Tourney HELP with structure for Meet-Up Main Event (1 Viewer)

[cpac54]

45k starting stacks (12/12/5/11/6 or 12/12/7/10/6) are definitively preferable to 50k stacks that contain T25k chips.

You will have plenty of T1000s in play already with those starting stacks, so color-up the T25, T100, and T500 chips using T5000s, and color-up the T1000 chips with T25000s. Add T5k and T25k chips with 5-chip re-buys (4xT5000 +1xT25000).

For 17 players, that will put roughly 125 total chips in play at tournament finish (plus any re-buy chips), which is a perfectly acceptable amount.

Thanks. I've decided on 45k starting stacks (12/12/7/10/6). Looks like we'll be 16 now in the end after a last-minute COVID-related drop-out yesterday.

Luckily, there will be some experienced tournament hosts in attendance who can help this rookie with colouring-up. I've watched some videos though and I think I've got now.

Thanks again to everyone for the help - Saturday can't come soon enough now!

 

[Gunnar]

I would encourage you to allow one rebuy for the first 90-120minutes.

 

[JustinInMN]

Luckily, there will be some experienced tournament hosts in attendance who can help this rookie with colouring-up. I've watched some videos though and I think I've got now.

I imagine there's a chance you've seen these, but these are by far the two best videos on the topic in my opinion.

From @Chris Manzoni ( PCFer !, he prefers the round up method)

West Coast Dealing School (not as sure that he's a PCFer , but he prefers the race-off method, as do I)
*You can probably safely start this video at 3:45 and catch everything important

 

[cpac54]

I imagine there's a chance you've seen these, but these are by far the two best videos on the topic in my opinion.

From @Chris Manzoni ( PCFer !, he prefers the round up method)

West Coast Dealing School (not as sure that he's a PCFer , but he prefers the race-off method, as do I)
*You can probably safely start this video at 3:45 and catch everything important

I've watched the first video a few times now. It's great. Haven't seen the second one yet - thanks!

 

[JP1984]

With your set, I recommend the following for T50k:
View attachment 1259267

For color-up, you have plenty of chips. Reminder to ask chip leader at each table to buy the smaller chips being colored-up at their table to save the host time. After the chip leaders buy the majority of chips being colored up (i.e., those not being rounded-up), ask the players to have nice little stacks in front of them that round up to T1k or T500 so you can quickly drop a chip and pull off the extras. You should only spend appreciable time with the chip leader at each table (unless you really want to race instead of round chips at color-up).

When coloring later, start with the big stacks and exchange 5xT5k chips for a couple T25k and you will have plenty (i.e., as you are just n=9 chips short of max T5k target). Recommend saving T25k for players who rebuy and the final color-up. It makes those chips more special. With 12/12/X starting point, you have lots of chips, so avoid adding lower denom chips that are removed later.

For structure, I'd add a few levels between some of your larger blind increases (i.e., SB 2k to 8k) to avoid a rushed feel to the late tourney. I'd also slightly accelerate the lower level timing in exchange for more time at the higher levels where decisions need more time.

Have fun, and post lots of pics!

View attachment 1259272

@Tommy anything us "Dark Mode" users can do to make the above table more visible?

 

[Tommy]

@Tommy anything us "Dark Mode" users can do to make the above table more visible?

I tweaked some code for the post editor tables. The some of the other tables that are posted are images which are out of my control.

 

[Jeevansluck]

T25-base, T40k stacks (12/12/5/11/5) with 50/100 opening blinds (400bb).

The structure below features moderate blind increases between 33% and 50%, averaging ~41%. For two tables (11-20 players), it will typically run no longer than the times listed below (including four breaks totalling 1:40):

7:40 to 8:00 using 20-minute levels
7:00to 7:15 using 18-minute levels
6:10 to 6:25 using 15-minute levels

With a 2:30 p.m. start, the event should end no later than 10:30 p.m. if using 20-minute levels. That's roughly 3.5 hours of play (plus breaks) prior to a 6:30 pm dinner break, and up to 3 hours of play (plus break) afterwards.

