How to host a no-limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament in your home

Sidepot Poker Chips

Poker Tournament Samples

Here are various poker tournament formats that have been provided by the members of the HPT Forum. Each poker tournament structure that is shown on this page also has a discussion thread associated with it in the HPT Forums. In that thread, you can ask questions about the tournament format, chip breakdown, time estimates, rebuys, etc.. You can quickly scan this page for a poker tournament format that most closely matches what you seek and then click on the HPT Forums link to view a discussion thread that relates to that format.

You might be able to have your poker tournament structure shown here by submitting a post in the Poker Tournament Samples forum. Your post must contain all the required information about your tournament, and you must also be willing to occasionally answer questions from other members about your format. In exchange, your format will be shown on this page along with your logo and a link back to your poker website. I will eventually split this page up into numerous pages, each devoted to a different type of poker - hold'em, Omaha, limit, HORSE, cash games, etc..

HPT Poker Tournament Structures

T1000 NLHE
15x$5, 13x$25, 6x$100

This is the suggested T1000 tournament format on homepokertourney.org. The blinds start at 1/50 of the buyin but progress slowly for the first four levels. The tournament usually ends at the 1000 big blind, or a little before. I usually have two tables of 8 players. The first 3 levels are 30 minutes long. The rebuy period ends and we take a meal break. The levels are 20 minutes long after the break. I cash in all the $5 chips during the meal break. I cash in the $25 chips during a later break.

homepokertourney.org

www.homepokertourney.org
homepokertourney.org is your one-stop source for all the advice and information you'll ever need to host a No-limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament in your home. Blinds, timers, poker rule books, reviews and more! Visit the HPT forums to discuss this, and other, poker tournament formats.

10-20
15-30
20-40
25-50
50-100
75-150
100-200
150-300
200-400
300-600
400-800
500-1000
600-1200
800-1600
1000-2000

T10,000 NLHE

15x$100, 11x$500, 3x$1000

This is the suggested T10,000 tournament format on homepokertourney.org. The blinds start at 1/50 of the buyin but progress slowly for the first four levels. The tournament usually ends at the 10,000 big blind, or a little before. I usually have two tables of 8 players. The first 3 levels are 30 minutes long. The rebuy period ends and we take a meal break. The levels are 20 minutes long after the break.

homepokertourney.org

100-200
200-400
300-600
400-800
500-1000
600-1200
800-1600
1000-2000
1500-3000
2000-4000
3000-6000
4000-8000
5000-10000
6000-12000
8000-16000

T1500 HORSE

20x$5, 20x$25, 9x$100 or 15x$5, 17x$25, 5x$100, 1x$500

Level	Game	Small	Big	Ante	Bring In	Sm Bet	Bg Bet
1	Hold'em	5	10			10	25
2	Omaha High	5	15			15	30
3	Razz			10	5	20	40
4	7 Stud			15	10	25	50
5	Omaha H/L8	15	30			30	60
6	Hold'em	25	50			50	100
7	Omaha High	50	100			100	200
8	Razz			125	50	150	300
	color up $5's
9	7 Stud			150	75	200	400
10	Omaha H/L8	125	250			250	500
11	Hold'em	150	300			300	600
12	Omaha High	175	350			350	700
13	Razz			300	100	400	800
14	7 Stud			375	150	500	1000
15	Omaha H/L8	300	600			600	1200
16	Hold'em	350	700			700	1400
17	Omaha High	400	800			800	1600
18	Razz			650	200	900	1800
19	7 Stud			800	300	1000	2000
20	Omaha H/L8	600	1200			1200	2400
	color up $25's
21	Hold'em	700	1400			1400	2800
22	Omaha High	800	1600			1600	3200
23	Razz			1300	500	1800	3600
24	7 Stud			1500	500	2000	4000
25	Omaha H/L8	1500	2500			2500	5000
26	Hold'em	1500	2500			2500	5000
27	Omaha High	1500	2500			1600	5000
28	Razz			2000	1000	2500	5000
29	7 Stud			2000	1000	2500	5000

T5,000 NLHE
8x$25, 8x$100, 4x$500, 2x$1000

My friends use the same blinds sched they use at the Taj. Took it from their site. It goes on for 20 levels total, but we've never gone beyond level 15 (10000/20000, 3000.) We start with T5000 in chips (2-$1000 chips, 4-$500 chips, 8-$100 chips, and 8-$25 chips.) We set the blinds timer for 10 min, and games usually last 2 hrs, so we get 2-3 games in a night. We usually have enough players for only 2 tables, so we do not need to color-up. Works well for us.

