Working With Betting Schedules
Overview
Dr. Neau's Tournament Manager supports virtually any kind of betting schedule you'd want to create.
This mentor topic walks you through everything you need to know about working with a betting schedule.
The following topics are covered in this mentor:
As you'd expect, each tournament has it's own betting schedule. You'll find the betting schedule for a tournament on the tournament's betting schedule designer.
As you run more and more tournaments, you'll probably find that you end up using the same betting schedule (or schedules) over and over. For that reason, Dr. Neau's Tournament Manager also lets you save betting schedules as "reusable components", stored in the component library, that can be loaded into tournaments as you create them. This (along with other types of reuseable components) greatly reduces the time it takes to create a new tournament. Betting schedule components are managed on the application's betting schedule
library panel.
The primary purpose of a betting schedule is to describe the levels of a tournament and the various bet amounts for each level. More specifically, a betting schedule defines:
- "Play Segments" - A "play segment" defines the bets for a betting level (ante, bring-in, small blind, large blind, small bet and large bet).
- "Standard Breaks" - A "standard break" occurs at a certain point in the betting schedule...not at a pre-defined time of day but rather at a predefined point in the schedule. Most tournaments use this type of break.
- "Fixed Breaks" - A "fixed break" occurs at a pre-defined time of day.
- "Ad-Hoc Break" - An "ad-hoc break" occurs when you decide it is time to break. These types of breaks are not defined as part of the schedule, but instead are created on the fly. They are a good way to break for a fixed amount of time when you don't know in advance when you are going to break. For instance, maybe you decide you'll break as soon as the pizza guy arrives. An ad-hoc break is a good alternative to pausing the clock.
- "Pre-tournament Segment" - One or more "pre-tournament segments" can be used as a method to countdown the time to the start of your tournament.
The following table denotes the attributes of the various types of betting schedule segments. An "X" in the table means that the attribute applies to that type of segment.
Attribute |
Pre-Tournament |
Play |
Standard Break |
Fixed Break |
Ad-Hoc Break |
Level/ID - A short, unique identifier for the segment (auto-generated) |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
Name - The name of the fixed break (applies *only* to fixed breaks) |
|
|
|
x |
|
Duration - The planned duration of the segment |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
Start - The start time of the segment (editable for fixed breaks, calculated for all others) |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
End - The calculated end time of the segment |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
Game - The game being played at that level, if you need to denote it |
|
x |
|
|
|
Limit - The limit type used for that level, if you need to denote it |
|
x |
|
|
|
Ante - The value of the ante, if used for that level |
|
x |
|
|
|
Bring-In - The value of the bring-in, if used for that level |
|
x |
|
|
|
Small Blind - The value of the small blind, if used for that level |
|
x |
|
|
|
Large Blind - The value of the large blind, if used for that level |
|
x |
|
|
|
Small Bet - The value of the small bet, if used for that level |
|
x |
|
|
|
Large Bet - The value of the large bet, if used for that level |
|
x |
|
|
|
Chips to Remove - What, if any, chips should be removed at that level |
|
x |
x |
|
|
Pause at End - Whether or not the tournament clock should pause at the end of the level |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
Map Key - A hint as to what console dashboard should be displayed at the level, used by the console dashboard map |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
Add-ons - Which, if any, add-ons are available at that level |
x |
x |
x |
|
|
Rebuys - Which, if any, rebuys are available at that level |
x |
x |
x |
|
|
A betting schedule also has several other parameters:
- Available chip purchases - The betting schedule has knowledge of the different types of available add-ons and rebuys. When you are editing the betting schedule from the component library, you set the number of available types manually. When you are editing a betting schedule that is part of a tournament, the counts are set automatically for you based on the tournament's available chip purchase options.
- Available add-ons - How many different types of add-ons are planned to be available for the betting schedule. This impacts the "add-ons" attribute of each level in the schedule.
