Blinds Increase at Home Games

[rebago]

Hey, when you guys set up rules for the blinds how do you guys do it? I'm talking mostly casual games you play with your buddies. I've seen timelimits mostly standard.



I say this because I just returned from a pretty large friendly tournament with $40 buy ins.



It came down to me and one other player and I had a slight chip lead. I felt like I was getting a winning streak in hands with my opponent folding and I was pulling the blinds. I thought ok, maybe bleed him dry a little bit. Yet just at the tipping point in this winning streak we arbitrarily set to double the blinds. I knew what was going to happen here after winning maybe 8 of the last 10 hands (mostly garbage pots though): those odds were going to reverse and he would start pulling better hands.



Sure enough they did and I start pulling garbage. I fold a few times, and took a decent hand to try push it a bit. Bam lost, and now the opponent had the chip lead. Ended up bleeding me dry on the high blinds which finally I went all in and lost it on the river.



I felt kind of cheated since the opponent brought up doubling the blinds since he said the game was taking forever. Duh, it was taking forever because he could tell I had a streak going and sat out every hand. Lost a few blinds, then a few turns later brings up doubling it when he thinks it will turn around.



I should say, that we were doubling usually every time someone was knocked out, so the last increase was a pretty significant number that would close the game pretty quickly.



I probably could of played a little better, I admit. But I think this doubling the blinds just as the momentum shifted put me at a disadvantage.



What do you think?

[unsoughtpoet]

[h=2]How to calculate a poker tournament blinds schedule[/h]

• Divide the starting chip amount by 50 or 100. Make this your first big blind.
• Make your big blind equal to your starting chip amount at the time you want your tournament to finish. This is your anticipated final blind.
• Arrange the middle levels so that the blinds gradually increase from your first big blind to your anticipated final big blind. Keep the first 2 or 3 levels low to allow new players to learn without having to risk too much.
• Add a couple extra blinds levels to be on the safe side.

Example: 1000 chip buyin tournament lasting four hours

• The first big blind = 20 (1/50 of the T1000 starting chip amount).
• The final big blind = 1000 (the starting chip amount) at the 4 hour mark using 20 minute levels. 30 minute levels would result in a tournament about 6 hours long.
• Gradually increase your big blinds from 20 to 1000.
• Add a couple levels above the 1000 big blind.

I think this is the best blinds schedule for home games