Fine Tuning my T10k structure -- *some advice required

[Krafticus]

I am about to start up my summer league (8 weeks long, final table on week 9)

I will have between 21-24 players this season, and will be starting each player with a T10k stack (12/12/7/5)

Here is my proposed structure. Blinds will all be 20 min:
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
200/400
-- break & chip up T25
300/600
400/800
500/1000
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000
-- break & chip up T100
1500/3000
2000/4000
2500/5000
3000/6000
4000/8000
5000/10000
-- break & chip up the T500
10000/20000
15000/30000
20000/40000
25000/50000
etc...

Here are my questions/concerns:

-- My OCD kicks in, and I need symmetry. Is the 6 levels (2 hours) too long between breaks?
-- Is the structure too slow? I want to have people able to play poker and not have an early shovefest. (If so, which levels should be eliminated)
-- Should I add a 5 min break every hour to get up and smoke/stretch? (if the above structure is used) Will that slow it down too much? (my initial thought is no, and people can just miss a few hands)
-- Should I color up as soon as the chips are no longer needed? (again, my OCD with symmetry kicks in) .. so break/color up after the 5th level (1 hour 40 min), then after level 12 (2hours 20 min)..??

I guess that is it for now. I am not too concerned about tournament length, as I expect it to run about 4 -5 hours (although this structure almost looks like a 6 hour event.. )

Thanks

Mark

[pokerplayingpisces]

It looks a little slow. My league is starting up this week, but we tried a similar structure after our meeting last week. This is the fourth year of the league, but the structure is new for this year. The game ran 5 1/2 hours, with antes. Guys were upset, especially since our league night is a weekday, and everyone has to work the next day. I didn't get home til 1 in the morning. I made a few tweaks, and it should play faster tonite, but not a shovefest. I suggest throwing out the following levels: 150/300, 1500/3000, 2500/5000. Also think about adding antes, that should force the action a little more. I take 10 minute break after the first and second hours. Then after that the players can decide if they need to step out for a 5 minutes or so. It's just what I do. I'll be trying the tweaked structure tonite, so I'll let you know!

[SpaceMonkey]

No, no, no, and no. I think you're fine.

If you throw out any levels, don't throw out 1500/3000. Jumping 800/1600 to 1000/2000 to 2000/4000 is insane. IMO, drop down to 15m levels instead of 20m if you find the first tourney lasts too long, but I do think you should be okay.

[War-Lord]

Originally Posted by Krafticus

I am about to start up my summer league (8 weeks long, final table on week 9)

I will have between 21-24 players this season, and will be starting each player with a T10k stack (12/12/7/5)

Here is my proposed structure. Blinds will all be 20 min:
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
200/400
-- break & chip up T25
300/600
400/800
500/1000
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000
-- break & chip up T100
1500/3000
2000/4000
2500/5000
3000/6000
4000/8000
5000/10000
-- break & chip up the T500
10000/20000
15000/30000
20000/40000
25000/50000
etc...

Here are my questions/concerns:

-- My OCD kicks in, and I need symmetry. Is the 6 levels (2 hours) too long between breaks?
-- Is the structure too slow? I want to have people able to play poker and not have an early shovefest. (If so, which levels should be eliminated)
-- Should I add a 5 min break every hour to get up and smoke/stretch? (if the above structure is used) Will that slow it down too much? (my initial thought is no, and people can just miss a few hands)
-- Should I color up as soon as the chips are no longer needed? (again, my OCD with symmetry kicks in) .. so break/color up after the 5th level (1 hour 40 min), then after level 12 (2hours 20 min)..??

I guess that is it for now. I am not too concerned about tournament length, as I expect it to run about 4 -5 hours (although this structure almost looks like a 6 hour event.. )

Thanks

Mark

Here is an alt.
First 9 rounds 20 min - all remaining rounds 15 min
1. 25/50
2. 50/100
3. 75/150
Break and chip up ($25) - 10 min
4. 100/200
5. 200/400
6. 300/600
Break and chip up ($100) - 10 min.
7. 500/1,000
8. 1,000/2,000
9. 1,500/3,000
Break - 10 min. Freeze out begins (no more rebuys or addons)
10. 2,000/4,000
11. 2,500/5,000
12. 3,500/7,000
13. 5,000/10,000
Break and chip up ($500) - 10 min *** 4.5 hour mark, most tourneys will end very soon after this level with blinds being 15 minutes each ***
14. 7,000/14,000
15. 10,000/20,000
16. 15,000/30,000
17. 20,000/40,000
Break and chip up ($1,000) - 10 min
18. 25,000/50,000
19. 30,000/60,000
20. 40,000/80,000
21. 50,000/100,000 (it should never reach here)

anyway just another idea to throw out there

Cheers
Rob

[Krafticus]

Originally Posted by War-Lord

Here is an alt.
...
6. 300/600
Break and chip up ($100) - 10 min.
7. 500/1,000
8. 1,000/2,000
9. 1,500/3,000
Break - 10 min. Freeze out begins (no more rebuys or addons)
...
Cheers
Rob

I think that might just be too big of jump. 200, 300, 500, 1000...