- Available rebuys - How many different types of rebuys are planned to be available for the betting schedule. This impacts the "rebuys" attribute
- Timings - Each betting schedule has timing information that is automatically calculated for the overall schedule. This information is updated at least every second when the betting schedule is active. This information is mainly used for internal calculations and display on the console, but can also be used by you to determine why you might not be seeing what you expect to see.
Note: If no segment is active, all timing information is
calculated using the "Desired start time".
- Tournament start timings - Information related to the
tournament start.
- Desired start time - The desired start time of the schedule.
If this schedule is being edited via the betting schedule library,
you can set this field manually. If this schedule is part of a
tournament, then this value is fixed to the tournament's start time.
- Calculated start time - The time that the schedule has calculated the tournament will start. If the schedule has no active segment, the calculations are based off the desired start time. If you've started the countdown to the tournament start, then the calculated time will be based off of the current time and the time left to the beginning of the first segment.
- Time to start - The amount of time until the tournament begins.
- First segment - The segment identified as the "start of the tournament".
- Active segment timings - Information related to the
currently active segment.
- Active segment ID - The ID of the active segment. The active segment can be any type of segment.
- Time remaining - The time remaining in the active segment.
- Resume segment ID - If the active segment is either a fixed break or an ad-hoc break, this represents where we'll resume the schedule after the break is over.
- Resume duration - How much time will be left in the resumed segment once the break is over (see above).
- Next segment ID - The ID of the next segment, which can be of any type. Note that due to fixed breaks, the next segment is not necessarily the next segment in the schedule.
- Next play segment ID - The ID of the next play segment.
- Upcoming break timings - Information about the break
that is calculated to occur next. I say "calculated" because
the schedule needs to determine if the next break is a standard break
or a fixed break.
- Next break ID - The ID of the next break.
- Next break at - The time at which the next break is calculated to begin.
- Next break in - The amount of time until the next break is calculated to begin.
- Next standard break - The ID of the next standard break.
- Next fixed break - The ID of the next fixed break.
- Tournament end timings - Information related to the
end of the schedule.
- Last segment ID - The ID of the last segment in the schedule.
- Ends at - The time at which the last segment is calculated to end.
- Ends in - The amount of time until the last segment is calculated to end.
- Bet progression - The betting schedule also provides a graph displaying the bet progression. This can be used to gain a quick view into whether or not your betting schedule follows a standard progression.
There are two places you can create a new betting schedule: From the betting schedule library and from within a tournament. Let's quickly cover how the two are different:
Creating a new betting schedule from the betting
schedule library
If you're creating a betting schedule in the betting schedule library, you're doing it because it's a betting schedule you plan on using over and over again. We call this creating a new "betting schedule component". It's a component because it can be reused by being copied over and over again into new tournaments.
To create a new betting schedule component, navigate to the betting schedule library and click the "New" button. You will be asked to name your betting schedule. Once created, you can edit it by clicking on the "Edit" button which brings up the betting schedule designer.
Creating a new betting schedule from within a tournament
Tournaments are actually initialized with a fresh, blank betting schedule...so there's no need to create one. All you need to do is fill it out.
Creating a new betting schedule from an existing betting
schedule
You can also create a new betting schedule using an existing betting schedule or betting schedule component as a base. This can be done multiple ways:
- Copy an existing betting schedule - From the betting schedule library panel, click the
"Copy" button and give the new schedule a unique name.
- Create a new betting schedule component from within the
designer - Anytime you're in the betting schedule designer, you can save the betting schedule you are editing as a new component in the betting schedule library. Just click the "create component" button at the bottom of the betting schedule designer.
Once you have a betting schedule to work with, you can add content to it. Whether the betting schedule is a component or part of a betting schedule, the process is the same: You use the betting schedule designer.
From the designer, there are multiple ways to populate the betting schedule:
- Use the "Betting Schedule Wizard" - The wizard lets you set parameters and create a new schedule. How to use the wizard is covered in the next topic in this mentor. A button to initiate the wizard is available at the bottom of the betting schedule designer.
