Hosting 40 man tourney....

[SoloAJ]

Just a few follow ups from the replies so far (which have been awesome by the way...)

We did plan to cap the rebuys at the 1 hour mark...
Last year was 27 players and no rebuys and it took 7 hours. The reason it took so long though I think is because whoever ran the one last year didn't make sure the blinds kept escalating. I think that once the final 5 or 6 were left, they all agreed to just not increase blinds anymore. Which I believe forced less action (obviously)....

So basically the thought was 40 players, and having rebuys up through the first hour if you bust out. I did think of the 'all in fest' syndrome happening....but I figured thats just building the pot more for the eventually money winners.

The idea of increasing the blinds 30 minutes for the first two levels then faster after that isnt a bad idea. Also the idea of upping the blinds quicker, later in the tourney is something I think would be a great idea.....

I also thought of just dropping that first 5-10 blind level and starting at 10-20. I know that would take out the usual starting level, but I figure this tourney cant go any longer than about 8 hours otherwise I might not be asked to figure out how to run it again (and as helpless as I must sound right now, I trust myself more than anyone else to set this thing up right.....)

Anyways, as of now I'm thinking one rebuy for first three levels at 25 minute levels....and i figure with that formula we shouldn't get more than 8 rebuys or so...and then I'll have the blinds move quicker in the later part of the tourney (20 minutes) and drop the 500-1000 level. Any opinions given all of this updated information???

Replies so far have been awesome, thanks a ton guys.

[grandgnu]

Again, I recommend going with add-ons during a break instead of rebuys. Add-ons virtually ensure you'll get that extra money in the pot, and it keeps the maniac "all-in all-the-time" players from going nuts on you during the first hour because of the rebuys and running you ragged with terrible cards and ridiculous agression.

Besides, don't you hate knocking some schmuck out THREE friggin times and then they rebuy, rebuy, rebuy and come back to beat you? With an add-on, if they play like a doofus and get eliminated before the add-on period, they can't add-on and you've just moved up one spot in the money.

Plus, it's much easier to provide people with add-on chips during a break then to be interrupted mid-hand to handle a rebuy player.

[SCfuji]

i hope you have enough chips to do unlimited rebuys. you could make the first 3 rounds say 20 min each and then up the next 3 to 30 and the next 3 to 40. also try and include antes at level 4 and above.

[unloaded]

I think you have too small denominations & blinds. I do 30 man tournament every so often often and it usually runs about 5 hrs. 1500 in chips to start. 8@25 8@100 1@500 Blinds are:
25/25 first :30 then :20 all the rest
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
200/400
250/500
300/600
400/800
500/1000
600/1200
700/1400
800/1600
900/1800
1000/2000
Usually doesnt get this high. A few things to make it simpler. If your chips don't have numbers on them when you reach 100/200 level take half of everybody's 25's and make whats left 50's. If they have an odd one, let them keep it. Saves time and hassle of race-off. If they are marked, race the the 25's for 100's after the 250/500 level. Having an extra color to bring in later as 1000's helps a lot too. Big stacks of small denomination chips really slow the play. Also starting the tournament on a half hour, like 6:30 helps. First level ends on the hour, the rest are 20 mins. If you make breaks 20 mins too, it will be easy for players to watch clock and see where they are before blinds go up. Use a timer too though.
I've never done rebuys or addons, not sure how they will effect things. I would have a different set of chips and encourage side games for those who drop out. We usually have a $25 cash game with .$25/$.50 blinds for those out. That way as people go out, they can join mid-game.

peace.
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[SoloAJ]

If you rec. addons instead of rebuys, would you recomend same buyin-same starting chips....or doing it for half the buyin half the starting chips? We have enough chips to cover reubys and addons, but I do think the addon idea is sounding better and better.
In terms of the low denomination of chips, I'm not sure how much different your style is than ours, you start higher blinds, but you also start with more chips.
Needless to say, I'm still very much undecided but the help thusfar has been well noted and is making for a lot of choices.

[Scotty O]

I use the Foxwoods blind structure and it has worked well with a 40 person tourney. Remember this, if you have an unlimited rebuy w/addon, the tourney will last to the level where the BB ~ 5-10% of the Total Outstanding chips. This is the rule of thumb found at HomePokerTourney and has been the norm for my tourney's. So... if you can anticipate the how many rebuy/addons then you will know how long it will take.

BTW, I do agree with another poster that the denominations are to small. You will go nuts with all the outstanding chips/colors. I start with T2000 (4-25's, 9-100's, 2-500's) have on chip race and use antes. Good luck and here are the resources:

http://www.geocities.com/thepokerfanatic/

http://www.geocities.com/thepokerfanatic/homerules.html

[bongrip]

we did a 40 man tourney recently, and it went at a reasonable pace with a 14 minute blind structure. we had u/l rebuys for the first hr and one add on at the end of the hr.

our tourney took 4 hrs...

I think your structure is too slow... with unlimited rebuys, you kinda want more action in the pot... with 5 dollar increments it's going to take a long time to get any real action going.

the u/l rebuys are going to have chips flying, so an accelerated structure will compensate for that.

imma find the stucture we used and post it tomorrow or so.. i think you'll be happy with it.

[bongrip]

the above post of his blind structure was actually super close to what we used.. it worked neat-o

[grandgnu]

[ QUOTE ]
If you rec. addons instead of rebuys, would you recomend same buyin-same starting chips....or doing it for half the buyin half the starting chips? We have enough chips to cover reubys and addons, but I do think the addon idea is sounding better and better.
In terms of the low denomination of chips, I'm not sure how much different your style is than ours, you start higher blinds, but you also start with more chips.
Needless to say, I'm still very much undecided but the help thusfar has been well noted and is making for a lot of choices.

[/ QUOTE ]

In my events I make the add-on a bargain, so people are more inclined to take this "optional" feature. We start them with 2000 chips for 20 bucks, and then after an hour has passed they can get another 2000 chips for $10 more.

[unloaded]

[ QUOTE ]

In terms of the low denomination of chips, I'm not sure how much different your style is than ours, you start higher blinds, but you also start with more chips.

[/ QUOTE ]
My 25 blind is 1/60 of starting stack, your 5 blind is 1/200 of your starting stack. That is a bigger difference than you think.
I was at a 120 person tournament a few weeks ago. We started with 68 in chips 8@1 8@5 2@10. Blinds started at 1/2 and doubled every 30 mins. I didn't think I'd like that setup, but it went smoothly and it was over in about 5 1/2 hrs.
I only mention this to show you that the assigned value of chips isn't whats important, it's the size of the blinds relative to the starting stacks that make the difference.

If you are having any smaller 8-10 person games before the tournament, try some of the whats been posted here and see how you like them. You could even do freebie games just to see.

peace.
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