Proposing a new tournament format
Regular tournament as usual. Play down to 16 players. Then, turn it into a heads up bracket. Chip leader plays against shortest stack hu. 2nd in chips plays 15th in chips. And so on.
When 4 players remain, blinds are reduced by half to double the stack depth. And now we play until there is a winner.
What do you think of this format? Will this let better players win more often?
5 Replies
That's an interesting idea. I guess it would eliminate ICM pressure.
Say there were 16 prizes in total. How do you decide how to award 9th-16th place after the first round of eliminations? Or do you just make those prizes equal to each other?
That's an interesting idea. I guess it would eliminate ICM pressure.
Say there were 16 prizes in total. How do you decide how to award 9th-16th place after the first round of eliminations? Or do you just make those prizes equal to each other?
Yeah probably make them equal to each other. Or can look at the chips you brought to the table before the beginning of the HU bracket - and rank based on that.
Yeah that's a fair concern. But in some ways, it could also let more talented recs have a shot - because ICM / multi way preflop all ins become less frequent. Right now, a well studied player probably has an edge over a talented player given how complex tournament poker can get at the final table.
Some interesting things about this kind of format.
1. Chip leader going into final 16 may not remain chip leader after the first round of heads up even if he wins his heads up match.
For example, say chip leader has 40bb, 16th in chips has 5bb -> Chip leader ends with 45bb if he wins.
but if 2nd in chips has 39bb and 15th in chips has 10bb, the winner of that match will end up with 49bb.
This is offset by the higher likelihood of the chipleader making it past the first stage of heads up.
2. May be the heads up bracket is better off being used when going from 8 players to 4 players instead of when going from 16 to 8 and 8 to 4. Because the 2nd round of heads up matchups can make optimal strategy too complex.
