Dream Poker is having an Event in Hoi An (Vietnam) at the end of this month, which is exciting since it’s one of a few events we get around here.

After looking at their schedule I got some questions about the structure of their main event. Here is some info:

* 830k $ guaranteed price pool
* 3 day event with 10 day 1 flights

Here is where it gets a bit funny:

* 3 flights with a buy in of 366 $ playing down to 5%
* 4 flights at 733 $ playing down to 10%
* 3 flights at 1’099 $ playing down to 15%

I don’t think I have ever come across anything similar.

No matter the field for each flight only 10% of the total field will make day 2, at which point I am assuming that’s also ITM. Having different buy ins for 1 event seems strange to me, kind of feels like the day 1 flights are like satellites.

Does anyone have experience playing in this kind structure?

Also happy for any input on if you think this is worth entering? I am a bit on the fence myself, probably will play it just because we don’t get that many options around here.

It sounds like they are trying to make the tournament available to people who can't afford $1,099 or $733.

I have played in one tournament like this and the Day 1's that were cheaper also had faster levels. Please look into that it is very important. Also verify that the starting stacks are the same.

The problem with playing down to 5% vs 15% is that the people who survive the 5% cutoff will have larger stacks on average than the other buy-ins. Similarly the 10% buy in should have larger average stacks than the 15%. Unless the starting stacks are different.

If the starting stacks are different then its only worth buying into the largest stacks.

Also, don't assume that there will be 10% of the overall people who make it to day 2. It will depend on the total number of people who enter at each level. For example if 100 people enter at 15% then 15 will make it to day 2. If 200 enter at the 10% level 20 would make it. and if 1,200 people enter at the 5% then 60 people make it. 10% of 1,500 people would be 150 and yet only 95 people would have made it to day 2. If more people enter the 15% level than the 5% then more than 10% will make it.

Another factor that matters is what % of people make the money. A lot of tournaments make it a fixed % (like 10% or 12% or 15%). Here in the Czech republic it is 10% of the original buy-ins and 5% of the re-buys. It ends up being around 8%. The reason I bring this up is that it is often painful to make it to day 2 and not make it to the money. There are tournaments that guarantee Day 2 is in the money so I would find that out as well. Still if there aren't a lot of other tournaments in the area then the 2nd day thing wouldn't matter to me.

As long as they adjust the starting stacks of the different price tiers so that the average stack is the same at the end of each flight.

If $366 gets 5k chips, then $733 should get 10k and $1099 should get 15k

That’s correct, I made some wrong assumptions when going through the numbers. Could be anything from 7-15% making day 2, depending on how many buy in on different levels.

I will have to wait for them to release all the details on the structure (starting stacks, blind levels, etc) to have a better idea on what it will actually play like.

Thanks for the feedback so far. Will update once I got some more details.

After doing a bit more research and looking at the structure of Dream Poker Malaysia from earlier this year I think it will look like this with starting stacks and blind levels:

* 10k/20min
* 20k/30min
* 30k/40min

So different starting stacks and speed. Lowest buy-in with the most turbo structure.