So big-good luck to Team Pokerati’s lone representative in the inaugural Zynga Pokercon, Stacey Nutini, aka Stacey Lynn, aka @LasVegasPokers. She just took her seat as alternate #23.

Pokerati Mincast: Team Pokerati @ZyngaPoker

There were 45 players left (from the first flight of 250) with blinds at 1,000/2,000. They started with 2,000 chips each, so that translates to … bear with me, doing math here … 18 percent of the field left, 5.5 big blinds for the average stack.

UPDATE (12 minutes later): Blinds just went up. Average stack is now 2.75 BB.
UPDATE (3 minutes later): We are in the money. 27 players remain.
UPDATE (1 minute later): Blinds are up to 3,000/6,000. 3.2 BB for the average.

Though I can hear Matt Savage and Allen Kessler cringing on the inside from wherever they are, the one guarantee with such a faster-than-charity structure is lots of exciting all-in hands. So in some ways reminds me of a WPT broadcast from a few years ago.

CORRECTION: See what happens when you assume? Turns out Matt Savage created this blind structure!

Click the image above to enlarge the blind and payout structures … they play each flight down to 3 … and then sit four others who qualified for ITM seats on Zynga Poker.

Pokerati is headed to Chicago for an event you may not know about, nor should you. The awesomely titled “Pike Poker Tourney” takes place at the Best Western-Evanston on Saturday, Oct. 23, after Northwestern’s (5-1) homecoming football game against Michigan State (7-0).

It’s a $1,000+ freeroll for Pi Kappa Alpha alums and actives … with $1k going to first, and 2nd through 4th TBA tomorrow. Economists have confirmed that $1k is still “a shitload” to college students.

I’ll be serving as executive floor honcho, and found out earlier today the original plan called for only 1,000 starting chips.

Gahhh!

Just because this will be a very quick, luck-friendly 3(ish)-hour event doesn’t mean it has to suck! (We can stretch it to 4 hours if necessary, though it shouldn’t be hard to get players to push chips around — health officials confirm that college students still like to drink, as do aging alumni desperately trying to cling to their youth.)

Props to @SteveH369) for tipping me off to the blind structure calculator from BlindValet.com. It’s not perfect — got a list of unsolicited suggestions — but overall you can see how BV’s “Create a Tournament” feature will obviously drive Matt Savage out of business while landing Allen Kessler an endorsement deal.

One nifty thing I’ll be beta testing boldly and proudly introducing with this blind structure is the “stimulus add-on” … essentially, at each break all surviving players get extra chips. Like a soccer referee showing the stoppage time, I’ll declare how many chips (probably 5k, then 10k, then 0k) with 10 minutes to go before break.

(Love how the stimulus add-on announcement stands to change play at various points … as well as the potential for in-game TD corruption it creates!)

Check out the deeper-stacked structure for the Pike Poker Tourney below as I get back in touch with some of my underage gambling roots to study the next generation of midwestern fish.

Pike Poker Tourney

BTW, turns out my event is one of the few that does not meet CardPlayer POY criteria … bummer, and oops on contending otherwise … but hey, kinda a rookie here on the Vegas real-money poker scene, ya know? Just look at the event title and try to say it out loud … sure, I agree it sounds kinda sexy, but you can tell I still might have a few things to learn about running tournaments in the land of Big Casino.

Still promise a fun, challenging event with great food and (re)invigorating action. Mark your calendars (Aug 18), book your flights, and send your kids to summer camp. Come (back) to Vegas to annoy the locals and/or abuse the tourists!

Matt Savage: What do you think of the jump in antes at level 6 in the Pokerati event?

Allen Kessler: I’m not sure the single rebuy offers enough equity without POY points in play even when you consider the implied free-food equity. I mean ha-ha, what good is that when you’re not guaranteeing a take-home box!

Keep up to date with what is sure to be the best late-summer, chill-stakes miniseries of the year on twitter @DetoxPoker.

WSOP Main Event Note: Matt Savage is still alive at the Day 3 dinner break with 155k. Current official scoreboard here.

Todd Anderson from Fargo, North Dakota, bought into his first WSOP Main Event a few days ago, and we were talking about the value of chips acquired early in this $10k, long blind-levels, triple-stacked tournament. Before long we began to conclude that a player would be fine making it to Day 2 without playing a single hand. We couldn’t agree, however, on where that chipstack would be at the end of Day 1.

