Tourney Gimmicks (1 Viewer)

[Geremie]

My tourney is looking to add some more gimmicks (betting action) to our game.

We have the following so far:
(1) bounty
(2) nightly high-hand

They want a couple others because everyone is a degenerate.

I was thinking of the following:
(3) donk chips - winning any hand with 2-7 off - prize pool split equally by number of donk chips

Any other ideas?

 

[derekdd23]

You could do worst suck out. 75% to loser 25% to the winner or 50 50 for more pain.

 

[namsupak]

We sometimes do show me chips. It is fun for cash games but I would think it may be fun in tournament too.

 

[dew4au]

We sometimes do show me chips. It is fun for cash games but I would think it may be fun in tournament too.

I use them in tourneys, and they are well liked by my donks.

 

[upNdown]

I would hate the 2-7 bonus. If somebody's crazy enough to do it on their own, fine, but no need to encourage that crap.
How about something like these special power cards?
https://twitter.com/realkidpoker/status/802967254992384004

 

[WedgeRock]

We used to do an optional River Jackpot. You could buy a card (up to 5) for $1 each and draw a random card.

If your card matches the river card on the last hand of the tournament, you win the jackpot. No matches? Roll it over to the next event.

I bit of book keeping, but a good way to donk it up. If it rolled over a few weeks, it would definitely sell out, as the prize would be greater than the odds.

 

[Geremie]

You could do worst suck out. 75% to loser 25% to the winner or 50 50 for more pain.

This would be decent, but it would be a pain in the ass to determine the worst suck out. I'd have to run the hand simulator to get the odds every time a bad beat happens. It would slow down the tourney.

 

[Geremie]

I use them in tourneys, and they are well liked by my donks.

View attachment 115056

Hmm, but how do you bet on this?

If we all chip in $X, how does the total $$ get distributed?

 

[Geremie]

We used to do an optional River Jackpot. You could buy a card (up to 5) for $1 each and draw a random card.

If your card matches the river card on the last hand of the tournament, you win the jackpot. No matches? Roll it over to the next event.

I bit of book keeping, but a good way to donk it up. If it rolled over a few weeks, it would definitely sell out, as the prize would be greater than the odds.

I like this...maximum donkage!!!

 

[WedgeRock]

If your donks are more flush than mine, sell the cards for $2 each. Or $5 each. Or put together packages. $1 each or 6 cards for $5, etc.

The only hard thing is making sure everyone has a shot at the RJP (as there are only 52 cards... With 20 players, that means 2.6 cards per player. After running it a few times, you'll find out that you only have 5 or 10 people interested. We'd usually limit it to 2 cards per person pre game and if there were still cards unsold at the break (after everyone had a chance to buy some), we'd offer additional cards for sale to those already in.

 

[rjbf65]

I would hate the 2-7 bonus. If somebody's crazy enough to do it on their own, fine, but no need to encourage that crap.
How about something like these special power cards?
https://twitter.com/realkidpoker/status/802967254992384004
View attachment 115057

The 2-7 game really enhances the action in our cash game. Very nitty game otherwise.

 

[Geremie]

If your donks are more flush than mine, sell the cards for $2 each. Or $5 each. Or put together packages. $1 each or 6 cards for $5, etc.

The only hard thing is making sure everyone has a shot at the RJP (as there are only 52 cards... With 20 players, that means 2.6 cards per player. After running it a few times, you'll find out that you only have 5 or 10 people interested. We'd usually limit it to 2 cards per person pre game and if there were still cards unsold at the break (after everyone had a chance to buy some), we'd offer additional cards for sale to those already in.

I'd probably sell 1 card for $5 (max 2 cards). I'd want the pot to carryover a couple nights to build to something large and have people cheer when someone gets knocked out

 

[Trihonda]

Offer a secondary tourney prize pool. I have payout calculators already worked out based on the number of participants. If you're doing a 30 player tourney, which pays 5 spots, do another concurrent prize pool which allows your more degen players to play for more.

