We just completed the third event of the 2021-22 season, with 51 runners at the Thanksgiving Challenge.

A quick observation is that some play has seemed to slow down, meaning that the tournaments are running a little longer than usual (and not that players are playing their hands slowly or something like that) and we’re reaching blind levels not normally seen.  I’m not sure why this is, perhaps after all the time off we’re still not back in “poker shape”?  Less reckless aggression?  Who knows.  But it certainly is strange to see an average stack of 125k or so heads up and blinds of 15k/30k.  A 4BB avg stack is certainly SHORT.  LOL  Needless to say, when we get to that level, the tournament is usually over pretty quickly thereafter.

Something to consider for next season, especially if this trend continues, would be to add a BB-Ante.  Now, I know most aren’t fans of ante’s and particularly aren’t fans when everyone has to do it each hand.  We all know the large/major tournaments have all moved to the BB Ante and it is a fact of life there.  I am no fan of the BB Ante either.  But it does have an effect on game play and here at the MDPS, we pride ourselves in being a “training ground”, so to speak, for players to play in these larger, major, tournaments.  Several of our regulars do play is these events and have had some success in them.  It would certainly benefit us to emulate them as much as we can while still staying within our framework of one-day events offering a balance of play, trying to avoid the all-in fest that is common in the local charity card rooms.  This isn’t something that will be implemented this season, but it would benefit us to have the discussion over the course of this season to see if this is something we want to shift towards.  Keep it in mind and feel free to discuss during the upcoming tournaments.