Points system for 10-man poker league (1 Viewer)

Randy

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EDIT - Ahh dammit I was in the wrong subforum. No wonder I couldn't find the thread I was looking for. Sorry mods, please move.

I've been researching a bit for a points system to do a league for my monthly home game in 2015. Below is what I have so far but if anyone could point out any pitfalls or improvements then I'm all ears! There's a core group of about 7 and a few others who don't come as often, so there might be 12-15 in the league (kinda) but each night is capped at 10 players until I build my second table.

I put Dr. Neau's formula into a spreadsheet to play with some examples and it seemed that rebuys influenced the points too heavily. I was going to play around with the formula but decided to keep looking and found that the linear points system seemed to work pretty well.

So it's 1 point for first eliminated, 2 points for second eliminated etc. (I know that this is less favourable when I move to two tables so I will also consider adjustments to be made when this occurs.) Bonus points of 5/3/1 for 1st/2nd/3rd and a bonus bounty point on the head of last month's champion. So in a 10-man tourney, the outcome would be 15/12/9/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 with a random bonus point in there somewhere. A 6-man (unlikely) would be 11/8/5/3/2/1.

It's a really social game so it's more for fun than anything, but I'd still like it to be fair. I've never been in a league before and experience is probably the key. I threw in the bounty bonus point because I think that's the type of thing the players will like. I'd probably throw in another quirky bonus point somewhere too if I could think of something cool, so I don't know why I'm asking for advice when I'm ready to corrupt the whole thing with bonus points... anyway... all suggestions welcome!

Oh and I'm thinking that the points will determine the starting stacks in the final tourney with the money collected throughout the year juicing the prizepool... or half paid out to league placings first? Probably the latter is a bit fairer.
 
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I like the idea of the points determining starting stacks at the final table. Too many times if you run a points league the ones bringing up the rear will quit playing and that is no fun at all.
 
I would not play in a league where the points determined starting stacks. If Iv'e done poorly, then I start the final game with fewer chips? Why would I ever buy into a tournament where I know everybody else gets more chips for the same amount of money?

This kind of topic has been battered around quite a bit over the years. Hosts (myself included) like to bump their games up a notch and create leagues and point systems, but the more times than not, players are coming to your house for a fun game and to hang out with friends. Is it your intent to change that demographic by punishing the worst (and probably most social) of the players?

Our league runs a point system, but the winner only gets an embroidered shirt. Actually, they get the embroidery for free - the winner has to supply the shirt. Winning is really little more than bragging rights for a year. The game remains friendly, because there isn't a lot at stake. If you can only make 2 events a year, you still get just as many chips as the guy that made every event.
 
I would not play in a league where the points determined starting stacks. If Iv'e done poorly, then I start the final game with fewer chips? Why would I ever buy into a tournament where I know everybody else gets more chips for the same amount of money?

This kind of topic has been battered around quite a bit over the years. Hosts (myself included) like to bump their games up a notch and create leagues and point systems, but the more times than not, players are coming to your house for a fun game and to hang out with friends. Is it your intent to change that demographic by punishing the worst (and probably most social) of the players?

Our league runs a point system, but the winner only gets an embroidered shirt. Actually, they get the embroidery for free - the winner has to supply the shirt. Winning is really little more than bragging rights for a year. The game remains friendly, because there isn't a lot at stake. If you can only make 2 events a year, you still get just as many chips as the guy that made every event.

My league uses a staggered final table, but you don't buy into it. It's funded from the league entry fee.
 
I would not play in a league where the points determined starting stacks. If Iv'e done poorly, then I start the final game with fewer chips? Why would I ever buy into a tournament where I know everybody else gets more chips for the same amount of money?

Makes total sense. I'll make it a freeroll. Thanks bud.

This kind of topic has been battered around quite a bit over the years. Hosts (myself included) like to bump their games up a notch and create leagues and point systems, but the more times than not, players are coming to your house for a fun game and to hang out with friends. Is it your intent to change that demographic by punishing the worst (and probably most social) of the players?

