How to run multi-day tournaments?

Game

We start with the first point "Game". The basic settings for a tournament are made here. Simply click on "Game" in the details.

Names & Games

Here we enter the name and the title. The title is displayed to the players (e.g. in the tournament clock or the lobby), while the name is used for internal purposes. Here we take the name "Day 1A" and the title "My Club Main Event Day 1A". Further information is given in the short description, such as whether there is a re-buy, re-entry or a guaranteed prize pool.

As a game we expect "Texas Hold'em" and "No Limit". A recommended color for a main event is, for example, "red" so that it can be clearly distinguished from side events. The type is "Dated", meaning the tournament takes place on a specific day at a specific time. We choose here March 20th, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.

Now we can choose the category, which is only used for sorting and grouping. There is a "Main Event" group that we can use. The event number is usually "1" for the my event. The number only serves as a structure for large events.

Registration & Waiting List

We want to create a tournament by registering the players with their names. This is important for several reasons. We want to know how many times a player has played "Day 1" and also how many chips he takes into "Day 2". That's why we choose the option "Sign-Up with names". This may also apply to the waiting list, which is why we choose the “Queue with names” option. We don't need any other options now.

Levels & Timing

Since "Day 1" will start with the first level, which we will create later, we leave the values at "0".

Tables & Seating

Depending on the number of tables, large multi-day tournaments usually have 10 or 9 seats per table. We can set this here, i.e. whenever a table is added to the tournament, it will initially have this number of seats. We leave the "10" here and have 10 seats per table.

Of course, this is a multi-table tournament where we want to balance the number of players per table. For this reason we choose the option “Balance players (Balancing)”. We also want the seats to be random, so we choose the "Choose seats randomly" option. We leave out all other options under "Multi Table".

For "Day 1" we also choose direct seat allocation, i.e. when a player is registered, a table and seat are automatically assigned. The protocol remains at "Standard". There are currently no selections for this type of tournament either.

Automatic Control

We want to start the tournaments manually and especially for day 1 we don't have a final table. We omit the option in this area all.

Tournament View Options

When a tournament has started, the tournament clock will display various information including the payouts. However, for multi-day tournaments, the payouts are only given for the last day, i.e. "Day 2". For this reason, we disable the "Show Payouts" option. Since we don't have a final table in day 1, we should turn off the option "Except final table or one remaining table". It could theoretically happen that on day 1 only one table with players remains. In these cases we still want to show the movements and eliminated players.

We leave the "Live Sort" as it is.

Miscellaneous

If the tournament belongs to a certain league, it can be entered here. This does not affect the game.

We leave the Frequent Player Point (FPP), the sorting (Sort) and the external tournament ID blank.

You can decide whether the tournament clock should play sounds. We leave this on, then the clock will tick and the level change will be accompanied by a tone.

A "Stack Warning" may be issued if a table runs out of prepared chips. We'll leave that out here.

We leave the "Show automatically calculated chips" option activated, i.e. at first we do not enter the number of chips manually. The chips are calculated according to the configuration of the buy-in.

Description

Further details for the tournament can be entered in the description. This text is primarily displayed in the registration view. We leave this blank in this example.

This also applies to the scrolling text, which is not available in the tournament clock "Calssic" anyway.

Buy-In

The buy-ins determine what the tournament costs, how much of the costs go into the prize pool, whether there are re-entry or add-ons, etc. Since we want to focus on the multi-day tournament, let's make it simple and choose a freezeout tournament with no additional options.

Tournament Type

The type must be set to "Standard" for day 1. Players can register here as normal.

Primary Buy-In

The "Primary Buy-In" must be completed for registration. Each player gets a certain amount of starting chips, which we enter under "Chips". If a later registration is allowed, the level until when this is possible can be specified here.

Now the buy-in. In our example, this is "200" and the fee is "20", i.e. the total cost is "220", of which "200" goes towards the prize pool and "20" is fees. The prize pool increases by “200” for each registered player.

The "Details" breaks down the cost by buy-in and fee. They are displayed in the Lobby and Registration view.

Levels

For the basic configuration we now need the levels for our tournament.

In our example we have created 19 levels. However, for "Day 1" we only need the first 12, which is why we activated a pause after level 12 and indicated the note "End of day 1" in the "Information" column, i.e. after level 12 the clock stops automatically.

Day 1B & Day 1C

We have now created "Day 1A". In order to play several days 1, we only need to duplicate the tournament and adapt the name or title in each case. Let's assume 3 days 1 in our example. So we now simply duplicate the tournament "Day 1A" twice and additionally once for "Day 2".

To do this, right-click (secondary button) on the "Day 1A" tournament. If you now click on “Duplicate tournament” in the context menu, you get a copy with a different name.

Now we need to change the “Names & Games” information accordingly. This means that "A" becomes "B" or "C" and the start date was shifted by one day in our example. Of course, this can also be just hours later.

Day 2

For "Day 2" or "Final Day" we need to change the configuration a bit. All players from days 1 are collected here. ALL really means everyone here, i.e. including those who are not qualified. But more on that later.

Names & Games

Of course the name has to be changed. In our example, the name for internal use is "Day 2" and the title is "My Club Main Event Final Day". The start was set to another day. There is nothing more to do here.

