Live MTT Blinds Levels vs Online MTT Blind Levels

What live MTT minute blind levels would you consider to be equal to that of online MTT 10 minute blind levels? 20 min? 30 min? I mean as in terms of hands being dealt.

I've heard some people say online MTT play is completely different from live because the levels are so different, and allow for you to be more patient live? Is that true though because online you are getting dealt a larger numer of hands over that period of blind level, and in a live MTT the rate of hands being dealt is much smaller over a blind level.

I don't even know if there is a correct answer, but just one of those weird questions that pop into my head from time to time.

I've always heard that live deals about half as many hands in the certain time-frame, not sure how close to accurate that is. Curious about this as well, since not only is there the time to shuffle in between hands but generally especially preflop live players take their time don't look at cards until it's their turn etc. while online players will likely hit the auto-fold checkbox if they have total trash before it's even their turn to act. Also kinda dependent on the table live some people may take forever trying to figure out what the blinds/antes are they have to put in while another table everyone could get the blinds/antes in easily without help from the dealer and such. Another big thing though is the structure like if one tourney (online or live) is 25/50 then 50/100 then 100/200 then 250/500 etc and another one is 25/50 then 40/80 then 50/100 then 150/300 etc the later one will obviously allow you to be more patient.

My experience with live vs. online is that live tables will see about 1/3 the hands in a set time frame. ~60 online = ~20 live per hour.

Blind levels in MTT's live seem to be longer duration than online, likely because of the fewer hands seen per hour. I've played a few where it was 15 minute levels, most of them 20 minutes, and rarely 30 minutes (sometimes depending on the buy-in).

Arnold Snyder published a study of this in his book "The Poker Tournament Factor".

He stated that live tournaments average 30 hands per hour, and online ones 50-75 (varies from one site to another).

Egon Towst said:

Arnold Snyder published a study of this in his book "The Poker Tournament Factor".

He stated that live tournaments average 30 hands per hour, and online ones 50-75 (varies from one site to another).

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Yep, and pretty sure if you google his website there is a spreadsheet/calculator on there where you can enter in a live MTT structure vs. an online one and kinda see the difference.

As a live dealer, if all the players are on the ball I can comfortably get through 20-30 hands per hour.

It really is the players that are the big variable in this though. I'll comfortably and consistently shuffle the deck and deal hole cards to a full table in 20 seconds or less.

What eats up the time and really affects the number of hands you'll be dealt is if players need to be prompted all the time to put their blinds out, if they take a really long time to make their decisions, if they need to keep being reminded of the rules or being pulled up for string betting or acting out of turn, if they insist on doing stupid things like making all their bets in small denomination chips when they don't have to... the list goes on.

So anyway:

In a casino MTT, with professional dealers and where most players know enough not to cause the kinds of problems discussed above, I think it's fair to expect around 25-30 hands per hour. Levels of around 30-45 minutes will probably play like an online MTT with 10 minute levels.

In a self-dealt game and/or with amateurs, expect it to be a lot less. I've had horror nights where I've been lucky to get through 10 hands per hour. Comparing games like this to an online MTT with 10 minute levels is probably irrelevant, because nobody would be crazy enough to run one with levels long enough to be comparable. Instead, expect them to play like a turbo freeroll.

I think about 30 minutes is about the same as a 10 minutes online level