So here is my attempt to calculate it … feel free to disagree and/or disparage:

First, we needed an accurate assessment of how many hands get dealt per hour, or per “down” — dealer parlance for a half-hour.

Matt Savage, Executive Tour Director of the WPT, estimated that a good dealer gets out 40-50 hands per hour, though acknowledges that antes do slow it down a bit.

Team Pokerati player/dealer/part-time Venetian floor guy Harris (@85Nutz) worked the WSOP box from 2007-2009 — and was good enough to be a featured-table dealer, as well as a top-contender for Dealer of the Year last year (which he did not win – I call shenanigans!). He guesstimates 15-20 hands per down, or 30-40 per hour. He too points out that antes do slow it all down a bit, but how many hands exactly that bit is, I’m not so sure.

OK, so with that, I am going to use 40 as the number. And instead of dropping it down to 37 or 38 when the antes kick in at Level 4, I’m going to leave it at 40 to compensate for the periods where tables are 9- or 8-handed, and therefor moving a bit faster.

So now, using that figure, all we have to do is look at the structure sheet

As we know, players start with 30,000 chips.

They played 4.5 levels today –for a total of nine hours of action.

Level One is 50/100. During those first two hours, an empty seat loses 150 per orbit … so facing 8 orbits (80 hands), they’d sacrifice 1,200 chips.

Level Two is 100/200 … so that would cost an additional 2,400 chips.

Level Three is 150/300 … so that’s 3,600 more.

Now Level Four is where the antes kick in for 150/300 + 25 … so that would be 450+250 per orbit … 700×8=5,600

And Day 1 finished an hour into Level Five, where blinds are 200/400 + 50 … so that’s 1,100 per round, but only four of them, not eight … 4,400 more chips lost to the pot.

To give a bit of a range, if you expect more from your dealers (and players), at 50 hands per hour would leave a non-playing player with 8,500 going into Day 2.

But at a rate of 30 hands per hour, you’d still have 17,100 remaining.

Hmm, considering the disparity based on the quality and skill of dealers, you can see why many players complain and why casinos presumably look forward to the day when they can replace these workers with fully programable androids.

My real guess, btw, for average hands per hour on Day 1 was 38 … with that number dropping by 1 each day moving forward. But I went with 40 to keep the math simple, and because 38 really is just a guess. Regardless, I think you can feel confident that if you play zero hands on Day 1 you should end up with more than 10k chips, and fewer than 13k, for sure.

To understand more about what that means … 1,125 players entered Day 1, with 819 remaining. So the average stack amongst Day 1A players is currently about 41,200. These numbers could change a bit as the other Days 1 flatten out any variance … but they should give you a ballpark picture behind the meaning of stacks at the end of Day 1.

My pal Todd, as president of the Heartland Poker Tour, thinks about these sorta blind structure things often. He survived his Day 1A, and will return for Day 2A with about 43k in chips … slightly above average.

Probably good that he decided to play at least a few hands.

UPDATE: Jack Effel thinks the number should be fewer hands, which would leave you with more chips if you played none.

@WSOPTD @Pokerati roughly how many hands per down does a good dealer get out per down? 15 .20?~>15 depending on game pace – antes dont slow too much

Storied tournament director Matt Savage is stepping back into Las Vegas poker events — for the first time since 2004 — bringing the Las Vegas Poker Series to my weekly donk-stomping grounds at the Hard Rock, August 13-22.

The LVPS will feature low buy-in events ($230-$550), most of which count toward CardPlayer Player of the Year standings … with the Savage-tested deep structures (as opposed to deep stacks) that just about all players except Allen Kessler vigorously applaud. Also a money leaderboard of some sort is in play, though I’m not yet sure if this is about crowning an overall champion or qualifying for a player-appreciation freeroll … more TK as the schedule and other PR info gets released.

IMHO, bringing in Savage, who hasn’t hosted a series in Vegas since his Varkonyi-to-Raymer WSOP run, is a big coup for the Hard Rock, which has seen its games grow since a management overhaul a few months ago … but is still trying to firmly establish itself as a friendly service, professionally run room (despite its inclination toward hard-rocking, trash-talking action) that gives more and better player perks and comps than any other room in Vegas. Fiji water/Shmiji water … I can attest that in my Pokerati game, players seem to love the splash-pots, rakeback, and late-night $40 rebate promotion.

For the LVPS, in addition to seat-added super-sats and the player-appreciation freeroll, the opening NLH event (with multiple Day 1s) comes with a $100k guarantee, and the main event will have $200k guaranteed.

