Tournament
Articles: 11
How do I register myself for a tournament?
If you have joined the club with your Blind Valet account, you should see the scheduled tournaments in the lobby. Just click on the Register button for the tournament you wish to join.
How do I customize the chipset values?
This feature requires a paid subscription (Home Game or Club). If you are a subscriber: Create or open a tournament Go to the Blind Structure tab Under the Chipset field, click on Modify Choices
What is the difference between a Rebuy Tournament and a Reentry Tournament?
The most important distinction is that as long as a player rebuys in a Rebuy Tournament, they have not been eliminated from the tournament. Even if they lose all their chips, if they rebuy, there is no elimination. In a Reentry Tournament, when a player loses all their chips, they are eliminated, but have the option to register again for the tournament. The main implications for this in Blind Valet are: Bounties are not issued when a player rebuys, because there was not an elimination. Bounties are issued for every entry in a reentry tournament, as each one is an elimination and a new registration. For league tournaments, by default only a player's first entry counts toward their league finish and points; re-entries are ignored. You can change this per league with the Count re-entries in scoring option in League settings. When enabled, a player's best (deepest) finish across all their entries counts, and their cost, knockouts, winnings, rebuys and add-ons are summed across every entry for custom point formulas.
Where do I record a rebuy?
First, you need to make sure that the Tournament Type is set to Rebuy Tournament on the Blind Structure tab. Then, if you are managing player registrations, just select the vertical menu next to the player that took the rebuy and select the Rebuy option. If you aren't managing registrations, there is a vertical menu in the clock controls where you can add the Rebuy.
How do I record a re-entry?
First, you need to make sure that the Tournament Type is set to Re-entry Tournament on the Blind Structure tab. Then, if you are managing player registrations, just eliminate the player, and then register them again. If you aren't managing registrations, there is a vertical menu in the clock controls where you can add the Re-entry.
Can I generate a link to view the tournament on another device?
There are no public links for viewing tournaments, you need to be logged in with a Blind Valet account that is a member of your club. But you can view and manage the tournament on as many devices you want and all the data is synchronized in real time across all devices.
What do I do if I accidentally eliminate the wrong player?
You can undo tournament actions like eliminations, rebuys, addons, etc. from the Tournament Log (clipboard icon at the top of the tournament screen).
How do league point formulas work?
Every league awards points to its players for each tournament they play, using the scoring system you choose when you create or edit the league: Logarithmic Square Root Linear Fixed (you enter the exact points for each place) Custom (write your own formula) Custom formula variables A custom formula is worked out once for each player at the end of a tournament. Some of its variables describe the tournament, so they hold the same value for everyone in it, and some describe the player being scored. Knowing which is which is most of the skill in writing a formula. About the tournament, the same for every player: | | | |---|---| | p | number of players | | n | number of entries (including re-entries) | | b | the buy-in | | z | prize pool | | m | number of paid places | | t | tournament format (1 standard, 2 split, 3 shootout, 4 mystery bounty) | About the player being scored: | | | |---|---| | f | finish position | | c | what they spent (buy-in plus their own rebuys and add-on) | | k | knockouts they made | | r | rebuys they took | | a | add-ons they took | | x | bullets they used (their total buy-ins) | | w | winnings (the amount they won) | | d | rounds from the final in a shootout (1 is the final round) | For example, this formula gives each player a point for every opponent they outlasted, a 2-point bonus for each knockout, and subtracts a point for each rebuy: (p - f + 1) + (2 * k) - r Advanced: writing your own formula Beyond arithmetic, two pieces of notation do most of the work in real league formulas: conditions and point tables. You can also use sqrt, log, log10, exp, pow, round, floor, fix, abs, min and max, and ^ for powers. Conditions with ? : A condition reads as test ? value if true : value otherwise. f == 1 ? 50 : 10 That awards 50 points to the winner and 10 to everyone else. Note the double == for "is equal to". You also have <, <=, >, >= and !=, and you can join tests with and and or: p >= 20 and f <= 3 ? 10 : 0 Conditions chain, which is how clubs write a different rule for each position. Each : hands over to the next test: f == 1 ? 30 : f == 2 ? 20 : f == 3 ? 15 : 5 Point tables with [ ... ][f] Instead of chaining conditions, you can list the points in order and pick the one for the player's finish: [100, 85, 70][f] The list is read by position: first place gets 100, second 85, third 70. Positions start at 1, so f lines up with the list without any adjustment. Always guard a point table with a condition. If a player finishes below the end of the list, the formula fails and that player scores nothing at all. A list of three entries needs f < 4: f < 4 ? [100, 85, 70][f] : 0 Use the : value to set a floor for everyone else, for instance : 5 to give five points for turning up. Watch the brackets Multiplication and addition are applied before a comparison, which quietly changes what a formula tests. Written without brackets: 30 * k + f < p / 3 + 1 ? 