25/50
50/100
100/200, 25
150/300, 50
200/400, 75
300/600, 100
500/1000, 100
800/1600, 200
1000/2000, 300
1500/3000, 500
2000/4000, 500
3000/6000, 1000
5000/10000, 1000
8000/16000, 2000
10000/20000, 3000
15000/30000, 5000
20000/40000, 5000

T3,000 NLHE

Name: The Jeffy Lewis All-in-a-thon
Game: No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in: $40 for T3,000
Add-on: $10 for T1,000, valid until first break, limit 1
Rebuy: $40 for T3,000, valid after elimination, limit 1
Bounty: $5 on everyone

Read Dr. Neau's Tournament Manager review

Dr. Neau's
Tournament Director

Level	Ante	Small	Large	Duration
1	0	5	10	20
2	0	10	20	20
3	0	15	30	20
4	0	20	40	20
5	0	30	60	20
Break 1 Remove T5 (Red) Chips				10
6	0	50	100	20
7	0	75	150	20
8	25	100	200	20
9	25	150	300	20
10	50	200	400	20
Break 2				10
11	50	300	600	20
12	100	500	1,000	20
13	150	750	1,500	20
14	200	1,000	2,000	20
15	300	1,500	3,000	20
Break 3	Remove T25 (Green) Chips			10
16	400	2,000	4,000	15
17	600	3,000	6,000	15
18	1,000	5,000	10,000	15
19	1,500	7,500	15,000	15
20	2,000	10,000	20,000	15
Level	3,000	15,000	30,000	15
Level	4,000	20,000	40,000	15
Level	6,000	30,000	60,000	15
Level	10,000	50,000	100,000	15

Payout Schedule (for 24 players)
1. 47.34% + bracelet
2. 23.67%
3. 13.02%
4. 7.75%
5. 4.92%
6. 3.31%

T3,000 NLHE

20x$25, 25x$100

This gives you an initial chip count that is 120x the first big blind. The schedule is also not a revelation of any sort and is very similar to those used by many people.

While this may seem like a generous initial amount when compared with the starting blinds, it is CRITICAL to a good home game to pay attention to ensuring that hands are dealt in an efficient manner. This means having two decks so that one deck is shuffled and ready to deal once the pot is awarded to the player from the previous hand. I'm not saying you have to be a tyrant about dealing speed, but you must try to minimize delays between dealing hands.

I've played in several home games other than my own and this is now my number one pet peeve. In a 20 minute round, you are pressed to get one full round of the table in, even with efficient dealing. Once people start too much talking and delaying, some home games only get about 7-8 deals per blind round, which in my opinion is not fun or fair.

The reason this is so important (and using my blinds round structure as an example) is that by the third round most players are approaching being in trouble without even knowing it. Assuming you did not have to post a blind and assuming you played no hands, you are already down to only 10x the blinds by round three (100/200 blinds = $300 total. T3000 initial chip count/$300=10). While this may seem irrelevant, you could be in deep trouble if you consistently wait to get in this position.

Good players recognize this, but with only 20 minute rounds the situation is still very much a crapshoot. So, while the focus is on fun and our games are very much so and a lot of strategy is involved, there are still a lot of reasons and room for luck to play a much larger roll than is probably fair in many home games. Lengthening the round lengths and/or making the blinds more gradual would help, but who has time for an 8+ hour game all the time?

My home game uses a T3000 initial chip count with 20 minute blinds levels as follows:

25-25
25-50
100-200
150-300
200-400
Race off $25
color Up $500
300-600
400-800
500-1000
600-1200
800-1600
color Up $1000
1000-2000
1200-2400
color-up $100
1500-3000
2000-4000
2500-5000

T2,500 NLHE

16x$25, 14x$50, 4x$100, 2x$500

We use a $2500 starting chip stack, using 16 red ($25), 14 green ($50), 4 black ($100), and 2 blue ($500) per player. We color-up the red chips after the first hour, and most of the green chips after the second. Our tournaments last 3-4 hours depending on the number of players who buy in and the speed of play. The game will likely end during blinds levels 13-15. Moving up to 20 minutes per level would result in a 4-5 hour game. Using this system you can play up to 13 players from a 500 chip set. This works great for your typical single-table friendly home game.

