Project Mayhem - Season 11

Fight Club was the beginning, now it's moved out of the basement, it's called Project Mayhem."

— Tyler Durden

Project Mayhem is the name we use for our completely voluntary league. PM has existed since Season 5, and is linked to our Saturday evening tournaments (which we call our Regular Season). The net effect of Project Mayhem is to have a big Final Tournament after the season is over and to crown a champion.

As of Season 9 we raised the buy-in price per event to $5 (doubled on the nights when we only run one tournament).

Summary

The gist of Project Mayhem is that participating folks pay an extra $5 per tournament into the prize pool. How many Saturday night tournaments you enter (and to a much lesser-degree, how well you do during those tournaments) will dictate your starting chip stack at the final table. At the end of the season, all the PM participants set up a time and date for the Final Tournament (the "PMFT"), and we all play for the big money.

Goals

We have a few motives in setting up Project Mayhem. First up, we think having a big prize-pool tournament with deep stacks and a longer structure is a lot of fun. Secondly, we are motivated to have a more consistent set of participants showing up for our weekend games (recruiting is probably right up there with cleaning up the next day as being the least-fun aspect of hosting poker night) and PM is set up to reward folks for showing up more regularly.

Participation

There is room at the Final Tournament for up to eighteen players, so we can only accept that many Project Mayhem members. The first nineteen folks to physically buy into a Season XI tournament will be entered into Project Mayhem. Project Mayhem events are part of our Saturday night Regular Season tournaments.

PM-eligible tournaments happen on our Episodic (regular season) Saturday nights. Members of Project Mayhem have the option to play as PM-eligible for our regular Saturday night tournaments (1 tournament in the case of a Standard Tournament weekend, or any of the 2 tournaments when we have a Quick Tournament and a Main Event). To be PM-eligible you have to pay the $5 fee (for the two-tournament nights) or $10 (Standard Tournament nights) at the time you're playing and all that money goes into a separate envelope. Playing eligible in a tournament earns you two types of points: 1) you get one Attendance Point (which ultimately gets used to determine your starting chips in the final tournament, see below for more details), and 2) you earn Project Mayhem Points (a.k.a. "PiMPs") based on how well you perform in the tournament. PiMPs also get you some starting chips, and they also have one other specific use for the final table which will be explained below.

If you've already established yourself as a member of PM you can decide to not buy-in to a tournament as PM-eligible. If that's the case, then it's just like you didn't show up for that particular tournament: you don't get an Attendance Point, nor would you earn any PiMPs.

For our Standard Tournament nights a Project Mayhem entry costs $10 and all associated Attendance and Project Mayhem points are doubled for that tournament. If it's a Standard Tournament night and you only need one more entry to get capped for your starting stack at the PMFT you can buy in for $5 and earn standard PM points.

If you're not a member of Project Mayhem, you can attempt a direct buy-in to the PMFT assuming any seats are remaining. Details are below.

Players for Season XI

1. Shannon

2. Neal

3. Shawn

4. Bronc

5. Michael G

6. Rich

7. Michael

8. John

9. Andy

10. Elina

11. Barb

12. Tom

13. Brad

14. Doug G

15. Charlie H

16. Tory

17. Dan S

18-20. open

Points

As indicated above, you need to buy into a PM-eligible tournament to earn Attendance Points and PiMPs. Even if you've already committed to being a Project Mayhem member if you don't pay at the time of entering the tournament you're not earning either of these things. Money up front, 100% of the time.

Attendance Points and Starting Stacks

Attendance Points are earned for each eligible tournament you enter. Each tournament is worth T2000 chips to your starting stack at the final table. Additionally, if you hit certain attendance thresholds, you get T2000 additional bonus chips (occurring at the 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15-tournament thresholds).

Before the Final Tournament starts, folks will have the option to buy additional starting chips at the cost of T2000 chips per $5 spent. The maximum starting stack, however, is capped at T50,000 chips. Obviously this money all goes straight into the prize pool.

APs are doubled on the evenings we only play a Standard Tournament, and PM entries cost $10.

PiMPs

Things which earn you PiMPS:

1 PiMP.... Enter a tournament

1 PiMP.... Per player that finishes worse than you in a tournament (they do not have to be Project Mayhem-eligible players, players who chop prizes all finish one spot ahead of the last person not included in the chop)

1 PiMP.... Per knockout you put on a fellow tournament player (not affected if they rebuy: does not have to be a permanent KO; note that for the Add-on Extravaganza, making someone use a rebuy token does not qualify as a knockout)

1 PiMP.... For finishing in the money (based on prize allotment on Structure page, alternative pay-outs such as Bounty money do not affect this PiMP)

2 PiMPs.... For finishing in first place [Change new to Season VIII — was 1 PiMP in the previous seasons]

All PiMPs are doubled on the evenings we only play the Standard Tournament (with $10 PM entries).