Savage, of course, is the former WSOP Tourney Director (2002-2004) who currently hosts numerous events at the Commerce Casino and elsewhere. (California State Championship about to get underway.) From blind structures to payout scales, his events seem to set a standard for TD’s worldwide … even though at the moment he is currently running his tournaments contrary to popular deeper-and-deeper-stacks theory, which he believes is over-hyped. Savage is also co-founder of the TDA and was the inaugural inductee into the Poker Room Manager’s Hall of Fame in 2003. (Yeow, anyone know where that HOF is?)

Whether this August event at the Hard Rock serves as a WSOP Second-Chance Series or summer poker-hangover recovery festival remains to be seen. But as the guy hosting the Thursday Pokerati Game there … I’m personally excited about Event #8, which I hear promises some semblance of PLO in a $200+30 with a single $200 rebuy. Any typical NLH player who doesn’t learn this game is falling behind the Europeans. And yet at the same time, the Eurodonks often aren’t as good at it as they think they are …

That’s when TDA honcho Matt Savage stepped up to say, wait a minute, let’s take a look beyond the first few levels, maybe these perceived Deep Stacks in a lot of instances aren’t all everyone says they’re supposed to be. Just about any educated “outsider” I’ve talked to who has taken a close look at the prevalent blind structures of the day contend that, indeed, while the non-bastardized Venetian Deep Stacks set-up is good, Savage’s not-so-deep-stacks structure as seen at the LAPC are indeed some of the best in the business — a model for other tourney directors to emulate.

After Day 1 of the WPT-Commerce main event, Daniel Negreanu agrees. Read more as he explains a bit why.

NOTE: I learned a good rule of thumb about antes from Negreanu, and where they fit in to breed action in “slower” events.

We may or may not get around to taking a closer look at the finer nuances of currently popular blind structs, but in the meantime we wanna know, unscientifically, of course, from a tournament blinds perspective, where you think the best place is to play. Daily voting to your right.

Oh, and then just for fun, be sure to check out the delightfully mock-a-vellian @ComplainSaw.

(The basics of the beef: the blinds move too slow early, and too fast in the middle of the tournament.)

Should be extra interesting to see these issues in action tomorrow for the start of the WPT Festa al Lago $15k main event. Not only are stack sizes in relation to the blinds in play, but also — and I’m pretty sure this part is new — players will be allowed to late-register (with a totally fresh starting stack) well into Day 2!

For a better explanation, WPT Lead Tournament Reporter BJ Nemeth breaks it down a bit more. Says BJ:

There are currently 40 players registered for this WPT event, & there is only one starting day (tomorrow).

Like the December tourney, this one will let you register anytime during the first *eight* levels. [So] they’re letting players register until 5:00 pm on Day TWO.

This tourney begins with 60,000 in chips (4x stack) and blinds at 50-100. That’s 600 big blinds. (Though I still expect someone to bust in the first level or two.)

If you skip Day 1 and show up at the start of Day 2, you’ll have 75 big blinds to work with. If you wait as long as possible and begin play at the start of Level 9, you’ll have 37.5 big blinds in your stack.

Hmm, OK … we’ll have to see if this adds fuel to Andy Bloch’s fire, or satisfies those who pony up the $15k buy-in enough that complaints about overly deep stacks fail to grow any teeth. Word is that tournament-side WSOP officials will be watching closely at how it plays out.

Click below to see Bellagio’s venerable TD Jack McClelland’s blind structure for tomorrow’s big event in its entirety:

General Rules:

1. Players will start with $60,000 in tournament chips.

2. Each level will last 90 minutes.

3. 15 minute break at the end of each level.

4. 3% of prize money will be withheld for poker room staff.

5. NO RE-BUYS: Your chips will be confiscated and you will NOT RECEIVE A REFUND OR COLLECT ANY PRIZE MONEY.

6. Management reserves the right to change or cancel tournaments.

7. Winners will be paid in casino chips.

8. Tournament champion will receive a $25,500 + $500 entry for the 2010 WPT Championship event.

9. 10/21/09-Day 1-play 5 levels, 10/22/09-play 5 levels, 10/23-play 5 levels, 10/24-play 5 levels, 10/25-play to final six players, 10/26-T.V. final table.

