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07-19-2005, 11:43 AM
|  | ChipTalk.net Article Writer | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Calgary, Canada
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| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by SpeakEasy Quote: |
Originally Posted by DoubleDeuce It's tough trying to eye someone's chip stack and coming up with an accurate total. Its good practice though and although I couldn't pinpoint players with an exact number I could keep track of what zone they were in: red, orange, yellow, etc. | Try this: "How much do you have left?"
You're always entitled to an accurate chip count, and it can also have a nice psychological effect on your opponent... | Granted, you can do this once in a while, but I think he's trying to eye the whole table. It would get down right annoying if every 15 minutes he asks for a chip count from everyone at the table.  |
07-19-2005, 12:00 PM
| | In the Money | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: D/FW
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| | Exactly pager. If it was a big decision moment then I would have no qualms asking for a chip count but constantly asking for updates of bigstack/shortstack would quickly drive every crazy.
Automatic chip totals is one of the few perks online poker has over real life. That and I can play in my bathrobe and bunny slippers.  |
07-19-2005, 01:20 PM
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: looking for a soft 2-7 lowball game Age: 42
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| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by DoubleDeuce Whatever the reason I didn't focus well at all, especially the one item I was supposed to focus on! The format didn't help matters either, the blinds were doubling every 20 minutes so by the 4th round it turned into an all-in fest. Its hard to practice reading hands when the only bet is preflop. | 20 minute levels in live play is very very fast. You're probably only getting in 5-8 hands per level early - the luck factor is going to dominate the ability of the players here. Online isn't much better with 15 minute levels - something like 6-10 hands per level (better but only slightly).
If the blinds escalate fast enough to make it an all-in-or-nothing by the 4th level then the chips stacks are tiny as well. In these circumstances you are going to have to get doubled up pretty soon or you will have little chance to have any real decisions to make. If you can find one or two likely "chip donors" then you have a strategy for the early rounds - get their chips. If the table is playing tight you're going to need a visit from the card fairy to make a move.
I'm not saying it's worthless or you shouldn't play, I'm just saying you need to realistically evaluate what your goals are for that particular setup. Harrington's first book covers it far better than I have here.
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07-19-2005, 01:55 PM
|  | ChipTalk.net Article Writer | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada Age: 34
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| | The home games I organize also use 20 minute blind levels, although our blinds do not double; the 80 minutes would be 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50.
The reason is that most guys do NOT want to play poker for several hours, they would prefer to have the game last no more than 4 hours and through trial and error (and homepokertourney.com) these blind levels achieve that. Yes, it does allow for more luck and inconsistent play but these are more social than for the pure poker so everyone just wants fast action and a good time for their $10. 
__________________ CT Hammers member  |
07-20-2005, 09:23 AM
| | In the Money | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: D/FW
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| | | Yeah both games had 20 minute blinds but the progression for each one was night and day. Sunday's game is a slow moving game that took about 4 hours to finish for 16 players. Friday's game had the same # of players and took about an hour less. And that was with an incredible # of suckouts by shortstacks.
I think Friday's game was a T2000 game that started with 100/200 blinds. They changed to 200/400 and either went 400/800 and then to 500/1000 or it might have went straight to 500/1k because I know from that point it went 1k/2k, 2k/4k, and 4k/8K before I busted out. |
07-20-2005, 02:27 PM
|  | Poker Spellcaster | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NLHE cash table Age: 39
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| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by DoubleDeuce I think Friday's game was a T2000 game that started with 100/200 blinds. They changed to 200/400 and either went 400/800 and then to 500/1000 or it might have went straight to 500/1k because I know from that point it went 1k/2k, 2k/4k, and 4k/8K before I busted out. | This is absolutely awful, and not worth playing. Your starting stack is only 10x the BB??!! |
07-20-2005, 03:46 PM
|  | ChipTalk.net Article Writer | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chicagoland Age: 33
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| | That is a horrible, horrible structure. I feel bad about starting out at 25-50 in a T3000.
Everyone at the table basically starts out in all in or nothing mode. You might as well call that the Texas lottery, because there's no Hold 'Em skill required there. |
07-20-2005, 04:30 PM
| | In the Money | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: D/FW
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| | Whoa whoa whoa...hold on a second. It wasn't that bad because I forgot a zero above.  ops:
I think we started with 20,000 in chips. I'm really not certain...it was definitely between 10k and 20k in chips. So it wasn't unreasonable. It was just that the blinds jumped so fast. |
07-21-2005, 08:51 AM
| | ChipTalk.net Article Writer | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chicagoland Age: 33
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| | That's better then.  I still don't like doubling blinds though. I think people don't realize how quickly it gets out of hand. It's called exponential growth. |
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