There is more to a tournament than its prize pool. While taking down a tournament is every tournament player’s goal, a poker tournament player is well to do by examining the blind structure of a poker tournament prior to entering the tourney.

By definition, a strong tournament blind structure is smooth, allowing for “play” within the tournament. The blinds must start in a manner that allows players to sit comfortably in the early stages, testing the tournament waters and gradually climb, pressuring the average stack ever so slightly as the tournament progresses. Though there are several different types of tournaments, this type of blind structure described is ideal for an every day tournament. We shall look at some of the similar tournaments between FullTilt and PokerStars to determine which poker room offers the best blind structures across the board.

Best Sunday Guaranteed Structure

FullTilt offers a weekly $750K guaranteed tournament each Sunday. The $750K is listed as a “double stack” tournament, according to the FullTilt tournament lobby. Players start with a beginning chip count of T3000 in chips. Blinds begin at the 10-20, and progress mildly over the course of twelve-minute rounds. A tournament poker player is considered deep, or appropriately stacked when the blinds plus antes divided into chip count equals a number greater than twenty. At FullTilt, a starting chip count of T3000 remains appropriately stacked for 84 minutes, which is seven rounds of blinds.

At PokerStars, the Sunday Million is the flagship guarantee tournament they offer regularly. In the Sunday Million, players start with a stack of T10,000 chips. Blinds begin at 25-50 in the Sunday Millions, which gives Stars a slight edge in terms of starting stack to starting blinds comparison. Additionally, the blinds increase at fifteen-minute levels. Though it is fair to note, the increase in blinds is slightly more intense than the increase in blinds at Tilt.

At PokerStars, the starting T10K stack becomes pressured at the 90-minute mark. Immediately following this round, antes begin in the Sunday Guarantee, further pressuring the small stacks. FullTilt gives 36 minutes beyond the initial pressure point of the tournament before kicking in antes.

In fairness, however, while PokerStars starts a player out better from a starting stack to blinds standpoint, the blinds increase is substantially steeper than that of FullTilt’s structure. While the appropriateness of a starting chip count is important, it is equally important to a skilled poker player to experience a deliberate and logical blind structure.

Throughout the course of the tournament, the skilled poker player benefits greater from FullTilt’s blind structure over that of PokerStars. The blinds increase rapidly beyond the ante stage, while that of FullTilt’s big tournament remains a smart and steady progression. This gives the edge to the tournament specialist over the lifetime of the poker tournament.

While each poker tournament is structured player friendly, the slight edge in tournament structure tips FullTilt’s way. The blinds in FullTilt’s $750K tournament progress naturally, which allows for greater play throughout the tourney.