Sample Blinds Structure and game format for a Poker Night Tournament

If you are thinking of hosting your own poker tournament at home or making use of a hired poker table within a casino it is important to know how the 'blinds' affect the game and what kind of structure you will be using. If you are hosting players that are new to the game then you may have to explain the blind requirements to them so it's imperative that you know your structure well in advance.

The blinds structure that you use will often be dictated by the chip denominations that you are using. Most chips used by home players will be unmarked and distinguished only by colour. If you are using unmarked chips then you are in complete control of the denominations and can therefore decide the total value of chips in play. If you have ever played poker online you will find that a typical 6 or 10 person single table tournament provides each player with 1,500 chips with which to start the game. Coupled with the correct blind levels and amounts, this format tends to work well and will usually provide a game lasting around 1.5 to 2 hours in length (unless you have some particularly gun-ho friends).

If you have enough different chip types, ideal denominations for such a format would be 5, 20, 50 and 100 with suitable numbers of each totalling 1,500. This enables you to choose blinds levels starting at 25/50 which is perfectly suitable for such a small game of between 6 and 10 players.

In order for the game to progress and finish in a reasonable time you need to control the ways in which the blinds advance. You really have two options available to you and either work well in their own right. The first is to increase the blinds after a predefined number of hands. This can be easily applied by saying that every couple of times around the table, the blinds go up to the next level, often doubling from the previous blinds. This structure works well if you have few players but can be difficult to control if you have a full table.

A better option usually applied when playing live in casinos or online would be to set a time limit on the blind levels. You can simply set a timer on someone's watch or mobile phone to count down from the desired limit. Once the limit has reached, the alarm sounds and the blinds will increase on the following hand. Using this option you can push the limit change to the back of your mind and concentrate on the game at hand. The blinds will continue to rise until the game is over.

The structures mentioned above can be varied greatly depending on the game style that you would like to provide. More chips can be introduced if you find that the games tend to be over to quickly. You can even provide an extra buy-in option at a certain predefined time, allowing each player the option to add to their original stake. This is a common option available in multi-table tournaments online but rarely required in the smaller games conducted at home. Either way, whatever format you decide on, you will be sure to have a fantastic poker evening hosting your very own poker tournament.