Being moved during tourney

Anyone know why a person gets moved to a different table during a tournament?

Very frequently I just get a good read on the table when they move me, individually, to a different table.

I understand that when there are not enough players they move the whole table but what possible reason is there to move an individual during a tourney?

This moving really throws me off, does that happen during butt in seat tourneys too? ( I wouldn't mind finding out a better term for face to face tourneys than butt in seat too.)

They try to keep an even balance of players over all the tables. Sometimes a table will have 2 or 3 people knocked out at once and then they'll have to bring a player from another table to replace them to even out the tables. Then of course tables have to collapse as it reaches a point when there are more tables than they need.

Not to mention to even up the stack sizes distribution at the table. ^^

Live works IMO.

i know what you're saying, last night's midnight madness on FT i'd been at a table for about 40 min... had a good read on about 4 or 5 people i was playing with, moved tables and dropped from about 25th to 100th place in the tourney...

I mean i know why it happens, but it's just one of those luck factors that come into play in MTT.

From PokerStars web site

And yes, this happens in "Live" games as well. Weather it's a small local card room or the The Main Event, you will move. It's frustrating, but there's really no other way to do it. Technically you could deal up to 23 people into 1 deck, but I think the blinds would need to be a little longer :-)

I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen, at least at Poker Stars. It's not uncommon to see 1 table with 2-3x as many total chips as another.

I don't alltogether know, but I do know that several times I have been doing very well then get moved and start running cold. I hate when that happens.

it happens trust me usually to chip leaders, ive been moved mabny times with the 2nd and 3rd place chip stacks it creates action, but i dont know if action is the inteded purpose.

Well, as K_Kahne_Fan posted, from Poker Stars website, the balancing is done randomly. Unless someone has evidence that they take chipstacks into account, I'm going to believe it's random, and any patterns detected are just odd situations that will happen in any random distribution.

Movement does NOT occur based on stack sizes. It's only done to keep the tables as balanced as possible. So if 12 people remain in a tourney there won't be a table of 5 and a table of 7, rather 2 tables of 6.

^ this.

I don't know how they do it online, it's supposed to be random. I can tell you how it usually works live though:

In a casino tournament, the dealer will usually have a card / marker for every seat at their table. If a player on their table gets knocked out, the dealer gives the corresponding seat card to the floor manager. This way, they keep track of where the empty seats in the room are.

When the number of empty seats available becomes equal to a full table's worth of players (so, ten empty seats spread around the room if the tables are playing ten handed), the floor manager will go to the next table on their break-down list, place all the seat cards face down on the table, and the players will pick one of the cards.

That card will tell them where their new seat is - since the players pick their own cards and they can't see where the new seat is going to be, it ensures it's random. Stack size is certainly not taken into account.

22 (you forgot the burn cards ).

There was one time I remember that I spent the whole tournament at a single table without moving and I ended up winning it. It was quite a strange thing because I don't believe there was ever I time I wasn't moved in a tournament, except if I was knocked out early.

Oops, sorry about that

You could have multi-deck games, but talk about a strange hand rank list

It didn't occur to me that it wasn't a vendetta against me.... just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.


K_Kahne_Fan said, in part "And yes, this happens in "Live" games as well. Weather it's a small local card room or the The Main Event, you will move. "

Verrry interesting, thanks.

They do it to keep balance at the tables. Otherwise you would have a bunch of table going 4 handed and headsup. They want the blinds to hit everyone equally.

it's hard to get a table image when yoy get moved alot..also tough to get reads

I believe the player who gets moved is based on table position relative to blinds except for the final table when it is random and you could move to the big blind after just posting BB at the previous table

I have to be the glob of peanut butter in the jelly jar here.

An MTT is an MTT. If you want to keep your seat you have only two options. Option one is to play in a ring game/cash game. Option two is to join a single table SNG(does anyone call them STT's?). Technically you've a third option which is to not play but, who'd take that option?

BTW I suppose it's tough for ANYONE to get a good read at a table. Even live. Heck they have those programs where even the pros admit that a tell for one person means the opposite for another. I've observed online that betting patterns are a kind of tell(Does it automatically make me play better? I wish!). Maybe your reward(Apart from money. Did I just say that?) with enough chips to work with is; you'll be there long enough to get a good read on the table .

^^At least half of that could just be me talking out of my butt. Standard practice for when I'm confused. I'm very confused why anyone would have a problem with being moved during an MTT(hey, sometimes it helps, gets you away from a bully with enough chips to bully successfully).

I would agree with this. I think most poker sites, and even live, try to grab someone who is in relatively the same position to the button as the will be when moved so no one gets screwed by the move. If anything they may even grab someone in 1 further position and it may allow you to miss a blind, but not pay 2. Sometimes, when going to 1 or 2 tables, there may be no option but for some people to pay twice though.

... about an MTT being an MTT, I was trying to understand the decision making related to when the director moves people. Sometimes it seems totally unnecessary, but I understand a lot better the strains during a tourney to keep the tables balanced. So, when I get moved after the first hand next time I'll just have to figure that a bunch of folks went all in on the first hand and they need to balance the tables.

Thanks again for the great tutorial guys!

I just have one advice for you, try to play just fewer hands or non hands if possible when you are just moved, because u dont know how the other players are, and maybe you are going to find that the guy you are facing at some hand is a big bluffer or the one who only stays with three of a kind or better.

So just sit back and watch your new table, it will make you make less mistakes.

I dont think the sites should move you during a tournament unless absolutely needed or they move everyone with you.

It's the only way to keep a balance, online and/or live. There are times single moves are made even at our live tourneys here. One table goes short due to multiple players going out while other tables are still strong. Those moves are made with button/blind positions in mind.

One of the few things in poker that is truly - FAIR ...

i understand but sometimes they move players to many times and others not enough.

In the long run it probably evens out anyway, some people seem to get annoyed when someone with a massive stack gets moved to our table, I just lick my lips.

i love that too but i remember getting moved like 6 or 7 times in 2 hrs once.

Sites also tend to move lower stacked people more often, when that happens how are you supposed to go up in chips when you cant get some quality hands in to get up in chips

i have noticed they move the higher stacked players to the lower numbered tables

I have noticed you tend to assign reason to randomness.

I don't mind being moved so much on fulltilt and on partpoker. But I recently opened an account at pokerroom and when they move you in a tournament the do so with no regard to table position. I have been moved 3 times in 7 hands where I just posted my blinds and played the button then was moved UTG at the next table. I again posted my blinds and was moved again to UTG+1 grrrrr. I thought this was highly unfair as blinds were already quite high at 600/1200 and as it was a turbo the relative stacks were fairly short. I keep meaning to email their support about this as the seem to always do this.

Sorry, I said what I did because of folks complaining about being moved just when they get a read or establish a table image. Others had already answered the question of "why?".

Being moved can also be good. Occasionally, after knocking a player out, I'll find myself on a new table where I'm a massive chipleader. They have no idea how I play, and I've got enough chips to be a bully. Can be very lucrative in the short-term.