100 : 1 the test becomes "is 30 * k + f less than p / 3 + 1", not "is f inside the top third". A league can run a whole season on the wrong rule this way. Wrap the condition, or the whole conditional, in brackets: 30 * k + (f < p / 3 + 1 ? 100 : 1) Formulas clubs actually use These are real patterns from leagues running on Blind Valet, simplified only where a club's list of places was very long. | What the club wanted | Formula | |---|---| | A point for turning up, nothing else | 1 | | A leaderboard of wins only | f == 1 ? 1 : 0 | | Knockouts, plus a point for the win | k + (f == 1 ? 1 : 0) | | One point per opponent outlasted, with a podium bonus | p - f + 1 + (f < 4 ? [4, 2, 1][f] : 0) | | A fixed table, but everyone else still scores | f < 10 ? [1500, 1200, 900, 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200][f] : 100 | | Higher stakes worth more, every rebuy costs points | log(p + 1) / f * 10 + b - c / 4 | | Points scaled by the size of the prize pool | sqrt(p + 1) / f * z / 500 | | Only the top third scores, scaled by field size | 30 k + (f < p / 3 + 1 ? sqrt(p / 10) [120, 90, 70, 60, 50, 45, 40, 30, 25, 20][f] : 1) | | Each place a percentage of a base that grows with the field | f == 1 ? round(600 + p 10) : f == 2 ? round((600 + p 10) 0.82) : round((600 + p 10) * 0.74) | The stakes example shows why the two groups matter. It uses b and c, which look similar but sit on opposite sides: adding b lifts every score in a higher buy-in tournament, because the buy-in belongs to the tournament, while subtracting c takes back a share of what each player individually spent. A player who rebuys twice finishes with fewer points than a player who took the same place on one bullet. Checking your formula The league settings preview the points for every finishing position as you type, so you can see the shape of the payout before you save. If the preview is blank, the formula isn't valid yet: check for a missing bracket, or a point table that a low finish can run off the end of.
Can I split one tournament into several smaller tournaments?
Yes. Splitting takes one scheduled tournament and distributes its registered players randomly into several smaller tournaments, each with its own seating, prize pool and payouts. It's the easiest way to run a sit-and-go night: everyone signs up for a single tournament, and when registration closes you split the field into multiple games. Before you split Your club needs a Club plan or higher. The tournament must still be Scheduled: nothing seated, no rebuys, no clock started. It must track players individually (a tournament that only counts players has no roster to deal). You need enough registered players to make at least two tournaments at the size you pick. How it works From the Tournaments lobby, open the tournament's actions menu and choose Split tournament. You set the maximum number of players per tournament. It defaults to your table size, so a 9-handed tournament with 27 players becomes three 9-player games, but you can choose any size you like. Players are shuffled and spread evenly, so the resulting fields never differ by more than one player. The dialog previews how many tournaments you'll get and how big each one is before you confirm. Each new tournament inherits the blind structure and settings of the original, and its prize pool, places paid and payouts are recalculated for its own field size. They're named after the original with a 1/3, 2/3, 3/3 suffix. The original tournament becomes the hub. Its status changes to Split, registration closes on it, and it stops scoring for leagues, because the split tournaments take its place there. From the hub's clock you can see every split tournament, jump into any of them, and watch players remaining and average stack rotate through the fields. Inside a split tournament, a button takes you back to the hub. Choosing how the clocks run You pick this when you split, and it applies to the whole night. | Mode | What happens | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Synchronized | One clock for the whole night, run from the hub. Every split tournament follows it in lockstep and its own clock controls are locked. | | Independent | Each tournament runs its own clock at its own pace: start, pause and level up separately. | Synchronized suits a room where all the games start together. Independent suits games that kick off as seats fill, or that need to break at different times. Late players and changes Registration is closed on the hub, so add a late player directly to one of the split tournaments. Everything else (seating, rebuys, add-ons, eliminations, payouts) happens in each tournament as usual, and each keeps its own log. Changed your mind? Undo the split from the tournament log. It restores the original tournament with its full roster and deletes the split tournaments, but only while none of them has started. Once a field has been seated or a clock has run, the split is permanent. Deleting the hub deletes every tournament that came out of it, along with their results, so you're asked to confirm that twice.