lvl sb bb
L1 50 100
L2 75 150
L3 100 200
L4 150 300
~ 15 min break ~ (remove T25 chips)
L5 200 400
L6 300 600
L7 400 800
~ 10 min break ~
L8 600 1200
L9 800 1600
L10 1100 2200
L11 1500 3000
~ 60 min dinner break ~ (remove T100/500 chips)
L12 2000 4000
L13 3000 6000
L14 4000 8000
L15 6000 12000
L16 8000 16000
~ 15 min break ~ (remove T1000 chips)
L17 10000 20000
L18 15000 30000 *eot (11-15 players)
L19 20000 40000 *eot (16-20 players)
L20 30000 60000

Use T5000s for the T25, T100, and T500 color-ups, and use T25k chips for T1000 color-ups.*

T25-base chip set (20 players):
240 x T25
240 x T100
100 x T500
220 x T1000
117 x T5000 (17x for color-ups)
9 x T25000 *

* You can also color-up the T1000 chips using an additional 44x T5000s in lieu of using the T25k chips.

I ran this exact structure yesterday for my home game.

It ran amazing, in my opinion. With the breaks, game ran for 7 hrs. We had pizza and such, and the breaks went longer than anticipated and still tournament finished at what I’d call, a decent time.

I just wanted to point out, there was grumbling from a few experienced players, in particular, with the 800/1600 to 1500/3000 transition. I didn’t know how to handle the comments, as I’m still relatively a learner at hosting. I’m enthusiastic and I love to learn, but I’m still inexperienced on things around blind structure, level increase increment etc etc.

I merely stated these structures are tested and true by other club directors and we continued on. I guess I was curious if others have used this structure mentioned?

Personally, I loved it. Game finishes at a good time. Structure forced the issue in late stages and allowed for friendly play on first 10 levels. I gave 40K starting stack, with 4K bonus, for early arrival.

 

[BGinGA]

I ran this exact structure yesterday for my home game.

It ran amazing, in my opinion. With the breaks, game ran for 7 hrs. We had pizza and such, and the breaks went longer than anticipated and still tournament finished at what I’d call, a decent time.

I just wanted to point out, there was grumbling from a few experienced players, in particular, with the 800/1600 to 1500/3000 transition. I didn’t know how to handle the comments, as I’m still relatively a learner at hosting. I’m enthusiastic and I love to learn, but I’m still inexperienced on things around blind structure, level increase increment etc etc.

I merely stated these structures are tested and true by other club directors and we continued on. I guess I was curious if others have used this structure mentioned?

Personally, I loved it. Game finishes at a good time. Structure forced the issue in late stages and allowed for friendly play on first 10 levels. I gave 40K starting stack, with 4K bonus, for early arrival.

re: blind level amounts

The transition increases from 800/1600 to 1100/2200 to 1500/3000 all fall within a narrow range of 33% to 50%. Using a 'more common' value (like 1000/2000 instead of 1100/2200) breaks up that consistency, creating a random low increase of only 25% in what is otherwise a very consistent progression of blind increases.

Similar situation applies at 10x blinds (11k/22k vs 10k/20k).

 

[Preditor]

re: blind level amounts

The transition increases from 800/1600 to 1100/2200 to 1500/3000 all fall within a narrow range of 33% to 50%. Using a 'more common' value (like 1000/2000 instead of 1100/2200) breaks up that consistency, creating a random low increase of only 25% in what is otherwise a very consistent progression of blind increases.

Similar situation applies at 10x blinds (11k/22k vs 10k/20k).

Love BGinGA's blind structure recs, and I removed my 500/1K level in favor of a 600/1200 level for consistent blind increases.

However, I still keep the jump from 800/1600 to 1K/2K.

Yes, it is a 25% increase when everything else is a (beautifully consistent) 33% or 50%.

But that blind level - for me - also happens coming back from a break. And it just makes sense to get to 1K/2K to colorup the T100 chips. Small sacrifice to pay, IMO.

 

[Rodog123]

One thing I may offer if you find tourneys running over your time limit, you may want to include a $1000-$5,000 'Antes' to the final 3-5 rounds. This helps force the action vs. large stacks sitting on their chips. I found this saved some time in longer tournaments.

Also don't shy away from bounties. Fairly easy to manage. We pay $10 for each person a player knocks out. Its fun, plus you get to incorporate bounty chips!