If you have
played at pokerstars during the last week, then you have probably seen the new Time
Tourneys. These run for a set amount of time ranging from 15 minutes to 3
hours. When the time runs out, they do a chip chop for the prize money amongst
the remaining players. These are MTT tourneys found under the tourney tab in
the lobby. They are marked with a clock to the left of the tourney name. For
as much as they are hyping these things, there are not that many Time Tourneys
running. So, I wasn’t able to multitable a set of them at the same buyin level,
or even same time allotment. Come on Pstars...
The payout
concept is similar to the Fifty50 sngs, but with one big difference. In a
Fifty50, half the prize pot is divided evenly among the players ensuring that
you at least win your buyin back even if you make it itm with only one chip
remaining in your stack. The other half is divided based on your stack size. In
the Time Tourneys everything is based on your stack size compared to your
starting stack. For example, if you start the tourney with 1500 chips and an
$11 buyin, then 1500 chips equals $10 prize money. Thus, if you end the tourney
with 3000 chips you will win $20, 6000 chips would pay $40, etc. However, if you
end the tourney with less than 1500
chips you will win less than your buyin, in other words, you lose money. From
the few games I’ve played, it seems like about 25% of the players getting itm
actually did lose money! It doesn’t matter how many players are left when the
tourney ends, your prize money is based on your stack size and nothing else.
How did
they play, you ask? Well, I have only managed to play three thus far:
$5,50
buyin, 120 minute tourney
$11 buyin, 30
minute tourney
$11 buyin,
15 minute tourney
The 120
minute tourney played like a normal tourney all the way up to the last 15
minutes. A lot of players understood that creeping itm with a micro stack was a
bad idea. These guys were shoving and calling with ATC hoping to get lucky. On
the other hand, the players with 2-4 times there starting stack were trying to
conserve chips. They would use every second of time available to slow down the
game and were folding pretty much every hand. I didn’t have any really big
stacks at my table, so I don’t know what they were doing, but I would have
played very aggressively with a big stack.
The 30
minute tourney played more like a 45 man turbo. The final blind level played
like the 120 minute game.
The 15
minute game was a real shovefest – LOL! It wasn’t as crazy as the hyper-turbos,
but it was pretty crazy nonetheless. It was a push-fold game from the very
first hand. Luck was a huge factor in this one.
Time
Tourneys are great if you want to play some poker, but don’t have too much
time. For example, I wanted to play last night before going to bed. However, it
was already 11PM. I didn’t want to be up all night. So, I regged for the 15
minute Time Tourney. Fifteen minutes later, I was $28 dollars richer and my
poker need was satisfied LOL!
I cashed in
all three tourneys I played and won 2-4x my buyin. So, thus far I’m liking
these things, but a ”big cash” is still eluding me. If (when) I play more Time
Tourneys, I’m hoping to join the 30 minute ones. Skill is still a factor in
these, and as I said, they played quite similar to the 45 man turbos.
I’ll keep
you updated. Do the same, if you play any of these!
Roland GTX
PS: I
tested the new Nova table themes, too. They look fantastic, but unfortunately, they cover too much of my cards. I had to switch back to black.
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