I've got some ideas, but I want to run the scenario past everyone and get some input here just to check my brain and make sure I'm not missing anything or thinking wrong...

As I've posted elsewhere, I start a 10-week local poker league on Sunday. Talking to one of the bartenders at the host site tonight I was able to garner the rough format of what's going on. Each week is a seperate 100 person NLHE tournament and you get a point for every person you outlast. At the end of 10 weeks, the top 20 point earners advance to a regional tournament...the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow is a seat in the WSOP.

So here's the catch at the local level...each tournament is limited to 4 hours. Everyone still in at the end of 4 hours is assigned their points according to chip count.

What changes, if any, do you make to "normal MTT tournament strategy" to maximize your chances of being in that top 20 at the end of week 10? This is totally freeroll here so your only goal/prize lies in those top 20 spots.

OK, first you should use the first week, probably 2, to get a reall feeler for how these things are goign to really go. After that, you can make re-adjustments from there.

Theoretically, YOu should play survival for at least the first 2 hours. You need to be consistently in the top 30 to have a shot at the top 20. So if you can outlast the majority of the field by jsut playing tight, then do so. When the end is near (last 90 minutes or so), And/or you feel comfortable with the points you have accumulated, explode into something similar to rebuy period play. Push all your littel edges, really push the big ones. Maximize your profit. Imagine it like being 30th or 20 is the bubble, and once you've made that, all you care about is winning.

This may seem suicidal, but everybody else near the end should be playing fairly tight up until the last 30 minutes or so, when its going to get crazy. Then you revert back to survival mode. Let everybody else kill each other while you ride your newly acquired big stack.

This is assuming, though, of an atrition rate similar to low buy-in Online tournies, where half the field is gone by the first break. Of ocurse it could be tight as a penguins ass the whole time, so you gotta capitalize then. It aslo could be just a big slugfest the whoel way, so play tight.

I think the whole league week per week needs looked at too. The first 2 events should be pretty loose and scary, as people are adjusting the the style and pace of play. The middle 6 events will probably be pretty good, tight play as peope have realized the need to place well equals survival. Then the last 2 will be hell again as people are vying for points.

Just my guess.

Another thing, since the blinds will not affect the big stacks as much as the average stack size will, if you do get a big stack ealry, you can't sit on it like you can in a normal MTT. You need to use the big stack to get a bigger one.

Well, I think I'm going to play this first one just straight up and get a feel for what's going on and trust that I'll play tight enough that even if I take a bad beat somewhere I'll be able to outlast 1/3 of the field or so. My take on other things...

-- the 1-for-1 point system is least rewarding for a high finish so going out early looks bad. (70th one week and 1st the next averages out to two 35th place finishes, not good enough...compared to a logrythmic formula that would make such a scenario far, far better)

--So while tight and conservative looks to be a good EARLY strategy, at some point the switch has to turn on to accumulate a sufficiently-sized stack (assuming, as I suspect, that there will never be a true "winner" determined thru play in the space of 4 hours.) If it looks like it'll be played down to just a handful of players, then normal MTT strategy can apply. If it looks like 40+ will still be around (probably high, but not out of the question...the blinds were the one detail I couldn't pump from the bartender) then I think I'll have to play with some consideration to stack size as well. But I'm not fully certain that that line of thinking isn't a trap, nor am I certain where the brightline is that once past I need to focus on chips.

-- I will not be sick for the next 10 sundays...and even if I am, I will not be too sick for poker. (duh)

-- I will not let the pride of wanting to win interfere with my recognition that 19th place is every bit as good. (yeah right, but if I type it enough maybe I'll believe it at some subconscious level)

I dunno...we'll see how it goes and I can modify accordingly based on what I learn today

My last 90 minute theory is based on the idea that there will most likely be about 40 people left, not a handful. IF you want an idea of how you need to place on a regulkar basis, go look at the top ten finishers in NASCAR the last few years, which has a very similar scoring system, especially last year. Notice how they ma not have won each race, some never did, but they consistently placed in the top ten, top 15 each week. They were allowed the occasional bad finish, becuase of the length of the season.

We definatly need a little more info so we can get a better strategy for ya.

Note to self: Don't trust ye olde bartenders to know what's going on when it comes to poker.

Played the first session today and finished 14th...no real stories to tell. Broke three people early, got moved, didn't get squat for 2 hours, melted and got short-stacked, then lost a horserace to big slick with pocket 10's. That said, the *real* details:

-- You get 10 points for just showing up.
-- Show up all 10 weeks, get an extra 100 for perfect attendance.
-- Top two tables (18) get additional points each week...first was ~325, I got 82 for 14th place.
-- Top 20 from league go to regionals, except for the league champion who skips straight to the state tournament.

So now I'm definitely just playing it like a regular tournament right now and making sure I don't miss a Sunday so that I can get that extra 100 points. Considering the whole thing was freeroll, it was surprisingly well run and I had a blast (not to mention the free drink coupons you get...nothing hits the spot like a top shelf margarita on the rocks after playing poker).

Thanks for the help all...think I've got a grip on this now

OK Shade, ignore everything I posted above then.

and follow your ideas

GL!

Originally Posted by CJ!

Sounds like a good time... where is this being played at anyway?

Its a statewide thing here in North Dakota that the Anheiser distributorships are running along with the WPT. 10 weeks of freeroll play followed by regional tournaments and then a state tournament, winner gets a seat into the WSOP.

Hell, if I can just get enough contacts out of the deal to book 2-3 regular games during the week and get a free drink voucher every week...that's plenty good enough for me from the deal.