[DarrenB]

I'm throwing a 8 person tournament this weekend and need to understand approximately how many hours one session will take based on the stack size and blind structure presented below. The reason is that we would like to play two sessions during the same evening.

Each player gets chips according to:
20 - $25
25 - $100
15 - $500
10 - $1000
= T20.500

Blind structure (increase every 20 min up to 500/1000 then every 15 min):
25/50
50/100
100/200
200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1000
1000/2000
1500/3000
2000/4000
2500/5000
3500/7000
5000/10000

The reason I want deep stacks is that people aren't that good in judging stack sizes, odds, bet and pot sizes so a lot of chips will be flying into the pots, in other words most of the players will be pretty loose/aggressive.
The first blind levels are more of a get-a-feel-for-the-game thing. I will color up the $25 levels pretty quickly.

I would like for the sessions to last approx. 3 hours each. Would you say that my structure will last that long or will I have to change any parameter, like blind structure, level times or stack sizes?
Should I remove the $25 chips and blinds maybe?

I myself prefer deep stacks so that I can afford a couple of bad beats from my Donkey friends who suck me out every time on the river!

Thanks!
//D

[BigKyle]

First of all adjust the starting stacks a bit. It's great to have big starting stacks but it will be easier with fewer chips. Something like

20x 25
10x 100
7x 500
5x 1,000
2x 5,000

Your blinds are okay but I would go from 400-800 to 600-1,200 to make the next jump up to 1,000-2,000 a bit less severe. Also, lose the 3500 and/or 2500 levels and go 2000-4000, 2500-5000, 3000-6000, 4000-8000, or go 2k-4k, 3k-6k, 4k-8k. No 3500-7000 level, that level is not used in any real tournaments.

You may be hard pressed to get this in in 3 hours. I recommend dropping the chip count to 10,000 or 15,000 each to start. You will still have plenty of chips and small initial blinds, so there should be plenty of play even for the loosest tables.

[ink_junkie]

For a 3-hour game, I'd cut the starting stacks to $10K and 12-15 minute blinds.

[DarrenB]

Originally Posted by ink_junkie

For a 3-hour game, I'd cut the starting stacks to $10K and 12-15 minute blinds.

Thank you for all the tips!

Could I start the first levels at 20 min to gradually make them shorter?

Judging from the player situation I describe above and the structure, how many players do you estimate will be left for some specific blind levels?
At approx. which level will we be heads-up using this structure?

[Brewster]

I would run 20 minute blinds for the first hour (colour up) and shorten them to 15 minutes after that.

[StephenP]

Darren

One thing that you could try, and you maybe already doing this, if so then disregard this post, is to use 2 decks of cards instead of 1. You can get more hands in during each level. If you're unsure of what I mean by 2 decks, the dealer deals out the hand. When the hand is finished he rakes the cards in and shuffles them. In the mean time the person to your left deals out the next hand with the other deck. After you shuffle the cards pass the deck to the person who will be the new dealer after the current hand.

[hachkc]

Originally Posted by ink_junkie

For a 3-hour game, I'd cut the starting stacks to $10K and 12-15 minute blinds.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of rounds less than 20mins especially in the early rounds. I'd rather have steeper increases in the rounds with longer rounds. With 12-15mins and a full table, its possible the blinds will go up before a full orbit which I don't like.

With 20k and 8 people, you'll probably be closer to 3:30 - 4 hours. You could simply drop either the 300/600 or 400/800 round to speed it up. Other than that, looks fine.

[800over]

Originally Posted by DarrenB

Thank you for all the tips!

Could I start the first levels at 20 min to gradually make them shorter?

Judging from the player situation I describe above and the structure, how many players do you estimate will be left for some specific blind levels?
At approx. which level will we be heads-up using this structure?

A good rule of thumb is that when your blinds reach your initial stack size the tourney will end. Just set up your blinds in a way that the blinds are around 5000 to 10000. With only 8 players it could even end before that. Keep in mind that with giving each player only T10,000 would mean that heads up you'd only have T80,000 chips on the table. You'll probably get heads up somewhere shy of the big blind being 5000. At that point the big stack say of 50,000 chips and the small stack of 30,000 wouldn't have a lot of play. The small stack has to either fold or go all in every time. Anyway that's my two cents.