10. Residents of foreign countries without a U.S. tax treaty will be subject to withholding.

Blinds

Level 1: 50-100
Level 2: 100-200
Level 3: 100-200 (25 ante)
Level 4: 200-400 (25)
Level 5: 300-600 (50)
Level 6: 400-800 (75)
Level 7: 500-1,000 (100)
Level 8: 600-1,200 (100)
Level 9: 800-1,600 (200)
Level 10: 1,000-2,000 (200)
Level 11: 1,200-2,400 (300)
Level 12: 1,500-3,000 (400)
Level 13: 2,000-4,000 (400)
Level 14: 3,000-6,000 (500)
Level 15: 4,000-8,000 (500)
Level 16: 5,000-10,000 (1,000)
Level 17: 6,000-12,000 (1,000)
Level 18: 8,000-16,000 (2,000)
Level 19: 10,000-20,000 (2,000)
Level 20: 12,000-24,000 (3,000)
Level 21: 15,000-30,000 (4,000)
Level 22: 20,000-40,000 (4,000)
Level 23: 30,000-60,000 (5,000)
Level 24: 40,000-80,000 (5,000)
Level 25: 50,000-100,000 (10,000)
Level 26: 60,000-120,000 (10,000)
Level 27: 80,000-160,000 (15,000)
Level 28: 100,000-200,000 (15,000)
Level 29: 120,000-240,000 (20,000)
Level 30: 150,000-300,000 (25,000)
Level 31: 200,000-400,000 (25,000)
Level 32: 300,000-600,000 (50,000)
Level 33: 400,000-800,000 (75,000)
Level 34: 500,000-1,000,000 (100,000)

Indeed, I agree that too often people think simply adding more chips leads to better everything — but don’t consider myriad other factors that come into play over the course of hours (or days) in a timed event that takes you from X number of players ultimately to just one.

[via F-Train]

Hey Dan,

So some friends and I are going to throw a poker tournament in February here in Dallas as a fundraiser for a theater production company that we started this fall (www.UpstartTheater.com). Blue Mesa Grill is going to host the games (free appetizers and happy-hour-priced drinks) and we are going to have a $20 per player donation buyin with rebuys. I was wondering if you had any advice/suggestions:

– How often should we up the blinds so that a game starting around 3 on a Sunday will be over by 8 or 9 at the latest?
– Do you know any poker company/group willing to lend/donate us enough chips and cards for 100 people or so?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in donating a prize?
– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in financially sponsoring the event (we’re tax deductible) in exchange for publicity on our event fliers, website, and performance playbills?
– Do you know ways to publicize this to the Dallas poker-playing community?
– Anything else you think would be helpful?

thanks a lot,
Nick

Nick, as always, good to hear from you. One of these days you will find purpose in your life and ditch the restaurant-service/medical-technology career combo, as well as your passion for the arts and philanthropy, to discover your true calling as a poker blogger. Either that, or you are clearly nothing without Markus and Andy.

In the meantime, click below for answers to your questions:

– How often should we up the blinds so that a game starting around 3 on a Sunday will be over by 8 or 9 at the latest?

You probably want 20-minute blinds. That gives you roughly 15 levels to work with. Generally, the best tournaments start off slow to give everyone play, pick up some blind pressure in the middle, and then slow down to bring skill back into when the money counts. But this will be a charity tournament, so you’ll want to facilitate rebuys. Don’t start with an insultingly low stack, but maybe like 3,000 or 3,600 with blinds starting at 25/50. Also, in addition to rebuys, be sure to offer an “add-on” … meaning anyone, no matter what their chip-stack, can pay an extra $20 for another initial buy-in’s worth of chips at the end of the rebuy period, which probably should come at the end of the 4th level.

(You know, I used to actually have different blind structures for different events posted on this site. But i can’t for the life of me find them … kinda like your posts from back in 2005!)

– Do you know any poker company/group willing to lend/donate us enough chips and cards for 100 people or so?

Sadly, I do not. The poker biz is full of greedy bastards, and most are hurting for money moreso than back in ’06. At the same time, you may find some group that used to throw big events but no longer does that has a bunch of extra poker gear lying around. (If any Pokeratizens can help on this, speak up!) I also recommend contacting karridy – at – gmail dot com for tables.

– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in donating a prize?

Sadler & Carter have helped out with some prizes in the past. And they always had good gear. Bluff Magazine has donated subscriptions … that’s always a nice throw-in … top 3 get subscriptions to Bluff or something like that. And, of course, you could always hit up The Lodge for lapdance coupons.

– Do you know any poker company/group that would be interested in financially sponsoring the event (we’re tax deductible) in exchange for publicity on our event fliers, website, and performance playbills?

