Online Multi-Table Tourneys: How Escalating Blinds Affect Your Play

One of the common complaints of newer online players is that they don't fully understand the impact of the increasing blinds on the multi-table tournaments that they enter. It's an important consideration, and one often overlooked. Not only does a player need to keep track of how fast the blinds are growing in relation to the size of the remaining field, they need to have a way to value the overall structure itself. Does one site's multi-table tournaments really offer anything that's markedly different from those offered at other sites?

You might be surprised at the answers.

Below you'll find a series of four charts that compare the blinds and antes through the first four hours of four major sites. But these tables differ from those you'll find elsewhere... or on the sites themselves: the blinds and antes are expressed in relative terms (compared to the original chip-stack size) rather than to any absolute number of chips.

Let's explain the logic behind this. Take two tournament structures, with equal numbers of tables, players per table, and times per blind level. But say one has a starting chip stack of 1,000, with a small blind of 10 and a big blind of 20. The other has a starting chip stack of 2,000, with a small blind of 20 and a big blind of 40. Starting out, what's the difference?

There is none. The size of the chip stacks, blinds and antes is a relative consideration, not an absolute one.

Let's start by presenting the blind structure for the first four hours of some popular sites. We'll start with that favorite of online tournament players, Poker Stars. Here's the basic structure, expressed in relative terms. The "SB %," "BB %," and "Ante %" are ratios, not flat numbers; for instance, a starting chip stack of 1,500 and a starting small blind of 10 produces an "SB %" of .0067. (10/1500=.0067). The "Time" field is a running clock of sorts, a time-elapsed measurement of everything as the tourney progresses. In this way we can construct the table as follows:

POKER STARS	Time	SB %	BB %	Ante %
Level 1	00:01-00:15	.0067	.0133	-
Level 2	00:16-00:30	.0010	.0020	-
Level 3	00:31-00:45	.0167	.0333	-
Level 4	00:46-01:00	.033	.067	-
Level 5	01:01-01:15	.050	.100	-
Level 6	01:16-01:30	.067	.133	-
Level 7	01:31-01:45	.067	.133	.017
Level 8	01:46-02:00	.133	.267	.017
Level 9	02:01-02:15	.200	.400	.033
Level 10	02:16-02:30	.267	.533	.033
Level 11	02:31-02:45	.400	.800	.050
Level 12	02:46-03:00	.533	1.067	.050
Level 13	03:01-03:15	.667	1.333	.067
Level 14	03:16-03:30	1.00	2.00	.100
Level 15	03:31-03:45	1.33	2.67	.133
Level 16	03:46-04:00	2.00	4.00	.200

It's another way of demonstrating that for the first two hours or so, the blinds don't mean that much... but they rise quickly thereafter. Still, this information exists in a vacuum, unless we have something to compare it to.

So, here's the same information as extracted from Party Poker's tourney structure:

PARTY POKER	Time	SB %	BB %	Ante %
Level 1	00:01-00:15	.007	.013	-
Level 2	00:16-00:30	.001	.002	-
Level 3	00;31-00:45	.017	.033	-
Level 4	00:46-01:00	.033	.067	-
Level 5	01:01-01:15	.050	.100	-
Level 6	01:16-01:30	.067	.133	-
Level 7	01:31-01:45	.100	.200	-
Level 8	01:46-02:00	.133	.267	.017
Level 9	02:01-02:15	.200	.400	.033
Level 10	02:16-02:30	.267	.533	.033
Level 11	02:31-02:45	.333	.667	.050
Level 12	02:46-03:00	.500	1.00	.050
Level 13	03:01-03:15	.667	1.33	.067
Level 14	03:16-03:30	1.00	2.00	.067
Level 15	03:31-03:45	1.33	2.67	.133
Level 16	03:46-04:00	2.00	4.00	.133

Seems similar, doesn't it? That shouldn't be much of a surprise, since Party and Stars are much the Coke and Pepsi of online poker: they don't do too much in terms of basic structure without taking a peek at the other guy. Both have 15-minute levels, and there's not too much difference across the blinds in early play. However, there are two distinctions to note. First, the ante structure for Stars climbs a bit higher than over at Party, though it's just barely starting to be seen in the first four hours that are covered here. But it can make a difference later in the tourney. Second, remember that the blinds and antes are swinging around every ninth hand on Stars, compared with every tenth hand at Party. Looking at that, it's possible to argue that Stars offers a slightly larger opportunity for patient play.

