Or a poker game among friends? We've all heard there is no such thing as a friendly poker game, but why? In a normal poker game, when your money is at risk, that is almost always true, but today when many home games use a tournament structure, there is no reason why a poker game can't be friendly and profitable.
Blinds increase every 20 minutes or when a player is eliminated.
Number of Players
10
Starting Chips
1000
- 10,000 in play
Reds
15
- 75 in play
Greens
9
- 225 in play
Blacks
7
- 700 in play
| Minutes | Small Blind | Big Blind | Total M | Avg M |
| 20 | 10 | 20 | 333 | 33 |
| 40 | 20 | 40 | 167 | 17 |
| 60 | 25 | 50 | 133 | 13 |
| 80 | 50 | 100 | 67 | 7 |
| 100 | 100 | 200 | 33 | 3 |
| 120 | 200 | 400 | 17 | 2 |
| 140 | 400 | 800 | 8 | 1 |
| 160 | 500 | 1,000 | 7 | 1 |
Increasing the blinds when a player is eliminated accelerates this structure significantly. (Since live games without a center dealer often get few hands per hour, you might consider playing each level for a complete round of the table, at least early.) Each time a player is busted, the blinds increase and the clock is restarted. So, on the 3rd hand if a player is eliminated, the blinds go up and the clock is restarted. Yes, the structure is quite quick and that is its advantage. Most novices get involved in to many hands and seldom have the patience to wait. They tend to bust out quickly. If two players are eliminated at the same time, just double the blinds normally. Going up two levels when two players are eliminated at the same time can be extreme. Just move up one level. In this structure it is not uncommon to reach the third level in the first 20 minutes.
The blinds drive the game but the prize structure makes it friendly. The usual division of the prize pool is 50-30-20% for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, but you might try splitting it equally between the remaining players regardless of stack size. Ending the game instead of playing it out ends the game quickly. So you can start the next one. (We don't want idle players to find an excuse to leave.) By splitting the purse evenly it reduces the variance for the skilled player, and actually gives the fish the illusion of winning. Short handed play is significantly impacted by the cards, even for the skilled player, and an equal split decreases this variance. When dividing the prize pool equally the skilled player can rely on patience and conservative play to get into the money. If your home game consists predominately of skilled players, you might not want to divide the prize pool equally. Simply divide it up according to chip stack when only three players remain. This will usually generate some action at the bubble as the short stacks attempt to improve their chip position.
With 8-12 people this structure moves very fast and the game seldom lasts longer than 1.25 hours. With re-buys the game averages about 2.5 hours. If you allow re-buys and add-ons for the first hour, the action really gets strange, and you can build some great prize pools. If you do allow re-buys, your advantage lies in not purchasing a re-buy if your "M" (M equals the number of rounds that your stack can sustain without playing a hand. M=Stack Size/Total Blinds) would be low. Since the blinds can go up several times in the first hour, many players will re-buy, when their "M" will be less than 2.
Although your success in this structure will vary based on the quality of the opposition, the skilled player should get an average return close to 50% on the entry fee. The novices have the fun of competing and the illusion of winning, and that keeps them coming back. You don't win the money in big chunks, but you can get small donations for a long time.