I guess after the second break (4 hours), I could change the levels to 15 min, but that can have an adverse impact as well.

Ok, still listening ...

Mark

[BigKyle]

Krafticus, I would consider dropping 75-150 in favor of 1200-2400, and I would try to get past my OCD and color up the chips ASAP when not needed. Just run the breaks with the color ups even though I like symmetry too. Otherwise this is a fantastic structure and I would love to play in a league like this.

[corn2019]

Slightly different thought going for 4-5 hours

20 min levels///breaks every 100 mins

50-100
100-200
150-300
200-400
300 - 600

****color 25s****

400 - 800
600 - 1200
800 - 1600
1000 - 2000
1500 - 3000

*** color 100s and 500s ***

2000 4000
3000 6000
4000 8000
5000 10000

with a 10k BB that leaves only 24 BBs max on the table, tourney would be ending most likely at this level, still some heads up play

With breaks being 10 mins long that level starts at 280 mins , 4 hours 40 mins in

Might end in 4.5 could go slightly over 5. *At the 5 hour level blinds could go to 6k 12k which assuming 24 players leaves only 21 big blinds at the table.

*

[BGinGA]

We have been playing monthly two-table T10000 league tournaments for five years. The tournaments are designed to last approximately 4-5 hours, and feature 10,000 starting chips, 25/50 starting blinds with 0 antes (antes are added in Round 4), and 15-20 minute blind rounds.

The events use a blinds/ante schedule based on the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event blinds and antes, and we use dedicated non-playing dealers. For this reason, we take a 10-minute break every hour of play (breaks are for dealers, not players - players can always get up and stretch/etc when needed). Breaks are also designed to match the times when unneeded denomination chips are colored-up.

The average tournament time has been 4:35 for the 72 events played so far. Most events finish at or near level 16 (2000/4000/500). In eight seasons, no tournament has ever exceeded 5:40 in play time, and most never reach 5 hours (only six of 72). The shortest tournament on record was 3:25, but that was not a full field.

Our blind structure is almost identical to yours (except for the antes). The biggest differences are:
1) we have no 75/150 round,
2) our 100/200/0 round is repeated when antes are introduced (100/200/25), and
3) we have a 250/500/75 round and a 1200/2400/400 round not present in your structure.

Our structure also continues the same blinds/antes progression after round 20 (when T500 chips are colored-up), instead of doubling the blinds at that point like you do -- but the T10K events never get that far.

It is not an easy tournament to win, since antes keep the tight rocks from being able to simply outlast everyone, and the starting 200 big blinds allow a lot of room to play in the early rounds without taking death-blows if unlucky.

Here's the blind/ante structure, with the first eight rounds at 15 minutes, and all subsequent rounds at 20 minutes:

Small Big Ante
25 50 0
50 100 0
100 200 0
100 200 25
~~ 10-minute break ~~
150 300 50
200 400 50
250 500 75
300 600 75
~~ 10-minute break, chip-up T25 ~~
400 800 100
500 1,000 200
600 1,200 200
~~ 10-minute break ~~
800 1,600 300
1,000 2,000 300
1,200 2,400 400
~~ 10-minute break, chip-up T100 ~~
1,500 3,000 500
2,000 4,000 500
2,500 5,000 1,000
~~ 10-minute break ~~
3,000 6,000 1,000
4,000 8,000 1,500
5,000 10,000 1,500
~~ 10-minute break, chip-up T500 ~~
6,000 12,000 2,000
8,000 16,000 3,000
10,000 20,000 3,000
12,000 24,000 4,000
~~ 10-minute break, chip-up T1000 ~~
15,000 30,000 5,000
20,000 40,000 5,000
25,000 50,000 10,000

I highly recommend it. Oh, and can you tell I have CDO, too? That's OCD, but with the letters in the right damn order, the way they should have been all along.

[MikesDad]

Mark
I think it might be a little slow.... it looks like the structure I use for T5K which takes 4-5 hours
I also wouldn't remove 1500/3000 since doing so make too big a jump. How about adding antes as BGinGA suggested? I personally don't like anything less than 20 minute levels... but that's me
Did you try blindvalet.fr ?

-- dennis

[pokerplayingpisces]

Krafticus,
I use the exact same structure BGinGA suggested. Last week it took us 5 1/2 hours to finish, 11 players, starting stacks of 10K. I tweaked it a little for this week by throwing out the 400/1500/3000 level, and going with 15 min levels after the first two hours. Tonite we finished in a little less than 3 hours, and never got to the level I threw out. Play was very aggressive tonite, so I don't know if shorting the levels helped any. Anyways,we decided to move the league night to Fridays now, and restore the structure back to the way I first had it. I hope the feedback you are getting with this thread helps, and good luck with your upcoming league.