You make a great point here Gags, may change to 50-75 or double 50-100. All the satellite winners chips are in play from the start so it will still make sense to show up on time if you know what I mean.

Oh I'll be on time regardless of what the first level is!

Thanks for being active and listening to all opinions Matt! Can't wait for the tourney

They could drop 25-50 entirely make day one all hour levels with reentry any time during any day one flight and still finish in the given time frame with an even bigger field. I defy anyone to dispute this statement.

Fwiw I'm a big fan of the idea in general and applaud shr and matt for putting it together.

Agree, they def should just drop 25/50, it's a pointless level.

Yeah they could do 60 min and have a 12 hour plus dinner plus break day 1. But honestly, having 40 min levels for the first 4 or 6 levels really isn't that bad. Sure, deeper is better, but I mean, whatever, if they want to blow through the first few levels I honestly don't care. I'm a big advocate for fast early and really slow and deep late, so seems ok to me

Its 9 levels at 40 min. Not 6. Dropping one and adding 20 mins to the other 8 only adds two hours to the whole event.

I'm aware...i think 4 or 6 40 minute levels is perfect. Having all 9 (if you drop 25/50) is too many, imo

I've known larry mullen for over 20 years. I may reach out to him directly. The proposal I offered is way more player friendly and will generate more entries for shr
Mine would be all hour levels with an hour dinner break. Reentry any time during day 1. Day two would start at 800-1600 rather than 1000-2000 also an hour dinner break and would play thru to day three resuming as currently scheduled.

30 minutes playtime added to each day and tournament is back to 90 minute levels at the exact level proposed in matts schedule.

No one wants to play until 3am tho.

Starting at noon and finishing around midnight is great for day 1

Also, 90 min for day 1 dinner is farrrrrr better than 60 min dinner (and before someone makes some remark, no, ask anyone, I don't smoke weed, so that's not why I want the extra time)

don't embarrass yourself. The days end at roughly the same time. Around midnight.

I was waiting for the unwarranted chainsaw jab, there it is!


I'm no mathematician, but I don't believe you can have eleven 1 hour long levels plus a 1 hour dinner break, plus multiple (at least 4) 15 min breaks and be done in under 12 hours...

My proposal was 11 levels day one. Yoyre really embarrassing yourself would end nowhere near 3am

Sorry Gags, playing 13-14 hours in one day isn't truly player friendly and a 60 minute dinner break is not player friendly either when you potentially have 800 players in one day.

What about drop the first level and then go to hour long levels after level 6 instead of level 9? That keeps everything at the same length but it's more player-friendly.

Don't underestimate the ability of SHR players to stack off early no matter how many chips they start with or how small the blinds are. There are plenty of deep pockets that will be happy to gamble it up at 25/50 knowing they can reenter.

What's wrong with u people my proposal lasts exactly 30 mins longer on day one and day two than the 40 min version that was proposed. It catches up on day three.

You, not so much with the reading:
So that's one thing, considering your proposal is a 13 hour day.
And that's a second, considering you propose only a 60 minute dinner break in your 13 hour day.

I for one do not want to sit in a tournament that will take over a week to finish. I happen to like the structure and am looking forward to satelliting my way in. 12 hour days is fine, but going 14 or 15 hours and putting that many chips into play? I happen to agree with Lord Strife , also , take into consideration how many people will be traveling from overseas that need accommodations. I am looking forward to this August.

If the guarantee is met then we could estimate around 60M chips in play, even if players get HU with 100bb averages (possible, but unlikely), we are talking about 150k/300k blinds, it's going to take about 20 hours of play (excluding breaks) to get there starting with Day 3 and beyond with another ~5 hours added on if HU averages are closer to 50bbs.[/QUOTE]

OldTYMER,
I really don't get your objections. The tournament will take exactly the same number of days regardless. I'm not advocating 14-15 hour days. Just playing 11 one hour levels day one and two. From day Day three on would be identical to what was already proposed. My entire proposal adds exactly 30 minutes to day one and day two, but gives player hour levels throughout day one. This gives recreational players as well as pros a lot more flexibility in building up a stack for this $5k buyin and huge prizepool . Its also alot more appealing to randoms as well as pros to reenter an event during one Hour levels as opposed to 40 minutes. I can write it all out level by level if you don't see this adding only 30 minutes each day for the first 2 days.

ya matt, i completely agree, the 13 hour day with 60 min dinner was chainsaw's awful idea, i was asking him to explain how his 'structure' could possibly be over at 12, like he said

Ok, so here's my proposal, let's meet in the middle,
1. Kill the 25/50 level a 600BB start is kinda ridiculous anyways. Will players at SHR bust that level? Yes JTs will still 7bet call AA pre-flop (yes the players there are that bad). But they will bust 50/100 just the same.
2. 10/11 50min levels on day one. The increasing blinds will still force players out and into the re-entry line. The break time will fit into the gap between where 40 & 60 minute levels would be.
3. 75 minute dinner breaks, if you cant eat, relax and analyze your play in 75 minutes, the extra 15 is just wasted time...

There is no such thing as the "perfect structure" the best players adapt to the challenges in front of them.

Thanks Dan, 1st of all never using 45, 50, 55 minute levels as they are not practical for breaks. I want all my tournaments to play 2 hours before breaks so 15-20-30-40-60's is what I always use. 75 minutes is not nearly enough time if we get the expected number of 700 players we need to make the guarantee the food outlets will be overrun with players, families, and friends without even including normal business.

The key for me is to make the structure even better deep which 40's will do, keep registration open for just 6 hours plus breaks but start the late entrants shallower if if they choose that route. I also want to be deep in the money before the weekend is over giving the locals with jobs a reason to call in sick or take vacation for a reason. Let's also be honest we will likely need a fair amount of reentries to make this massive guarantee and while I do not want to see people over spend management feel like this gives us the best chance.

This tournament will get REAL deep and the bottom line is 30,000 in chips with 40 minutes for ONLY 9 levels followed by 60 and 90's still offers a lot of play for the $150 entry fee. It is a SEVEN day tournament in its current format and feel this is a can't miss poker event.

I am definitely looking into creating 3 day WPT televised events that start on a Thursday/Friday and end on a Sunday and rely heavily on satellite players. These will also have 40 minute levels on the front end and be not only for the pros but also for the local recreational players with jobs that can only play on the weekend.

You can't please everyone all the time Matt, but I think you've done a great job doing the best that you can. Kessler is clearly SELF motivated because it "hurts" his own game to have the early 40 minute levels and is using the argument of how it's hurting satellite players to use the structure you designed, but honestly I love it and I know you genuinely do have all players best interest in mind.

Shorter levels hurt anyone who is good at poker.

90 minute dinner break is impractical on day two when most of the field already eliminated. Also there's no way there are 700 individual players left on any one flight by dinner break. People bust and others that bust may have reentered two or three times by dinner.

Just so everyone understands, my critiques and alternate proposals for this event are in no way an attempt to undermine it or make it less of a success. I applaud Larry, Matt and the entire staff at shr for offering such a bold guarantee especially following the money drain of an entire wsop. The success of this event is critical to the future of tournament poker and I will support it even if I disagree with some minor aspects that I've discussed.