Registration & Waiting List

Here we have activated the option "Allow more entries than available seats". Why? Well, when players qualify for "Day 2", it's not necessarily clear which tables will be used for the final day. Since we cannot assign tables yet, we allow registration without tables and seats. Normally you can only register as many players as there are seats available.

Levels & Timing

The "Final Day" should not start at level 1. The starting level is simply entered in the "Level" field. In our example, this is level 13.

Tables & Seating

For the "Final Day" we have decided on a maximum of 9 players at the table. We set the "Table Seats" value to 9 so that each assigned table automatically gets 9 seats.

Since we don't have a table and seats available at the time of registering players, we're disabling direct seating, i.e. "Assign a seat on Sign-Up" should be off.

Automatic Control

The final table is always something special. With the option "Start Final Table with X number of Seats" you can have the final table created automatically. This means that when the number of players (here 9) is reached, the clock is automatically stopped and the final table is drawn again. The tournament clock then shows the typical image of a table with the corresponding players.

Tournament View Options

Here, too, we change the settings for "Day 2". We now want to show the payouts, i.e. the prize money for each place. To do this, we activate the “Show Payouts” option. We'll define the payouts in a moment.

Additionally, we no longer want to show the moves once the final table is reached. Why? Now the standard clock shows the movements in the same places where the prize money is shown. Once the final table is reached, the payouts are more important than showing who is eliminated.

Buy-In

Changing the buy-in type is very important for “Day 2”. "Limited/Final" must be selected here. If this is not done, the final day will be treated like any other tournament, this will affect in particular the registration of players and the seating.

Payouts

Now the payouts must also be determined. To do this, simply click on “Payouts”

This tournament is primarily about paying out cash, so just enable the payout for "Main". We don't want to enter fixed amounts here, but pay out according to percentages. The "%" option is activated and the rounding of the values to whole numbers. This can be achieved with the menu behind the "%" character. The value "###.00" truncates the fraction places.

The given structure pays 1st place 40% of the prize pool, 2nd place 20%, 3rd and 4th place 10% each, 5th-7th place 10% place each 5% and the 8th-9th place 2.5% percent.

To do this, simply drag and drop the tables into the list of tables or into the tournament. In our example I have assigned two tables with ten seats each.

Now you can transfer the tournament to the status "Registration" by simply clicking on the cross in the tournament control.

"Day 2", i.e. the "final day", can now also be set to the status "registration", then everyone can see how many players have already qualified and when the final will take place.

Next, you play the "Day 1A" down to the appropriate level as usual. Players are simply registered and receive their table and seat. At the specified time, the status is then changed to "Seating" and the already registered players are given the time to take their seats.

After a reasonable time you start the tournament by clicking on "Running".

When the end of "Day 1" is reached, which is level 13 in our example, you have a list of players who qualified and unfortunately others didn't.

Now you can set the tournament status from "Running" to "Finished".

Regardless of whether they qualified or not, you now move all players from "Day 1A" to "Day 2".

To do this, select all players in the list, e.g. with the key combination cmd + a. Then drag and drop the selection to "Day 2".

A dialog will appear to register all players for "Day 2". Additionally the dialog has an option how to treat the chips. In the vast majority of cases, this is the takeover of the largest stack. Of course, this only works if the chips of the qualified players have been counted and entered beforehand.

So that you don't have to confirm each player individually for registration, you can select the option "Apply to all X players" in the top left and then click "Sign-Up".

If you now look at the list of starters from "Day 2", you will find all the players from "Day 1A" and the note "Qualified". The number of seats is negative. In our example "-8" because we have not yet assigned any tables to "Day 2". That's not bad, that will change when we are going to start "Day 2".

After making sure that all players have been transferred from "Day 1A" to "Day 2", you can reset the Day 1A tournament. To do this, change the status from "Finished" back to "Initialization". This also releases the tables from "Day 1A" and can be used again in other tournaments.

This is now repeated with the other "Day 1" tournaments. In our example there were 20 starters on "Day 1A", 15 starters on "Day 1B" and again 20 starters on "Day 1C". So a total of 55 starters. Of course there were also players who started on several days.

The "PB" (Primary Buy-In) column shows the number of starts in "Day 1". As you can see, some players played "Day 1" multiple times, some made it, some didn't.

In order to be able to really start "Day 2", we still need tables and seats. In our example, we happen to have 18 survivors from 55 launches. Since we want to play 9-handed for our final, i.e. with a maximum of 9 players per table, these are exactly two tables. We have to assign them now. Since all tables are available, we take tables 1 and 2. With the assignment, the number of free seats should jump to zero. It is only important that the number is no longer negative, otherwise not all players can get a seat.

We can now set the final table directly. Here we take table 1. Right-clicking (secondary mouse button) on table 1 brings up a menu. One point here is “Final Table”. We select this and a little star icon will appear in the list of tables before table 1.

So now we're ready to start the final. If you now set the tournament to "Seating", all remaining players will be assigned a table and a seat. In our example, 18 players start in "Day 2". Once all players have taken their places, the game can begin.

By clicking on "Running" the clock starts at the previously entered level 13. Now you simply play through the final to the end.

In our example, the prize pool is "11,000", which is "200" buy-ins * "55" primery entries. Because we carried all players, qualified and non-qualified, into the final day, the prize pool was calculated correctly as well.