Yeah that's definitely why they're coming. If anyone was playing purely to make profit from our games then they have better ways to make some cash. Everyone was keen when the idea was first floated and I don't think creating a league will have any negative impact on the demographic. I'm trying my best to avoid punishing or even naming the worst players. I was thinking about sending everyone a separate results email showing the full league points table but only showing the names of the top 5 and the email recipient (if they're not in the top 5.) That way, everyone knows where they stand but nobody is being broadcast as a loser. They could work it out but I'm sure that nobody would actively seek to determine the big losers and just not having it broadcast would be enough to stop the "hey Joe I noticed you're dead last" stuff that might get trotted out (although I know none of my players would do that and I'm sure they'd get howled down by everyone else if they did.)

Our league runs a point system, but the winner only gets an embroidered shirt. Actually, they get the embroidery for free - the winner has to supply the shirt. Winning is really little more than bragging rights for a year. The game remains friendly, because there isn't a lot at stake. If you can only make 2 events a year, you still get just as many chips as the guy that made every event.

I probably want to avoid making the final tourney the main event of the evening so it doesn't dissuade the shorter stacks from coming (although I doubt it would.) Options I'm considering:
  • Run a normal tourney first, then run the championship tourney. Early bustos can play a cash game or deal or drink or whatever. We often play a tourney and then play a cash game until the wee hours so time wouldn't be an issue.
  • Make the staggering of the stacks very gentle.
  • Run it as a turbo (kinda defeats the purpose... ok that idea's out already haha.)
  • Forget the tourney and buy a little trophy to get engraved based on points only.

I'm leaning towards the fourth point now. You'd hate to play well all year, get the big stack and then get coolered twice and bust the championship tourney first. I mentioned the staggered stack tourney to a couple of guys today at work and they thought it was a brilliant idea, but what I might do is get everyone together during the first game and lay out my concerns and have a quick poll. I definitely can't have the league points winner go home empty handed thanks to variance, but if they're keen for the tourney I'll just make sure it's a side thing, maybe an opportunity for everyone else to steal a bit of the winner's purse unless he can defend it with his big stack. But definitely a trophy.

OK that was a fair bit of thinking on the run... Mr Zombie your advice has been invaluable and saved me a lot of headaches mid-year when I realised that I hadn't organised it well enough. Thank you very much.
 
One of the leagues I organize (I run several) awards points to the top performers in each of nine two-table tournaments (typically the top third of the field size get points, approximately 50%/30%/15%/5% of total awarded points, which are based on actual field size). The top six players in the point standings at the end of the season qualify for the Championship Tournament, which is a free-roll funded by money withheld from each of the nine tournaments. We start our 13th season (ten years running) in January.

The Championship Tournament seats eight players, and the final two spots are filled by the top two finishers of the Last Chance Tournament, which is open to any player who scored points during the regular season. The Championship Tournament starting stack sizes are based on season points scored, # of wins, bounty chips earned, and tournament appearances, with deductions for re-buys. There is a minimum number of starting chips awarded, which is equal to 100BB (rarely is anybody's stack this small). Nobody starts the Championship short-stacked (relative to the blinds), and in twelve seasons, the starting chip leader has NEVER won the event.

Awarding points to top finishers only at each event rewards performance, not attendance. With only nine events, several players can typically still make the top six by finishing 1st or 2nd at the last event of the season. And for those that don't, the Last Chance Tournament offers a chance for two additional players to play in the Championship. The Championship field is very rarely set until event #9 and the LCT have been completed, and nobody is mathematically eliminated from participating until that time. We also hold two special events each year: a super-deep-stack event with larger entry fee, and an invitation-only Tournament of Champions (for players who have won a Regular Season or Championship Tournament title).

This particular series typically draws the better players in our player pool. Some of the other leagues I run are geared more towards newer and/or less-serious players, and have scoring systems, buy-ins, and awards/playoffs that appeal to that audience. However, all of them use a rotating-host philosophy with paid dealers, and all are considered fun, entertaining, and highly-competitive home games. We have a large number of couples that play.
 
During one year we play like this:

100/#players*#players you bet

let's say you get 2nd and 8 man took part 100/8*6 = 75 Points. The winner get 100/8*7= 87.50 Points

We played 10 games / year and the 8 best results count.
 

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