I usually come out for one or two lower buy in events. Last year I played a $600 buy in and a $1,000 buy in. This year I only have time for one. I'm debating between the colossus or the $600 ultrastack that starts on July 11. Which should be the better one as far as structure, ability to cash, etc.? Thanks in advance and good luck to you all.

Both structures are out already. Not sure what the S points are on them but the structures are here:

https://www.wsop.com/tournaments/

Ultra has deeper starting stack but 10 minute shorter levels for Day One. I would consider field size, too. Personally, I’d lean toward Ultra but the longer levels of Colossus are appealing.

Colossus was 102 S point last year. Should be same .

Good tournament for the price point.

Colossus is one of the best values on the schedule. Insanely soft field with 40 minute levels that give you some time to leverage your edge.

The major downside is that the massive 15k+ field size makes it almost impossible to mount a serious challenge for the final table.

30 minute day levels on the Ultra Stack means it's just a glorified daily tournament. Not going to be a premium experience, besides the WSOP branding.

Colossus is the clear pick, IMO. A good player has a very strong chance to cash in that event. If you get super lucky, maybe you'll make a Cinderella run.

Yeah, it's funny how the original Colossus was a super crapshoot structure and it has now become one of the absolute best values on the schedule.

Field size is the only reason I’d lean toward Ultra. Then again, I think this is the first year for Ultra so field size could be close to Colossus.

Colosus S-Points = 103

Ultra S-Points = 78

Most WSOP rec players will have departed by July 11th leaving a stronger field for the Ultra.

Can you show where you found the S points? And/or how you calculated them? I want to know what S points the Deepstack on June 28th has.

I think he invented “S” point

Or at-least he calculates and provide “S” point to 2+2 communities every year.

Thanks a lot PLOG

Thanks riverph7.

Here's a link to the calculator that you can do the S-Points for any tournament you have the structure sheet for:

https://www.rainbowspuppiessunshine.com/pokercalc/

In a week, if you click on the 'Tournaments' link at the top you will see all the Vegas 2023 tournament series that have released structures. Right now its still on 2022 because so few casinos have released their 2023 schedule. WSOP and Venetian released their structures a while ago and I actually have them loaded in the database (just not on the front end).

That's how I know the Colossus and Ultra and how I know the Venetian Deepstack on the 28th (Event #41) has 69 S-Points.

Thank you!

Colossus it is. Follow up dumb question. I am booking my trip. I'll arrive on day 1A. I typically register online ahead of the event. If I decide to reg early for day 1B, but decide to late reg day 1A and make it to day 2, what do I do about my reg for day 1B? Get a refund? Play it and use the larger stack for day 2? How's that work?

You can't play multiple flights if you have already bagged, so you would just go to the cage and get a refund on your day 1B ticket.

That’s what I figured. Is late regging an event like that a good idea? Would probably enter day 2 with essentially a starting stack.

The Colossus will hit the money before the end of day 1, so late regging won't just let you skate into day 2 with a starting stack like the events with 60 min levels.

Honestly it's personal preference: max late reg has a bit higher ROI but is much higher variance (you could be out after playing one hand). At the same time you're more likely to face the bad players in the early stages. Do you care about the experience or just trying to cash?

It sounds like you are getting there late for day 1a, so if your bankroll allows max bullets you can fire and then play for full 1b if you bust.

If you do plan to reg 1a you should hold off on regging 1b until after you play 1a. You'll still have no problem doing it online or even at the cage in the evening of 1a.

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I booked my trip. I've decided to play event 64, the $600 ultrastack. It has 60 minute levels on days 2-4. I hope to cash, then, go from there to go as far as I can.

Thats actually the Deepstack Championship.
I plan to be there for that one also.
Along with Colossus and maybe Mini Main and then some Main Event satellites.

Sorry, you're correct. Did you play it last year? Hard? Soft? I'm thinking a 4 day tourney with long blinds, I should be able to cash if I'm not stupid.

It's a good event. One of the best values on the schedule. I made the money in the COVID year and busted shortly after the first break on day two.

I had a pretty passive table on day one, which allowed me to just sit back and wait for good spots without facing much resistance. Ran one big bluff a couple hours before the bubble, but overall just played a solid ABC game. That was enough. You could get unlucky and draw a much more challenging table, but that was my experience. The bubble should burst late in the night on day one and you'll have maybe another hour or two of play before you bag. At my table, people were tired at that point and obviously on cruise control. It would've been a good opportunity to shift gears and become more aggressive.

Day two was a very different world. Although it's a deep event, the average stack at my redraw table couldn't have been much above 20 bigs. That was representative of the rest of the field. Bust outs were fast and furious. The level of play was higher and I had some very tough players at my table. Even with the deep structure and 60 minute levels on day two, you'll need some rungood to make a deep run.

Overall though, it's one of the best budget events you can play at the WSOP. You get a lot more play than in the other $600 NLHE or something like the Mini Main ($1k).

I must give you “hats off to your confidence “ .

In small buy-in ( under $1000) there are so many runners, hence the variance is much higher than tournaments with $1000-$10000 buy-in.

How many WSOP cashes you have under your belt ?

Alongside skill and luck, experience is very Big factor in tournaments with many runners ( normally such tournaments will attract 4000 to 5000 Runners)

One thing to be aware of in large field tournaments when you get near the money is the pace of bust outs. It goes really fast. So, if you are getting short on chips and want to fold to the money do the math. For the Mini main it was about 5 players per hand dealt. That would be about 45 players per orbit if you are 9 handed and of course 2.5 big blinds per orbit.
One year I played one of those 500 dollar buy in 10 jillion player tournaments at the start of the WSOP and got near the money. The pace of bust outs was so high they could not keep the tables balanced. We played 5 handed. Fortunately, I ran well.

Thanks. That's solid advice. I'm a cash game guy. This is the third year I've played WSOP. No cashes yet I'm guessing I can still afford to play tight on day one even though shorter levels. Day 2 they go to 60 minutes.