Alex Lundstrum
Two Pair
* Warning * - Ramblings of a bored math nerd below:
Everybody knows the pain of being in a tournament with a TERRIBLE blind schedule. Jumps of 2-3x followed by a 10% increase in blinds, etc. Everybody also knows the pain of a hand taking just a little bit too long, landing themselves with an increased big blind on the subsequent hand. Whilst pondering these two aspects of tournament poker, an idea occurred to me. What if the blinds continuously and smoothly increased throughout the duration of the tournament, with the cost of the blinds being determined by the exact amount of time that had elapsed in the tournament following an exponential curve, rather than step changes. This of course wouldn't be realistic in a live tournament, but could very easily be done with an online tournament.
Following the conclusion that infinitely small step changes in blinds is not realistic in a live tournament, I started to ponder whether the inverse of this idea could be utilized. Instead of steadily increasing blinds by infinitely small amounts, what if a typical blind schedule was followed, except for that the length of each level would be directly correlated to the size of the upcoming increase to the blind - large jumps in the blinds would be preceded by longer levels, while smaller jumps would be preceded by shorter levels. This, unlike the original thought, could very easily be managed using a tournament manager software. Some mathematical wizardry involving logarithms and the like plop out an equation for the generation of the "Mathematically Pleasing Blind Schedule."
Time..........Small Blind.........Big Blind.........Level Length
0:00..........................50...........................100..........................0:24:22
0:24..........................75...........................150..........................0:17:17
0:41.......................100...........................200..........................0:24:22
1:06.......................150...........................300..........................0:17:17
1:23.......................200...........................400..........................0:24:22
1:47.......................300...........................600..........................0:17:17
2:04.......................400...........................800..........................0:24:22
2:29.......................600........................1200..........................0:17:17
2:46.......................800........................1600..........................0:13:24
3:00....................1000........................2000..........................0:24:22
3:24....................1500........................3000..........................0:17:17
3:41....................2000........................4000..........................0:24:22
4:06....................3000........................6000..........................0:17:17
4:23....................4000........................8000..........................0:24:22
4:47....................6000.....................12000..........................0:17:17
5:04....................8000.....................16000..........................0:13:24
5:18..................10000....................20000..........................0:24:22
5:42..................15000....................30000..........................0:17:17
6:00..................20000....................40000..........................0:24:22
6:24..................30000....................60000..........................0:17:17
6:41..................40000....................80000..........................0:24:22
7:06..................60000.................120000..........................0:17:17
7:23..................80000.................160000..........................0:13:24
7:36................100000................200000..........................0:24:22
8:01................150000................300000..........................0:17:17
8:18................200000................400000..........................0:24:22
8:42................300000................600000..........................0:17:17
9:00................400000................800000
Thoughts, comments, concerns? I think it would be really interesting to see what effect the first idea would have on online poker tournaments - would eliminating the step-change in blinds greatly affect how people play? Also extremely tempted to try the second idea with a home-game tournament. Other than being needlessly confusing and pedantic, I don't think it would really affect gameplay. Anyone brave enough to introduce this to their group?
Everybody knows the pain of being in a tournament with a TERRIBLE blind schedule. Jumps of 2-3x followed by a 10% increase in blinds, etc. Everybody also knows the pain of a hand taking just a little bit too long, landing themselves with an increased big blind on the subsequent hand. Whilst pondering these two aspects of tournament poker, an idea occurred to me. What if the blinds continuously and smoothly increased throughout the duration of the tournament, with the cost of the blinds being determined by the exact amount of time that had elapsed in the tournament following an exponential curve, rather than step changes. This of course wouldn't be realistic in a live tournament, but could very easily be done with an online tournament.
Following the conclusion that infinitely small step changes in blinds is not realistic in a live tournament, I started to ponder whether the inverse of this idea could be utilized. Instead of steadily increasing blinds by infinitely small amounts, what if a typical blind schedule was followed, except for that the length of each level would be directly correlated to the size of the upcoming increase to the blind - large jumps in the blinds would be preceded by longer levels, while smaller jumps would be preceded by shorter levels. This, unlike the original thought, could very easily be managed using a tournament manager software. Some mathematical wizardry involving logarithms and the like plop out an equation for the generation of the "Mathematically Pleasing Blind Schedule."
Time..........Small Blind.........Big Blind.........Level Length
0:00..........................50...........................100..........................0:24:22
0:24..........................75...........................150..........................0:17:17
0:41.......................100...........................200..........................0:24:22
1:06.......................150...........................300..........................0:17:17
1:23.......................200...........................400..........................0:24:22
1:47.......................300...........................600..........................0:17:17
2:04.......................400...........................800..........................0:24:22
2:29.......................600........................1200..........................0:17:17
2:46.......................800........................1600..........................0:13:24
3:00....................1000........................2000..........................0:24:22
3:24....................1500........................3000..........................0:17:17
3:41....................2000........................4000..........................0:24:22
4:06....................3000........................6000..........................0:17:17
4:23....................4000........................8000..........................0:24:22
4:47....................6000.....................12000..........................0:17:17
5:04....................8000.....................16000..........................0:13:24
5:18..................10000....................20000..........................0:24:22
5:42..................15000....................30000..........................0:17:17
6:00..................20000....................40000..........................0:24:22
6:24..................30000....................60000..........................0:17:17
6:41..................40000....................80000..........................0:24:22
7:06..................60000.................120000..........................0:17:17
7:23..................80000.................160000..........................0:13:24
7:36................100000................200000..........................0:24:22
8:01................150000................300000..........................0:17:17
8:18................200000................400000..........................0:24:22
8:42................300000................600000..........................0:17:17
9:00................400000................800000
Thoughts, comments, concerns? I think it would be really interesting to see what effect the first idea would have on online poker tournaments - would eliminating the step-change in blinds greatly affect how people play? Also extremely tempted to try the second idea with a home-game tournament. Other than being needlessly confusing and pedantic, I don't think it would really affect gameplay. Anyone brave enough to introduce this to their group?