steps tend to be won by pros who buy in on the last or second to last one. so someone plays soft feilds gets upto step 5 or whatever it is then play against professional high stakes sng grinders.

but on the flip side if you do buy in higher up on the steps your tend to be playing against weaker players other then the couple of grinders that bought in. so i would say they are playable but buy in a bit higher up and sharkscope anyone who is allready sat down and pick your game, if 4 are registered and on official online poker rankings they are massive winners. skip that one.

just my opinion.

i think everything can be put into 4 words

'don't tap the tank'

if anything your about to do/say has any chance of doing this. don't do it. plenty of time to talk about strategy and how sick or bad a cold 5bet was after the session

i think all tournaments should only use one denomination of chip. The 25 chip, with no changing or chip racing or chipping up.

This might require larger tables/card rooms and some sort of block and tackle system to place bets.

I believe this is the way forward. I bet one wheel barrow

4 years or so ago at DTD played the beginner tournament in the old days. 3 thousand chips 10 minute clock.

had been playing full time oniline for nearly a year before i played. going from 10 tabling 3/6lhe like a champ to being a nervous wreck over a tourney that cost me 3 big bets to enter.. now im so comfortable live i prefer it to online

The problem with dealers using their discretion is that more than one dealer will deal to a table in a night. The idea of a beginner tournament is so players can learn the game and the rules without spending allot of money. It's better to follow the rules strictly but they be explained in a positive way after a mistake. This is true for any beginner playing any buy-in tournament I feel. Just because a tournament is for beginners doesn't mean the rules shouldn't be followed, it just means punishment and the explanation of the rules should be slightly different.

In example:

Beginner throws in a large chip without saying anything. Dealer: "call" Player: "no i raised" Dealer: "unfortunately if you throw one large chip in without saying anything it goes as a call, you might have only wanted change. In future say what you want to happen and you can't go wrong" Player: "ok sorry" Dealer: "no problem it is a call" action continues

Experienced regular throws in a large chip without saying raise. Dealer: "call" Player: "sigh! forgot to say" the rest of the table limp behind to try and crack his big hand.....