Tournament Time Expectation - Published: 11/8/2005
Almost all online players have experienced a phase where, in the late stages of a poker tournament, you get tired and just lose the ability to stay and play patiently at the poker table. An important part of avoiding this situation is planning, and knowing when not to register for a long tournament where you might be forced to play tired or out of focus.
Make sure you know how to predict how long the tournaments you are registering for will run, and avoid tournaments that might put you in a position where you can’t play well at the end. Here are the two most important points to consider when you are trying to estimate just how long it will take to win, which should be every tournament players goal:
Length of Rounds
This one is obvious, longer rounds like 12 to 15 minutes means a much longer tournament then the speedy 2 or 5 minute round tournaments. Here is some info taken on a Saturday from the typically longer tournaments at Paradise Poker:
| Type | Rounds | Players | Running Time | |
| $60 NL Holdem | 15 min | 139 | 3 hr 34 min | |
| $100 NL Holdem | 15 min | 59 | 2 hr 51 min | |
| $300 NL Holdem | 15 min | 57 | 2 hr 59 min | |
| $500 NL Holdem | 15 min | 351 | 4 hr 02 min |
This is compared to the super speed freeroll tournaments at Doyles Room with 2 minute rounds that eliminate over 500 players in just over an hour!
Number of Players
This is a huge factor in determining the length of a tournament. The more players that are registered, the more of a lengthy game you’ll be involved with. Where else to look for samples of tournaments that have tons of players than Poker Stars, the most renown of the online poker tournament sites :
| Type | Rounds | Players | Running Time | |
| $1 NL Holdem | 15 min | 1475 | 5 hr 23 min | |
| $3 NL Holdem | 15 min | 1493 | 7 hr 26 min | |
| $3 NL Holdem | 15 min | 1100 | 5 hr 37 min | |
| $50 NL Holdem | 15 min | 437 | 4 hr 42 min |
Other Factors
Other factors that play a small roll in determining the length of a tournament are; the amount of the buy-in, the amount of starting chips and the re-buys or add-ons options. We looked at the Bugsys Club tournaments where you get 10,000 in starting tournament chips:
| Type | Rounds | Players | Running Time | |
| $5 NL Holdem | 10 min | 45 | 2 hr 43 min | |
| $10 NL Holdem | 10 min | 21 | 2 hr 37 min | |
| $10 NL Holdem | 10 min | 127 | 3 hr 48 min | |
| $1 NL Holdem | 10 min | 232 | 3 hr 53 min |
And discovered that the results show the tournaments weren’t much longer than what you would expect from events with 1,500 and 2,000 starting chips like those at Full Tilt Poker:
| Type | Rounds | Players | Running Time | |
| $50 NL Holdem | 10 min | 31 | 2 hr 27 min | |
| $200 NL Holdem | 10 min | 70 | 2 hr 57 min | |
| $200 NL Holdem | 10 min | 136 | 4 hr 01 min | |
| $10 NL Holdem | 10 min | 270 | 4 hr 14 min |
The re-buy factor does have somewhat more of an affect as seen by looking at some longer running re-buy tournament times hosted at Tiger Gaming:
| Type | Rounds | Players | Running Time | |
| $10 NL Holdem + RB | 10 min | 19 | 2 hr 43 min | |
| $20 NL Holdem + RB | 10 min | 27 | 2 hr 44 min | |
| $10 NL Holdem + RB | 10 min | 33 | 3 hr 20 min | |
| $10 NL Holdem + RB | 10 min | 55 | 3 hr 24 min |
Taking the above into consideration combined with some personal experience will enable you to accurately predict the length of tournaments and potentially avoid situations where you might be forced to play tired or distracted. Remember that consistently winning players rarely risk their poker bankrolls unless they know they are in a position to play their best at the final table.