Poker Tournament Structure Template

Posted on4/16/2022by admin

The following rules will apply to all tournaments unless otherwise stated.

Strategy for playing multi-table tournaments online and on the internet. Learn how to run a home poker tournament and free up more of your time to play and also giving your friends a great experience.

Registration

Sit & Go tournaments start as soon as the required number of players takes a seat. Players choose their seats on a first-come-first-served basis.
Players will be allowed to unregister from a Sit&Go tournament as long as not all the seats have been filled.
Multi-table tournaments start at predetermined times. Players will be randomly seated.
Late registration is available in selected multi-table tournaments. Registration is considered closed when any of the following occurs:
- The level specified in the 'Tournament info' window in the Lobby is reached.
- The tournament's maximum capacity is reached.
- When the tournament has awarded the first prize rank.
- At the end of Add-On and Rebuy period.
Players will be allowed to unregister from a multi-table tournament up to 5 minutes before the tournament start time providing registration is still open. Players who register less than 5 minutes before the tournament start time will not be able to unregister.

Rules

All players in tournaments will be forced to post all blinds and/or antes. Players who are not present and ready to play will be blinded/anted off.
There will be a five-minute break every hour in all scheduled tournaments, unless otherwise stated.
Players moved to a new table will be dealt in to the game as soon as possible.
In general, each player will post a small blind and a big blind every round. Collapsing tables and moving players mean it is possible that any of the following may occur at any time:
1. A player may be forced to post the big blind more than once per round.
2. A player may be positioned with the button for more than one hand.
3. A player may skip one or both blinds in a round.
Since these are basically random occurrences, no player will receive any long-term advantage, and the rule is necessarily fair for all players.
In tournaments, seats are randomly assigned prior to start.
With the exception of rebuy tournaments, a player is eliminated when he loses all of his chips.
In limit tournaments (fixed betting), there will be one bet and three raises in each betting round. When only two players remain, there is no limit on the number of raises. In pot-limit and no-limit tournaments, there are no limits on the number of raises.
When two players remain, the player due to assume the big blind will do so, and the small blind will inherit the button. The small blind or button will act first prior to the flop and second after the flop.
If two (or more) players from the same table are eliminated on the same hand, the player who started the hand with the most chips will be awarded the higher finishing position.
Tournaments will, at pre-determined times, go into 'hand-for-hand' mode. This allows tables to play the exact same number of hands at critical times.
When tournament is running hand-for-hand, and two or more players are eliminated on the same hand (from the same table or from different tables), then the player who started the hand with the most chips will be awarded the higher finishing position.
Players are expected to follow established poker etiquette. Any players who abuse proper etiquette may be disqualified from the tournament.
Soft playing is not allowed in tournaments. Soft playing happens when a player does not bet his hand to its full potential with the expressed intent of helping another player advance further in the tournament.
Players who do not act on their hand in time ('time out') will be automatically folded.

Cancellation policy

Single Table Sit & Go tournaments, Multi Table Sit & Go tournaments & Multi-table tournaments: if a tournament is cancelled for technical reasons, the following refund policy will take effect:
1. If the tournament has not yet started:
  - All registered players will be refunded their buy-in and entry fee
2. If the tournament has started but registration for the tournament is still open (ie the tournament is still in the late registration period)
3. If the tournament has started and the registration period for the tournament has closed:
4. In extraordinary circumstances where the quality of our service is severely degraded, such as may happen due to the occurrence of an Act of God, a terrorist attack, fire, or malicious DDoS attack, we reserve the right to cancel tournaments and refund players their buy-in and entry fee only for tournaments where the actual prize pools may be less than guaranteed prize pools. In such an event we will refund all players their buy-in and entry fee, including those players who were eliminated at the time of cancellation.
Sit & Go Hero tournaments. If a tournament is cancelled for technical reasons, the following refund policy will take effect:
1. If the tournament has not yet started
  - All players will be refunded their buy-in and entry fee
2. If the tournament has started
  - Eliminated players at the time of cancellation will not be refunded their buy-in or entry fee.
  - Players still in the tournament will be refunded the amount that would have been awarded to the next player to be eliminated from the tournament. 50% of the remaining prize pool will be distributed equally between the remaining players, and 50% will be distributed on a percentage basis according to each player's chip count. The pre-determined bounty amount will form part of the total prizepool if this has not already been won. The remaining players will NOT be refunded their entry fee.
A Sit & Go Hero tournament will be deemed as started only when the first card is dealt.
Rebuy tournaments: With each rebuy and add-on, the total chips in the tournament will increase. The total chips in rebuy tournaments will be equal to the sum of all players 'player's starting chips (including extra starting chips, if any)' plus the sum of chips given to all players through a rebuy request plus the sum of chips given to all players through an add-on request. The total chips in the tournament will continue to accumulate as and when players make a rebuy request and the final number will be calculated only when the add-on period is over.