- Import an existing betting schedule component - This works much like copying a betting schedule component. A button to import content from an existing betting schedule component is available at the bottom of the betting schedule designer.
- Manually editing the schedule - You also have the ability to manually edit the schedule to your heart's content. We'll cover how to do this in the rest of this section.
The following sub-topics are primarily concerned with working
with "standard" segments: pre-tournament, play and standard
break segments. Fixed break segments get their own sub-topic at the end
of this section.
Adding segments to the betting schedule
Assuming your betting schedule is blank, the first thing you need to do is add segments.
Utilitize the six buttons below the schedule that let you add new pre-tournament segments, new play segments and new standard break segments. The buttons let you add new segments at any point in the schedule by selecting an existing segment and clicking the appropriate button to add a new segment before or after the selected segment.
All fields of the segment you add are initially blank, except for duration. The duration is automatically set to either a default value (if it's the first segment of that type you've created) or set to match the value of the last segment of that type in the schedule (if another of the same type already exists).
As you add segments, you'll notice that the "Level", "Start" and "End" attributes are updated automatically.
Moving segments within the schedule
You can move segments up and down by selecting a segment (or segments) and clicking the appropriate "Shift Up" or "Shift Down" buttons.
As you move segments, you'll notice that the "Level", "Start" and "End" attributes are updated automatically.
Deleting segments
At any time, you can delete segments by selecting them and clicking the "Delete" button.
Setting segment attributes
You can edit any of the attributes of any segment right within the table that displays the schedule. You also have buttons below the schedule that will prompt you to enter values...but if you are only editing a single segment it's simplier to edit the value right in the schedule.
You'll notice that the "Start" and "End" times of segments are updated automatically as you change the duration of segments.
Setting attributes for multiple segments at once
The buttons below the schedule provide the ability to set attributes for multiple segments at once.
This is useful when you want to, for example, clear the ante for all segments at once.
You have multiple options for selecting multiple segments:
- Select all - The "Select All" button below the table will select all standard segments in the schedule when clicked.
- Select all pre-tournament segments - The "Select All Pre-Tournament Segments" button below the table will select all pre-tournament segments.
- Select all break segments - The "Select All Standard Breaks" button below the table will select all standard break segments.
- Select all play segments - The "Select All Play Segments" button below the table will select all play segments.
- Select play segments matching criteria - The "Select Play Segments Matching Criteria" button is useful to only select play segments that match criteria you specify...for instance, if you want to select all "Razz" segments.
- Select manually - You can also use whatever mechanisms provided by your windowing environment to select multiple segments.
Once you've selected the segments you wish to change, you can use the "Modify Selected Segments" button below the table to change attributes for the selected segments, including:
- Set the duration
- Set the game
- Set the limit type
- Set the chip consolidation note
- Set the pause at end attribute
- Set the console map key
- Set the available add-ons
- Set the available rebuys
- Modify all instances of a bet type to a fixed value
- Modify all instances of a bet type to a multiple of another bet type
- Multiply all bets by a specific amount
Calculating the points for chipping up
Clicking the "Recalculate Chip Consolidations" button will pop up the "Chip Consolidation Calculator". This calculator lets you specify options for how the chip-up points will be calculated as well as how they will be noted in the schedule and on the console.
Note: For performance reasons, this is not calculated
dynamically as your schedule changes. You must explicity invoke the
calculator.
Graphing the progression of your betting schedule
The betting schedule designer provides a facility that lets you determine whether or not your betting schedule progresses at an appropriate rate.
In the upper-left of the designer, you'll see a tab labelled "Graph". Under that tab is a graph that displays the bet progression for you tournament. This graph gives you a good view into whether or not your bets are progressing at a consistent rate.
