Tourney First Time Hosting a Tournament (1 Viewer)

[ianpoker]

Tournament time. Ive gotten familiar with hosting cash games and I've decided that I want to host a home tournament at my college house. I'm searching for advice on 2 things.... What chips to get and how to make the tournament run smooth.

Regarding chips, a friend recommended the EPT ceramics but wanted to see if anyone had some good alternative options. I've yet to pull the trigger because I am unsure how many chips I will actually need. I plan on the tournament starting at 3 tables, having somewhere between 18-24 players (not sure how many I should have at each table).

Regarding format, I would like the tournament to be 3 hours long so that it feels thorough but not dragged out. Im considering having KO bounties but am a little unsure on how to facilitate that. I am planning on having TV's hooked up to a clock software to display blind levels and payouts.

I plan on not playing in this first tournament, and more so supervising and acting as the "floor" to make sure things go smooth. I will be in charge of all buyins and rebuys (Im thinking a $20-$25 buy-in with one additiional bullet to prevent people from instantly busting and being out. I also need to figure out payout structure (how many people are in the money/ what are the pay jumps). I do not plan on taking a rake and would like 100% of buy-ins to go to prize pool.

Lastly, I think im going to try and find a couple people that can deal full time that wont be playing as I can see it getting messy if people self deal (some of these guys cant shuffle).

Any advice / guidance would be appreciated and I'm excited to start hosting!

 

[BKisback]

Lots of threads on here about chip set structures, blinds, etc. 25 chips per player is a good starting point. Here are some broad strokes.

3 hours is a fast tournament for 2-3 tables. You will have to have comparatively small starting stacks, short levels, and an aggressive blind structure, especially if you want to allow rebuys (add-ons?). Payouts will depend on the number of players. The amounts will depend on the total buyins/rebuys plus the value of bounties if you end up using them. My suggestions?

Get a set with something like 200xT25, 200xT100, 60xT500, 80xT500, and 100xT5000. Starting stacks of 8-8-2-3-1. That's T10,000 in chips to start. Blinds 50-100, 100-200, 150-300, color up, 200-400, 300-600, 500-1000, 700-1400, color up, 1000-2000, 1500-3000, color up, 2000-4000, 3000-6000, 5000-10,000, 7000-14,000. At 15 minute levels and with 5 minutes for color ups, that's about 3.5 hours.

$25 buyin ($15 to prize pool, $10 bounty). Pretend 12 rebuys, that's $540 prize pool ((24 + 12) x $15). I'd pay top 4, but you could do 3-5 easily.
1st = 50% = $270
2nd = 25% = $135
3rd = 15% = $81
4th = 10% = $54

 

[TheRealStephen12]

Payouts:
For a $25 PKO with a $10 bounty ($15+10), give each player 4 snappers ($2.50 chips). When somebody is eliminated, the player who knocked them out gets half of the chips (rounded however you decide, up/down).

Another option for a payout structure with a heavily weighted PKO (40% of the buy-in) is to have a small or no increase between first and second. Since the winning player also wins their own bounty, they are guaranteed a minimum of an extra $60 in prize money with 20 players/rebuys. If you were to play 1/6 of entries rounded up (which is reasonable with a large field and bounties), you could make the payouts something like the following (the bonus of winning your own bounty is much larger than the pay jump between second and third:

3 payouts (18 or fewer entries):
1-2: 37%
3rd: 26%

4 payouts (19-24 entries):
1-2: 31%
3rd: 22%
4th: 16%

5 payouts (25-30 entries):
1-2: 27%
3rd: 19%
4th: 15%
5th: 12%

6 payouts (31-36 entries, probably the most you’ll need):
1-2: 25%
3rd: 18%
4th: 14%
5th: 10%
6th: 8%

7 payouts (37-42 entries):
1-2: 24%
3rd: 17%
4th: 13%
5th: 10%
6th: 7%
7th: 5%

Structure:
3 hours is very short for a three table tournament. It’s doable, but it would qualify as a hyper-turbo, with not nearly enough to feel thorough. I think if you allow 4:15 for the following structure, you will feel there is enough play without it being a complete luck-fest.

T10K (8/8/4/7, rebuys 0/0/0/0/2)
15 minute levels
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
Break - Color Up T25s - End Rebuys
200/400
300/600
500/1000
800/1600
1200/2400
Break - Color Up T100s
2K/4K
3K/6K
5K/10K
8K/16K
12K/24K

Chips:
If you go with 8/8/4/7 (the near bare minimum per player) you should get:
200x T25
200x T100
100x T500
200x T1000 (extra to help color up)
50x T5000 (enough for color ups + 21 rebuys)
150x Bounty/Snapper (enough to cover all buy-ins plus rebuys, considering you only need two for each rebuy.

If not buying in 25s, you should be fine with 40x T5K and 140 bounty chips (enough for 16 rebuys). You cannot do starting stacks of 8/8/2/3/1, since you are not guaranteed to have change for the 5K.

 

[doublebooyah85]

What’s up with your avatar photo?

 

[Huskerchipper]

You might consider a 4 hour goal for length of tournament. I can't imagine trying to do a 3 table tournament in 3 hours. Starting stacks at 100BB. I start everyone with a bounty chip. Since you are going for a short time frame I would either only allow rebuys for the first hour or even not at all.

 

[wickedwonka121]

If you want a 3 hour tourney I recommend 15 min blinds. Also I use "blinds are up poker timer" app. It was recommended to me by my coworker. I have been building different structures and save them all in the app.

