New season, new place! (See the directions for getting here under the word "MAP!" over on the left.)
Season V was easily my most fun with organizing a regular weekend game. Over the course of the season we added another dozen players to our membership roster (growing from 61 to 73). At the time I'm writing this up, we haven't yet played the Project Mayhem final table, but excitement is brewing and I'm optimistic that it's going to remain something that we're going to keep incorporating into the game.
Since Season V was so much fun, I thought it fair to only make small tweaks to how things will be done when contemplating changes for Season VI. We broke the previous season up into 8 nights (16 total tournaments) spread out every 3-4 weeks. We're going to stick with that same frequency for weekend games, though we're going to stretch the season out for two extra nights.
The general schedule for Season V was to have a warm-up game, followed by a main event. The main events alternated between our standard tournament and something more special. We had three types of special tournament types: the KO tournament, the Add-On Extravaganza, and Cheap Rebuy tournaments — we ran one for the mid-season sweeps-week of Episode 4, and then as the cliff-hanger finale for Episode 8.
Something about our warm-up game has bothered me, however. The intent was to get folks into the spirit of the night over the course of a quick tournament. There are special betting rules which are intended to act as "bully protection," in that players can't get blown off their hands during preflop betting (during the first few levels, at least). I like both these goals, but something has seemed flat in the execution (and I still can't quite put my finger on it). I had considered simplifying the bully protection aspect of preflop betting (instead of playing pot-limit, which can be difficult on the brain regarding the math, reducing it even more to a simple fixed limit structure) which I thought may help. However, I think it better to not tweak the nature of a no-limit game, but instead to limit folks to a single rebuy. And what I'd really like to do is to Bring the Zing™ to the early tournament. How so?
(Note: this is just an idea. I'm actively interested in feedback, and nothing is locked in — though once we start Season VI, I'm likely going to want to ride it out for the sake of consistency.) Instead of starting each night out with a discussion of stakes, let's fix the Warm-Up tournament stakes at $5, but also couple that with a (mandatory) $5 buy-in to the high-hand prize pool. During the course of the Warm-Up Tournament, any hand which reaches the river (through any means with the exception of rabbit hunting!) would be eligible to win a portion of the high-hand pool. We'll keep track of whomever has held the highest five-card poker hand and will pay out from the high-hand prize pool. Any rebuys (only one allowed per player in the early game) would only be made at the price of the entry fee (also $5) — one would not have to buy back into the high-hand side of the pool. Zing!
On top of that, the winner from the previous week's Main Event would be exempt from buying into the high-hand pool. This is to give incentive for folks to keep coming back weekend after weekend (see below for more on that). Also we'd make it standard that folks receive a bonus chip in the early tournament for an on-time arrival, and since we are shifting the majority of the food to pot-luck, we'll also give a bonus chip to folks bringing an item to share.
Also for Season VI we'd like to add one additional type of special tournament. This comes from a tournament type I've only heard of being played, and it'll be called the Ante-Only tournament. The structure will consist of all players paying an ante each hand (of increasing amount based on a timed structure), and the one player to the immediate left of the dealer will kick off the action by either folding or betting some about between the smallest chip in play and their entire stack. It'll be a different sort of game, and my expectation is that it may lead to a different kind of vibe at the table.
Cliffs Notes on Changes
Who has time to read all that blather? Proposed changes (nothing finalized yet, hit me with any feedback you've got):
1. Early Tournament: one rebuy only.
2. Early Tournament: fixed buy in at $10, rebuy costs $5.
3. Early Tournament: $5 of each buy in goes towards a high-hand pool, excepting the previous week's Main Event winner, who doesn't have to pay.
4. Regular bonus chips for the early tournament only, +T25 for on-time arrival and +T25 for folks bringing a pot-luck item.
5. Main Event: Add one additional type of game, Ante-Only Tournament.
6. Scheduling: 10 total weeks in the season.
7. Seating: Looking to add a second table.
We've had a few new regulars added to the game since we started Season V, and I'd love to hear from folks regarding a new season of Project Mayhem. There were a couple of goals in mind for PM: mostly as a convenience to the host and hostess to give incentive to a more regular group of players showing up to play each time (recruiting isn't a lot of fun), and also to have some sort of big-money prize pool tournament with deep stacks and a longer structure that didn't go up so crazy fast. Looking back on how it was set up, I'd want to adjust a few things (making the direct-buy in chips and/or rebuy chips a slight bit cheaper), but for the most part I'd want to make sure it was set up the way that participants are comfortable and interested in the competition. I'd love to hear more feedback on what you think of this.
