Yes the monthly tournament is being neglected at the moment - I did warn that this might happen! I have been super busy at work and at life - which includes gearing up for the World Series of Poker.
Speaking of which, we had our WSOP league and it was very successful - you can read all the gory details here. Hopefully our two horses Eric L. and Jeff G. will run good and play good as well. This is Jeff's second trip to the big dance, congrats to you both!
But there is good news for those of you pining for some multi-table tournament action - July 22 will be the date and 7pm will be the time! (EDIT: Game postponed until Aug 5) Our usual $40 for 20K in chips, with a one time only re-entry if felted before the break OR stack forfeit and re-entry at the break. The Evite won't go out until July, but save the date!
Looking forward to getting back to the pokers - but I plan to add a tiny wrinkle, read on...
As you know, I did away with antes years ago because they were a huge pain in the booty to get everyone to remember. When they were eliminated everyone, including me, was a lot happier.
But as a long time tournament player, I know that antes are actually essential for any real tournament. They drive the action, and promote aggression because it means you can win more for raising less - really, antes are what makes tournaments truly great because it becomes so much less about the cards and more about initiative and ingenuity to fight for pots that are worth fighting for.
Before you start to PANIC that I'm bringing back antes - let me explain...
I am bringing back antes, but not in the traditional form.
Recently I've been watching this years Super High Roller Bowl on Poker Central. It is a completely insane $300,000 entry event with 56 players including the best tournament players in the world and a smattering of rich amateurs.
The tournament is superbly run, and features a number of innovations.
One of the best elements is a shot clock - 30 seconds to make a decision or your hand is dead! If only we could do that in the garage! Alas, I fear it would create more problems than it solves, but one can dream.
The other spectacular innovation has to do with the structure. Yes the structure is super deep, way deeper than ours will ever be, but that's not what makes it great. The element that kind of blows my mind, because no one has implemented it before this way - is that THE BIG BLIND ALSO PAYS THE ANTES FOR THE ENTIRE TABLE!
This method is truly fantastic for a home game because it accomplishes two HUGE things.
One, it keeps the game moving fast and hassle free, because players only have to remember when it's their big blind, something they already do.
Two, it returns the tournament to what it's supposed to be - a game that favors aggression and creativity, because now the pots are worth fighting over more often. That you can raise less and win more is EVERYTHING in tournament poker. I've learned this in working on my game very hard and playing quite a bit in card rooms. Antes are what make a tournament.
So we will be doing what the best in the world did this last week. When it's your big blind you first drop an ante for each player at the table in the middle, and then post your big blind. The Super High Roller made this amount constant regardless of how many players were at the table at the time - I would like to try it so that the ante amount (whatever it is, 25, 50, etc) be multiplied by how many players there are at the table. Should be simple and more accurate to represent what it would be if all players were throwing out antes individually on every hand.
With this addition of antes I believe I can restore a flatter structure more in line with the WSOP, and we will still finish on time. Click here to check it out.
As for my single table Sit-N-Gos, these tournaments typically never have antes in the real world - either online or in live play, so that's the way we will keep it.
Can't wait to throw down for some MTT action, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this new structure goes.
Until then, peace and we out!
