Tourney Single-table 10k Structure - look good? (1 Viewer)

[dmoney]

Thanks to posts from @BGinGA and many others, this is the structure I came up with for an 8-10 player tourney with 10k starting stacks. I went with a 12-17-6-5 breakdown for starting stacks to get more chips on the table. Breaks (10 minutes) are taken after Levels 6 and 12 to color up 25s and 100s. The tournament is expected to end around Level 16 (5:40). The blinds will freeze at Level 20.

Level	Small Blind	Big Blind	Length
1	25	25	20
2	25	50	20
3	25	75	20
4	50	100	20
5	75	150	20
6	125	250	20
7	200	400	20
8	300	600	20
9	400	800	20
10	600	1,200	20
11	800	1,600	20
12	1,000	2,000	20
13	1,500	3,000	20
14	2,000	4,000	20
15	2,500	5,000	20
16	3,000	6,000	20
17	4,000	8,000	20
18	6,000	12,000	20
19	7,000	14,000	20
20	10,000	20,000	20

 

[BGinGA]

Eliminating 25/25, replacing 125/250 with 100/200, and adding 150/300 is a much more consistent approach for the opening seven levels -- it keeps all blind increases at either 33% or 50% (averaging 42% through L7), vs your increases of 50%-33%-50%-50%-67%-60%-50% (averaging 52% through L7). The T25 chips are still removed after L6.

Replacing 1000/2000 with 1200/2400 in L12 is also more consistent, maintaining 33%/50% blind increases through L12 prior to lessening the increases (20% to 33%) from L13 forward to completion. The T100 chips are still removed after L12.

With 10 players x 10,000 stacks, the event will typically finish no later than L15 (20BB total in play), or around 5:20 with breaks. And although you will very rarely (if ever) go past L20 with 10 players and 10K stacks (it would typically require 20 players with 20K stacks or equivalent), you should never plan to freeze blinds at a specific level -- it applies no increasing pressure over time to actually finish an event.

Much better to add additional levels for use if ever needed, and create them with relative consistency:

• add 5000/10000
• replace 7000/14000 with 8000/16000
• add 12000/24000, 15000/30000, 20000/40000, 25000/50000, 30000/60000, 40000/80000, and 50000/100000 levels

 

[dmoney]

And here I was thinking I had it all worked out. Out of curiosity, how did you develop such a skill in evaluating/creating solid structures to fit exact parameters? Experience? Specific resources? Is there a formula or process you follow?

Changes updated below. Thanks, @BGinGA!

Level	Small Blind	Big Blind	Length
1	25	50	20
2	25	75	20
3	50	100	20
4	75	150	20
5	100	200	20
6	150	300	20
7	200	400	20
8	300	600	20
9	400	800	20
10	600	1,200	20
11	800	1,600	20
12	1,200	2,400	20
13	1,500	3,000	20
14	2,000	4,000	20
15	2,500	5,000	20
16	3,000	6,000	20
17	4,000	8,000	20
18	6,000	12,000	20
19	8,000	16,000	20
20	12,000	24,000	20
21	15,000	30,000	20
22	20,000	40,000	20
23	25,000	50,000	20
24	30,000	60,000	20
25	40,000	80,000	20
26	50,000	100,000	20

 

[BGinGA]

You want to retain that L20 10000/20000 level, since increases are no longer 50% in the later stages. Otherwise looks good.

 

[Al Azouri]

And here I was thinking I had it all worked out. Out of curiosity, how did you develop such a skill in evaluating/creating solid structures to fit exact parameters? Experience? Specific resources? Is there a formula or process you follow?

Changes updated below. Thanks, @BGinGA!

​

Level	Small Blind	Big Blind	Length
1	25	50	20
2	25	75	20
3	50	100	20
4	75	150	20
5	100	200	20
6	150	300	20
7	200	400	20
8	300	600	20
9	400	800	20
10	600	1,200	20
11	800	1,600	20
12	1,200	2,400	20
13	1,500	3,000	20
14	2,000	4,000	20
15	2,500	5,000	20
16	3,000	6,000	20
17	4,000	8,000	20
18	6,000	12,000	20
19	8,000	16,000	20
20	12,000	24,000	20
21	15,000	30,000	20
22	20,000	40,000	20
23	25,000	50,000	20
24	30,000	60,000	20
25	40,000	80,000	20
26	50,000	100,000	20

I've been doing a lot of these (planing structures for all sorts of tournament). Here is how I go about it.

1. I like to go with a 2,3,4,6 progression. What this means is you start with your smallest chip and apply that progression as a multiplier for the small blind. For example: Say to start with a T25 chip, then you firs four small blinds are as follows:​

2 x T25 = 50​

3 x T25 = 75​

4 x T25 = 100​

6 x T25 = 150​

​

or​

​

50/100​

75/150​

100/200​

150/300​

​

then you move on to you next highest denomination chip:​

​

2 x T100 = 200​

3 x T100 = 300​

4 x T100 = 400​

6 x T100 = 600​

​

or​

​

200/400​

300/600​

400/800​

600/1200​

​

2. Next, I like to use the 20 Big Blind rule to determine at which level the tournament will likely end. The rule says that the tournament is most likely to end when there are 20 big blinds in play. For your tournament, using the structure I described, that would be when the Big Blind is 5,000, which would be between levels 11 and 12.​

​

3. Lastly now that you have an idea of what level you need to be at for your tournament to end. you can adjust the duration of the levels so that your tournament goes as long as you want it to.​

 

[dmoney]

This is great - thank you!

 

[Steve Birrer]

It all depends on your goals. Now that said I am like dmoney. The initial structure is way to slow for me for the first 4 levels. I much prefer going 25/50, 50/100, 75/150 then 100/200.

Second I have started using antes in my home game. And the players like it and its been really good so far. Makes it more like a casino tournament for those that like to do that it gives them some playing experience with antes. And I do the way most are now in that the BB antes for the table. So when we get to Antes in my game its at the 100/200 level the BB posts 200 for his BB and 200 for the ante for the table.

At the end its all about what you and your players like. Just keep tweaking things till you find the sweet spot for your game. And I like 10K starting stacks. We messed around a bit and this summer honed in on 10K stacks wtih a structure that takes 4 to 4 1/2 hours to finish. And we allow rebuys for the first 6 levels.

 

[dmoney]

How would BB antes impact the structure of a single table tourney? Would you need to change the levels, or would they stay the same and the tourney would just end sooner and be a little shallower?

 

[Al Azouri]

How would BB antes impact the structure of a single table tourney? Would you need to change the levels, or would they stay the same and the tourney would just end sooner and be a little shallower?

Just add the antes to the big blind when you’re applying to 20 Big Blind rule. You’ll have to estimate how many players you think you’ll have at that final level. I’d go with 3.

 

[Steve Birrer]

How would BB antes impact the structure of a single table tourney? Would you need to change the levels, or would they stay the same and the tourney would just end sooner and be a little shallower?

I find this site very helpful in determining a blind structure. You can factor in starting stack size, # players, rebuys/add ons, and antes.

https://pokersoup.com/tool/blindStructureCalculator

 

[Darson]

Personally, I prefer 12/17/4/6 starting stacks because the 500s are a pretty moot chip after Lvl 12 and I like to have more 1ks on the table. If someone needs one for a small blind then it's easy to make change with 2x 500s for 1x 1k.

 

[Forever to Thee]

Very helpful. Thanks.