One final change for Season VI may be the presence of a second table. We need to evaluate our space situation and figure out what may work best for what we've got. Adding seating for another 8-10 people opens up a new can of worms (where are we going to find all those folks who want to play with us?) but I wouldn't think it anything insurmountable...
So that's the skinny. Drop me a note and let me know what you think. More than anything, I want to make sure we're offering the type of games that folks want to play in, and the only way I know I'm achieving that goal is to take in your feedback. Sure, if you've got some diametrically opposite view to something for which Shannon and I have a strong opinion, I'm going to weigh our opinions more heavily, but if I hear something consistent from a few players, or if you tell me that something is important to you and we don't have any real justification for why we're doing things differently, then there'd be no good reason not to make the games closer to what you'd like. So let me know...
I'm typing this after S6Ep09 on 4/30/2013 basically as a place for jotting down some ideas for change I am considering for Season 7. There is a ton about what we did for Season 6 that I loved, so changes are basically tweaks at this point. But I'm one of those people who always thinks that things could be better, so off I go to tweak.
Restructure tournaments to match "standard" tournament levels. T25/50 at the start, etc. Does the current chip availability support this? [NRS 5/12/2013] It sort of doesn't. I need to investigate taking the standard structure and exactly dividing chips by 5 or 25 and see how that makes things look. Definitely fix goofy ante structures (multi-denomination chips and antes right from the get-go). Also I need to hug Oz for the loaner chips here at the end of the season.
Lengthen the Standard Tournament levels after the rebuy period is over. 12 minute levels? Allow folks who do not use a rebuy (keep unlimited rebuys) to take an add-on. [NRS 5/12/2013] Think more about how this affects the Standard Tournament, and look at comment to next paragraph.
Lengthen all tournaments by ~10-15%. Make standard buy-ins for both the first and second tournaments ($10/$20). [NRS 5/12/2013] Definitely still in favor of both these items (do not lengthen Quick Tournament). With longer levels, revisit break schedules and close of rebuy periods.
I'm thinking of getting rid of one of the Cheap Rebuy main events and replacing it with a different "special" tournament: A Fixed Limit/No Limit Tournament (work on the name! "Flannel?"). Alternate rounds of FL & NL (make obvious on the Tournament Director screen -- change background colors or something). Equivalent FL limits are 1/4th the NL size. I'd fill in the NL rounds based on the standard tournament structure, then add a FL round for L1. Do NL (say at 100/200) followed by equivalent FL (400/800) before jumping equivalent level sizes. Will have to have slightly reduced level lengths compared to standard.
Keep the late-S6 changes to the bonus chips: +1 (early tournament) for ontime+pot luck, and +1 for bringing first-timer. First timers also get +1 bonus chips on first attendance and also on first return trip. Their sponsor from the first attendance also gets an extra bonus chip if they attend at the same time as on the return. (PITA to keep this list, but doable.) Something for returnees from previous episodes? Additional +1 bonus chip to last episode's ME winner? [NRS 5/12/2013] Have started this list -- it's really not too tough. Doubt the +1 chip to last episode's winner would help bolster returnees.
Start Early Tournament promptly at 5:15 pm, with regularity. [NRS 5/12/2013] Love this idea -- revisited start times to all quick tournaments, and found that we did an excellent job of getting folks into the basement right away during Season 6. If we spread the word for 5:15 pm, then it should have desired effect.
Would have T2500 in greens and blacks with which to start, so could easily start 18p tournament and have chips available. Bonus chip would be T100.
General Schedule
Season 6, Episode 1: Early Tournament + Standard Tournament
Season 6, Episode 2: ET + Ante-Only Tournament
Season 6, Episode 3: ET + Standard Tournament
Season 6, Episode 4: ET + Knockout Tournament
Season 6, Episode 5: ET + Standard Tournament
Season 6, Episode 6: ET + Cheap Rebuy Tournament
Season 6, Episode 7: ET + Standard Tournament
Season 6, Episode 8: ET + Add-on Extravaganza
Season 6, Episode 9: ET + Standard Tournament
Season 6, Episode 10: ET + Cheap Rebuy Tournament 2