Tournament Structure, Set-Up, Tournament Timers and Series Scoring

In the first 3 articles of this 6 part series we covered the basics. Where to host, poker game tables options and playing surfaces and selecting the right poker chip set for the job. Make sure you have enough decks of poker cards allowing for poker cards being damaged and worn out poker card decks. In part 4, we will discuss the tournament structure, blind levels, tournament timers, and keeping score in a tournament series.
If you don't properly plan the tournament structure, you can end up with a tournament that lasts way too long, or is so short that it's just an all-in shootout without time to really "play" your poker cards and hands. Your structure, the blind time periods, how much the blinds increase for each time period, and the starting poker chip set up, all combine to create the "flow" of the poker tournament.
Blind level time periods can be whatever you choose, as short as 10 minutes or as long as 1 hour blind levels. If blind levels are too short or too small of a starting poker chip stack, it can become nothing more than a wild gambling all-in fest, but it will get the tournament over quickly if that's your goal. On the other hand, blind levels that are too long, or don't increase enough, can seemingly take forever to complete. Neither is ideal. Players prefer enough time to "play poker" but not so long as to drag on. A starting poker chips set up of 50 big blinds or less per player will be a relatively short tournament compared to a starting poker chips set up of 100 big blind bets. The time of each blind level also affects the overall tournament time. Avoid "antes" if you can as it greatly simplifies the tournament. You can experiment to find the ideals, or you can purchase an inexpensive poker tournament timer, like the Poker Genie computer/timer/display available from Online Poker Shops, that can calculate all the math for you, then act as a tournament display screen for the players. It handles all of the details and reduces the host's constant involvement.
Poker items like enough decks of poker cards, allowing for damaged or lost poker cards and a good tournament poker timer and display can relieve the host of having to micro-manage the tournament. Then you can join in the fun of the tournament and concentrate on your poker cards and playing poker, not just the tournament details. If you're looking for poker gifts ideas for the host, a good quality poker cards gift set with dealer buttons and cut cards, or tournament timers make excellent affordable poker gifts, and will result in a more enjoyable tournament for everyone.
For a series, counting the best say, 7 finishes out of a 10 tournament series doesn't punish those who miss a tournament or two. It leads more to a best overall player rather than the player who played the most games in a series. Keep it simple so players can easily understand the series rules.
Next time in article 5 of the 6 part series, we'll cover poker trophies, poker gifts and tournament custom poker chips as tournament momentos.

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