantage of sitting near an empty seat stack, while still having the absent player pay their fair share of blinds.
 
Thanks, everyone! Lots of folks in agreement, and I am too - late entry until the first break is alright by me. Especially in a relatively non-competitive atmosphere where it's more social.
 
I’m not a big fan of late entries at home games, but it depends what you mean by late entry.

Most games ask for an RSVP. So, if you RSVP and say you are going to be late, that’s not a late entry. If you RSVP and something happens to make you late, that’s still not a late entry. These are late arriving entries and I’m in favor of blinding off their stacks as @BGinGA suggests. (If something comes up and you are going to be late, have the courtesy to call, though.)

If you didn’t RSVP, show up late, and want to play - sorry, you’re not playing in my game. That’s just rude. I planned for a specific number of players and you aren’t one of them.
 
However, I also give a chip bonus to players who buy in before 10 minutes to go to the tourney start which discourages players from showing up late.

I like that idea. How much?

If you didn’t RSVP, show up late, and want to play - sorry, you’re not playing in my game. That’s just rude. I planned for a specific number of players and you aren’t one of them.

Why not? I dont see how it hurts to have one or two show up late.
 
Was going to "unlike" this but we don't have that option. ;)

Actually you sorta do
Screenshot 2019-08-13 17.53.12.png
...

Screenshot 2019-08-13 17.53.12.png
 
I like that idea. How much?



Why not? I dont see how it hurts to have one or two show up late.

Generally 10%

I can answer the 2nd question too.

Personally if I have 17 players on a list, I set out 17 stacks. The tourney starts and some random walks in the door who I have no idea was coming AND is late - sorry too bad for you bud. Next time sign up.
 
I agree that if you just kind of randomly show up, and you're late, you're not getting a seat.

It really makes for a better game to have people commit ahead of time, and have those people show up on time. If someone makes clear that they're likely going to be late, that's fine. But if someone doesn't commit to the game and then just shows up looking for a seat, better luck next time.
 
The late arriving player is at a disadvantage either way, right?
No, in fact they are at an advantage if they start later with the same stack. And the advantage grows as the tourney progresses. It’s small, but there, and a 5%-10% on time bonus is a great solution that mitigates this advantage.

The math explanation involves ICM concepts but is in depth. A more layman way to think about it...what if you could buy into a tournament after it was in the money? That’s be a huge advantage and you are guaranteed profit. What if you could buy in on the stone bubble? I think you’d agree that long term going to run a profit. Working backwards, at some point, it’s profitable to buy in late. The ICM concepts show that the point is at the end of hand #1, and you don’t need bust outs, just for the chips to move around and be unevenly distributed.
 
No, in fact they are at an advantage if they start later with the same stack. And the advantage grows as the tourney progresses. It’s small, but there, and a 5%-10% on time bonus is a great solution that mitigates this advantage.

The math explanation involves ICM concepts but is in depth. A more layman way to think about it...what if you could buy into a tournament after it was in the money? That’s be a huge advantage and you are guaranteed profit. What if you could buy in on the stone bubble? I think you’d agree that long term going to run a profit. Working backwards, at some point, it’s profitable to buy in late. The ICM concepts show that the point is at the end of hand #1, and you don’t need bust outs, just for the chips to move around and be unevenly distributed.
That is fallacious thinking. A player buying in and receiving a full stack is already behind the leaders. Unless you are paying out the top 50%, the late buy in has less of a chance of cashing than an equally skilled player that is the big stack.

According to your calculation, you should always fold the first hand, even pocket aces, unless you were a blind to get a better ICM.
 
We allow late arrival until first break if entry is known ahead of time. Empty seat stacks are not dealt hands, but appropriate blinds are removed from the stack (and from play) as the button passes the seat. This procedure eliminates any positional advantage of sitting near an empty seat stack, while still having the absent player pay their fair share of blinds.

What if an empty stack seat arrives when the next deal would put them on the BB, SB or Button? Wondering how to handle this as I want to implement this in my game.
 
What if an empty stack seat arrives when the next deal would put them on the BB, SB or Button? Wondering how to handle this as I want to implement this in my game.

Easy. They are not eligible to play until the button passes them, as not to penalize the other players by making someone post a blind multiple times.
 
What if an empty stack seat arrives when the next deal would put them on the BB, SB or Button? Wondering how to handle this as I want to implement this in my game.
This:
Easy. They are not eligible to play until the button passes them, as not to penalize the other players by making someone post a blind multiple times.
 
That is fallacious thinking.
There are ICM calculators that are available and just play around with them a bit? Or read the white papers if you’re a math guy? I’ll offer you a setup from Desjgn shipped for your troubles, if you can find something reputable that shows a late entry being at a disadvantage vs an original entry.

I’m actually surprised you don’t know this stuff because you play so many tourneys

A player buying in and receiving a full stack is already behind the leaders. Unless you are paying out the top 50%, the late buy in has less of a chance of cashing than an equally skilled player that is the big stack.
Of course the late entry is worse off than a big stack. But he is also better off than someone who is under starting stack, or who had already busted.

According to your calculation, you should always fold the first hand, even pocket aces, unless you were a blind to get a better ICM.

Just because folding AA is +EV doesn’t mean it’s the most +EV play.
 
No, in fact they are at an advantage if they start later with the same stack. And the advantage grows as the tourney progresses. It’s small, but there, and a 5%-10% on time bonus is a great solution that mitigates this advantage.
As does removing appropriate blinds from the stack until they arrive.

We do both. Moral: Be on time.
 
I like being on time. I don't think there should be a penalty (TDA rule), but really the commonly accepted "bonus stack for early arrival" is TDA acceptable, for the same net effect.

Moreover, continuous late arrivals will be bumped down on the invite list. It's a hassle for the host, and therefore rude. Showing up uninvited - excessively rude. We had a "talk" with one player because of that.

You don't want the "talk" from Mrs Zombie.
 

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