Turns out that hosting Poker on Wednesday nights is super fun and easy - cash games are awesome, and they have been filling - but boy do I really miss poker on the down weeks.
One option I have to sate my lust is to simply start hosting cash every week.
I might be more inclined to do this if I thought I could sustain the game - but I feel that insisting on a Mix Game format every week is really going to put a damper on the number of attendees in the long run.
So the second option would then be to alternate between Mix Games and NLHE every other week.
This may or may not work - there's an argument that it won't as the Mix Game nights would likely not fill if players knew they could come back the following week for Hold-Em only.
But more than that, playing No-Limit Hold-Em only in a cash game format every other week would really be boring for me, in no small part because my local Moose Lodge is now hosting a weekly Monday night NLHE cash game as well.
So after giving it a lot of thought, and remembering what I do love most about the game of No-Limit Hold-Em, which is when it's played in a tournament format - I've decided to try something that is a combo of sorts.
Starting in April, the 2nd and 4th Wednesday nights of every month will be Single Table Tournaments!
Every other 4th Wednesday night will be a Mix Game, but all other tournaments will be No-Limit Hold-Em.
All tournaments will be $60 for 20K in chips with a single re-entry if felted before the break, or stack surrender during the break if short.
IMPORTANT - All tournaments will absolutely be 9 SEATS MAX - NO EXCEPTIONS.
ALSO IMPORTANT - All tournaments will be a TIME'S UP format, with play halting by approximately 11pm. ONLY THE TOP 3 REMAINING PLAYERS WILL BE PAID - VIA AN ICM CALCULATION.
With the structure we will be playing with, there is a decent chance the tournament will conclude naturally on it's own before 11pm, but just in case it doesn't, there is a stop-gap in place to make sure the game doesn't go too late.
One thing I love about a cash game during the week is that I can kick everyone out by 1030pm so we can all get some sleep. Tournaments don't really present that option, but by adopting the "Time's Up" format, popularized by our very own Commerce Casino, I can still have a hard out.
I've added a full hour of play to Tournament nights, Cash goes from 730-1030 but Tournaments will be 7pm-11pm - so that will help. The structure and full rules can be found by clicking HERE.
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I realize that by adding Tournaments to the mix here - I may be cutting into my cash game attendance numbers.
I'm hoping to offset this a bit by offering priority seating to regular cash game players.
The next priority would go to Legacy players, and then to tournament regulars. Since seating is EXTREMELY limited, don't be sad if you don't get an Evite very often.
However, all of you will get regular cash game Evites, (be sure to let me know if you're not) and the quickest way to get bumped to the top of the Tournament Evites is to show up for cash! Gotta give action to get action!
Hope to see you on the felt soon!
