thanks for the responce
we are a church and are going to run a tournament (first time)
we have unlimited supply of chips all denominations
we expect 30 people maybe more
skill level will be low i assume
would like to register at 6.00pm start @700pm would like to go to 11.00 11.30 or so
could you help us with what u think starting chips should be
should we have buy ins
is there a suggested split between payout and what the church gets (50-50, 75-25)
we bought the your software and could you help with suggested data input
I would recommend trying to start just a little earlier, maybe 6:30, if you want to be done by 11:30. Do you have a certain time by which you MUST be done, or is it just preference?
As far as the split goes, 50/50 splits in the charity tournaments around me (I'm in the Detroit, MI area) seems common. I think that's dictated by state law governing charity poker tournaments. I can only recommend that you check to see what's legal in your area. At a minimum, though, I personally think the charity should get 25%.
For the format, I would go with the "automatic" blinds schedule, which is pretty gradual (rewards skilled players). If you're really time-constrained, I would probably go with the PokerStars sit-n-go schedule. Go with at least 20 minute rounds at the beginning, and drop the times of the later rounds to maybe 15 minutes if necessary. Don't do any rebuys or addons if you're time-constrained.
I'll play around with this some more and give you some more solid advice, but I have to go now. I hope I've given you a little bit of a head start.
Decide what denomination chips you want to use. You can start as low as 1 or as high as you want. Most people set tournaments up using either 5's or 25's as the lowest chip. This will dictate whether your starting stacks will be in the 1000-2000 range or 5000-10000 range. If you have unlimited chips, you should probably go with starting at 25, just to give your players more of the "big tournament" feeling. It's completely an illusion since it's all relative, but a lot of people go for the "big tournament", "as seen on TV" feeling, so what the heck.
Again, I have to go. Let me know what you're thinking as far as chips and starting stacks and I'll give you some more specific advice.
Good luck.
TM.
Arnold Snyder's Poker Tournament Formula Website