Ha ha, too funny. You said “financially sponsoring”! You know, it occurs to me that this isn’t a charity event — it’s just a fundraiser for the arts. (How are you tax-deductible?) That makes it more difficult to get help, because while poker players love to say they’re helping a good cause, few of them have read any Samuel Beckett.

However, there’s always an interest by those in the poker biz to reach poker players. And with that in mind, I would try hitting up Choctaw in Oklahoma for flyer sponsorship. WinStar’s good, too, but I suspect you’re too small for them to give you the time of day.

– Do you know ways to publicize this to the Dallas poker-playing community?
Yes, you should send an email to danm – at – pokerati dot com. If you get lucky, he may actually answer it. You also should probably take out a big ad on Pokerati. In the alternative, the guys over at BigStack.com (formerly Weston Poker) are nice dudes always looking for some good low-stakes action.

– Anything else you think would be helpful?

Good luck! I look forward to seeing coverage of the event on YouTube … and I’m sure everyone playing would too.

Oh, also, pack heat in case the Dallas Poker Bandits show up. I’ll vouch that you’re a good shot!

No time for great wisdom today and analysis (maybe tomorrow). I would point you to the table tab which is my favorite to look for. I always total the chips at each table when we get to this stage to see where the big tables are. The big tables often yield chip leaders as we move into Day 4 and beyond. Iggy’s table has the fifth most chips to start with only eight players to begin with, including Jeremiah Smith (2nd in chips at just over a million). Structure below.

	SB	BB	Ante	Pot
Level 16	2,500	5,000	500	12,000
Level 17	3,000	6,000	1,000	18,000
Level 18	4,000	8,000	1,000	21,000
Level 19	5,000	10,000	1,000	24,000
Level 20	6,000	12,000	2,000	36,000
Level 21	8,000	16,000	2,000	42,000

Obviously there are only five levels in play today (16-20), but as is the case for the players at the tables, you gotta know what’s coming up (in level 21) to make proper decisions before it.

The $1,500 NL Holdem event is down to three players: veteran Dan Heimiller, rising pro David Daneshgar, and relative unknown Scott Sitron. They just went on their one hour dinner break, so to see how this turns up, follow the updates on the WSOP site here.

The $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout just created its final table and one of those who will be moving on is Jean-Robert Bellande, who may have a fellow pro railing him at the final table. You can follow the updates of their action here.

Here’s how the final table will look like, everyone starting with 300,000 in chips:

Andrew Prock
Brandon Wong
Danny Wong
Jean-Robert Bellande
Joe DeNiro
John Kranyak
Mike Kachan
Spencer Lawrence
Matt Graham

Graham was the last to make the final table, and was extremely upset that the levels leaped from the 6,000/12,000 level to 10,000/20,000 when the stacks were level at 150,000. It seems to have worked out for him to make the final table, we’ll see if it propels him to the bracelet.

I’ll return tomorrow to preview Day 1a of the Main Event and give the final winners…

The $5,000 Seven Card Stud Eight or Better World Championship concluded shortly after 2am, with German Sebastian Ruthenberg outlasting Chris “Jesus” Ferguson to win his first bracelet, along with just over $328,000 in a grueling 3 hour heads-up battle. Ferguson and Ruthenberg would trade the lead several times, each having a huge chip advantage. While some may say the structure went too fast at the end, I have the feeling he wouldn’t be as vocal if the other player won.

Final tables for today and other action from last night after the leap:

The final table of the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys gets the ESPN360 treatment at 2pm, with the following:

Seat 1: Frank Vizza 78,000
Seat 2: Dario Alioto 659,000
Seat 3: Tim West 187,000
Seat 4: Daniel Makowsky 493,000
Seat 5: Kyle Kloeckner 845,000
Seat 6: Jacobo Fernandez 348,000 (his 3rd final table this Series)
Seat 7: Layne Flack 601,000
Seat 8: Michael Guzzardi 751,000
Seat 9: Ted Forrest 757,000

West, Kloeckner, and Forrest are making their 2nd final tables this Series.