How do I run a shootout or heads-up tournament?
In a shootout, every table plays down to a single winner instead of breaking and balancing as players bust. The winners advance to a fresh seat draw in the next round, and the last table standing crowns the champion. Set the table size to 2 and the same format becomes a heads-up bracket: a series of one-on-one matches. Setting one up Create a tournament and choose Shootout as the format. It needs a Club plan or higher, and it tracks players individually, because a bracket can't run on a head count. Everything else follows from your table size: with 27 players at 9-handed you get three tables, then a 3-handed final. The dialog spells out the shape before you create it, so you can try a size and see how many rounds it produces. Shootouts are freezeouts. Rebuys, add-ons and re-entries aren't available. Once a player is out, they're out. Table size is the whole shape of the event. Nine-handed tables mean fewer, longer rounds; six-handed means more rounds that finish faster; two means a heads-up bracket. Heads-up tournaments With a table size of 2, each match is one-on-one and the winner moves on. Round 1 is dealt into the largest bracket size that fits your field, so every bye lands in the first round and every round after it pairs off exactly. A player with a bye simply advances. The final is always a match between the last two players, whatever your final-table setting says. Late players can only take an empty bye seat. Once those are filled the bracket is full and no one else can join. Running the night Drawing seats closes self-registration. Staff can still add late players during round 1; after that the field is locked. Tables never break or balance, and players can't be moved between tables mid-round, because each table's job is to produce one winner. When a table is decided, its winner is shown on the clock while the other tables finish. Once every table has a winner, an Advance round action appears in seating. Confirming it redraws seats for the survivors and pauses a running clock so players can find their seats. Payouts and leagues Finishing positions come from elimination order exactly as in any other tournament, so your payout structure works unchanged: the players knocked out in round 1 fill the bottom places, and the champion takes first. League scoring works normally too, and league formulas can reward how many rounds a player survived, not just where they finished.
How do I replay a tournament with the same structure as a previous tournament?
You never have to rebuild a structure by hand. Blind Valet gives you three ways to reuse one, depending on where you are and how often you plan to run it. | | Best for | Where | |---|---|---| | Replay | Running the same game again right now | The clock, once a tournament has finished | | Duplicate | Copying any past tournament to a new date | The Tournaments lobby | | Templates | A structure you use again and again | Create tournament | Replay: one tap from the clock When a tournament finishes, the clock controls are replaced by a Replay tournament button. Tap it and Blind Valet creates a new tournament scheduled for right now, with the same blind structure, buy-in, rebuys, add-ons, bounties, payouts, leagues and location, and takes you straight to it. The full player list comes along too, everyone registered again with a fresh starting stack and their rebuys, knockouts and results cleared. It's built for the second game of the night: the final hand is dealt, someone says "again?", and you're seating players a moment later. The new tournament takes the original's name with a * added, so you can rename it whenever you like. Duplicate: any tournament, any date From the Tournaments lobby, open a tournament's actions menu and choose Duplicate. It works on any tournament, whether finished, scheduled or in progress. You pick the name, date and time for the copy, and it inherits the same structure, buy-in, payouts, leagues and location as the original. If the original tracks players individually, you can also tick Keep player list to carry its registrations over. Replay and Duplicate make the same copy under the hood. Replay simply skips the dialog and assumes "same players, right now". Duplicate needs a Home Game plan or higher. If you run the same game every week, look at Repeat in the same menu, which creates a whole series of dates at once on a Club plan. Templates: save a structure you'll use again A template stores a tournament's settings and blind structure, without any players, payouts table, date or location. Open the tournament's Blinds tab and choose Save as template. You can create a new template or overwrite one you already have. When you create a tournament, switch to Templates at the top of the dialog and pick one. You then only need a name and a date. Your saved templates also live on the Templates page, where you can rename them, delete them, or start a tournament from one directly. Templates belong to your account rather than to a club, so they follow you into every club you help run.