Note that we will issue partial PiMPs in the case of folks chopping a tournament before it would be considered in-the-money (say 4 people chop a tournament which has 3 pay-outs: each PM participant who is part of the chop would earn 3/4ths of a PiMP), and also for the two winner PiMPs as well.

PiMPs are good for two things. First, for every 15 full PiMPs earned (no rounding: 29 PiMPs is just as good as 15), you get another T2000 to your starting stack, so even if you don't make all 20 tournaments, if you can make it to 14 or 16, chances are pretty good you'll start with the max starting stack. Second, seating at the final table tournament will be based on the order of PiMPs. Whomever finishes with the highest number of PiMPs will have their first option of seats at the table, with the option to defer if they so choose. Each time someone selects a seat at the table, we will scroll back up to the top of the PiMP list and allow the top remaining person their option of seats. Once you've picked a seat, there's no changing your mind.

Past Champions

Tiebreaks among PiMPs first go to the person with the fewest total tournament entries (if someone gets 47 PiMPs in six tournaments, then they beat out someone who got 47 PiMPs in eight tournaments). The next tiebreak would be to add 1 extra PiMP per category starting at the bottom of the above list (so starting with the number of first place finishes) to see if that makes a difference. If there's still a tie after that, then we'll high-card to break the tie.

I won't be calculating PiMPs for everyone on the fly (between tournaments), but will update a spreadsheet and post it here between Saturdays.

One way to think about the Project Mayhem Final Tournament starting chips is in terms of "bundles." Each bundle is T2000 chips. Every time you buy into a tournament you get one bundle of chips. For certain thresholds you get a bonus bundle. And for every 15 PiMPs you've earned you get a bundle. For a max stack at the final tournament, you should be trying to earn 25 bundles.

Final Tournament (PMFT)

Structure

The PMFT is run using our Standard Tournament structure with these modifications:

1. longer levels,

2. bigger initial stacks,

3. no add-ons, and

4. one rebuy available through the first 16 levels.

We've settled on 15 minute levels in the general case, but depending on the number of participants (and the number of chips in play) this number may be adjusted with a target of having the PMFT run for about six hours (give or take).

Folks will have up to 50,000 chips in their starting stack. The details for PM participants are listed above in Points. For non-PM participants who would like to direct buy-in, the cost is $5 will get you 2000 starting chips, up to $125 which would get you a capped stack of 50,000 starting chips. This is the same rate that non-capped PM members can add chips to their starting stack.

Rebuys can be made for any amount of chips up to that person's starting stack. The cost for a rebuy is $3 for every 1000 chips.

Percent Starting Stack by AP vs PiMPs

Here's the breakdown of the total percent of starting chips which come from just showing up vs. performance by season. Note that our ratios were set up a bit differently in Season 5 (by design). Seasons 6, 7, and 8 were all just scaled versions of each other, so should be directly comparable.

Season 5: 87.8%

Season 6: 83.7%

Season 7: 82.6%

Season 8: 80.1%

The PMFT is the only tournament run on that date. Generally we try to schedule the Regular Season events such that the PMFT happens in the Spring before the end of the school year. We will negotiate a date that works for PM participants well in advance of the end of the Regular Season (generally sometime around Episode 8 or 9), though as hosts we have to reserve the right to modify (or even cancel in extreme circumstances) this event. If you cannot make the PMFT, you will not have your contributions refunded.

It's never too early to begin negotiating for a Final Table date. If Neal and Shannon aren't doing a good job with kicking off that conversation, please initiate it yourself.

Seating

PMFT seats are awarded based on the number of PiMPs you have earned. A ranked list of participants in the PMFT will be created based on PiMPs, then based on direct buy-in amounts (tie-break for those will be based on when you email me that you would like to participate). Seat selection will be in rounds starting at the top of the list. Someone can defer each round to someone lower on the list and if the list makes it all the way to the bottom, the last person is forced to make a selection. After each round, the next selection begins with the remaining person at the top of the list.

Potential Schedule (Season X & PMFT)

August 19, 2017: WSOP Final Table (not affiliated with Project Mayhem)

September 9, 2017 S11Ep1: Standard Tournament

October 7, 2017: S11Ep2: Preliminary, WSOP Final Table Tournament

November 4, 2017 S11Ep3: Standard Tournament

December 9, 2017 S11Ep4: Quick (Crazy Pineapple), Progressive Knockout Tournament

January 13, 2018 S11Ep5: Standard Tournament

February 17, 2018 S11Ep6: Quick (Omaha), Add-on Extravaganza

March 3, 2018 S11Ep7: Standard Tournament

March 31, 2018 S11Ep8: Quick (Longmont Hi/Lo), Ante-only Tournament

April 14, 2018 S11Ep9: Standard Tournament

April 28, 2018 S11Ep10: Quick (Omaha-8), Cheap Rebuy Tournament

May 12, 2018: S11 Project Mayhem Final Tournament

Results

Summary

Here are the final standings for Season XI.