The final table of the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event gets underway at 3pm with this lineup:

Seat 1: Levon Torosyan 114,500
Seat 2: Al Barbieri 252,500
Seat 3: Max Troy 88,500
Seat 4: Michael Rocco 255,000
Seat 5: Giacomo D’Agostino 123,000
Seat 6: Andre Boyer 06,000
Seat 7: Jeffrey Siegal 150,000
Seat 8: Danny Kalpakis (Ajax, Ontario, Canada) — 55,000

The $1,500 NL Event reached the money (as usual) towards the end of Day 1, with 187 returning at 2pm to play to their final table. Owen Crowe is the Day 1 chip leader, other notable names remaining include Freddy Deeb, Bryan Micon of Neverwin Poker, Can Kim Hua, and JC Tran. Follow along with the live updates here.

The $10,000 Omaha Eight or Better World Championship returns at 3pm with 123 remaining out of the 235 that started. Erick Lindgren is 3rd in chips, with Brad Booth, Bart Hanson, Roland de Wolfe, Robert Williamson and Chris Reslock towards the top of the leaderboard. Catch the exciting split pot action here.

Only one tournament starts today, with the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem tournament at noon. Last year’s winner was Greg Hopkins in a field of 599. More posts from me a little later, expect great stuff from Dan/Jen later…

The $5,000 NL Shootout got underway at noon with 36 tables of action, with the winners moving on tomorrow to play 6 six-handed tables. The tournament director announced that the structure was “slow”. Several would disagree with that assumption, since you start with 50 big blinds, while the $1,500 NL shootout gives you 60 big blinds to start.

Starting at 5pm is the first limit holdem only event, at the low buyin of $1,500. Last year’s event drew over 900 entrants, expect a similar number today.

Final table action is underway in the $2,000 NL Holdem and $10,000 Mixed Event. For those unable to watch online, Pokernews will be providing updates for the final tables as well as the other tournaments in action.

The two tournaments on their day 2, ($1,500 NL 6-max and $2,500 Omaha 8/Stud are both underway, about 40 are left in the NL event, 87 are left in the Omaha/Stud event.

More tomorrow…

In other tournament action, all but the the $2k NL tournament (which just returned) are on their respective dinner breaks.

The $1,500 PL Holdem final table has Jacobo Hernandez and David Singer are heads-up and almost even in chips. The $5,000 Mixed Holdem event is on their break as well with five left at their final table as Justin Bonomo, Andrew Robl, Erick Lindgren, Chino Rheem and Roland de Wolfe remain.

The $1,500 Omaha 8 tournament just broke the money bubble, then went right to their dinner break. The $2,000 NL tournament has about 400 left, with 153 getting paid. The $1k NL tournament is down to 29, returning shortly to get to their final table with Negreanu, Gowen, and Juanda among the remaining.

I’ll be back at it tomorrow, like it or not…

Whether you think Tom is full of applesauce or not, his idea clearly demonstrates how the hosts of Beyond the Table are willing — indeed, eager — to think outside the box, to push the envelope, to destroy old paradigms . . . .

You know. Screw with us.

Which is why we get not one but two new shows almost simultaneously. Though one isn’t a “real” show. That’s right. The one on which Tom, Karridy, and Dan all appear — titled “BTS: The Cheating Beating” — should not be mistaken for a regular installment. (BTS = “Beyond the Show.”) Listen to hear the trio’s sober debate on ethics and online poker. (Full summary here.)

Meanwhile, we are to understand the one featuring Dan and guest co-host Robert Goldfarb — “Booty Call” — to be a “real” episode. What makes one “real” and one not? Hard to say, although it appears we’ve got ourselves an indisputably authentic BTT show whenever Dan gets drinky and starts talking about strippers, Scotty Nguyen bobblehead dolls, yard sales, religion, Tom’s POY chances, and/or hits his mute button.

Don’t trust me, though. Go listen to both and decide for yourself. And tell ’em what you think — about blind structures, strippers, “reality,” etc. — by emailing theshow(at)beyondthetable(dot)com and/or calling the listener line — (888) 820-8091.

