Help with 30 man tourney structure

   

$25 per License (includes license for version 2.0 and any future updates!)

Advice on how to host and run a no-limit Texas Hold'em tournament in your home
Arnold Snyder's Poker Tournament Formula Website


Videos and information on how to shuffle and deal playing cards.













Talk about poker with like minded individuals

[tourneymanager]

Below is part of an email I received from a STM user looking for help on a blinds structure. I'll post my reply below...

I am running a 30 man league for the WSOP, with 10,000T in chips, and 30 minute Blind Levels.  I was wondering if you could look at the attached(below) schedules.  Since you don't know me, I didn't want to send an excel spreadsheet, although I certainly can if you prefer. There are a few things affecting my decision on the blind schedule:
1.   We have increased from 20-30 people
2.   I have never used Antes before
3.   I would like tournament to finish between 7 & 8 hours.  We start at 7pm, and would like to wrap up no later than 3am.
4.   I don't want the tourney's to go too long or too short.
 
All of that being said, here are the schedules:
 
Original Schedule I proposed to league, but I think it may last too long:
Round    Total Time    Time    SB    BB    Ante
1    0-30    7:00pm    25    50    0
2    31-60    7:30pm    50    100    0
3    61-90    8:00pm    100    200    0
4    91-120    8:30pm    100    200    25
   121-125    9:00pm    5-Minute Break
5    126-155    9:05pm    150    300    50
6    156-185    9:35pm    200    400    50
7    186-215    10:05pm    250    500    50
8    216-245    10:35pm    300    600    75
   246-250    11:05pm    5-Minute Break
9    251-280    11:10pm    400    800    100
10    281-310    11:40pm    500    1000    100
11    311-340    12:10am    600    1200    200
12    341-370    12:40am    800    1600    200
   371-375    1:10am    5-Minute Break
13    376-405    1:15am    1000    2000    300
14    406-435    1:45am    1200    2400    400
15    436-465    2:15am    1500    3000    500
16    466-495    2:45am    2000    4000    500
         5-Minute Break
17    496-525    3:20am    2500    5000    500
18    526-555    3:50am    3000    6000    1000
19    556-585    4:20am    5000    10000    2000
 
Revised Schedule I came up with that I think will get me closer to my end time goal:
Round    Total Time    Time    SB    BB    Ante
1    0-30    7:00pm    25    50    0
2    31-60    7:30pm    50    100    0
3    61-90    8:00pm    100    200    0
4    91-120    8:30pm    100    200    25
   121-125    9:00pm    5-Minute Break
5    126-155    9:05pm    200    400    50
6    156-185    9:35pm    300    600    75
7    186-215    10:05pm    400    800    100
8    216-245    10:35pm    500    1000    100
   246-250    11:05pm    5-Minute Break
9    251-280    11:10pm    600    1200    100
10    281-310    11:40pm    800    1600    200
11    311-340    12:10am    1000    2000    300
12    341-370    12:40am    1500    3000    500
   371-375    1:10am    5-Minute Break
13    376-405    1:15am    2000    4000    500
14    406-435    1:45am    3000    6000    1000
15    436-465    2:15am    5000    10000    1000
 
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. 

[tourneymanager]

Try this on for size and see if you like it. It's a nice smooth progression. Each increase is either equal to or greater than the previous one, but there are also no levels where the blinds double, other than from the first to the second levels. I worked the times so that there's a lot of early play time, but the last few levels are quicker to get you done in the timeframe you're looking for. Time for breaking down tables is not accounted for, so it'll probably actually take a bit longer than the 6 hours predicted, but not more than 7.

Please feel free to comment / critique!
Chip Distribution for T10,000 (200xBB) Tourney with up to 30 players.
20 x T25, 20 x T100, 15 x T500 = 55 Total Chips

Blinds Structure: Automatic (I added antes in manually. You might want to tweak them a bit.)

Tourney will likely end at level 12 - 14 (6 hours, 2 minutes as shown), based on and estimated 300,000 total chips in play
Arnold Snyder's Poker Tournament Formula: Skill Level: 5 (out of 6), Patience Factor: 9.77

Level 1 (30 min.):   25 / 50 
Level 2 (30 min.):   50 / 100 
Level 3 (30 min.):   75 / 150 
10 min. Break.
Level 4 (30 min.):   100 / 200 / 50 
Level 5 (30 min.):   150 / 300 / 50 
15 min. Break. Color-up. Keep $100's and up.
Level 6 (30 min.):   200 / 400 / 100 
Level 7 (30 min.):   300 / 600 / 200 
Level 8 (30 min.):   400 / 800 / 200 
10 min. Break.
Level 9 (20 min.):   600 / 1200 / 400 
Level 10 (20 min.):   800 / 1600 / 500 
Level 11 (20 min.):   1000 / 2000 / 600 
10 min. Break. Color-up. Keep $500's and up.
Level 12 (15 min.):   1500 / 3000 / 1000 
Level 13 (15 min.):   2000 / 4000 / 1500 
Level 14 (15 min.):   3000 / 6000 / 2000 
Level 15 (15 min.):   4000 / 8000 / 3000 
Level 16 (15 min.):   6000 / 12000 / 4000 

Created with SimpleTourneyManager 2.0b3 for Windows

[tourneymanager]

I just noticed that your original message stated between 7 & 8 hours, not 6 & 7 hours. To make it go an hour longer, change my 20 minute and 15 minute blind levels to 30 minutes, or increase one or more of the breaks (7-8 hours without a meal break sounds a bit long, anyway).

Good luck.

TM

[WirdPair]

TourneyManager:
     Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it.  I actually came up with another revision within the last couple of days, that by coincidence almost mirrors yours exactly(all 30 minute blinds). 

This structure does seem good, my only issue, is I don't really like changing the length of the levels during the tournament.

I will try the software again, and post any issues I run across, or things I think may help others.

By the way, any interest in playing in the tourneys I mentioned in my e-mail?

[tourneymanager]

I'll have to go take a look at your email again. I don't remember if I had a conflict with the dates.