Have you ever wondered how a Tournament Director balances tables? Well the Asian Poker Tour does a great job in doing this to give its players the maximum amount of hands before the blinds go up and to insure the fairness of the tournament at all times.It begins with how the seat cards are being released to keep everything as random as possible and to insure a good balance when the tournament kicks off. This minimises the amount of stacks that are being blinded off (which are guaranteed to get sold) and will insure that no extra chips ever get put into play.As tables fill up and the players keep arriving before the close of Registration, those from different tables may be pulled to create a new table to open up seats. This allows more players to come in and ensures groups and teams of friends are not at the same table.At the close of registration tables are dropped down to nine-handed. Now, with more than six tables in play, the balance of tables is within two players. In other words a seven-handed table is still a good balanced table.
With six tables or less left in play, you will see the TD pulling players more frequently because the balance is now within one player. So, if a table drops down to seven-handed, with a nine-handed table still in play, the TD will move a player to insure the balance at all times up to the final table of 10.
As a player, keep in mind the only time you should ever be playing six-handed within a tournament that starts 10-handed is when there are three tables or less. Dealers are trained to stop dealing at this point until given a player. If the dealer fails to stop dealing please call for floor staff to insure the balance at your table.
How a Tournament Director stays on top of the balancing of tables can change the outcome of any tournament so it’s a good idea for players to know what is happening around them.
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