Tourney Help with Chip Stacks and Blinds for Single Table Tournament (1 Viewer)

[cpac54]

After much scratching and clawing, I've managed to piece together a tourney set of NPS chips. It's been a long time since hosting a tourney, and would appreciate some guidance from the more experienced amongst us here.

Would be a single table, max 10 player tournament. Re-buys would be allowed (at the last game we had 3 re-buys amongst 8 players). Total running time including breaks would ideally be 4 to 4.5 hours max.

At my disposal are the following chips:

227 x 5 (not that I necessarily need to put these in play, but I have them)
225 x 25
192 x 100
100 x 500
100 x 1000
120 x NCV (that could be used as a 5000).

*At the moment, I don't have any cash games going on, so I'm not too worried about the potential of mixing in the 5's and NCV's here. Obviously, if I were to run cash games, I'd want to only play the 25, 100, 500, and 1000 chips and keep my NCV, 1, and 5 chips for cash only. If you think I should just stick to the normal tournament denominations anyways, let me know!

I've thought that running it as a T10,000 format with starting stacks of 12/12/5/6 would work (5's not in play here), beginning with 25/50 blinds.

If I can get the 5's in play, great, but I'd prefer to see what you guys think and how you'd structure this given the set-up available. A blind structure that would result in the desired 4 to 4.5hr run time would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Maverick512]

@BGinGA gave me this when i asked

its pretty much what youre asking

this was for 12/12/5/6

120 x T25
120 x T100
50 x T500
80 x T1000
30 x T5000
----------------
400 chips

T10000

vl sb bb
L1 25 50
L2 25 75
L3 50 100
L4 75 150
L5 100 200
L6 150 300
remove T25 chips
L7 200 400
L8 300 600
L9 400 800
L10 600 1200
L11 800 1600
L12 1200 2400
remove T100 chips
L13 1500 3000
L14 2000 4000 **
L15 3000 6000
L16 4000 8000

With 10 players (T10K stacks) using 15-minute blind levels, a typical tournament will end no later than L14, or about 3.5 hours plus breaks. Most blind increases are 33% or 50%, averaging 40%.

 

[Maverick512]

sorry i just realized you wanted it an hour or so longer

 

[justsomedude]

If you're going with a T10,000 format, getting the T5s in play will be tough. They're more suited to a T2,000 tournament. That said, you could use them as a $5 bounty chip in your T10k game for some fun, if you like.

I think your 12/12/5/6 starting stack is great, and it is also my own preferred starting stack. I'm not a fan of your 4-4.5 hour runtime, but I think you can make it work with some bigger blind jumps early on, eliminating the 25/75 level, and by reducing level times later on. Here's a structure I put together by tweaking my standard setup a little bit to meet your time goals...

With 130,000 chips in play (10 players with 3 rebuys) I'd guesstimate you should end around Level 12 or Level 13, when you have about 60 big blinds remaining on the table. That puts you right at 4 hours and 45 minutes of run time.

But don't be surprised if you end up finishing even earlier ... I've found these types of tournaments can end sooner than expected, as people get a little shove-happy once you cross the 100BB threshold. So your tournament could end by Level 11 (the 4 hr mark), depending on how your crew plays. I don't see you ever going past Level 14, as you'd only have 43 BBs remaining in play at that stage of the game.

Setting structures can be a bit of an artform, as you'll find out what works for your crew and tweak accordingly. I ended up front loading my structures with smaller jumps and longer levels, just because people start playing so loose later on and jamming like crazy (usually due to tiredness, desire to go home, etc.). Late play in my games is a little more haphazard, and not as "traditional" as some other folks' games, where the final 4 or 5 players normally tighten up... My guys get antsy and start pushing chips around, or chopping, which usually leads to an 'early' tournament end at my joint.

 

[cpac54]

If you're going with a T10,000 format, getting the T5s in play will be tough. They're more suited to a T2,000 tournament. That said, you could use them as a $5 bounty chip in your T10k game for some fun, if you like.

I think your 12/12/5/6 starting stack is great, and it is also my own preferred starting stack. I'm not a fan of your 4-4.5 hour runtime, but I think you can make it work with some bigger blind jumps early on, eliminating the 25/75 level, and by reducing level times later on. Here's a structure I put together by tweaking my standard setup a little bit to meet your time goals...

View attachment 170948

With 130,000 chips in play (10 players with 3 rebuys) I'd guesstimate you should end around Level 12, when you have about 65 big blinds remaining on the table. That puts you right at 4 hours and 20 minutes of run time.