PiMPs

Here are the final PiMP results at the end of Season XI.

Rebuy Example

Let's say you attended 8 tournaments (8 APs, which cost you $5 each, so you're in for $40) and earned between 60 and 74 PiMPs in that time. This would get you 16,000 + 8000 = 24,000 starting chips. Say you wanted to bolster your starting stack with an additional 8000 chips (which costs you $5 for each 2000, so an additional $20). Your original stack is then 32,000 chips.

If things go sour for you and you bust out, you would have the option to rebuy up to 32,000 chips. You could buy in for less if you so chose, but you only get the one rebuy (and it has to be prior to the end of the 16th level). The rate for rebuy chips is $3 gets you 1000 chips.

So your first 32,000 chips cost you $40 + $20 = $60. If you wanted to rebuy up to that same amount that would cost you $96.

Finished Rank is calculated from the sum total of the number of folks you've finished ahead of.

KOs is calculated from the sum total of knockouts you've performed.

Avg/Tot is the average per entry for that column (if centered), or total amount (if shifted to the right).

Final Table Chips

Here are the earned FT Chips.

By Tournaments

S11Ep01 - Standard Tournament (9/9/2017)

Phil beat Michael G in a heads up battle, and Andy and John took third and fourth places. Eleven PM players on the first night (considering we'll probably also add Brad, Charlie, and a couple of Toms) is by far our best opening night. Should be a great season (though I need to start seeing some final tables...).

S11Ep02 - WSOP ME Preliminary Tournament (10/7/2017)

Michael, Tory, Tom and new guy Kevin finished in the top four spots of our preliminary final table tournament. There were 15 participants, which means the bottom six (from Charlie down) did not continue onto the second tournament. We added four additional Project Mayhem entrants (bringing our total up to 15 on the season— leaving only 3 spots remaining.

S11Ep02 - WSOP ME Final Table Tournament (10/7/2017)

Doug, Kevin, Tory, and Brad all made money in the Main Event Final Table Tournament. Since this was only a 9 person tournament, only the top 3 spots are considered a money finish (for PM purposes). The prelim tournament had 15 entrants, so the top 4 places got money finish points. Congratulations to all the winners. Rich finished the FT Tournament in 9th place (finishing ahead of 0 people), and Charlie, John, and Neal didn't even make it to the Final Table (but paid for it). We each earned an Attendance Point but no additional PiMPs for that tournament.

S11Ep03 - Standard Tournament (11/4/2017)

3½ new players joined us for a night of Standard Tournamenting during the longest weekend of the year (Kim, Adam H, Rich I, and Doug returned after an absence of about 7 years) pushing our total entrants to 19 (which means we paid out 5 spots). Congrats to Michael, Rich, Rich I, and a humble bow from your hosts (who chopped the top spot).

S11Ep04 - Quick Tournament: Crazy Pineapple (12/9/2017)

Andy participated in our Crazy Pineapple tournament (entering as our first reserve), but did not buy into Project Mayhem (we both forgot). Congrats to Nancy, Stefan, John, Doug, and Rachael for cashing!

S11Ep04 - Main Event: Progressive Jackpot Knock-Out (12/9/2017)

We played 22-handed for the Main Event (again, Andy was our first reserve, joining us after the first permanent bust out; and we snuck Dave in as seat number 11 right from the get-go on the big table). Cashing in the Main Event prize payouts were Neal, Rachael, John, Barb and Tory.

S11Ep05 - Standard Tournament (1/13/2018)

Tory and Jason chopped while Dan and Michael cashed. First time in ages we didn't have any newbies. The new structure adjustments (I chopped out a few levels to get the evening to finish at a more reasonable hour) worked out pretty well I though.

S11Ep06 - Quick Tournament: Omaha Hi (2/17/2018)

Andy, Barb, Bronc, John, and Rachael took down our first ever Omaha Tournament. We ended up with 23 total entries, with three reserve players getting into the mix. Charlie S was a first-timer to our basement and he sure fit in as well as we expected.

S11Ep06 - Main Event: Add-On Extravaganza (2/17/2018)

Your humble host bested Brad in one-hand of heads-up play, while Nancy took third, Rachael fourth, and Project Mayhem (but not basement) newcomer Dan S took fifth. Special shout-out to Rachael who stuck around after she busted out to help shepherd us through the final few bust-outs.

