Yes. Cash is the preferred method of payment.

Can someone tell me how many chips the 1100 starts with, how long you can reentry for and the blinds at that level. I cant dl the structure sheet for some reason on my phone.

For the $1100 500k:
15k in chips, blinds start at 50-100. Levels are 30 minutes.
You may register/re-enter until the start of level 12, which should be 6:30 if my math is correct. The blinds at level 12 are 600/1200 with 200 ante.

What an amazing turn out for this series. I have to say this has been my favorite series in the past 5 or 6 years that the Rock has been doing this. William, how can i insure a seat to watch the final 4 ? I have 2 other people with me and we do not want to miss out watching what should be a spectacular final 4 .

Are the live-streamed cash games taking place this weekend going to be filmed in the same location as the 4 final tables? If so, will audience viewers be allowed inside to watch?

a few tweaks with a few things n this series will definitely be my favorite of the year (next to the series).

Fwiw my prediction that starting the $5k on level three was a mistake was spot on.

I know of players who didnt play solely due to this reason, yet not a single player who played solely for this reason.

They could have started at level one and made registration open two hours later which in my opinion may have gotten them more players.

There still would have been ample seating available for the next days $2650.

The final table of 10 was reached by dinner break on day 3 and was never at risk of finishing in 4 days.


The vast majority of the comments i heard from locals (NOT internet players) was that the start was too fast for such a big buyin.

I really liked the structure starting out at those levels. I preferred it to the suggested 40 mins/level structure that people threw out there for the first 6 levels.
How many extra players would you guess they would have gotten by doing this? (Hint: Given that I know the exact number of players who registered during the last level registration was open, there is a correct range of answers.)
Would have required an extra hour of play each of day 1 and 2, pass.
The final table being reached at day 3 dinner break was a function of only having 900 players. Add another 200 players and 6 million chips into the tournament and you could easily be looking at another 2+ levels before that FT was reached, with which 90 minute levels could have taken all of day 3. You can't plan simply for what occurred in the past, but rather what could have occurred.

Once again-not a local, not an internet player, generally a casual player who has a 9-5 job. I really liked the fast start (which I did not take advantage of-it took until dinner break until I got to 36k). So now you've heard from someone who liked it.

Im not saying add any extra time. Just play 10 levels a day as scheduled but start at level one. You'll still hit your final table on day three regardless.

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Let's give credit where credit is due. The overall series was AMAZINGLY run, and the SHR has really shown a great commitment in to listening to players and adjusting accordingly. I hope to see them continue with the 4 major events in 4 days concept next year.

They would easily have hit the 5 million guarantee if they had 2 Freezeout Flights, with those of busting the 1st, being allowed to enter the 2nd. Considering the structure skipped the first few levels, it was rather disheartening to lose over half my stack after only playing 3 pots, and busting within 2 levels. I would have certainly played another flight.

Additionally, they need up run one or two more satellite days with big 25 seat guarantees. It's good for the casino and good for the player.

Time for some math!

907 players played. 303 made day 2, which makes the average stack ~90k, which means the average player had 45 2k bbs.
Starting 2 levels earlier means the bb going into day 2 would be 1200. Assuming 45 bbs per player, average stack is 54k, which would mean 503 players would have made day 2. So an extra 200 players would have made day 2 (and thus thrown the 2650 into a tighter gap, given that it would lose some of these players outright and others who didn't want to play both on the same day).

43 players made day 3, which makes average stack ~626k, which means the average player had 31 20k bbs.
Starting 2 levels earlier means the bb going into day 3 would be 120000. Assuming 31 bbs per player, average stack is 372k, which would mean 73 players would have made day 3. So an extra 30 players would have made day 3.

The final table was reached during 30k-60k at 9 PM. Add 2 levels plus a break to that, and the FT would be reached at best at 11:15 (and possibly later, depending on the distribution of 60 minute levels versus 90 minute levels). Average stack was ~50bbs, a slightly higher distribution (most likely due to 90 minute levels), but that seems fair. So the *best* case scenario is that the FT would be reached at 11:15, given your structure and the number of players who played.

And given that the turnout was lower than was probably hoped for, let's expand those numbers! Say 1100 players show up instead of 907, exceeding the guarantee and making people happy.
In the actual structure, 367 make day 2 (733 people are immediately available for the 2650). In Alan's structure, 611 make day 2 (489 are available for the 2650).
In the actual structure, 52 make day 3. In Alan's structure, 89 make day 3.
In the actual structure, the FT hits around 11-11:30 PM (end of 40-80k or start of 50-100k). In Alan's structure, the FT hits around 1:30-2 AM.

I don't mind skipping the earlier levels if we were allowed to re-enter once. A 1A/1B format with those busting in 1A allowing to enter 1B would be ideal. Since there were over 600 bustouts in the main on day 1, the guarantee would have easily been met.

Dont get me wrong. Overall i was extremely impressed with how the entire event played out.

The dealers and floor staff were top notch, as was the venue.

I was responding to a minor gripes post and skipping those levels in a $5k was one of my minor gripes.

