Addons allowed in "Semi-Freezout" tournament?

[bermejoga]

So once a month I host a live home game with 3 tables of 8 players each, that counts a leaderboard through the entire year.
The game we play is NLHE and it is kind of a "Semi-Freezout" tournament that each player is allowed to make 1 rebuy, and no addons allowed. Once the player is out, and theres no more rebuy, he/she is out and that will be his/her final position in the game.

The idea of the "Semi-Freezout" tournament is to the players play more safe due to the possible points and also have 1 rebuy allowed as a second and last chance do continue playing

Initial stack 25k +5k for early birds who arrive in the first 20min of game (1st blind)
initial blinds 100/200
Break after 8th blind (last chance to rebuy)
9th blind (after break) 2k/4k - game cant last over 3h30
rebuy stack 25k

The rule for 2024 is that if you have less than 5k chips at break you can make your rebuy if you didnt use it so far.
Next year (2025) we're thinking on maybe changing some rules but we don't want to make it unfair between the players.

Our questions is about adding the option to make the Addon for those who didn't use their 1 optional rebuy.
At break should the ones who have less than 25k be able to make a rebuy if they didnt use theirs?
If yes, what about someone that has 26k chips? isn't it unfair to see someone with 24k making the rebuy and you cant? maybe then making it ass well for those who have more than 25k and didnt use theirs?
But then if the rebuy/addon is allowed won't this make the biggest players be even bigger?
in the other hand, if you didnt make the rebuy, is because you played well and deserve a reward, dont you?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!
Can you guys help me? Once the rule is applied for the year it is significantly hard to change
So what do you think? no add-ons? or yes go for addon?

I'd happy to have other suggetions to my game if you have!

 

[Urameshi]

I feel like you guys are overthinking stuff because you're close friends and don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

the whole point of a tournament is to get people eliminated and awarding the top places,

in order to be able to rebuy, you have to get eliminated , otherwise you have to keep playing your stack.

 

[MK_]

I've read this several times and it still makes no sense to me,

having a reward for players who are short at break who didn't rebuy ....in a rebuy?,

why are we rewarding players who do poorly and punishing players who do well...,

I think adding an addon in the way you suggest would create more problems than anything else,

if you want the game to go 3 and a half hours and you want players to feel it's a fair game then no addon😎👍

 

[bermejoga]

It's been some months and I wanted to give you guys an update.
Next week will be our 4th monthly game.
People are having fun and are happy with the tournament configs.
We were indeed overthinking, trying to make everyone happy, but we gotta say, at poker not everyone is happy in the end of the night.
We kept the "only 1 rebuy" rule with no addon.
There must be a least one rebuy avaiable for those who had a early bad beat and has 1 more chance and not early going straight back home.
No addon rule because the yearly championship is about getting points the most you survive and the higher place you get, and since the game can't last long enough, this is the best way to have a fun and fair game.
Of course we are always trying to learn better ways to play and to have a really nice and fun poker night.
To @Urameshi and @MK_ a big thank you for your advices!
If anyone has any other advices or experiences to share I would be happy to hear (read) from you

 

[odonob]

Personally I don’t like adding, if you build a stack it’s annoying to see cheap add ins etc. it also makes tournaments overly long to play. And if you don’t have cash to add on or buy in then the difficulty increases again.

 

[dannystanks]

I have had my game going over 20 years now. The easiest way to do it is with no rebuys, no add ons.
Hosting these games are challenging and over the years we have gone through many changes. But making our last a straight freeze out has been the best thing for hosting it.

 

[MK_]

It's been some months and I wanted to give you guys an update.
Next week will be our 4th monthly game.
People are having fun and are happy with the tournament configs.
We were indeed overthinking, trying to make everyone happy, but we gotta say, at poker not everyone is happy in the end of the night.
We kept the "only 1 rebuy" rule with no addon.
There must be a least one rebuy avaiable for those who had a early bad beat and has 1 more chance and not early going straight back home.
No addon rule because the yearly championship is about getting points the most you survive and the higher place you get, and since the game can't last long enough, this is the best way to have a fun and fair game.
Of course we are always trying to learn better ways to play and to have a really nice and fun poker night.
To @Urameshi and @MK_ a big thank you for your advices!
If anyone has any other advices or experiences to share I would be happy to hear (read) from you

Awesome, glad you guys are having fun with your game👍

 

[bermejoga]

I have had my game going over 20 years now. The easiest way to do it is with no rebuys, no add ons.
Hosting these games are challenging and over the years we have gone through many changes. But making our last a straight freeze out has been the best thing for hosting it.

nice!
how many people do you usually play with?

 

[dannystanks]

we have a dedicated 9 players. Once in a while we get enough for two tables. We do BB antee, 20k starting stack with 20 min levels and with 9 players it runs like 5 hours or so

 

[bermejoga]

we have a dedicated 9 players. Once in a while we get enough for two tables. We do BB antee, 20k starting stack with 20 min levels and with 9 players it runs like 5 hours or so

would you please share your blinds structure?

 

[dannystanks]

would you please share your blinds structure?

No problem! It’s BB Antee starting level 2. 20 min levels:
100-200
100-200-200
200-400-400
300-500-500
300-600-600
400-800-800
500-1000-1000
600-1200-1200
800-1600-1600
1000-2000-2000
1500-3000-3000
2000-4000-4000
3-6-6, 4-8-8 etc.
it’s usually done at the 2000-4000-4000 area.
We do lunch for an hour after level 3. It’s a lot of fun!

 

[bermejoga]

No problem!

Really nice! This is our blinds structure:
Double chance tournament, 3 tables of 8 players max (1 rebuy allowed only, with no addon)
Agressive blinds without ANTE the entire tournament

duration (minutes)	level	small	big	obs
20	1	100	200	whoever arrive in these first 20min get 5k bonus chip instantly
15	2	200	400
15	3	300	600
15	4	400	800
15	5	500	1000
15	6	600	1200
15	7	800	1600
15	8	1000	2000
20	dinner break and chips color up			sometimes it lasts more, we always wait until everyone finish their meal
12	9	2000	4000
12	10	3000	6000
12	11	4000	8000
12	12	6000	12000
12	13	8000	16000
12	14	10000	20000
12	15	15000	30000	game is usually done here, after 3h30 hours of game
12	16	20000	40000
12	17	30000	60000
12	18	40000	80000
12	19	50000	100000
12	20	75000	150000
12	21	100000	200000
12	22	150000	300000
12	23	200000	400000
12	24	300000	600000
12	25	400000	800000

 

[dannystanks]

Looks like a blast!