Tourney Tried and true structures that work (1 Viewer)

[Jaxen]

I'm new-ish here, and while lining up a set of Tinas to get in a few weeks after buying some Broken Arrow cards and dealer buttons on the group buy (that escalated quickly!), I've noticed some post for advice about how to better run games. Now I know no one asked for my 2 cents, thought I'd share a couple of our tried and true tourney blind structures. We have 14-20 runners, and these have served us well and last 4-5 hours. So I thought I'd share.
Keep in mind we use a T5 (red) chip, that's how my main set came. For a T25 set you can always multiply by 5.

The first is a T2000 we use for the first event of the year. It's a little quick, but that first event often has a few new players so we want to show them what it's like, but move through it a little quicker. Re-entries allowed the first segment. This lasts 4-4:30:
20 minute levels:
5/10, 10/20, 20/40, 30/60, break, color up red T5
50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, break, color up green T25
20, then 15 minutes at Level 9:
200/400, 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, 800/1500, break, color up black T100 (generally ends in this segment)
1000/2000, 1500/3000, 2000/4000, 3000/6000, 4000/8000
For our annual Danny Devito Classic (6-max short handed tables) we add a 40-80 level.

The next is for our Benny Binion Heritage Classic, also T2000 and a throw-back to how the Main Event used to be like 20 years ago. I originally thought "We'll just lop a zero off everything!" But then you get 12 minute levels. Uh, no. We experimented with 15 and have landed at 18/16/15. Yes, it has antes. No we don't use BBA. Oddly enough most in our group aren't fans, me included. Roughly the 4 and 8 or 9 seats collect their ends of the table. This freezeout tourney takes 5-5:15:
18 minute levels:
5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 20/40-5, break midway thru Level 5
16 minutes:
30/60-5, 40/80-10, 50/100-10, 60/120-15, break, color up red T5
75/150-25, 100/200-25, (15 min) 125/250-25, 150/300-50, 200/400-50, 250/500-50, break, color up green T25
300/600-100, 400/800-100, 500/1000-100, 600/1200-200, 800/1600-200, 1000/2000-300 (generally ends early in this segment)

Next month I'll be trying something new inspired by one of the T25,000 events at the current WSOP, so this is a T2500 with 15 minute levels throughout:
5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50, break
30/60-5, 40/80-10, 50/100-10, 60/120-15, 75/150-15, break, color up red T5
100/200-25, 125/250-25, 150/300-50, 200/400-50, 250/500-50, break color up green T25
300/600-100, 400/800-100, 500/1000-100, etc.

Hope these help and I welcome any thoughts.

 

[BGinGA]

Ditch the T5s and start with 50/100 blinds. All blind level increases are consistent at 33% to 50%.

T25-base:
L1 50 100
L2 75 150
L3 100 200
L4 150 300
L5 200 400
L6 300 600
L7 400 800
L8 600 1200
L9 800 1600
L10 1100 2200
repeat L4-L10, adding a zero to all values

T100-base:
Start with L5.

Depending on what type of event you wish to run (turbo to deep-stsck), the starting stacks can range from 5k to 30k (50bb to 300bb) for T25-base and 20k to 120k for T100-base).

For example, using 200bb stacks (T20k for T25-base) and 20-minute blind levels creates an event that lasts between 5 hours (10 players) and 6 hours (20 players). Decreasing the stacks size to 100bb (10k) or decreasing the blind level times to 15-minutes will slice off about an hour.

 

[slickrick]

Ditch the T5s and start with 50/100 blinds. All blind level increases are consistent at 33% to 50%.

T25-base:
L1 50 100
L2 75 150
L3 100 200
L4 150 300
L5 200 400
L6 300 600
L7 400 800
L8 600 1200
L9 800 1600
L10 1100 2200
repeat L4-L10, adding a zero to all values

T100-base:
Start with L5.

Depending on what type of event you wish to run (turbo to deep-stsck), the starting stacks can range from 5k to 30k (50bb to 300bb) for T25-base and 20k to 120k for T100-base).

For example, using 200bb stacks (T20k for T25-base) and 20-minute blind levels creates an event that lasts between 5 hours (10 players) and 6 hours (20 players). Decreasing the stacks size to 100bb (10k) or decreasing the blind level times to 15-minutes will slice off about an hour.

I value your insight in this community, and want to follow your recommendation being new to the scene

I'm thinking about getting a new tournament set. I'm planning on hosting 2-3 table tournaments. I'm looking for advice for how many chips + denoms to purchase, and what starting stacks make sense.

Lowest denom: T100 likely...getting a set of Dia de los Muertos and I like the patterns of the 100/500/1000/5000
Starting stacks: 100bb most of the time..potentially 150bb
I try to allow unlimited rebuys until first color up, targeting ~2 hours of play
16-24 players

I see advice all over the place on this forum so can't really make up my mind.

I prefer having more chips on the table, but not too many - >35-ish per person.