And that's one of the hidden reasons behind this post --- getting a better handle on when patient play is called for, and when it's time to throw discretion and reserve to the wind. But let's move over to a site where significant differences can be seen --- Bodog:

BODOG POKER	Time	SB %	BB %	Ante %
Level 1	00:01-00:12	.003	.007	-
Level 2	00:13-00:24	.007	.013	-
Level 3	00:25-00:36	.010	.020	-
Level 4	00:37-00:48	.013	.027	-
Level 5	00:49-01:00	.020	.040	-
Level 6	01:01-01:12	.033	.067	-
Level 7	01:13-01:23	.050	.100	-
Level 8	01:25-01:36	.067	.133	-
Level 9	01:37-01:48	.100	.200	-
Level 10	01:49-02:00	.100	.200	.017
Level 11	02:01-02:12	.133	.267	.033
Level 12	02:13-02:24	.200	.400	.050
Level 13	02:25-02:36	.267	.533	.067
Level 14	02:37-02:48	.400	.800	.083
Level 15	02:49-03:00	.533	1.07	.100
Level 16	03:01-03:12	.667	1.33	.133
Level 17	03:13-03:24	1.00	2.00	.200
Level 18	03:25-03:36	1.33	2.67	.267
Level 19	03:37-03:48	2.00	4.00	.400
Level 20	03:49-04:00	2.67	5.33	.533

Interesting, isn't it? When viewed in these relative terms, it's easy to see that Bodog's blinds progress at a faster rate than either Stars or Party. Remember to focus on the time elapsed, rather than the level; each of the four tables presented here covers exactly the first four hours of play, so there's a nice equal measuring point for each at the tables' bottom lines. Bodog has 12-minute blind levels instead of the 15 at Party or Stars, but that just doesn't matter.

Let's do one more comparison, looking at the MTT structure over at Full Tilt:

FULL TILT	Time	SB %	BB %	Ante %
Level 1	00:01-00:10	.010	.020	-
Level 2	00:11-00:20	.013	.027	-
Level 3	00:21-00:30	.017	.033	-
Level 4	00:31-00:40	.020	.040	-
Level 5	00:41-00:50	.027	.053	-
Level 6	00:51-01:00	.033	.067	-
Level 7	01:01-01:10	.040	.080	-
Level 8	01:11-01:20	.053	.107	-
Level 9	01:21-01:30	.067	.133	-
Level 10	01:31-01:40	.080	.160	.017
Level 11	01:41-01:50	.100	.200	.017
Level 12	01:51-02:00	.133	.267	.033
Level 13	02:01-02:10	.167	.333	.033
Level 14	02:11-02:20	.200	.400	.050
Level 15	02:21-02:30	.267	.533	.067
Level 16	02:31-02:40	.333	.667	.083
Level 17	02:41-02:50	.400	.800	.100
Level 18	02:51-03:00	.533	1.07	.133
Level 19	03:01-03:10	.667	1.33	.167
Level 20	03:11-03:20	.800	1.60	.200
Level 21	03:21-03:30	1.00	2.00	.267
Level 22	03:31-03:40	1.33	2.67	.333
Level 23	03:41-03:50	1.67	3.33	.400
Level 24	03:51-04:00	2.00	4.00	.500

Neat. Despite the fact that Full Tilt has 10-minute levels, whereas Bodog has 12-minute levels, the structures between those two sites are largely the same. But compare the antes in the third and fourth hours of both of these sites to those of Party or Stars, and you'll see huge relative differences --- on Bodog and Full Tilt, the antes start eating you up at a much earlier point. Keep this in mind as you move into the later stages of tourneys on these sites: You don't have as much time as you think, because the antes are flat-out eating you up.

Take a look at these tables and you'll notice other things, hidden tourney specifics that can be applied to your own game and style of play. We recommend printing or saving these tables for your personal use, and we may also add a few other sites at a later date. Of course, all of these structures are subject to change; as soon as a glaring difference is pointed out, that difference often goes away. It's still good to know these things, however; having all the information at hand will make you a better poker player.