If a tournament crashes during the add-on period, the exact count of total chips in the tournament at the time of crash (including the chips added into the tournament as a result of rebuy and add-on requests) will be used to distribute the balance of the prize pool money.

Where a Satellite tournament is offering a guaranteed prize; the guaranteed prize is only guaranteed and paid out if the late registration period closes after the specified number of blind levels. If the tournament completes while late registration is still open, only monies collected will be distributed in prizes to players in the form of tickets, tournament dollars and/or cash, which will be based on how the prize structure is configured.
The tournament disconnect protection and cancellation policy applies to all tournaments.
We reserve the right to cancel or reschedule tournaments at any time, for any reason, with or without notice. We reserve the right to amend our poker tournament rules and policies at any time without notice. Such amendments will take effect as soon as they are listed in the 'Tournament Rules' section of the website. It is the player's sole responsibility to review the tournament rules and policies before entering a tournament.
The poker tournament rules and policies contained herein represent the complete understanding between the player and the site with respect to the player's activities at any tournament, except as otherwise specified in any poker tournament rules pertaining to a particular tournament, as posted on the website.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, all use of the website by a player is governed by the Terms and Conditions of use. In the event of any dispute, these Terms and Conditions of use will apply.

Last modification date: 30/10/2018

The blind structure (or schedule) is one of the most important details of running a successful tournament. Gradual increases of the blinds at each level and finishing on time are characteristics of a good blind structure.

To calculate a blind structure, the minimum information you need is the number of players, target duration, and the starting blind level (which is usually the smallest chip denomination you have). It is also necessary to know how many chips there will be in play and how many rounds there will be. The blind calculator tool below can take care of that and help set up your perfect structure.

To calculate a blind structure, you need the starting blind level, the estimated total value of the tournament chips in play (initial buy-ins plus rebuys and add-ons) and the desired length of the tournament. Use the tool below to help set up your perfect structure.

Poker Tournament Structure Templates

This section discusses some tournament blind structure theory, which explains why the PokerSoup.com tournament blind structure calculator suggests blind levels the way it does and what you can change to create the right blind structure for your game.

Starting Number of Blinds

Most tournaments start with 50-100 big blinds. Anything around 200 big blinds is considered a 'deep stack' tournament. Deep stack tournaments are considered to be full of skillful poker play and not just pushing your money all in before the flop. The latter occurs quickly in tournaments that start with less than 50 big blinds, which are also aptly nick-named 'luck-fests'. There just aren't enough chips to maneuver and play real poker.

If all other variables are held constant, starting a tournament with larger chip stacks will increase the length of the game.

Poker Tournament Structure Template

Rebuys and Add-ons

The number of rebuys and add-ons in a tournament also effect the total number of chips in play during a tournament. If no other changes are made, more rebuys and add-ons make for a longer tournament.

Blind Level Round Length

Most live tournaments employ blind level lengths of 15, 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. The blind calculator can calculate blinds for any of these blind levels. With a set tournament length, longer blind levels result in less number of rounds and shorter blind levels result in more rounds.

Gradual Blind Increase

Poker Tournament Structure Template Creator

The greatest benefit of using the PokerSoup.com tournament blind structure calculator is the assurance of constantly increasing blind amounts. This is an important aspect of tournament play. If the blinds increase (preferably slowly) at a constant rate, players do not spend an inordinate amount of time being deep- or short-stacked and there are no game-altering blind increases in the middle of the tournament.

For example, if the blinds increase from 150/300 to 200/400, that is an increase of 33%, or (200+400)/(150+300). This is a comfortable increase. Similarly, in the later stages of the tournament after many players are knocked out, a blind increase from 3000/6000 to 4000/8000 is also 33%.

End Goal

Eventually, the blinds (and antes) induce action to end the tournament. After all, a tournament usually does have a set duration (or a goal, anyway). As a player, it is up to you to figure out how aggressive it is necessary to play in order to keep up with the blinds. Constant gradual increases make this easier to figure out.