1. Payout structure – In the WPT championship, the winner received $4 million. Sixth place got $300,000. This difference is not the only reason, but is one of the main reasons that people are complaining about the blind structures. If this difference were significantly smaller, players might not be as bothered by a crapshoot. I’m sure other people will comment on how to improve the blind structure, but I would like the payout structure narrowed. Viewers will be impressed if the winner gets $2 million or $4 million. Both numbers are amazing to people that watch poker. This top-heavy prize structure is one of the reasons so many poker players are going broke. Finishing 6th among 600 of the best players in the world should get paid better than 12to1.
2. Deal Making – The WSOP allows deal making and their shows are great to watch too. The viewers don’t know, and even if they did, they might find the negotiation process interesting to watch. The inability for players to make deals when the variation in prize money from first to sixth is so vast is another reason why the blind structure is so important. The final table is not real poker and is being played for more money than most people have ever seen, and we can’t make deals. If we could make deals, I wouldn’t care so much about the blind structure. In addition, if a deal was made, it would speed up the tournament reducing your production costs and would spread the prize money over a greater number of players.
3. Logos – For those of us that are not sponsored by a poker site, we would like to be able to wear a logo if we make a final table. Why should it matter if we get it approved before the tournament starts? The time to negotiate a deal to wear someone’s logo, for most of us, is after the sponsor knows that we will be on T.V. It is in the best interest of the WPT to have its players make as much money as they can so they can continue to enter tournaments. This is free money to the player and the WPT makes it difficult for the second tier players to get it. In addition, why can’t we wear hats with logos? That would create more money making opportunities for the players.

It seems as though when you make a final table in the WSOP, they do as much as they can to promote the player. I had just completed writing a poker book and came in third in the Reno WPT and there was no mention of the book on the show. Once again, this would have been no skin off the WPT’s back but could have provided more income to one of its players — some of which inevitably might end up back on their tables. It is mutually beneficial for the WPT to promote its players and their endeavors, but it doesn’t happen.

One of Steve’s concerns is that the WPT isn’t making money. It’s hard for players to comment on how that could be improved because we don’t have access to detailed financial statements. However, there are several line items that should be investigated and not just production costs.

The one thing that should be kept in mind is that poker players are the only competitors on T.V. that put up all of the money for their own prize pool. These people should be kept happy and wealthy. Hey how about if I make a final table, you let me wear a hat and we’ll split the money?

The World Poker Tour head honcho sent an email to the players about this matter just a few days ago:

Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 18:42:00 -0700
From: “Steve Lipscomb”
To: Tom Schneider
Subject: An Open Letter regarding Final Table Structure from WPT Founder Steven Lipscomb

An Open Letter regarding Final Table Structure from WPT Founder Steven Lipscomb:

Dear WPT family:

As we begin our historic Season VI of the World Poker Tour, we continue to strive to make World Poker Tour events the best possible experience for players, casinos and television audiences alike. To that end we are opening a forum today on our website (WorldPokerTour.com) to discuss the optimum final table structure for WPT events.

The structure we currently use at the final table was designed for us by players (Howard Lederer — in consultation with Jack McClelland, Chris Ferguson and others). I have included a copy of that structure on the forum. There are a number of factors that need to be considered as people try to help us identify any improvements:

1) Six Players: The final table structure is applied to the final six players only (the TV final table). If you measured the time it takes to get from 9 or 10 players to a winner, the current structure normally produces 9 to 18 hours of play at each final table — depending on factors we all know well (stack size, player aggression, etc.). This should be taken into account as we examine potential improvements.

2) Watchable Television: For the benefit of everyone who plays in WPT events, the television needs to work. If the final table structure makes bad TV and people stop watching, we all lose.

a) WPT shows are two hours long. That translates into roughly 65 to 70 minutes of poker on air (out of 88 minutes of programming time).

b) WPT shows play as “live fiction” — one of the essential innovations that drives the WPT format that created renewed interest in televised poker in 2003. This is very difficult to do when too much time passes between television hands (because chip stacks swing wildly, levels jump randomly and strategy becomes incoherent). One of the things we pride ourselves on is telling the story that actually happened at the table — for the benefit of the players skilled enough to make it to a WPT final table and the audience that wants to watch and learn more about the game from the best in the game.

c) The current structure was designed to give roughly 5 to 8 (and at the outside 10) hours of play to the final six players in each tournament. And, to the credit of the architects, it has done that. Already under the current structure, our producers must make a show with an 8:1 to 5:1 play to in-show ratio. [Note that the game clock stops for all breaks at WPT final tables (including television breaks)].

3) Important Design Goals of Current Structure: I think anyone who takes a crack at helping us in this process should look hard at the current structure:

a) Designed to give every player a shot at the final table: Based on a formula that takes into account the number of chips in play and the average chip stack prior to beginning the TV final table with six players, the current structure moves the blinds and antes back in nearly every tournament we film. The concept was to insure that all players (big and short stacks) had a couple of hours without much pressure on their stacks — giving them a chance to maneuver and use their skill.

b) No doubling of the blinds: Another characteristic of the current structure is that it never doubles the blinds, but rather, gradually moves up each level. This is made possible because the structure is based on hour levels (with half hour levels heads up after the 3rd level). Longer levels would require bigger jumps in blinds to have the same result. It was our understanding that the slower blind progression would be preferred by players.

