Foxwoods Tues NLHE questions

I'm thinking about playing in the NLHE tourney tonight at Foxwoods. I've never played there (or any B&M) before - how many players/how long does the tourney usually last?


Given that my playing experience is all online play, is there anything else I might want to know beforehand? I'm relatively confident it will be pretty easy to make the transition in gameplay, though I think I'll have a hard time training myself not to pump my fist when I make a set on the flop!


Thanks in advance for any insight.

I havn't played it for almost a year so things may have changed.


There were 8 or 9 tables the last time I played. The tourney starts at 7 and ends well past 11 and maybe even midnight if you are lucky enough to be at the final table.


The biggest difference on-line vs this tourney is the rebuy period. During the 1st 3 or 4 rounds there are unlimited rebuys. You only start with 200 chips and can rebuy anytime you have 200 or less. At the end of the rebuy period you can do a double addon. You will see some strange play during this time period. Some people do a lot of rebuy's. Blinds move up very slowly so you have a lot of play for your 200 chips.


Good luck tonight,


Ken Poklitar

ohKanada@hotmail.com

Lately we've been getting around 100 players. The prize pool has been in the neighborhood of $8-10,000. If there are 100 or more, they pay the last 2 tables. If 99 or less, they pay the final table.


The original buyin is $25 + 10. You get T200. At any time during the first 3 levels, if you have T200 or less, you may rebuy and get T200 for $20. Since the rebuys are cheaper than the initial buyin, I rebuy whenever I qualify, which means I rebuy before the first hand is dealt. If you go broke, you can do a double rebuy.


Blinds start at 5/5, and then go to 5/10 and 10/15. Rounds are 25 minutes long. At the end of the 3rd round, you can make any rebuys for which you qualify, and also an add-on of T200 for $20 or T400 for $40, no matter what your chip count. I make the double add-on no matter how many chips I have, so I always spend at least $95 on this tourney.


Blinds move up much more slowly than for any other small weekly event of this price range anywhere in the world that I'm aware of. The event starts at 7, and you absolutely cannot arrive and sign up late. You must enter before they shut down the tournament entry computer terminal at 7. If you win, you will be playing until at least 12:30, and maybe as late as 1:30.


This is a great tourney for NL HE. The field has some very good players, but also a lot of weak players. You will see all levels of play, and learn a lot. Plus, I have seen a couple of guys win this thing who have played little or no poker of any sort before.


If you see the guy with a bunch of fossils on the table, say hi.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Thanks for the info OhK and Greg, thats exactly the type of info I was trying to scout out.


I've never been in a rebuy/add on situation before. I figure if I feel confident and comfortable (and have the pockets) I should do so, but given that its my first time around I might want to step back and evaluate the experience before investing more $$. It depends on the situation I find myself in of course.


It looks like I am going (barring any work disaters), I'll keep an eye out for a table with fossils. I'll be the 20-something guy with a shaved head and a baseball cap with no logo on it who looks like he's never done this before.

Now how would I see your head is shaved if you're wearing a baseball cap?


Hope you have fun if you play.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Greg,


I was wondering about the logic of making the double add-on at the end of the 3rd regardless of chip count. If you have a medium or decent sized stack, this makes very good sense- give yourself a bigger stack and therefore better chance of winning.


What I am wondering about is the when you are one of the shortest stacks, especially if several strong players have large stacks. Of course an extra T400 helps your chances. But given that you are up against it at this point, is it wise to throw another $40 out there? For you, the answer is almost surely yes, since you are a much better tournament player than Joe Poker. You could overcome your disadvantage and pass the suckers who don't add on. Would you give the same advice to an average/decent player? It would seem that you would have to know you had an edge on the game before paying almost the original buy-in plus rebuy to be the short stack, especially with no more rebuys and increasing blinds. Perhaps the amount of the payout is a factor?


I don't play many tourneys with rebuys, but I was just wondering.


Thanks,


The Falcon

There are three major considerations here.


First, how much do the add-on chips cost compared to the chips already in the tourney? In the case of FW, we pay $25 for the first T200, and then $20 for the rebuys/addons. Based on a typical night, by the time the rebuys and addons are done, the chips cost an average of about $21.50 for T200. Thus, when you addon, you're getting chips with a par value of $21.50 for only $20. A double add-on means you're investing $40 to earn an average return of $43, or a $3 profit.


Second, how many chips you have does impact the value of the chips, but not very much at this stage. Throughout a tourney, one chip is worth more in a short stack than in a big stack. Thus, if you're a big stack, when you get 1 more chip, it's not worth as much to you as if you got 1 more chip added to a small stack. This factor is not very important until you get into or close to the money stages, and even then I believe that most people put way too much emphasis on this factor. But, theoretically, if you have a big stack and take that double addon, instead of buying $43 worth of chips for $40, those chips might be worth only $42.50 in your stack. Conversely, if your stack is very short, they might be worth $44 to you.


Third, how much are chips worth in YOUR stack, with the emphasis on you. If you're a great player, those extra chips might increase your maneuverability to the point where they're worth MUCH more than $43, maybe $100 or more even. This would be especially true if you had a short-stack, but always a great player will get more value out of extra chips than a weak player. Again, conversely, if you're a below average player, the chips might be worth much less than $43 in your stack. It could be that even with those extra chips, you still won't make the money very often, and maybe almost never finish in a top spot. Thus, the average return for a very poor player might be as little as $10 or $20 for their $40.


There are other considerations as to whether you should add-on or not, but I don't consider them to be very important.


One of the reasons I hear often is when the chip leader at a table adds on, and when asked why they say it's so nobody else can addon and pass them for the chip lead. I doubt this is important, unless it's a psychological crutch that will help them play better (i.e., knowing they have the chip lead).


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)