STEBBINS HOME POKER TOUR
$2500 BLINDS SCHEDULE
15 MINUTE LEVELS

1 $25 $25
2 25 50
3 50 100
4 75 150
BREAK & color-UP $25
5 100 200
6 150 300
7 200 400
8 250 500
BREAK & color-UP $50
9 300 600
10 400 800
11 500 1000
12 600 1200
BREAK
13 800 1600
14 1000 2000
15 1200 2400
16 1500 3000

T10,000 No-limit Heads-up

20x$100, 8x$1000

We had 9 people and did double elim and if you don't make sure everyone is increasing the blinds, it will take FOREVER

Do double elimination if you have from 0 to around 8, 9, 10. Everything else do single.

12 MINUTE BLINDS

100-200
200-400
400-800
600-1200
1000-2000
2000-4000
Blinds double
from then on

T7,500 NLHE

Blinds for a 22--26 person 3 table tourney (League)

We have not yet reached the 14th rnd. and it takes about 5 hrs. but that o.k with me. Any input on this structure? would like info

25/50-0--15
50/100-0--15
100/200-0--15
150/300-0--15
Break
200/400-25--20
300/600-50-25
400/800-75-25
Break + Chip-up 25
500/1000-100--25
700/1400-100--20
1000/ 2000-200--20
Break
1300/2600-300--20
1500/3000-400--20
2000/4000-500--20
2500/5000-500--20
Break
3000/6000-1000--20
4000/8000-1000-20

T100 NLHE

4x.25, 4x1.00, 4x5.00, 3x25.00

20 player 5 hour T100 blind structure and chip Distribution?

T100 is tight unless your using $.25 chips. if you only use $1 chips, you are looking at the first round being 1-2 which is only 50 times BB and a bit tight but can be done. If you use $.25 chips I would start with the following. I have used it and it works well. It is about a 5.5 hour tourney with 20 minute blinds, but you can adjust as needed by removing a level or two.

As far as starting chips go It depends on how many you have of each denom as it seems like your colors are preset to the denom. Check out nutN's poker chip calculator on the left. A lot of people on this site like to have a lot of chips to play with, but I have played with the following because of my chip restrictions and it was not too bad there is plenty of change at the table or in the pot in all cases. I already know I'm gonna get bashed for this but it worked out fine when I was first starting out and I did not have the luxury of having a larger set.

.50 - 1.00
1.00 - 2.00
1.50 - 3.00
color up
2.00 - 4.00
3.00 - 6.00
4.00 - 8.00
2 hr
5.00 - 10.00
6.00 - 12.00
8.00 - 16.00
3 hr
10.00 - 20.00
12.00 - 24.00
15.00 - 30.00
4 hr
20.00 - 40.00
25.00 - 50.00
30.00 - 60.00
5 hr
40.00 - 80.00
50.00 - 100.00
should end about here
60.00 - 120.00
6 hr
75.00 - 150.00
90.00 - 180.00

T5,000 NLHE

The Game: No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Freezeout Tournament
Buyin: $25
Add-ons: None
Rebuys: None
Bounty: Occasional $25 bounty on previous winner
Players: 10-20 (average 16)
The Payouts: 1st-50% 2nd-25% 3rd-15% 4th-10%
The Chips: Each player receives 8x25, 8x100, 4x500, 2x1,000.
The Chipset: ASM customs with 200 green, 200 black, 120 purple, and 80 yellow.

The tournaments typically run about four hours (4:00), and typically end at about the 1,500-3,000 level, or the 2,000-4,000 level.

The Blinds Schedule:
All blinds levels are 20 minutes long
Small Large
25    50
50   100
100 200
150 300*
200 400
300 600
400 800
600 1,200
    800 1,600**
1,000 2,000
1,500 3,000
2,000 4,000
2,500 5,000
3,000 6,000
4,000 8,000
* break and remove green chips
** break and remove black chips