What are the chances chainsaw will admit he was wrong after Billy B dismantled his arguments? I Also disagree with those advocating a single re-entry. It was quite amazing the # of players that went deep in this tournament who did not have heaps of tournament experience. I think you're gonna severely hurt the quality of the field late by allowing all the best players who bust 1a to enter again on 1b. Id much rather see a $4mil guarantee than any form re-entry allowed

Sorry you won't get me to admit i was wrong. The final table would be reached at the same level regardless of whether they started on level one or level three. So exactly two hours later.

Not to side with Allen too much, but, I know a few of the local regs on my tables had said that they wish it started a little slower or that they had more chips to start with if antes were in from the get go (which I think is preferrable for me)

0.
I skipped this tourney the last two years due to the structure/guarantee/re-entry combo because I thought it would make the field tougher than similar tourneys. Looking at the names who cashed in this event the last two years, I believe myself to be correct. I attended this year because of the schedule and no re-entry. If they run it back in similar fashion, I will attend again, if they revert back, I'll re-evaluate and then probably pass.

As I originally suggested, keep it a freeze out and use six 40 minute levels keeping the first two blind levels instead four 60 minute levels starting at level 3. After 4 hours of play, both schedules have the same levels and play exactly the same.

Comparison of six 40 minute levels versus four 60 minute levels:
Minutes / 40 min levels / 60 min levels
0-40 / 300bb - 200M / 200bb - 67M
40-60 / 200bb - 133M / 200bb - 67M
60-80 / 200bb - 133M / 150bb - 57M
80-120 / 200bb - 67M / 150bb - 57M
120-160 / 150bb - 57M / 100bb - 33M
160-180 / 100bb - 33M / 100bb - 33M
180-200 / 100bb - 33M / 75bb - 29M
200-240 / 75bb - 29M / 75bb - 29M

This is a perfect compromise. It gives players who want to start in level 1 with no antes two 40 minutes levels of play. Players who want to start with antes can jump into level 3 just 1 hour and 20 minutes into the tournament. Nobody should not play because of this structure. IMO, this is the most customer friendly option appealing to the broadest customer base.

Again, I can not say enough great things about SHR tournaments. I have played this event all three years through the different variations. And, I plan on playing next year unless SHR made it an unlimited rebuy again. I definitely would prefer they keep it a freeze out.

Just back home and after reflecting on the format, structure, buy-in, and the no reentry I really have to say I hope they do not change a thing.

The miss of the guarantee was disappointing for sure but I still think sticking to the no reentry is the right play and yes I know the guarantee gets hit with multiple reentry or even a single reentry. There were so many compliments about no reentry and it was great to see so many locals and amateurs deep in the tournament.

The CSOP Charity event was amazing, the parties were well attended and fun, the postlim event idea worked great, and I loved the Big 4 final tables being held at once whether you loved or hated Hellmuth on the mic.

I'm sure there will be some tweaks but I hope they consider keeping it the same.

I personally would like to see a slightly bigger schedule. Something that will make more people travel for this event. The first year of the 10mm gtd, everyone showed up. From the local FL players, to the US grinders, to the Canadians, to the Euros. 2014 the # of Canadian/Euros dropped. This year was the same.

The series itself seemed way better than last years in general. I'm not suggesting we need to get all the good euros to come play, but, it may not be the worst thing in the world either. Esp if the tournament is a single entry as it was this year. Single entry let a lot of amateurs get deep in this tournament as Ari pointed out which is great. It'll keep recreational players interested.

I just think the schedule can be tweaked a bit to make it bigger n better overall. This SORT of had an EPT stop like feel to it, but not nearly as big or grand. I know it'd be hard to replicate what they do, but, if you take a look at a few of their schedules, you can see that they offer a wide variety of tournaments daily for players with all types of bankrolls. A few more big events the week leading up to the main and maybe another 1-2 after the main (aside from the 2650 and the 1100) I think would just make it even more worthwhile.

I stayed at the hard rock for almost 2 weeks and in the time I played 6 (570 1mm, 1100 6max, 1100 turb, main, 2650, 1100 RE) total tournaments. Yes I was busy doing other things some of the days, but, I don't wake up n get too excited about playing a $570 50k gtd as my biggest tournament of the day. A couple of other bigger buyin MTTs to get a few more people to show up before the main, a few more big megas before the main and I think the overlay problem is solved.

I could be wrong and just be a talking out my ass but, I really feel like this series is on the cusp of being the best stop of the year next to the series. Just needs to take a few more steps in the right direction.

1k-2k turbos every day, make all timbeys hypers, replace hellmuth with steve harvey

The circus-like atmosphere with hellmuth was embarrassing to the players playing for life changing money.

He also was visibly cheering for big name players like Jason Mercier, Dan Colman, Paul Gees, Xuan Lui which is not right as an impartial announcer of the events.

Hellmuth was definitely out of line the two sessions i watched.

Easy fix though just tone it down a little and be more respectful to players; especially amateurs

There should be a $500+ holdem event every single day at least starting from the weekend before the main until the postlims wrap up. I would like to see less reentry each day as well, and I would love to see the weekend $350/$500s be changed to one entry per flight as well. Will be a big boost to cash game traffic as well.

Cash game action was great during the night of the $5,250 and $2,650 because there was no reentry.