Tourney Capping the blinds (1 Viewer)

[ChipNup]

Anyone ever put a cap on the blinds in their tourney? We have started it in our weekly tournament because previously the blinds were going up so fast that late in the tourney it was taking the skill out of the game. The method I have been using is once our rebuy/add on period is done I figure out how many chips are in play and divide that number by 40. This makes it so once the final 2 are heads up there is still 40 big blinds on the table. This number seems to keep a decent amount of play and not rush things so much. Last night for example the number was 90,000 so we rounded off (for simplicity with the chips) and capped blinds at 50,000/100,000. Just curious if anyone else has done anything similar?

 

[TheRealStephen12]

General rule of thumb is the tournament ends when total blinds x 20 >= total chips. Generally people add more blind levels beyond that to make sure the tournament ends, because with smaller blinds there are enough chips to allow play to go on for a while.

 

[allforcharity]

Just don't put the cap too low. You want the tourney to actually end sometime.

 

[upNdown]

As long as time isn’t a concern, I think it sounds like a great idea.

 

[BGinGA]

General rule of thumb is a tournament ends no later than the level when total the big blind x 20 = total chips.

^^ fyp.

 

[BGinGA]

Anyone ever put a cap on the blinds in their tourney? We have started it in our weekly tournament because previously the blinds were going up so fast that late in the tourney it was taking the skill out of the game. The method I have been using is once our rebuy/add on period is done I figure out how many chips are in play and divide that number by 40. This makes it so once the final 2 are heads up there is still 40 big blinds on the table.

I would argue that capping the blinds at a fixed level would actually remove some of the skill in the latter stages of a tournament.

I think a better solution is to simply increase the blind level times once there are 40 (or 50) total bb in play (or reduce the rate of the blind increases at that time, or both). This allows more hands per level, but doesn't eliminate the pressure of increasing blinds (which promotes action, and adds skill).

 

[upNdown]

I would argue that capping the blinds at a fixed level would actually remove some of the skill in the latter stages of a tournament.

Inasmuch as good tournament players continually adapts to ever-changing conditions, I agree.
But knowing how to play head up is a valuable skill that might be removed if the table is too short. So I guess it could cut both ways.

 

[ChipNup]

Just don't put the cap too low. You want the tourney to actually end sometim

Just don't put the cap too low. You want the tourney to actually end sometime.

Yeah, it hasn’t been an issue even if there are four players left when we reach the cap that would still put an average stack of 10 big blinds on the table so forces the short players to make a move

 

[Colquhoun]

Yeah, it hasn’t been an issue even if there are four players left when we reach the cap that would still put an average stack of 10 big blinds on the table so forces the short players to make a move

Could it be the style of play among your group?
When it gets down to 4 people, are they often very passive with lots of folding?
If that’s the case, it may be that there’s so much passing of the blinds back and forth that no real play is happening among many hands, and the blinds can seem like they’re rising quickly.

That’s the job of the rising blinds…to put pressure on players and force action.

 

[ChipNup]

Could it be the style of play among your group?
When it gets down to 4 people, are they often very passive with lots of folding?
If that’s the case, it may be that there’s so much passing of the blinds back and forth that no real play is happening among many hands, and the blinds can seem like they’re rising quickly.

That’s the job of the rising blinds…to put pressure on players and force action.

Style of play varies late some tighten up looking for that top 3 finish others are attacking every pot looking to accumulate a stack late.