Chip Tournament
- Thread starter BuddyWing
- Start date
The only rule about a chip tournament is, when you lose, you pay a chip. The chips available for each skill level depend on what skill levels are playing.
Four friends in a basement will have a different chip count than a local tournament with 32 players with Fargo between 400 and 550. You mostly just have to figure out the disparity between players and how long you want the tournament to go. Then do the math.
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Four friends in a basement will have a different chip count than a local tournament with 32 players with Fargo between 400 and 550. You mostly just have to figure out the disparity between players and how long you want the tournament to go. Then do the math.
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To keep it simple in our room (and to try and get things done in an evening) we have it broken down based on APA skill levels, since the majority of folks here play APA. SL6 and above gets five, SL5 and below get seven. That's just one example, obviously. If we had more time, I think it would make sense to make an additional level, and give SL3's and lower eight or nine, but that would drag the night out even more. If it was a daytime tourney, perhaps that could work.
The computer app used in many chip tournaments seems to handicap the field based on Fargo. The TD seems to be responsible for handicapping the player with no Fargo rating or a very low robustness
We run two chip tournaments a week, 1 for 9-ball and 1 for 8-ball. Here are some notes:
- We establish an "average" chip value. For 9-ball this is 7 chips, for 8-ball it is 5 chips [because 8-ball games typically take longer to play]. This keeps the typical run time of the tournament between 2.5 and 3.5 hours.
- About 90% of the players get the average chip count. Very few players get an additional chip (typically brand-new players). Better players get one less and very good players get 2 less.
- There is no reason you could not base this on Fargo ratings. Something like < 450 = 8, 450-550 = 7, 550-625 = 6, 625+ = 5.
- As a basic formula, we use the number of players divided by 3 to determine the number of tables to use [although we have a hard stop at 6 tables].
- We establish an "average" chip value. For 9-ball this is 7 chips, for 8-ball it is 5 chips [because 8-ball games typically take longer to play]. This keeps the typical run time of the tournament between 2.5 and 3.5 hours.
- About 90% of the players get the average chip count. Very few players get an additional chip (typically brand-new players). Better players get one less and very good players get 2 less.
- There is no reason you could not base this on Fargo ratings. Something like < 450 = 8, 450-550 = 7, 550-625 = 6, 625+ = 5.
- As a basic formula, we use the number of players divided by 3 to determine the number of tables to use [although we have a hard stop at 6 tables].
I've played in a local pool room's weekly 8 ball tournament, and when I first went to them, it was described to be as a chip tournament, which I was not familiar with. It cost $10 or $15 to enter. Players were rated or ranked based upon their APA or TAP or whatever league level, and also by known ability.
Most people entering were given three losses, with a few given four. There were two or three players that only got two losses, since they were considered better players. Nobody got chips, but when you paid, the guy running it wrote your name down, and your number (2, 3, or 4) by your name. When play was ready to start, they would get a deck of cards and pull out two suits of cards, leaving a red suit and a black suit. This never had more than a total of about 20-25 players, so those 26 cards were enough.
To do the match-ups, cards were shuffled and spread out on a table and everyone stood around the table and picked up a card. Matching cards played each other, so an 8 played an 8, a queen played a queen, you get it. Red card racked, black card had the break. If you won, you told the guy running the tournament who you beat, and they got a mark by his/her name. When you used up your losses, you were done. I thought that was a really good way to run that, and it went quickly and smoothly.
After a while there were a couple really good players that would come, so they changed it to where the players with two losses could not break, even if they had the black card. I played one guy three separate occasions and I only shot twice against him. As soon as I'd miss, he'd run out. That was a heck of a reality check for when you started to feel a little full of yourself.
Most people entering were given three losses, with a few given four. There were two or three players that only got two losses, since they were considered better players. Nobody got chips, but when you paid, the guy running it wrote your name down, and your number (2, 3, or 4) by your name. When play was ready to start, they would get a deck of cards and pull out two suits of cards, leaving a red suit and a black suit. This never had more than a total of about 20-25 players, so those 26 cards were enough.
To do the match-ups, cards were shuffled and spread out on a table and everyone stood around the table and picked up a card. Matching cards played each other, so an 8 played an 8, a queen played a queen, you get it. Red card racked, black card had the break. If you won, you told the guy running the tournament who you beat, and they got a mark by his/her name. When you used up your losses, you were done. I thought that was a really good way to run that, and it went quickly and smoothly.
After a while there were a couple really good players that would come, so they changed it to where the players with two losses could not break, even if they had the black card. I played one guy three separate occasions and I only shot twice against him. As soon as I'd miss, he'd run out. That was a heck of a reality check for when you started to feel a little full of yourself.
It seems like you could get some advantage by playing slowly. Is there a good way to handle that?
Not that I'm aware of. Chip tournaments are good for friendly, informal tournaments. The strong points are that the awful waits that often happen in double elimination tournaments are eliminated and there are no "two & outs".
Atorontopoolplayer
Active member
Where we've done it, the redraw doesn't happen until everyone is done, so no advantage for slow play.
The problem with that is the tournament takes much longer and there are lots of empty tables. I run a chip tournament and this year we are reducing the maximum allowed so poorer players don’t benefit by slow games. Also you can split winnings , giving a prize to most wins, not just last man standing
We use playing cards for matchups, as well, tho we don't use the suit to determine who breaks, we just lag. We put a joker in for the bye when there is an odd number of players that round.
There are a few times a slow roller can get a slight advantage, especially if they are also consistently winning. The easiest solution is to have losers autorotate to the next table. So if you lose on 1, you get in line at 2, and so on. This ensures that all the tables have an even number of games and also eliminates concerns over the TD cherry picking matches.
On the downside, if there is a slow player on Table 3 who is winning (that's the key), this causes a backup of players waiting in line to play on that table, and consequently the possibility of no one available to play on other tables. While it eliminates the advantage of slow play, it also makes the tournament last longer and creates more instances where people are waiting around with no one to play.
In the end you have to balance the fairness against the expediency of the tournament and the overall enjoyment of the players.
Badpenguin
Well-known member
The advantage to slow play is that you can let the higher skill level players run through the field and put them out while you drag out matches. The only solution is to wait until all games complete before running the next round, which pretty much ruins the main advantage of a chip tournament - a quick tournament.
We re-draw after each round. Playing one game matches, it doesn't drag too much, with the usual folks we have participating. Its actually nice to have a few minutes every so often
This is absolutely true and something we have discussed often. The really good players in our tournament end up playing and winning a lot more games - they run racks or play safe, get ball in hand once, and get out. Plus they just generally play faster. The percentage of wins to losses for them at the end of the night is much higher than an average player, but the results are solely based on the number of losses. And the more games they play, the more chances they have to lose. There is basically no reward for winning a high percentage of games.
I haven't tried this approach, but it seems like we'd be back to everyone waiting for the slower player(s). Similar to an elimination tournament.