[Big Mike]

Hey all,

Later this summer I'll be running a poker tournament for one of my friends who is getting married - as kind of a stag party fundraiser.
We're thinking we'd like it to be a rebuy tourney, but I have never run one before.

Lets say 30 people are going to be there, and we'll be using a 25/100/500/1000/5000 chip structure.
I can work out blinds etc., fine, but I don't really know how long a tournament like this is likely to last. Obviously depends on how many rebuys are made, but if rebuys are allowed for the first hour, what would be your guess as to how long the tourney will last if we start with T2500. What about T5000?

This tourney is the reason (as if I really needed one) I bought my Faux Clays. Finally the yellows and greys will get some good use!

Thanks for your help,

Mike

ps: If the buy in for this event were $25 or $30, rebuys $10 - what % of each of those would you keep for the "house" (my engaged friend).

[D3scride]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

Hey all,

Later this summer I'll be running a poker tournament for one of my friends who is getting married - as kind of a stag party fundraiser.
We're thinking we'd like it to be a rebuy tourney, but I have never run one before.

Lets say 30 people are going to be there, and we'll be using a 25/100/500/1000/5000 chip structure.
I can work out blinds etc., fine, but I don't really know how long a tournament like this is likely to last. Obviously depends on how many rebuys are made, but if rebuys are allowed for the first hour, what would be your guess as to how long the tourney will last if we start with T2500. What about T5000?

This tourney is the reason (as if I really needed one) I bought my Faux Clays. Finally the yellows and greys will get some good use!

Thanks for your help,

Mike

ps: If the buy in for this event were $25 or $30, rebuys $10 - what % of each of those would you keep for the "house" (my engaged friend).

What is your blind structure like? Its a little hard to gauge how long it will take without the blind structure.

As far as the rebuys go, if the buyin is $30 dollars then you should either allow a $30 rebuy for a full rebuy or $15 for a half rebuy. You could also offer an addon at the end of the rebuy period as well.

As far the house getting a percentage of the pot, Isn't it illegal for home games to take rake? :P

However, ignoring that fact, your friend should take 10% of the prizepool if he's going to institute a rake.

[Big Mike]

Well, I imagine the blinds would look something like this:

maybe 25/25 to start, or just start at
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1000
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000
etc.
probably 20 minute blinds, maybe 30?

I think I could make a good guess for a freeze out tournaments length, but how much additional time will making it a rebuy add? A lot of people will be making rebuys or add-(will probably make one addon avail. at end of rebuy period).
Would that make the tourney say 25% longer? More or less than that?

Mike

[MTUCache]

Generally, the rule of thumb is that your tournament will end when the money put into the pot initially (BB+SB+Antes) equals 6-10% of the total chips in play.

Since you've instituted a rebuy, you really don't know how many chips will be in play at the end, but you can make a pretty decent guess at it.

In a larger field event (50+), you'll find that there will be at least a dozen guys who play very aggressively during the rebuy period, trying to accumulate chips. To be on the safe side, you could even assume that half of your players will be rebuying.

So, if you're expecting 50 people, and playing T5000, that's 250k in play. After 25 rebuys (a conservative estimate), you've got 375k in play. So, you'll probably start heads-up play around the 5k/10k level, and end before you reach 10k/20k.

If you're scheduling your blinds to look like you listed (plus: 1500/3000, 2000/4000, 2500/5000, 3k/6k, 4k/8k, 5k/10k, 7.5k/15k, 10k/20k, and then a 15k/30k level just in case), that's 20 levels. At 20 minutes/level, that's almost seven hours.... for 50 people+25 rebuys. I'd guess closer to six, seeing as how you won't have that many rebuys, and heads-up action usually doesn't take long.


I just saw in your initial post that you're expecting 30 people.
Again, I'd figure for 50% rebuys to be conservative.

A T2500, with 45 buy-ins, will have 112.5k chips in play. Blinds totalling 10% of that is approximately at the 4k/8k level, meaning you'll have 16 levels @ 20 minutes, for about a 5 hour tourney.

A T5000, with 45-buy-ins, will have 225k chips in play. Blinds totalling 10% of that is approximately at the 7.5k/15k level, meaning you'll have 18 levels @ 20 minutes, for about a 6 hour tourney.

Remember, the 6-10% is an estimate, and will fluxuate depending on your players at the final table. Most tournaments will end much quicker than the 10% level (possibly even a couple blind levels quicker), as amateur players don't really play short-handed very strategically, it's more pushing all-in. Also, remember to add more time for breaks (chip-breakdowns), and allow for a somewhat late start as you'll have trouble wrangling all those players into their proper seats.

Also, with this many players, including a re-buy, the tournament director is going to be very busy throughout the tournament, doing re-buys, shuffling players to balance tables, settling discrepancies, etc. I wouldn't plan on playing on a tournament with 30 players in it, if I was running it. You'll just end up slowing play down, and rushing yourself constantly. Better to run the tourney more efficiently for the rest of the players, and make sure things go smoothly.

Good Luck!