Online MTT Structure Comparison

This is a small research project which I put together for my own information, but it may be of interest to other CCers.

I have listed below the ten biggest (in terms of traffic) online poker rooms, together with their blind structures for a typical tournament in the $11-$33 buyin range. Against each one I have then calculated how many hands one would see before the big blind reaches ten percent of the starting stack (assuming a constant dealing rate of 60 hands per hour).

The purpose of this is to determine which poker rooms have the most preferable structure, assuming that one is an above-average player and has an edge over the field. If you have an edge, it is advantageous to see more hands and have more opportunity to win pots and increase your stack before it is depleted and you are obliged to make a desperation move.

Notice that slower structures don`t necessarily mean that the stronger player will win more over the long term. The structure is, of course, the same for all players in the tourney. Their advantage of a slower structure is that it reduces variance by making it more likely that the strong player can increase his stack without having to make a move which is highly luck-dependent.

I have also calculated how many hands one would see before being totally blinded off, assuming one were to sit out entirely from the start. This is of rather less practical value. I have included it as a kind of tie-breaker where the ten percent figure is the same.

The sites are listed in order according to the desirability of their structure.

Microgaming (Ladbrokes, Pokertime etc.)
Stack 2500, 15 min levels, 10 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 100/200/20, 125/250/25, 150/300/30, 200/400/40, 250/500/50, 300/600/60.
BB = 10% of start stack in 106 hands, total blind-off in 113.


Cereus (Absolute, Ultimate)
Stack 1500, 12 min levels, 9 man tbls, 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, 150/300/25, 200/400/50, 300/600/75.
BB = 10% of start stack in 73 hands, total blind-off in 99.


Ipoker (Titan, Victor Chandler etc.)
Stack 1500, 10 min levels, 10 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, 60/120, 80/160, 100/200, 100/200/25, 125/250/25, 150/300/50
BB = 10% of start stack in 71 hands, total blind-off in 99.


Full Tilt
Stack 1500, 10 min levels, 9 man tbls, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, 60/120, 80/160, 100/200, 120/240/25, 150/300/25, 200/400/50
BB = 10% of start stack in 71 hands, total blind-off in 90.


Party
Stack 3000, 15 min levels, 10 man tbls, 20/40, 30/60, 50/100, 100/200, 150/300, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800/25, 600/1200/50, 800/1600/50
BB = 10% of start stack in 61 hands, total blind-off in 99.


PokerStars
Stack 1500, 15 min levels, 9 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800, 600/1200, 800/1600
(NB. I do not have an account at Stars and cannot be certain that the above info is current and up-to-date. Please help with a correction, if necssary.)
BB = 10% of start stack in 61 hands, total blind-off in 98.

Ongame (Redkings, Hollywood etc.)
Stack 1500, 12 min levels, 10 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 40/80, 60/120, 80/160, 100/200, 100/200/20, 125/250/25, 150/300/30, 200/400/40, 250/500/50
BB = 10% of start stack in 61 hands, total blind-off in 90.


Boss Media (Paradise, Virgin etc.)
Stack 1500, 12 min levels, 10 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 100/200/25, 150/300/25, 200/400/50, 300/600/50, 300/800/75, 500/1000/100.
BB = 10% of start stack in 49 hands, total blind-off in 90.


Everest
Stack 1000, 10 min levels, 10 man tbls, 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, 150/300/25, 200/400/50, 300/600/75.
BB = 10% of start stack in 41 hands, total blind-off in 89.


Cake
Stack 1500, 10 min levels, 10 man tbls,10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 100/200/25, 200/400/25, 300/600/50, 400/800/50, 600/1200/75, 800/1600/75
BB = 10% of start stack in 41 hands, total blind-off in 75.

-----

Although not among the top ten busiest sites, here for comparison are two others where regular CC games are held:-

Bodog
Stack 1500, 12 min levels, 9 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 125/250, 150/300/25, 200/400/50, 300/600/75, 400/800/100
BB = 10% of start stack in 61 hands, total blind-off in 90.

Merge (Carbon, Reefer etc.)
Stack 2500, 10 min levels, 10 man tbls, 10/20, 15/30, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 125/250/25, 150/300/30, 200/400/40, 250/500/50, 300/600/60, 400/800/80
BB = 10% of start stack in 61 hands, total blind-off in 88.

Awesome stuff game selection in MTTs massively underrated.

Any chance of running the 3k starting stack structure through your calculation to see what the 10% figure is?

I appreciate it's not like for like with other sites but I'd like to see the difference in the Stars normal structure and the double stack, which I perceive to be huge, but I could be overestimating.

I am not familiar with that structure, Rex. I am not a Stars player, I am afraid. I will cheerfully calculate it for you if you can supply the details (start stack, time per level, blinds).

Thanks for the info,I will digest this later.

I am trying to mix deeper stack tourneys in my play and this info can be helpful.


Snow

Cheers, this should do it.

structure.jpg

That would be 111 hands to reach 10%. Therefore, a little better than even the best of the standard structures listed in my OP.

Super, and more than favourable compared to the 61 of the standard structure.

Exactly what that translates to in terms of edge I have no idea but the 1500 structure feels like a crapshoot in comparison.

My subjective experience has long been that the structures at Boss, Everest, and Cake are annoying, and I don`t much care to play at any of them. Interesting to see that they come out as clearly worst in this calculation. So, I think we both feel that these numbers have validity.

This is interesting stuff. Some sort of metric for comparing different structures would be useful.

How about the 4k deepstack structure at stars? If you don't mind

structure2.jpg

That would be 201 hands to 10%. Nice.