My favourite events (and my best results) are any event with lots of chips and a long clock.
The World Series Of Poker Main Event springs to mind with 20,000 starting chips and 2 hour levels. Patience can be rewarded and so can aggressive play, provided you sit back when things go wrong. With deep starting stacks you will get chances to recover which you are unlikely to get in other events. In most events, your 1st bad beat or error can be your last.
Other great structures are, as mentioned the WSOP main event, the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo and the WPT, especially the 5 Stars WPT Final in April at the Bellagio, Las Vegas.
Now with buys in at $10,000, 10,000euros and $25,000 respectively these are not the sort of tournaments anyone can just have a bash at, they are just beyond the realms of possibility for most people - even a successful pro. Lately, sponsors have been seen to tighten the purse strings and cut back on the players they put in these events. You could be lucky enough to satellite you way into these events but its still expensive and if you fail its money down the drain. On top of the buy in you have the nose bleed expenses of getting to Vegas or simply buying a drink in Monte Carlo.
There are now some great alternatives. Ladbrokespoker.com have just launched a brilliantly named promotion - skalie's Sunday Deepstack! You can join me every Sunday at 16.00hrs for some great online poker. The structure is fantastic and there are plenty of satellites for those who find the $109 buy in too high. Ladbrokes are also adding some great offline prizes as part of the league system that is attached to the promotion.
The first live events I put in my calendar this year are the DTD festivals in Nottingham that are part of the 'Grand Slam of Poker' and unless something serious stops me, I will playing each one. Once again, fantastic structured tournaments that allow for some great poker. The details are as follows
The "Main Event" £250k Guaranteed
27th - 31st May, £1000 + £75 No Limit Holdem Freezeout, 20,000 Chips and 2hr clock
The event is capped at 405 players.
The "Monte Carlo" £250k Guaranteed
23rd - 27th September
£1000 + £75 No Limit Holdem Freezeout, 15,000 Chips and 90min clock
The event is capped at 405 players
The "Bellagio" £500k Guaranteed
16th - 20th December, £2000 + £150 No Limit Holdem Freezeout, 50,000 chips and 90min clock
The event is capped at 405 players
Mimicking the structures of the illustrious named events - they will be great to play and give players a chance to experience what its like in these superb structured tournaments. With each event guaranteeing its prize money, they are most certainly worth playing. Anyone who played the December festival there will tell you what a success it was, and with the average chip count at the end of each day of the main event being around 80 big blinds, you can tell its far from a crap shoot and many a skilled player went deep.
So, Nottingham may not have the glitz of Las Vegas nor the glamour of Monte Carlo, but to be frank if you go deep in the events (which lets face it its why you are there) you get to see little of what those cities have to offer, even if you can afford it.
As you may not be aware Dusk till Dawn (DTD) was Britain's first official 'poker only' venue fully licensed to hold such events, and it doesn't have the temptations on offer many of us succumb to in casinos.
If the buy ins are still beyond your bankroll, satellites are held at the club regularly so check their site for details.
If you fancy playing against me online, you can find me playing at Ladbrokespoker.com.