Below the table you can control the following:
- The mode of the report
- The "value" mode displays the actual values of the
bets. What you'd ideally see here is a nice smooth curve from the lower-left to the upper right with a nice, gradual acceleration. While this mode is nice, it's hard to get a view into the bets in the early part of the schedule because the amounts are very small relative to the amounts at the end of the schedule...so the next mode might be more valuable.
- The "rate" mode displays the relative increase (in %) of the bets from one level to the next. What you'd ideally see here is a perfectly horizontal line...or at least something as close to that as possible.
Note: You'll never see a perfectly horizontal line for 2
reasons:
- Reason 1: Rounding bets to reasonable amounts - Let's say your schedule starts out with blinds at 5/10 and increases bets by 50% each level. Well, right away you have something screwy: Blinds of 7.5/15?? No! People like nice round numbers, so your schedule will be a bit choppy. Still, the average increase should "hover" around a constant rate.
- Reason 2: Chip ups - We remove chips from play throughout
a tournament, and that limits the options we have for bet amounts.
- The visible bets - You can control which types of bets are visible in the report.
Finally, the data in the graph is only current as of the last time you press the "Refresh" button. This is for performance reasons.
Adding and editing fixed breaks
Fixed breaks are breaks that occur at a pre-determined time of day (unlike a "standard" break that occurs at a certain point in the schedule).
You can add fixed breaks to your schedule in the upper-right of the designer. To add a fixed break, click the "New" button in the fixed break panel. This will pop up a dialog asking you for the name of the break (example: If dinner is at 8:00, name the break "Dinner"), the start time of the break (in 24-hour format) and the duration of the break. Note that the end time of the break is calculated.
Editing the fixed break is done via the buttons in the table. Since changing the time and duration of the fixed break causes a lot of recalcuation, I've limited the editing of those fields to the doing it through the dialog.
The betting schedule
wizard provides two main functions:
- Creation of a new schedule based on parameters
- Mass change to all bet amounts
Creation of a new schedule using the wizard
The main function of the wizard is to create a new schdule for you that meets your needs.
To initiate the wizard, click on the "Wizard" button and click the button for "Create new schedule" if not already selected. Then select the appropriate wizard for your type of tournament.
Note: At the time of writing this topic, the following wizards
are available: Hold'em (Limit), Hold'em (Pot-Limit), Hold'em (No-Limit),
Hold'em (Mixed - Limit/No-Limit), H.O. (Limit), H.O.R.S.E (Limit), Omaha
(Limit), Omaha (Pot-Limit), Omaha (No-Limit), Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8/b
(Limit), Omaha Hi-Lo Split (Pot-Limit), Omaha Hi-Lo Split (No-Limit),
Razz (Limit), S.H.O.E. (Limit), Stud (Limit), Stud Hi-Lo Split 8/b
(Limit). Please submit additional wizard ideas to Dr. Neau. Also note
that if you don't see a wizard that exactly matches your tournament, you
can probably use one of the existing wizards and then tweak the schedule
after created.
The wizard type you select is tailored to your tournament. For
instance, the HORSE wizard will create five alternating games and only
apply the appropriate bet amounts to each of those games.
Once you've selected your wizard type, initiate the wizard.
The wizard prompts you for several parameters. The parameters are grouped logically. Regardless of your wizard type, the parameter options are the same, except where noted.
- Tournament duration preferences
- This is where you plan how long you want your tournament to last, how long each play segment should be, how long each break should be and how often you want to break. The wizard will target the tournament to last exactly as long as your planned duration...and that includes break time. Fixed breaks are not taken into account, so plan accordingly. You can also plan in extra segments in case your tournament runs longer than estimated.
- Estimation of chips in play for tournament - Your estimation of how
many chips will be in play. This is used as input to calculate the bet
amounts for the planned final level, and then everything works
backwards from there.
- Bet amount preferences - Includes various parameters that affect the generated schedule:
- Base chip case - You can specify your chip case.
If you do not specify a chip case, the wizard will assume your chip
values are 5, 25, 100, 500, 1000, etc.