But don't be surprised if you end up finishing even earlier ... I've found these types of tournaments can end sooner than expected, as people get a little shove-happy once you cross the 100BB threshold. So your tournament could end by Level 11 (the 4 hr mark), depending on how your crew plays. I don't see you ever going past Level 14, as you'd only have 43 BBs remaining in play at that stage of the game.

Setting structures can be a bit of an artform, as you'll find out what works for your crew and tweak accordingly. I ended up front loading my structures with smaller jumps and longer levels, just because people start playing so loose later on and jamming like crazy (usually due to tiredness, desire to go home, etc.). Late play in my games is a little more haphazard, and not as "traditional" as some other folks' games, where the final 4 or 5 players normally tighten up... My guys get antsy and start pushing chips around, or chopping, which usually leads to an 'early' tournament end at my joint.

I'm not married to the starting stack amount, more the run time. We would begin play around 7pm and would like to be finished by 11:30pm or so. If there's another starting stack amount that works better, while allowing for a nice blind progression, I'm all ears.

As you say, this certainly seems like half science, half art form to me.

 

[cpac54]

sorry i just realized you wanted it an hour or so longer

Thank-you. I suppose I could extend the levels to 20min though, which would result in a little more than a hour more in terms of run time.

 

[justsomedude]

I'm not married to the starting stack amount, more the run time. We would begin play around 7pm and would like to be finished by 11:30pm or so. If there's another starting stack amount that works better, while allowing for a nice blind progression, I'm all ears.

As you say, this certainly seems like half science, half art form to me.

I think either @Maverick512's or my structure is fine. I wouldn't tweak the starting stack. Maverick removed the 1000/2000 blind level and added the 25/75 level for lesser jumps early on. I removed the 25/75 level and added the 1000/2000 level for lesser jumps later on. Neither is optimal - but a tweak that we implemented to hit your time goal. Ideally, both levels should be included, but then you will probably run closer to 5hrs total. But you could make that up by cutting your breaks really short.

5-minute break ... no soup for you!

 

[cpac54]

I think either @Maverick512's or my structure is fine. I wouldn't tweak the starting stack. Maverick removed the 1000/2000 blind level and added the 25/75 level for lesser jumps early on. I removed the 25/75 level and added the 1000/2000 level for lesser jumps later on. Neither is optimal - but a tweak that we implemented to hit your time goal. Ideally, both levels should be included, but then you will probably run closer to 5hrs total. But you could make that up by cutting your breaks really short.

5-minute break ... no soup for you!

We can always try and start 15min earlier or so as well. Thanks!

I like the idea of the $5 bounty as well.

 

[justsomedude]

Here's an option that includes both the 25/75 level and the 1000/2000 level. I shortened the 2nd and 3rd breaks to 5 minutes, but kept the 1st break at 10 minutes (for food time, rebuys, bathroom breaks, etc.). I also reduced Level 12 to 15 minutes, which should put you at an end time of around 4 hours and 45 minutes at Level 14. It's pushing it... but it should work...

 

[BGinGA]

I suppose I could extend the levels to 20min though, which would result in a little more than a hour more in terms of run time.

18-minute levels would work perfectly for your desired time-frame. Nothing magical or required about blind level times being in 5-minute increments.

The T5 chips can be used as $5 bounties, or they can also serve as T5000 chips (it's an easy transition for players: 5 thousand -- I've even used T5 chips as T500 chips before). That would leave your NCV chips available for use as bounties of ANY value (not just $5), or the NCV chips could be used as re-buy chips, or even T25000 chips...... all dependent upon your specific goals for the event, which wouldn't necessarily be the same for every event you host. Having a large number of T5000 (5) and T25000 (NCV) chips at your disposal also allows you greater freedom to run really large-stack events if desired.

 

[cpac54]

18-minute levels would work perfectly for your desired time-frame. Nothing magical or required about blind level times being in 5-minute increments.

The T5 chips can be used as $5 bounties, or they can also serve as T5000 chips (it's an easy transition for players: 5 thousand -- I've even used T5 chips as T500 chips before). That would leave your NCV chips available for use as bounties of ANY value (not just $5), or the NCV chips could be used as re-buy chips, or even T25000 chips...... all dependent upon your specific goals for the event, which wouldn't necessarily be the same for every event you host. Having a large number of T5000 (5) and T25000 (NCV) chips at your disposal also allows you greater freedom to run really large-stack events if desired.

A good point with regard to the blind intervals... it's easy to get fixated on the standard intervals for sure. I like the idea for the use of the 5's and the NCV's as well, especially as it avoids having to track down the plaques, of which the 5000 seem rare. I also don't really like plaques to begin with, so bonus.

I'll give it a go with the above recommended blind structure and starting T10,000 stacks. Thanks all for the help!