Heads Up Home Game Tournament

[PequDios]

Me and my friends get together 3-5 times a week to play poker. Unlike most home game we mostly play tournaments, not cash games. Just a regular SNG. Usually we are around 8-10 guys, the buy-in is about $15-20. We start with $10,000 in chips and the blinds start at 100/200. The first level is roughly 50-60 minutes and a rebuy at that time is allowed. After that there is no rebuy and the blinds go up to 200/400. After that each blind level is 25-30 minutes and the blinds go
300/600
400/800
500/1000
700/1500
1000/200 etc. etc.

I was thinking of having a Heads up Tournament. What do you think would be a good blind structure, starting with 10,000 chips? We will probably be about 16 people and would like to get it over with within 5 hours.

[grebe]

how about 1/2 NL, each player gets $100 in chips and the blinds dont go up? pretty simplistic, good stacks for the blinds, and it shouldnt last too long.

[Small Fry]

[ QUOTE ]
how about 1/2 NL, each player gets $100 in chips and the blinds dont go up? pretty simplistic, good stacks for the blinds, and it shouldnt last too long.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol..the blinds don't increase? this could last a very, very long time.

16 players heads up is 4 rounds. If you want it to last 5 hours each round needs to be about an hour to 1.5 max. I went with the following:

Start with T1000

Levels last 15 minutes

5-10
10-20
15-30
25-50
50-100
100-200

A few matches lasted into the 50-100 level but most were done in about an hour. IF you want to make them last a little longer I would increase round 1 and/or 2 to 20 minutes

And restart from the beginning for every new round. Don't do any chip accumulation with constantly iuncreasing blinds.

Keep in mind if you only have one clock for a blinds timer then all players must start each round at the same time. This means each level effectively lasts as long as the longest game. 8 players left in level 2 so 4 games. Three games are done in 35 minutes but the 4th game lasts 1 hour 10 minutes. Those 3 that move on to level 3 need to wait. It's a decent format, good for a change of pace, but it does cause players to have to sit around and wait.

If you plan on double elimination you'll now have like 7 rounds and you'll never get it done in 5 hours unless it's pretty much an all in fest

[ShannonRyu]

I have run 2-3 sixteen player Heads Up tournaments per year for the past 3 years, and I can share with you my format which has not failed me yet. The most important thing is securing the 16 spots because if your players are like mine, a last minute cancellation can ruin your night (unlike a regular game) so I find it very helpfull to bring in an alternate or two. We play 10 minute blinds, each round lasts 1 hour max. 4 rounds ends it in 4 hours, if you want 5 hours, make the rounds 12 minutes (we have in the past). If you are used to starting with 10K, keep it that way, so do we. I also REQUIRE all of the 16 partisipants to bring an extra $20 (or whatever you like) to play in the consolation tournament, because after 1 hour, half your players are out, so have an extra game ready for those 8, plus any spectators or alternates that did not get used. Make a COOL tournament board. It is fun to fill out during the event so spend $2 on a nice big board. We also get a trophy, but thats how lame we are. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

our blinds: (T10K)
100/200
200/400
400/800
500/1000
1000/2000
1500/3000 (it should end here at the latest)

I have always felt that with 10 minute blinds, timely shuffling and dealing, and that rate of increase, nobody feels rushed and you see plenty of hands to remove the crap shoot element.

Hope that helps.

[Precept2]

If you want it to be over within 5 hours, each match would have to be over in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Obviously, some matches will be over quickly. Most won't. Here's enough levels for 2+ hours, but you won't need them all.

Starting Stacks: 10K
Levels: 15 Minutes

100-200
200-400
300-600
400-800
600-1200
800-1600
1000-2000
1500-3000
2000-4000

[Lottery Larry]

Probably not the smartest idea to post actual names, but good post nonetheless

[ShannonRyu]

[ QUOTE ]
Probably not the smartest idea to post actual names, but good post nonetheless

[/ QUOTE ]Sorry, but I don't take photos of the BLANK brackets [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Besides, who doesn't know a Ben or a Mike or a Bob? I did consider altering the bracket photo for you so my first round loss was not so obvious... [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Small Fry]

Love the trophy.

[PequDios]

Thanks a lot! I definetely like this format. Looks great.