4) Costs: As a public company, our revenues and costs are transparent.

a) Today: Under the current structure, it costs the WPT roughly $300,000 to make each WPT episode. That number does not include any costs (corporate, marketing, overhead or otherwise) that are not directly attributed to making the shows. The GSN deal that we just signed for Season VI pays us a license fee of $300,000 per episode.

b) Cost per hour at the final table: Every hour beyond 6 hours of play at the TV final table costs the WPT roughly an extra $5,000. At the 8th hour of play, that number escalates to $11,000 per hour. So, if all twenty-three WPT final tables lasted 12 hours instead of our current 6 hour average the additional cost to WPT would be roughly $1,242,000 per season.

c) WPT does not take any percentage out of the prize pool or participate in any “juice” paid by players to enter WPT tournaments.

d) Total Financial Picture for WPT Enterprises: The Company is currently losing money as it invests in the businesses that it hopes will generate profits for shareholders in the future — specifically, international online gaming and online non-gaming in the domestic market.

Costs are not the only consideration, but suggestions cannot be made in a vacuum. We would like to ask that anyone making a suggestion imagine themselves in my seat, running a business that wants to create the best possible experience for players and spectators within a business model that continues to allow it to make television that benefits everyone in the poker community.

I am sure that people who know much more than I do will have creative suggestions to help us examine what we are currently doing and attempt to make it better. We encourage you to join in the dialogue in the forum section of WorldPokerTour.com. We will monitor, and where appropriate, add to the discussion.

We thank you in advance for helping us try to improve the WPT experience.

Regards,

Steve

]]> http://pokerati.com/2007/05/wpt-blind-structure-changes-in-store/feed/ 7 http://pokerati.com/2007/05/pokering-with-scotty-warbucks/ http://pokerati.com/2007/05/pokering-with-scotty-warbucks/#comments Sat, 05 May 2007 14:10:40 +0000 The Big Randy http://pokerati.com/2007/05/05/pokering-with-scotty-warbucks/ LAS VEGAS–I’m boondoggling in Sin City for the big fight tonight (FYI–smart money is on Mayweather going the distance, based on my poll of 3 cab drivers). I had basically all of Friday to kill, so I figured I’d play in the $550 at Venetian or the $1,080 at Bellagio. I’d heard the Venetian was getting much deeper fields than the Bellagio, and since the Bellagio tourney often involves some grizzled pros (like David Sklansky), I figured it was a better play for my money.

Upon arrival, I have to say once again, the Venetian poker room is spectacular. People are nice, dealers and staff are great, food is good, and there are about 47 million tables in a very comfortable room. I wandered over to tournament registration, where I was informed that the tournament usually has around 100 players. Okay, I thought, this may not be quite as big a prize pool as Bellagio, but it was probably a smarter bet. Plus, the structure is phenomenal: 10,000 in chips, 40 minute levels, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 100-200 with an ante, etc. I signed up.

Tournament time rolled around and I took my spot, Table 39, Seat 4. In seats 6 and 7 were two delightful, talkative ladies I did not recognize. Seat 3 was open. I settled in and counted my chips. As I looked around the room, I notice there appeared to be only 3 tournament tables going. So great, not much of a prize pool. As I lamented, Seat 3 sat down and I looked up to see Scotty Warbucks. Huh? What is he doing here? The prize pool is like $15,000??? He starts talking to seat 6, and it becomes apparent that she is Marsha Waggoner. Before long, their good buddy Kenna James stops by–Kenna is playing at the next table. If you are scoring at home, that’s almost $5 million in tournament winnings sitting in, what turned out to be, a 31-person tournament. What the hell is going on here?? Garcon, more gin tonics!

Almost immediately, I was down to 6,000 and certain I would be the first one out. But I managed to grind it out and actually made it to the final table around 3rd in chips. Then I tried an elaborate bluff on Shoten, lost most of my chips and hung on to cash 5th, further solidifying my stranglehold on the Pokerati Correspondent POY standings.

I have to mention that Shoten is one quirky little dude. In addition to schlepping his book, Scotty was passing around a working thesis he’s got going that expands upon the core principles of his book but takes the principles away from the poker table. Someone made the mistake of asking him if this was like “No Limit Life II.”

“This is like No Limit Life a Billion,” he replied. “It will blow your mind.” Awesome.

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