Tournament length - Beginning Poker Questions

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Tournament length

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09-12-2018 , 02:46 AM

Ettrick

newbie

Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 34

Is there a way to estimate how long a tournament will last on Pokerstars?
I started playing one last night at 6 o'clock and was still playing 8 hours later.
It was way past my bed time.

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09-12-2018 , 03:15 AM

sixfour

should be called sevenfour

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 74,738

If it's not a turbo on Stars, the answer is "too long", but seriously, take a figure of how many bb's you typically see as an average going into a final table and then work out what level the tournament would need to be at in terms of blind size

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09-12-2018 , 03:24 AM

Ettrick

newbie

Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 34

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixfour

Is there a calculation for that?
It would be a good idea for Pokerstars to give a rough guide of tournament length before you enter. It wouldn't be too hard for them to do that.

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09-12-2018 , 05:38 AM

DisRuptive1

adept

Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 964

With the tournament structure in front of you, I'd say when there are 40 big blinds left in the tournament. To figure the amount of players you'll have, go with double the guarantee.

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09-12-2018 , 09:48 AM

SpewingIsMyMove

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 3,529

I second Dirsuptive's calculation. i usually esitmate that average stack is around 20bb, so, using the total chip pool and structure sheet, I can estimate within a level or two when it will be down to a single table, when it will be headsup, and when it will be done.

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09-12-2018 , 10:19 AM

ArtyMcFly

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 13,256

Before pressing the registration button (or as it's now annoyingly labelled on Stars the "Play now" button), study the structure. Notice the starting stack and what the blinds will be on level 1 (so you know how how many BB you'll begin with) and then pay close attention to the length of levels. A game with 12 minute levels will take much much longer to complete than a (turbo) game with 5 minute or 3 minute levels. Some of the slower games in the WCOOP are even paused at a certain level and are continued the next day.

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09-12-2018 , 11:10 AM

Ettrick

newbie

Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 34

Thanks for the answers.
The length of time a tournament could go on for is certainly something I'll bear in mind in the future.

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09-19-2018 , 03:21 PM

Poker Clif

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5,806

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ettrick

Is there a way to estimate how long a tournament will last on Pokerstars?
I started playing one last night at 6 o'clock and was still playing 8 hours later.
It was way past my bed time.

If you want to get a better idea how long a tournament might last without playing it, you could check in on it from time to time. Pass on the tournament, but check every hour or two to see how many players are left and how many of those are short-stacked. If you'll be sleeping, maybe you could get someone else to do that for you.

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09-20-2018 , 12:32 PM

pokerhsmtt

journeyman

Join Date: Jul 2018 Posts: 236

any micro mtt on stars that ain't a turbo starting at 6 will go past your bedtime.

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