Lastly, with your structures, when do you color up for T100? Not until L11 for 1500/3000?

 

[BKisback]

10-8-10-x or 15-7-10-x are both good for T100 base tourneys. If you need fewer chips, do 10-6-6-x to start.

 

[BKisback]

Personally I color up T100s after the 800/1600 level. I do 1k/2k then 1500/3000 (no 1200/2400).

 

[slickrick]

Thanks! How do you decide how many total chips to buy to cover rebuys? If I am coloring up and stopping rebuys at 1k/2k, how to decide how many 100/500/1000/5000?

 

[BKisback]

Plan for max players. If you think up to 24, go up to 27 just in case. Estimate rebuys - if everyone did once (which seems like a lot), you would need that many 5k chips times 27. If I were doing rebuys, I would probably start with stacks of 20k. That would mean 1-2 in the starting stack and 4 for a rebuy, so 6*27=162 total. Your set could be 300/240/300/160.

 

[JustinInMN]

I have pretty much settled on this for any base

Multiply each denom by these numbers generally with specific instructions for how to handle each "gap" between the smallest denim and the next.

2-4, 3-6, 4-8, 6-12, 8-16.

If you have a 5x gap, then play all of these level for the loweer chip and then restart with 2-4 times the next chip in play.

If you have a 4x gap, then instead of 8-16, you go to 2-4 of the next chip in play.

If you have a 2x gap, then instead of 4-8, you go to 2-4 of the next chip in play.

Optional 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 levels times the lowest chip in play to start.

If you want to go deeper before each color up, you could follow this pattern instead with the same principles for the different denom gaps.

3-6, 4-8, 6-12, 8-16, 10-20, 12-24 (then reset to 3-6 of the next chip in play.)

But these patterns always give you steady progressions in perpetuity to generate a good blind schedule for any base.

(Note, realizing its been over 7 years since I first posted this idea:

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/how-to-create-a-tournament-structure.32785/post-601404
)

 

[ekricket]

I have pretty much settled on this for any base

Multiply each denom by these numbers generally with specific instructions for how to handle each "gap" between the smallest denim and the next.

2-4, 3-6, 4-8, 6-12, 8-16.

If you have a 5x gap, then play all of these level for the loweer chip and then restart with 2-4 times the next chip in play.

If you have a 4x gap, then instead of 8-16, you go to 2-4 of the next chip in play.

If you have a 2x gap, then instead of 4-8, you go to 2-4 of the next chip in play.

Optional 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 levels times the lowest chip in play to start.

If you want to go deeper before each color up, you could follow this pattern instead with the same principles for the different denom gaps.

3-6, 4-8, 6-12, 8-16, 10-20, 12-24 (then reset to 3-6 of the next chip in play.)

But these patterns always give you steady progressions in perpetuity to generate a good blind schedule for any base.

(Note, realizing its been over 7 years since I first posted this idea:

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/how-to-create-a-tournament-structure.32785/post-601404
)

I have ran tournaments for 15+ yrs and I have no idea wtf you are saying here. I’m sure it’s good stuff and very relevant, but I just imagine a new guy that’s never ran a tournament reading that, lol.

Like you need a terms list and a glossary for that, lol

 

[ekricket]

Thanks! How do you decide how many total chips to buy to cover rebuys? If I am coloring up and stopping rebuys at 1k/2k, how to decide how many 100/500/1000/5000?

Play a game or two. Worst case is you can’t color up something, no big deal, it’s still in play. Determine your needs from personal experience.

 

[JustinInMN]

I have ran tournaments for 15+ yrs and I have no idea wtf you are saying here. I’m sure it’s good stuff and very relevant, but I just imagine a new guy that’s never ran a tournament reading that, lol.

Like you need a terms list and a glossary for that, lol

It's really that compliated to look at your denominations and multiply?

Maybe an example would help you?

T25 * (2-4) = 50-100
T25 * (3-6) = 75-150
T25 * (4-8) = 100-200
T25 * (6-12) = 150-300

(4x gap to next chip T100, so start over at 2-4)
T100 * (2-4) = 200-400
T100 * (3-6) = 300-600
etc...

 

[ekricket]

T25 * (2-4) = 50-100
T25 * (3-6) = 75-150
T25 * (4-8) = 100-200
T25 * (6-12) = 150-300

(4x gap to next chip T100, so start over at 2-4)
T100 * (2-4) = 200-400
T100 * (3-6) = 300-600

Here’s what a newb sees

T25 * (2-4) = some
T25 * (3-6) = a bit more
T25 * (4-8) = quite a bit
T25 * (6-12) = a lot

(4x gap to next chip T100, so start over at 2-4)
T100 * (2-4) = quite a few
T100 * (3-6) = wow, a whole bunch


Yay specific numbers!

 

[DeeVee8]

I've used WSOP blinds, starting 100-200-200. 15k for smaller tourneys, 30k for our larger buy-ins and 60k for the big'n. We have a large number of tight players, so the BBA moves the action along.