Tourney Would you rather (2 Viewers)

[Santa123]

Hello,

I would like to know your opinion on which format you would rather play at a single table hometourney and why.

#1 This format is the most familiar to me. You start deep. Short blind levels. Smooth increase of the blinds.

10k Starting Stack, 20 Minute Blinds

Tourney ends after 5h, Level 15 approximately

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#2 I have never played this format before. You start mid-stacked with 50BB right away. The blind level has a moderate length of 30 minutes. Smooth increase of the blinds.

2.5k Starting Stack, 30 Minute Blinds

Tourney ends after 5h, Level 10 approximately

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#3 This format reminds me of a turbo in terms of the blind increases. However, it has the longest blind levels with 40 minutes. As #1 you start with 200BB.

10k Starting Stack, 40 Minute Blinds

Tourney ends after 5h, Level 8 approximately

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[upNdown]

I answered 1, but I really like 2; maybe I should change my answer. I’ve never seen a format like that, but it makes so much sense. Tournament players spend most of their lives playing 30-50 big blind stacks, so why not just start there, and have a nice, gradual progression of blinds?
I think the answer is that people are drawn in by large starting stacks because they think they’re getting more bang for their buck. But I’d prefer longer levels.

 

[JustinInMN]

1 > 2 >>>>>>>> 3 for me.

Option 1 is a strong preference, but option 2 is not as bad as people think, it's just starting at a "mid-game" sort of depth but everyone still starts off equally. It probably makes for shorter tournaments, but somewhat mitigated by doing longer blinds. (and I think this is a lot of @upNdown 's point.)

So there's a place for that as well.

Doubling blinds is lazy and so old school and akin to unappealing turbos. Even if you go double length on the blinds.

 

[HiveKueen]

I strongly prefer structures that reduce luck as much as possible. turbos have way too much luck for me.

The Wednesday tourney at Casino Niagara starts with 20 minute blind levels for the first 6 levels and then switches to 30 minute levels. smooth increases. If you make it to the 30 minute blind levels this is a really fund event. This structure is posted here
https://casinoniagara.com/content/dam/niagara/PDF/poker/Wednesday_$275-Structure-Sheet.pdf


In my home league that I run, I start out turbo (10 min) while stacks are deep but then, mid tournament, have 4 blind levels that last 25 minutes when average stack is ~25bb. then, to keep the game in the 5 hour window, when the stacks are short (<15 BB) we go back to turbo.

My structure is posted here https://holdemhive.com/HEHBlindStructure.html

A long winded way of saying I'd have chosen "none of the above" if it had been an option in the poll!