 

[chippitydoodah]

I followed the advice of BGinGA and bought a 1000 chip set...

30-player T25-base tourney set, using 8/8/4/7/x starting stacks:

240 x T25
240 x T100
120 x T500
220 x T1000
180 x T5000
---------------
1000 chips, or you can optionally replace 20x T5000s with 20 x T25000 chips.

Up to 20-player events can use 12/12/5/6/x stacks.

Can also cover 20-player T100-base events with 10/6/11/x stacks, or single-table T500-base events (10/10/7/x).

 

[Kentucky]

20-30 buy ins (inc rebuys) in 3 hours is pretty turbo. Sounds like the free bar poker I play from time to time. Truly, to be done in 3 hours the name of the game is shedding players as quickly as possible - you’ll need to lose someone every 7 minutes on average and that doesn’t account for any breaks in the run time. You do end up with multi way all ins of 5BB stacks.

If people are paying you may want deeper stacks and a longer run time so there is more opportunity for patient application of skill, especially if you want rebuys.

The cheapest way to do it is something like T100 base with 50BB starting stacks of 5x 100/5x 500 /7x 1000. Have some 5K chips for coloring up later. You will have to make change quite frequently but it will limit the chips you need to buy to get this off the ground.

 

[alexandersly77]

Sounds like you’re setting yourself up for a great first home tournament! I’ve run a few of these, so I’ll throw in some ideas that might help.

EPT ceramics are really nice but can get pricey, especially if you’re just getting started. You might want to look at china clay chips (brands like Milano, Majestic, or Pharaoh). They feel great and cost less than ceramics.

• For 24 players across 3 tables, you’ll want at least 500-600 chips, ideally more if your budget allows. A typical breakdown for tournaments is something like:
  • 25s: 150
  • 100s: 150
  • 500s: 100
  • 1000s: 100
• 
  
• This covers starting stacks and rebuys/add-ons comfortably

Structure

If you want the tourney to last ~3 hours, you’ll want blind levels around 10-12 minutes depending on how deep you start. Start with 100BB (maybe 5k or 10k in chips depending on your denominations) and double blinds each level or go with small gradual increases and a bigger jump in the middle.

I’d reccommmed at least 15-20 min blind in my opinion.

KO bounties are easy to manage—just have a separate envelope or stack of bounty chips/cash and hand one out every time someone knocks a player out.

For 18-24 players, paying the top 3-4 spots works well. Example for 24 players:

• 1st: 50%
• 2nd: 30%
• 3rd: 20%
• (optional 4th: small bubble cash if you want to flatten the top)
• If you’re doing KOs, set aside part of each buy-in for that (say $5-10 per person).

Other tips

• Good call on not playing—being the floor keeps things organized and helps when people have questions. Something I wish i would’ve done my first go.
• Make sure your clock software has easy blind management and built-in payout calculation (Blinds Up, The Tournament Director, or free online options work).
• Have extra decks, seating cards, and a clear way to track rebuys.

Sounds like it’s going to be a blast—good luck with it! Let us know how it goes!

 

[buzzmonkey]

Sounds like you’re setting yourself up for a great first home tournament! I’ve run a few of these, so I’ll throw in some ideas that might help.

EPT ceramics are really nice but can get pricey, especially if you’re just getting started. You might want to look at china clay chips (brands like Milano, Majestic, or Pharaoh). They feel great and cost less than ceramics.

If they're what he wants and in his budget I think he should go for it. But get samples. If you like the less expensive chips more, it's a great way to save money.

For 24 players across 3 tables, you’ll want at least 500-600 chips, ideally more if your budget allows. A typical breakdown for tournaments is something like:

• 25s: 150
• 100s: 150
• 500s: 100
• 1000s: 100

This covers starting stacks and rebuys/add-ons comfortably

I'm not sure this is a great breakdown. You'll be starting folks with too few 25s and 100s for most structures. It will depend on what blinds you're choosing. Start with your desired starting stack and then multiply it up. If you're doing a T25 tournament, you'll likely want 8 25s and 8 100s per person at a minimum. One popular starting stack for a tournament with 10,000 starting stacks:

• 8 x 25s
• 8 x 100s
• 4 x 500s
• 7 x 1000s

Scaled up for 24 players you would want:

• 192 x 25s
• 192 x 100s
• 96 x 500s + 10 more to color up the 25s
• 168 x 1000s + 20 more to color up the 100s
• 100-200 x 5000s to handle rebuys depending on how many you expect per tourney.

Structure

If you want the tourney to last ~3 hours, you’ll want blind levels around 10-12 minutes depending on how deep you start. Start with 100BB (maybe 5k or 10k in chips depending on your denominations) and double blinds each level or go with small gradual increases and a bigger jump in the middle.

I’d reccommmed at least 15-20 min blind in my opinion.

I agree with a minimum of 15 minute levels. I don't run any games with less than 20 minutes. I also agree with 100BB being a good starting amount, but would probably do 200BB if you're going to use 25 valued chips. You should not double the blinds every level or have surprise jumps. Plan to increase the blinds by a maximum of 50% between levels. For example, 100/200 goes to 150/300.

 

[alexandersly77]

Sound advice here

 

[Kentucky]

you’ll want blind levels around 10-12 minutes

I don’t recommend this. You want to have an orbit of hands before the blinds change - so that each person pays the blind before it increases.

I’d reccommmed at least 15-20 min blind in my opinion.

This is a better target. I find a hand takes roughly 2 minutes for rec players who aren’t 100% focused on the game. 7 to 9 players = 14 to 18 minutes…