One of my friends is going to be hosting a 2 table tournament with 18 players next weekend. This is the first time we have done this and was wondering if anyone on here has instructions or a spreadsheet on when we should rebalance tables as players get knocked out. Obviously we have a pretty good idea ourselves but thought that the good people of 2p2 might have some handy resources on this.

I deal in a bar poker league which generally has 2-3 tables per night. As players are knocked out, the dealer announces "player down!" and the number remaining at their table loudly enough so the other dealers can hear, who respond with their number.

For balancing, we don't worry about keeping it exact. When a table is > 2 short of another, we move a player from the bigger to the shorter. Usually we'll ask if anyone wants to volunteer to move. If not, next BB goes over.

Don't forget, if you ever expand to > 2 tables, you'll want to monitor getting to 20, so the third table can break. Or, even better, start a second/cash game.

No idea how closely that corresponds to how a casino how do it in the real world, but it works for our relatively informal game.

I would rebalance every time a table has 2 or more players more than the other table(s). I would take the next BB and move him to the seat closest to the BB.

I have rarely seen this done at casinos in the US though. Usually they don't move players until one table has 3 more players than another table.

They do it this way in Europe though. Specifically in Prague at Rebuy Stars they always kept the tables even as they moved down to the final table. Even when there were 5 or 4 tables left they made sure that the tables were balanced. Similarly at the European Poker Tour (EPT) they did this when down to 5 tables on the final day.

The reason it is important to balance the tables is because it isn't fair to have one table have a higher percentage of BB's than another table. While it is true that moving a player to a "new" table means that all of the info they have been accumulating over time will be lost, it is also true that there is an advantage to nobody at a table knowing anything about how you play.

When getting down to 1 table if I was starting at 9 player tables then when we got down to 9 players I would move them to the final table. If we were starting with 10 player tables then I would create the final table when there were 10 players left. I have seen casinos with 9 player tables create a final table with 10 players but I think that is dumb. Yes it would be 5 players at two tables for a bit but that is no different than 6 and 5 really when there are 11 players left. At the EPT is Europe they went to a final table with 9 players (as they do at Rebuy Stars).

With 2 tables, I'd balance if the difference is 2 (or more).
I'd choose the recently eliminated players position at the short table, and find the corresponding player at the fuller table to move.
That seems easier than having to shift players to squeeze in the moving player.

You didn't ask, but I'm in favor of combining at 9 players.
Yes, that means having 2 tables of 5 play when they could be a table of 10.

Thanks a lot for the replies. All have been very helpful!

When balancing tables, the common practice is to take the player who was going to be the next big blind at table A, and move them to the earliest position (relative to the blinds) where a seat is open at table B.

In our home league, whenever there's a table with 2 players more than at any other table, we move the player in the cutoff to the same position (CO) at the new table.

I was playing a MTT at the local last night, and our table got short early. We were also the furthest table away from the TD podium, and next to break. One player got very worked up about the fact we were at 6 and there was a table of 8 right next to us! OMG, he let this little fact tilt him and he was out within an orbit. He brought it up every deal, wanted the dealer to call the floor over, etc. He was nursing a short stack and the blinds were impacting him more than most at the table, but we were also well out of the money still.

Couldn't help but think about this thread while it was happening. I don't think I've ever heard someone more than casually mention "Hey, we're short.". Probably something like when you buy a new car, all you see is those cars on the road?

The tda app has their rules on rebalancing tables.

Yep and they seem weird. When I played a tournament at Caesars in Vegas, we were down to 19 players and we were 5 at our table while the other two had 7 players each.

That doesn't surprise me .. I think the 'big boys' look more at the total number and don't really 'want' to move Players. So a difference of 2 is not the trigger for them.

Each room can have it's own niche on this.
Some rooms will drop to 9 handed at 36/27 and do a seat redraw at that time, so it can get a bit interesting from 50-37 (or even higher).
Some tournaments automatically go to 9-handed once Late Reg is over.
As mentioned, some rooms want to get tables closed ASAP so they can start a cash game with that Dealer for more Rake.

In such a small setting it's more important to get 'Who' you move right than worry about balance. GL

Haha that's pretty funny this happened so soon after I started this thread as table rebalancing isn't a topic that comes up very often!

I've heard of more and more tournaments going to 'rounds' of hands rather than just 'hand for hand'. They can do this as they approach a bubble and then go H/H once they get to the stone bubble.

Any Player eliminated during 'the round' is equal to any other, whether it be the first and or third hand of the round.

Tournament play is variable, sometimes you're at the tanking table and sometimes you're not! I'm not sure, but I think some rooms implemented a standard number of hands that needs to be played per game in a mixed game tournament, regardless of how many are at the table. GL