Live tournament blind structures

[RED-DOG]

My opinion has never changed on this subject.
I think it should be down to the majority to decide the format of the comp not one or two people who prefer it their way.
If grosvenor put out a light questionaire in all of it's casinos (or just festivals) then they could achieve this in advance of a comp.

 


Cant see it happening though

It DID happen once Bolt, at Walsall. No one could be bothered to fill it in.

[bolt pp]

My opinion has never changed on this subject.
I think it should be down to the majority to decide the format of the comp not one or two people who prefer it their way.
If grosvenor put out a light questionaire in all of it's casinos (or just festivals) then they could achieve this in advance of a comp.

 


Cant see it happening though

It DID happen once Bolt, at Walsall. No one could be bothered to fill it in.

Was this done at yours and tikays behest, if not, do you know what compelled them?

I wonder how many players feel like you and pab? It seems as though the players that feel thus are more inclined to just not turn up and utilise the better structures offered online as opposed to voicing their concerns with the tournament organisers.

[RED-DOG]

My opinion has never changed on this subject.
I think it should be down to the majority to decide the format of the comp not one or two people who prefer it their way.
If grosvenor put out a light questionaire in all of it's casinos (or just festivals) then they could achieve this in advance of a comp.

 


Cant see it happening though

It DID happen once Bolt, at Walsall. No one could be bothered to fill it in.

Was this done at yours and tikays behest, if not, do you know what compelled them?

I wonder how many players feel like you and pab? It seems as though the players that feel thus are more inclined to just not turn up and utilise the better structures offered online as opposed to voicing their concerns with the tournament organisers.

No, all credit to them they did if off their own back, but it was about 3 years ago.

[Pab]

Im not sure how we could go about finding what the key demographic want from a poker tournament and how to implent their wishes...

All the top online tournament guys want deeper stacks and longer levels from tournaments, I would imagine that live players must crave the same thing.

As red-dog mentioned on another thread, the blackpool main event was a sell out as were all the side events so why should they change it...

[b_000_m]

Pab: you staying in Drogheda?

[ariston]

The thing with the various structures is that you can adapt your game to suit any particular structure. I don't like it personally when a TD changes the structure mid event because of a few voices of concern. I think rolling the clock back etc during an event may seem fair but in effect it isn't, you don't get rules changed in other sports during their running.
I am a big fan of the added 2 levels RED mentioned though, as a compromise their should be at least one of them in every event (jumping form 100/200 to 200/400 so early in a big buyin event is just too much imo). The best structure I have played in in the last couple of years was the poker6 in bolton but that was probably because they asked a lot of players first what structure they wanted and Raab spends enough time on the various rails around the UK listening to suggestions.

[Zebediah]

I think the majority of leisure players like the fast gambling structure, they get bored with slow levels, they might actually have to play poker after all.

Just pokerstars online has good tourney structures for me (throughout the site).
Other sites standard sng's are like stars turbo's.

Just played my first (and last) SNG on sportingodds, was going fine, chip leader etc, terrible players etc.
Then after 20 mins the blinds hit 10-15 times the average stack and the remaining players decided no-one was going to see a flop unless they were allin.
An pair, any ace or 2 big cards..allin preflop. I eventually had to concede to the fact there was going to be no post flop play and join in the "fun", lost 2 coinflips and was gone.

I find this pattern the same on all sites bar stars that I have played on. So don't except for offers, value and leagues etc.

[The Camel]

Blackpool's main event didn't have a 75-150 or 150-300 level. But it did have a 500-1000 level.

I have long been a believer that there should be lots of play when you get in the later stages of a tournament. I think having 45 minute levels for perhaps the first 2-3 then move to an hour clock until the final table then have a 90 minute clock would be a good idea. (At Amsterdam the levels at the FT are always longer than in the rest of the comp... they recognise how most players like to dwell up when the money's on the table!)

I personally think 75-150 is a waste of time.

Obviously I think TD's should listen to players concerns. After all, the customer is always right!

[action man]

i, like pab will be flying to drogheda for the 1000E main event. Ok i did win my seat but i would have attended this event nevertheless.

I think the 150/300 level is essential and i won't be playing any main events which don't include this level. There are plenty of other tournaments to choose from afterall.  From my limited experience of irish poker i feel that unlike the uk cardrooms they DO give a toss about what players want and have players running and choosing the structure for the comps. I feel the grosvenor chiefs would learn a lot from this.

having said that though, its up to us as players if you don't like the structure don't play

[roverthtaeh]

For the last couple of years, tikay and I have been trying to persuade the powers that be to give us better blind structures. sometimes we are successfully sometimes we are not.

We are careful not to ask for the impossible, but we know from experience that a few small changes can make a vast difference to the quality and playability of a competition, this is particularly true of the two-day festival events.


In my humble opinion, the two things needed to turn a run of the mill competition into something special is the the inclusion of a 150/300 level, and a minimum 45 minute clock. (1 hour for main event). These simple measures are easily achievable, it's been proved time and time again. I can't ever recall a two day event in the UK that went to a chip count.

Although I enjoy live play immensely, it's getting to the stage where I find it poor value to forsake my online competitions where I can get an excellent structure, for a bricks and mortar game that will turn into a crap shoot.


The most common reason put forward by Tournament Directors for not giving us a better structure is "The players don't want it" or "No one has asked for it" and to be honest, I'm beginning to see their point of view. We never get any support when we approach the TD's, people seem to just turn up, pay their money, and take what they are given.


So what do you really think, do you want better structures, or are you happy with things the way they are? because if I'm in the minority here, I think it's probably time I stopped making a nuisance of myself.

If you're in the minority, Red Dog, so am I.

[doubleup]

IMO The blind structure is much more important than the clock.  Severely increasing blinds even with a 45 minute or one hour clock results in players suddenly moving into a position where they can't afford to see a flop. 

The blind structure in place at the Concorde should be adopted as a standard.  The only thing they change is the starting chips and the clock depending on the entries and whether it is a one day or two day event.  Their structure is:

25  25
25  50
50  100
75  150
100 200
100 200 25

etc with never more than a 50% increase in blinds.

A structure that allows players to see flops will lead to the elimination of players as quickly as one that doesn't.  However, the key difference is that players get eliminated by post-flop play errors and become short stacked by losing their chips and not from the blind structure.

[RED-DOG]