Running a tourney...need advice.

DaveE

DaveE

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I've been asked to help set up a friendly tourney for around 30 players. I'm hoping that someone can point me to software to help with this (I remember a similar thread a while back where someone knew of a program for table placements etc...but I can't find it).

Also any advice as to starting stacks, blind structures, chip denominations, printable rules, etc would be appreciated.

BTW this is happening Oct 18 in the Toronto area. Aloevera's going to be there...if any members here are interested, PM me, there may be room.
 
OzExorcist

OzExorcist

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(*Disclaimer - this stuff is what I do for a second job, but I'm used to dealing with complete n00b players and/or drunk players. Solid and experienced players would likely bust out at a slower rate)

Aliengenius usually posts a link in these threads which is very useful, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. Hopefully he'll be along shortly ;)

The most important things to decide are actually based on the kind of tournament you want to run - rebuy or freezout, and how long you want it to run for?

Those things will basically decide your starting stacks and blind structures. Designing for a run time is always a guestimate, of course, but you can usually land somewhere in the ballpark.

For 30 players, if I wanted the tournament to run in the four hour ballpark, I'd probably do something like the below:

20K starting stacks (100BB), 20 minute levels, as follows:

100/200
200/400
300/600
500/1000
700/1400
1000/2000
1500/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
5000/10,000
7500/15,000
10,000/20,000

Doubt you'd need to go past 10K/20K, you could even make the max blind level earlier if you like, or do what some casinos do and roll the blinds back a level when you reach the final table.

Putting antes into the structure will make the game move faster. If you want the game to run for longer, bump the levels out to 25 or 30 minutes and/or inrease the starting stacks. Playing with rebuys for the first few levels will add some play time too.

Chip denominations basically depend on what you need for your blind structure (and how many colours you have available to you) based on the above I'd use 100 / 500 / 1000 / 5000.

For printable rules, I usually go by the Poker TDA rules - simple, easy to follow and only three pages long so printing them shouldn't waste too much paper :p

Software like The Tournament Director is great for keeping track of blinds etc., and you can download a 30-day trial version. I believe it does seat allocation as well, though I've never actually used the feature. (As a backup there's absolutely nothing wrong with just assigning each seat a number and having players pull a corresponding number out of a hat - it may even be easier). There's a bunch of other different programs available too, Google is your friend on that one.

Couple of other random thoughts - allow extra time in the structure if the game is going to be self-dealt, as people that don't know how to shuffle etc can really slow the game up.

Also, things tend to move faster if you change the smaller denomination chips up once they're no longer needed - taking the 100 denomination chips out of play at the start of the 1K/2K level in the above structure, for example. Still having to count 100 denomination chips on a final table every time someone shoves is a major drag :p

Best of luck and have fun, happy to give my opinion on anything else if you want to ask.
 
DaveE

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Thanks guys. I'll be back if any more questions come up :) .
 
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