Small blind is not half of the big blind

[Dave Miller]

Do any of you run blind levels where the small blind is not half of the big blind - even though there are chips in play that would allow it to be half?


I recently played in a tournament at my local casino. I came in 4th place out of 75 entrants with only one buy in. I really liked the structure, except for a few weird small blinds.

The first three blinds were:

100/100
100/200
200/300

Since there were no 25 value chips, these blinds seemed acceptable to me. The next five levels were normal:

200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1,000
600/1,200

But here's where it gets weird:

800/1,400
1,000/1,600

I don't get it. Why not use 700/1,400 and 800/1,600? Is there a logical reason for this? Is there a TDA recommendation to do this, or better yet, to not do this?

After this level, the 100 chips were removed. So the next levels were:

1,000/2,000
1,500/2,500
2,000/3,000
2,000/4,000
3,000/5,000

I'm OK with the 1,500/2,500 level since there aren't any 100 chips, but why 2,000/3,000 rather than 1,500/3,000 or 3,000/5,000 rather than 2,500/5,000? The 500 chips were removed after this level.

The next 6 levels were:

3K/6K
4K/8K
5K/10K
6K/12K
8K/16K
10K/20K

Considering the lower weird levels, it surprised me that there weren't similar weird 8K/14K and 10K/16K levels. On the other hand, I busted out during the 5K/10K level. I'm taking the next levels from the structure listed on the website, so I can't be sure what was actually played.

But it really has me scratching my head.


For the record, this was a Big Blind Ante game. The ante was always the same as the BB. Could that have anything to do with the wierd small blinds? I would think not.
Those weird small blinds confused several of the players, as well as a couple of the dealers, so I gotta ask, why use them?

[BillM16]

...

But here's where it gets weird:

800/1,400
1,000/1,600

I don't get it. Why not use 700/1,400 and 800/1,600? Is there a logical reason for this? Is there a TDA recommendation to do this, or better yet, to not do this?

...

Those weird small blinds confused several of the players, as well as a couple of the dealers, so I gotta ask, why use them?

One reason is to commit more chips to the pot.  This speeds up the game both in terms of action and duration.  As for the confused players and dealers ... was the tournament structure posted before it started?

[Dave Miller]

I can't see how that slightly elevated small blind would affect the action at all.

Yes, the structure was posted on their website, printed copies available at the check in counter, and it was displayed correctly on the Bravo tournament clock.

Five days later this still had me scratching my head. I was gonna send an email to the TD, but I figured I'd ask here first. After all, this might be a common practice, but I suspect not.

[BillM16]

I can't see how that slightly elevated small blind would affect the action at all.

The same way adding a very small SB and BB in the 3rd level does. It’s not huge but it has an affect.