S11Ep07 - Standard Tournament (3/3/2018)

Charlie H was the big winner, with Michael, Doug, Charlie S and Kevin also finishing in the money. Shannon, Neal, and Michael all participated but didn't enter Project Mayhem this time around, and Rich and John only went in for half-entries.

S11Ep08 - Quick Tournament: Longmont Hi Lo (3/31/2018)

Our five-way chop was Charlie H, Dan S, John, Rich, and Tory. The Longmont tournament was a bit crazy, but the split pots were manageable. Partial Knockout points awarded based on the split pots (for instance, Dan had 4 knockouts where he scooped the pot, and 4 knockouts where he had the hi or lo hand in the pot: 4 + 4*0.5 = 6.00).

S11Ep08 - Main Event: Ante-Only Tournament (3/31/2018)

Rachael and Shawn chopped first, while Andy took down third. Your humble host was happy to get fourth place money. After the craziness of the earlier tournament, this was a welcome break.

S11Ep09 - Standard Tournament (4/14/2018)

Folks kindly gave Tom money for the bubble (which is why there are those 1.6's for Money Finishes -- scheduled to pay 4, actually pay 5, everyone gets 4/5ths of a point, and folks who paid $10 for the single tournament get that doubled), George took down 4th, and Dan, Shawn and Charlie chopped. With Dan taking first place money outright, he also earns the full First Place complement of PiMPs (2 points, doubled since he paid $10 for the one tournament). (Funny story, Charlie and Shawn were high-carding for the odd dollar, and Charlie pulled first and got a King. "Beat that!" Shawn took the top card off the deck, which was the Ace of Spades. It was probably the loudest howl of the night!)

Shannon was out of town and you humble host had a cascade of issues with the tournament -- I didn't "spade" the deck and we discovered we had been playing with a 53-card deck containing two seven-of-hearts (!!!), I didn't set the tournament software to auto-save *AND* I didn't reset the tournament during the break (to fix the known issue with a memory leak) so when the software (predictably) crashed we were left without a significant portion of the tournament history. The cash money was correct and other than an unexpected additional delay the effect on folks playing in the tournament was mitigated, but for folks earning PiMPs (in the list above), we had to rely on self-reporting your number of knockouts before the error. Elina, if you had a knock out I couldn't remember it, so please correct my memory and let me know. For everyone else, if you gave me a range ("I think I had 3 or 4 knockouts") I took the higher end of your estimate (so in that case, 4). Everything after the crash saved correctly (so Dan had his "I had three knockouts" plus the 6 from the software, giving him 9 total, which is doubled for PiMPs purposes when you buy into one tournament for $10). Many apologies from your humble host. I was out of my routine for our tournament night and it showed. I hope it didn't take away from folks' enjoyment of the evening.

S11Ep10 - Quick Tournament: Omaha-8 Hi/Lo (4/28/2018)

The split-pot Omaha tournament went remarkably cleaner than expected. As (the winning) Charlie pointed out, the time spent splitting pots did a nice job giving folks a chance to breathe between hands in what is traditionally a very turbo and high-stress tournament. With fifteen participants our four winners were Charlie S, Dan S, Michael, and Shawn. Host Shannon was the first bubble and host your-humble-host was the second bubble (not to worry, we'd have our revenge).

S11Ep10 - Main Event: Cheap Rebuy (4/28/2018)

The Cheap Rebuy tournament lived up to its billing, but we didn't quite get to the 1.5× rebuys-per-player we had in Season 10. However, with a few extra participants, our 26 total rebuys does set the new bar for next year to try to exceed. Our birthday boy George was the first bubble (at 1:44 am), and Dan S took down fifth place money (of course he did — he participated in eight Project Mayhem events and cashed in an amazing six of them!) after using 3 rebuys. The final four were two Charlies and two Stangises and it's fun to admit that the Stangi came out on top. Charlie H took fourth place (no rebuys) after I put a nasty 70%-30% on him, Charlie S took third (one rebuy) after I put a nasty K8 beats AK on him, and Shannon (4 rebuys) and I (no rebuys, somehow) chopped (at 2:27 am). Most importantly, however, is the Rebuy King, who was Stefan with an amazing SIX.

We had an amazing night to cap off an amazing Season of pokering with you all. If Season 11 is the pinnacle of poker fun for Felt Club then I've got nothing to complain about, but (as you all know) I'm always trying to tweak things for the better down the road. It's not clear to me how Season 12 could be more fun, but I'm interested in finding out.

History

Links

Previous seasons of Project Mayhem can be found:

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