two interesting sng variants

I found them at Ladbrokes:

BOTH ENDS. No, it's not a crude joke. It's a single-table sit n go where first place and last place split the pot 50/50. In the one I played there were 8 entrants at $2 each. I was farthest from the button and therefore had the best chance of finishing last, but my first hand was 66 and I hoped to eliminate a number of the others and fight for first. So six of us went all in and I lost. Presto, instant $8.

ALL IN HEADS UP TOURNEY. This one involves 16 players who go heads up in pairs and are forced all in on the very first hand. Places 1-4 get paid, so you basically have to win two all ins in a row to make some money (with 3 and 4, the semifinal losers, getting the same dollar amount). This tourney is a version of what I call spectator poker, and it's lightning fast. It's over so quickly that it's not as much fun as Both Ends, but good for a lark once in a while and only $5+50c to enter.

BTW, one of the great things about the British poker sites such as Ladbrokes, Bwin, Betfair, and English Harbour is that many forms of gambling, including sports betting, are 100% lawful and thoroughly regulated over there. I prefer having my poker balance secured by the Royal Bank of Scotland rather than the U-Haul Bank Trailer of the South Sandwich Islands.

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Gambling at it's finest.

Oh, boy... a coin flip tourney. The both ends one at least is novel, but it does pretty much require you to go all in in that position furthest from the button. That's the best seat -- either you are all-in with a big stack to contend for first or out with 50% of the prize pool.

Heads up shovament. Sounds fun but being force to go all in every hand is kinda stupid. Should at least be able to pick your spots.

Very good point.

Other examples are William Hill, Victor Chandler, Coral, and Virgin. Large corporations in the UK with branches in every major town, and they also run online poker rooms.

Unfortunately they all (as far as I am aware) ban American players, since publicly-traded companies can`t be seen to get into illegal stuff.

Yes, I have to apologize here. I didn't intend to rub the noses of American members here in the doodoo. I have the good luck of living in Canada where online poker is still a grey area and whatever statutes exist that might affect it are generally not enforced. On the other hand, I'd like to give Bodog a try and the site won't let me.

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I see the strategy of Both Ends as being far more complex than that. It's almost as if you start with a hand of Lowball or Razz and then move on to a regular Hold 'Em tourney. It's a weird Siamese kind of experience. Maybe the members here with a better head for these things can help me puzzle out the Both Ends strategy.

As for the all-in heads up tourney, it's four coin flips in a row. I think of it more as spectator poker. Great for times like the one I'm having now when all of my poker-playing skill seems to have swirled down the crapper.

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ladbrokes must have a member of CC on the development team, we engineered the shoveament a long time ago.

Heh I like the term "shoveament." If Ladbrokes stole your idea I guess you could sue for royalties.

I found another interesting one on there: All in or fold. It's a 10-seater single-table sng where you get 1 chip and your only options are to go all in or fold. The blinds are automatically all in.

But don't everybody get the idea that all I do on poker sites is goof around.

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hehe u love to gambooooool tis all hehe have to check it out

i came up with this one too!

It's true, you did. Maybe you can sue.

all in or fold.. lol thatd be sweet to try i'd probably lose quite a bit though

I'm confused. In the BOTH ENDS game, if 5 of the 8 go all in, 4 are out first, who is considered the end of the bad end? Seems to be the seat to the left of the winning hand would be the first out.
Seems more like a coin flip with a double tailed coin......

No, no, it's two separate concepts you're talking about. The all in or fold only the TOP end of the finishers gets paid. The both ends tournament is not all in or fold, it's a normal sng where first and last place get paid. In that case the person farthest away from the button is considered last place.

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Actually, if joose trade-marked or patented these tourney forms, he *can* sue and for a whole pile of money. All he'd have to do is have about a 90% chance of successfully proving that Ladbrokes stole his idea and a number of large American law firms would represent him for something like 40% of the judgment/settlement (or nothing if they lose) and maybe even pay his bills while he takes time off work for a few years to run around to depositions and other stuff. You're talking lots of free plane travel, hotels, etc., plus maybe millions of dollars, and the case might even settle before it gets to trial.

DISCLAIMER: I am *not* a lawyer and not offering legal advice here. I just have some slight familiarity with how the contingency lawsuit process works.

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We are only joking around, m8. I doubt very much that Joose actually patented these ideas.

In fact, I doubt that they are patentable at all, since one can`t claim to have originated (in the legal sense) something which is only a variant of a commonplace idea, although I am not a lawyer either.

<blush> Well, I ended up looking like an idiot, didn't I?

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