Home Tournament Structure

[Cleveland Guy]

I am planning my first Home Tournament - 24 People. I think I've worked out what looks like a good sturcure

$20 Buy in (includes fee for Pizza, Beer, etc)

24 People (3 tables of 8)

t2500 Buy in - NO rebuys or add ons

Top 4 Pay - 45%, 30%, 15%, 10%

Blind Structure

25-50
50-100
75-150
100-200
200-400
300-600
500-100
800-1600
1000-2000

I'm thinking 4 hours or so for the tourney. Does this seem like the right about of chips/blinds?

How long should each round last 20 or 30 minutes?

Also - I'm gonna have the players deal, and will have 2 decks moving around the table, so the next player can start shuffling ahead of time.

Thoughts? questions?

[Drac]

I'd say 20 minute rounds with that structure will get you closer to 4 hours total time. Two decks is a must from my previous experience. It adds a lot of hands. Also, I use a dedicated dealer (also plays) which I feel increases the number of hands. Players on either side take turns shuffling the other deck so he doesn't have to hassle with that element.

[GoblinMason (Craig)]

Have you checked out HomePokerTourney.com (http://www.homepokertourney.com)? They give examples of blind structures and how long they will make your tournaments last. They also have various other helpful hints for home tourneys.

-Craig

[2planka]

I like that structure. I agree that 20 minute levels should do the trick. The starting chip amount should compensate for the high blinds after the first hour. Four hours should do it.

Two decks is a must, and I really like the suggestion of a dedicated dealer-player. If you don't have dealer buttons you can always improvise.

I like the 50%-25%-15%-10% payout structure (more of a reward for 1st), but your payouts are in line with most internet payouts for SNG's.

One suggestion is to implement a Hand for Hand rule when you get shorthanded. This limits sandbagging.

A fun thing: I offer a bounty on myself for tourneys I host. It's small ($10 action) so I get a handful of takers. Ensures I get lots of action on my all-in's.

Post back here with how it works. Always looking for ideas.

[Cleveland Guy]

Thanks for the feedback -

How does the bounty work? Do just you put up money? or do they also have to put the money up?

Also - part of why I am doing the high blinds is I only have 3 colors of chips so I'm going

25
100
500

for my chips.

Also - I'm having 8 people per table. so would you go hand for hand the whole time? or wait till it gets down to like the final 12?

[2planka]

I don't charge vigorish in my game, so anyone who wants to participate in the bounty side bet pays into the bounty pool. Whoever knocks me out gets the bounty. If I don't get knocked out, the bounty is mine. If I get knocked out by someone who didn't participate in the bounty, then the bounty money goes to the last bounty participant remaining in the tourney. Not sure if this is the best way to do it but it makes for some fun table banter.

I only run two table tourneys, so everyone has a fair shot at busting me.

If you go hand for hand throughout you'll be playing all night. You can pick a level or, as you suggest, a number of remaining players to start hand for hand play. It's up to you.

Also depends if and how you move players to consolidate tables. A five handed table will see more hands per level (and more blinds) than an eight handed table. The point of hand for hand play is to reduce the advantage to the players at the full table as much as possible and to eliminate intentional slow playing. I try to keep my tables balanced (move players into the big blind) but at some point hand for hand is the best alternative. Just a thought. I've been on both sides. It stinks waiting around for a hand and it also stinks posting twice the blinds as player on another table.

Basically, try different things out and see what you and your players like and dislike.

[Magic Rat]

At my regular game, each player has his own deck. It really works well and speeds up the game.

[Bulldog]

[ QUOTE ]


Also - part of why I am doing the high blinds is I only have 3 colors of chips so I'm going

25
100
500

for my chips.



[/ QUOTE ]

Add one more level at the beginning: 25/25 blinds.

[Kdowski]

I do something similar as far a total chips and blinds, but we start 1st 2 rounds 1 hour, next 2 30 min, and rest 15 min. With about 25-30 people usually lasts 4-4 1/2 hrs.
Another suggestion is to keep the prize money as prize money and collect a dollar or 2 extra for the beer and pizza funds. It will make the payouts much larger and worth playing for.
3rd suggestion is not to have 2 decks on each table, especially if they are the same design, could cause mix up problems, when had something happen to my 1st game and we dropped the idea.
Have fun

[Lottery Larry]

Why not go $20 + $3?

Here's my prize pool setup for $20 entry- pays 6 places out of 24:

$175
$110
$75
$55
$40
$25

20 minute rounds, your 2500 stack should be good for 3 hours or so. 30 minutes might be better. You also might want to start at 10/20 or 15/30- a 100:1 ratio between BB and starting stack is usually pretty good.

Have the last dealer shuffle the discarded deck that was just used and hand it to the new dealer two seats away, for cutting and dealing. With two decks, this works really well for speed and security.