Let's say you get 50% do the secondary pool, it's feasible you'll have a number of people in the main money that didn't participate and then you could be in the secondary, bust in 7th, and still cash.

 

[WedgeRock]

I'd probably sell 1 card for $5 (max 2 cards). I'd want the pot to carryover a couple nights to build to something large and have people cheer when someone gets knocked out

That's fine, but at $5 per card, if you carry over more than $260, people would be foolish not to jump in because there odds are 1:52 and there payout is better than that.

What if week 1, cards are $1 each, week 2 cards are $2, week 3 cards are $3, etc. Or (at $5 per card) after you are carrying over more than $130 (26 x $5), maybe bump the price up ($10 per card?) The house isn't making anything off this transaction, so it all goes back to the players. But if that big jackpot makes it more attractive to get in... Just gotta be careful that you aren't pricing people out.

Or what if you sold cards for $5 the first week, limit 1, AND THE CARD CARRIED OVER. If it doesn't sell out, the prize pool rolls into week 2, but cards are $10 each. That makes it more attractive to get in to the jackpot in week one because you get your card week after week (so more shots at the jackpot means its cheaper). But only sell one card per week, so that people will have to get in later weeks too. Maybe the last week, you can auction off the final cards to the highest bidder. Once 52 cards are sold, the jackpot will have to be awarded.

 

[T_Chan]

My league is all about gimmicks. Every game has a theme:

New Start NLHE
Best Hand of the night (best hand gets their buy in back)
WSOP ME Stack
Bounties (extra points only, no cash)
Triple Play 2 Rebys/add ons per player
Heads up Double elimination bracket tourney
Show me
Superstack (T1Million)
PLO
Antes only
Texas Shootout
PNL (Pot limit preflop, no limit post flop)
C.H.O.P
Invite a friend

Final! Different chip stacker per player based on standings and attendance

 

[WedgeRock]

Bounties (extra points only, no cash)

Bounties for league points. I like it!

 

[Mac128k]

We once played the LCR dice game. It isn't poker but it does use chips and can be an action junky dream depending on the stakes you use.

 

[Poker Zombie]

My league is all about gimmicks. Every game has a theme:

New Start NLHE
Best Hand of the night (best hand gets their buy in back)
WSOP ME Stack
Bounties (extra points only, no cash)
Triple Play 2 Rebys/add ons per player
Heads up Double elimination bracket tourney
Show me
Superstack (T1Million)
PLO
Antes only
Texas Shootout
PNL (Pot limit preflop, no limit post flop)
C.H.O.P
Invite a friend

Final! Different chip stacker per player based on standings and attendance

I may be angling for an invite when I'm up in B.C. next May. These look awesome fun.

 

[Poker Zombie]

We too are all about the gimmicks. Each night we distribute a bonus which varies from event to event. Some examples...

• Bad Beat - The best losing hand of the night
• Bounty - If a player wins 2 consecutive appearances, they will get a bounty hung on their head at the next event that they attend.
• Chip Collector - at the start of the night players randomly draw one of 4 different poker chips (using a vintage 1920s set so as to avoid confusion) as a bounty chip. The first player to collect one of each wins the bonus.
• Lucky hands (St Patty's day) - The first hand of each level gets a shamrock token added to the pot. Whoever collects the greatest number of tokens (only 21 available) wins the bonus.
• Agony of Defeat - First player to both rebuy and get knocked out a second (and final) time wins the bonus.
• High Hand - Best winning hand of the night.
• Tax Day rebate - Collect 1 point for each hand lost at showdown with 3 of a kind or better. Most points wins the bonus.
• 56th Birthday - Best hand of the night using both a 5 and a 6.

...and many more!

The Bad Beat is used most often, as it frequently goes to a player that finishes out of the money. I don't mind bonuses that drive a little more action, but I really try to stick with bonuses that don't effect the game too much.