- Bet round factor - Determines the smallest chip that
should be kept in play at any level. The larger the factor, the longer
small chips stay in play.
- Create antes - Whether or not antes should be generated.
- Schedule deepness - Where the bets should start
- Schedule aggressiveness - What the large blind or small bet should be when the tournament ends.
Once you've entered the information, click "OK" and the wizard will go to work. Here's the process it goes through (patent not pending):
- Clear the schedule - That's right, it removes all standard segment information. Fixed breaks are left intact.
- Create the segments and the breaks with the appropriate durations
- Apply the limit types and games per the settings of the wizard you selected
- Calculate the initial bet (starting stack size * deepness percentage)
- Calculate the target end bet (chips in play * aggressiveness percentage)
- Calculate the rate per level that we need to increase. The goal is a standard rate of increase.
- Calculate the bets for all levels based the level's game, the level's limit type, the calculated rate of increase, the target chip case and the chip rounding factor.
If you don't like the results of the wizard, you can re-run the wizard and tweak parameters. Your settings are remembered from the last time you ran the wizard. You can also just manually edit the schedule produced by the wizard.
Mass change to all bet amounts using the wizard
This is just a straightforward way to, for instance, multiply all bets by "2". Saves a LOT of time if you ever have to use it.
You can edit the betting schedule you your heart's content during a tournament, but you'll primarily manage it from the tournament clock.
Normal operations
From the clock, you can:
- Start the countdown to the beginning of the tournament - This will ask you for the tournament start time, which will default to the tournament's start time..but you can change it here. That will select the appropriate pre-tournament level, put the right amount of time on the clock and start the clock.
- Start the tournament - This will simply start the tournament at the first play level and start the clock if not already started.
- Start the clock - Only enabled if the clock is paused. Just starts the clock from its current point.
- Pause the clock - Pauses the clock at its current point.
- End the tournament - This stops the clock, moves the remaining active players to the standings and marks the tournament as complete. You probably won't use this button, but it's there.
- Set the current segment - Lets you change the active segment. Useful for skipping levels, jumping back, etc.
- Set the time remaining in the active segment - Your way to change the time remaining on the clock.
- Clear the current segment - Essentially tells the betting schedule that it has no active segment.
Note that these functions are also available on the console.
As the tournament progresses
As the tournament progresses, the clock keeps running. When time runs out on a level, the next level activates and the clock is reset to the duration of that level. If a level is marked to "pause at end", the clock stops.
If you have a fixed break defined, it will activate automatically at the appopriate time.
You can also create an "ad-hoc break" at any time by clicking the "Play" button on the ad-hoc break panel. An ad-hoc break is a great alternative to pausing the clock for 10 minutes. It lets everyone know what's going on and how long until you plan to start again.
What happens when fixed or ad-hoc breaks occur
When a fixed or ad-hoc break occurs, the schedule will remember where it left off and attempt to resume from that point when the break completes.
The "Resume point" field in the designer represents the point at which the schedule will resume once the fixed or ad-hoc break is completed. You can change the resume point or time remaining in the resume segment while the break is in progress. You can also end the break immediately by clicking the "Play" button in the resume point panel.
Color indicators in the betting schedule
The first column in each table of the designer (standard segments, fixed breaks and ad-hoc break) indicates the status of the segment. Here is what the various colors mean:
- Blue - The segment has not yet occurred. If there is no
activate segment, all segments are coded blue. Fixed and ad-hoc breaks are always coded blue unless they are active.
- Green - The segment is the active segment.
- Yellow - We are currently in either a fixed-break or ad-hoc break and this segment is where the schedule will resume after the break.
- Black - The segment has passed.
The "Report" button at the bottom of the panel will produce a very fine-looking report, tailored to your schedule, that you can save off or print and hand out to your players.
You can also generate this report from the betting schedule library panel, the tournament report panel, the tournament library panel and the league tournaments panel.
See also