I run small, monthly tournaments (8-16 players, $40 buyins) and I'm always looking for "extras" to keep the game interesting. Here are some of the extras I use. I need your help on the last one. Feel free to share yours.

Big Hand Jackpot--Separate from buy-ins, anybody who wants to, kicks in $5. The player with the highest ranking hand taken to showdown wins (usually $40-70). This cushions the blow of hitting quads in the first hour and everyone checks.

Bad Beat Jackpot--I pull $5 from each tournament and put it towards the BBJ. Any hand of AAAJJ or better that loses wins the current jackpot. Been running this for two tournaments and nobody has hit it yet. I think this may hit $200 before it does.

Player of the Year--The player with the highest points from the season tournaments wins $100. I fund this by offering tournament "add-ons". All add-on money funds this and adds fuel the main event prize pool.

I need help on this one...

No Name Yet--Players pay $5 (separate from buy-ins) and predict who will win the tournament. Before the tournament, players silently vote on who they think will win (bids written on paper). If your player wins, you split the prize with everyone else who guessed right. If nobody guesses right, I guess the money would roll over? Idunno.

Good/bad idea?

i can suggest some cash game things

auto straddle die (just a die that count for an autostraddle and goes to the winner of the pot) people love to win that thing

lotto ticket pot.... buy cheap lotto tickets and whenever a pot hit a certain size toss one in (only really works at raked games)


the auto straddle die is the nuts though... it can get a game out of the muck in a hurry

The no name yet is similar to a "calcutta tournament" in golf. They pay 1st and 2nd with a 70/30 split.

I would give the pool money to the player that won that nobody picked however that would mean that the winner didn't pick himself either. ?

This is similar to a calcutta. edit- whoops- Jimmy gets credit

Alternate to rolling over- horse that finishes the highest in the tourney, correct picker(s) gets 60% of the prize pool. Rest rolls over.

I read about this in a B&M trip report- it's called the "rock" and was either a wad of cash or the straddle amount of chips, bound together by rubber bands. Even better, you weren't allowed to leave the table with the rock.

You had to leave it behind as a post, whether you played the hand or not.

that thing makes the game kinda awesome... some people will do anything to get it ... like the 72 game on steriods

1. What happens if the guy who has the rock is in the blinds?

2. If the rock is on the button, who is first to act preflop?

3. My impression of the Rock is this: It gets the game going primarily because people like the social status (or whatever) of having the rock. Without this effect, a forced UTG straddle should produce more action than the rock because: a) the rock has no direct monetary value, and (more importantly) b) the rock would be spending a lot of time on the hijack-button, making it both redundant and harder to steal. Amirite? What is the poker theory/strategy behind the rock?


4. Possible Modification: The "Super Rock". The owner of the Super Rock has last action on all streets of the hand. Makes the rock way more valuable to own, although it is also more intimidating to attempt to steal. It reminds me of the "winner's ball" rule in street basketball.

in the version i played it was only mandatory to use UTG if you had it... it didn't mississippi straddle

but people would almost mandatory straddle that game (i never saw restraddles and am not sure they were allowed)

THE SUPER ROCK WOULD GIVE TOO MUCH ADVANTAGE AND DRIVE THE GAME THROUGH THE ROOF... UNLESS YOU HAD THE OPTION TO POST IT OR NOT, IN WHICH CASE IT MIGHT MAKE IT WORSE


edit- oops, I had important details wrong. Seems as if it's only a UTG mandatory play, not every hand:

I think I liked your version better.

Of course, I liked my "Super Rock" even more, but only for an occasional bloodbath, in lieu of blind-man's bluff hold'em.

As for the real, "Classic Rock" version, I'm a bit disappointed, especially since I wouldn't want to steal the rock: "I got an idea. I'm gonna risk going broke stealing The Rock so that when I'm UTG I can get dragged into playing a big pot out of position!"

It does seem like an ingenious device to encourage donk-on-donk violence, and therefore create +EV opportunities for good players.

However, if the whole table is good, I don't see it doing much.


Another proposal: Mississippi Rock

Same as the normal rock, but used as a straddle on the button ("Mississippi straddle")

Holy jeez. Now that's an idea. Sharks and donks alike should want to steal it. Of course, you can't allow voluntary Mississippi straddles, since that will make the rock redundant.

And to increase the frequency it comes into play, there's always the possibility of having two rocks floating around. Either way, just make sure the game is reasonably deep.

Man, I can't wait to try this out.

As I posted in the other thread, the Mississippi Rock is genius.

Trip report, of course. Also, analysis of long-term effects on game.

We usually just end up doing a bunch of dollar flips with the singles we have left over after cashing out our chips. Pretty fun for people who want to gamble.

Certain members of OUR group are known for coin-flipping for remaining stacks, because two figures isn't worth leaving with.

We'll do the similar flip hand occasionally, usually at the end of the night. $5-10 or so, depending on who's pushing for it with what overage. Usually everybody gets a piece for one hand. People like to do Omaha and deal the entire board and then reveal one hole card at a time around the table. I'm a fan of doing 7stud since it's the same thing but more of it, with surprises at the end, but nobody else seems to see it that way. I think because they don't know how to play stud.

thanks.


For sure, probably next weekend.

I'm guessing that a single Mississippi Rock won't impact a full-ring game enough to warrant changing the structure, buy-in or stakes (or players).

My reasoning is because a game that uses just one Mississippi Rock will only see the Rock put into play about once every 6 or 7 hands on a full table, whereas a traditional UTG Rock would come into play about once every 3 or 4 hands, I'm guessing.

These numbers are based on the fact that a late position player is more likely to win the hand, and therefore the winner of the rock will be waiting 3 hands longer to use it if it is activated on the button rather than utg. In fact, often the owner of the MS rock will maintain possession, in which case the wait is 9 hands.

Of course, I could be wrong and see the blinds gunning for the Rock and therefore the action going through the roof. Or there may be a stack-off every orbit in a Rock steal/defense attempt. We'll see.


BTW, since I play a mixed game that includes Stud, I'm open to any ideas for what the Rock could represent in that game. Or should the rock be out of play during limit/Stud games? Or maybe instead it should confer some +EV power like bring-in immunity or 3rd/St double-bet option?