How the blind structure is built
The first big blind is about 1/100 of the starting stack, so everyone starts around 100 big blinds deep. The blinds then rise by the same percentage each level. By the last level, all the chips in play add up to about 20 big blinds, which is roughly when a tournament ends. Every amount is rounded to a value you can make with your smallest chip.
Example: 10 players, 10,000 chips, 4 hours
With 15-minute levels and a 10-minute break every 6 levels, the structure starts at 50/100 and reaches a big blind of about 5,000 by the end. With 100,000 chips in play, that leaves about 20 big blinds, so the tournament should be close to finishing.
Choosing the level length
| Level length | Good for |
|---|---|
| 10–12 minutes | Fast home games and turbo events |
| 15–20 minutes | Most home tournaments of 3–5 hours |
| 30–60 minutes | Deep-stack events and live tournaments |
Using the tournament clock
Press Start clock to begin. The clock counts down each level, beeps when the blinds go up and shows the next level. Use Full screen to put it on a TV or laptop where everyone can see it. Keep this page open; the clock keeps running correctly even if your device is slow.
Need to decide how many chips each player gets? Use the chip calculator first.
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