[Alan Goehring]

Great post by OP.

I compared the 2006 $5k NL (Cabinillas) to the 2007 $5k NL (Mackay).

The final table started at level #18 (8/16k, or 16/32k if there was double starting chips) in 2006, compared to level #19 (15/30k) in 2007. AS/BB = 21.6x in 2006 compared to 23.7x in 2006. Basically they got down to 9 players when expected in both years, with 2007 giving one extra level of play.

Then things change dramatically:

Final Table: 2006 (90 min.) 2007 (60 minutes)
Level 1 8/16k 15/30k
Level 2 10/20k 20/40k
Level 3 12/24k 30/60k
Level 4 15/30k 40/80k
Level 5 20/40k 60/120k
Level 6 25/50k
Level 7 30/60k

The 2006 event ended sometime during the 25/50k level, so there was about 5 levels of play, which is what I would expect. The 2007 event ended during the 30/60k level, so nine players down to one with only a doubling in the blind level (2 levels in this case)---- very rare. I would have expected heads-up play to start after a quadroupling in the blinds (after about 4 hours of play), with the end sometime in the next level (slightly less than 5 hours).

The larger point is that it takes 5 levels @ 90 mintes each to "triple" the FT blind level in 2006, compared to 4 levels @ 60 minutes each to "quadrouple" the FT blind level in 2007. So 7.5 hours of play to triple in 2006 vs. 4 hours to quardrouple in 2007.

Conclusions:
1. A doubling of the starting stacks, and giving more deep chip play on day 1 (and more overall play pre-FT) was a good idea. However, the length the time to play the FT has been reduced dramatically by design. (It is clearly NOT a "coincidence" that some 2007 FT's are much shorter).

2. While players may have used more time to make their decisions in 2007 (i.e. fewer hands per hour), this is unlikely to significantly impact the legnth of time to complete final tables (when compared to the impact from blind structure changes late in NL events).

3. Recommendation would be to re-insert the deleted levels at the final table, 12/24k 25/50k 50/100k (and possibly the 2.5/5k on day 2). Although I don't subscribe to the view that it is "more important later", I would much prefer 90 minute levels to 60 minute levels at the FT since it would still end in under 12 hours (including breaks).

While I am done with WSOP prelim events (I play very few because the structures are generally very poor from my perspective), those who are playing prelim NL events should be aware of the significant changes made to the "day 3" portion of NL structures.