I need to know the best way to set up a tournament

[j_shanle]

I am thinking of hosting a no limit texas holdem tournament at my house in the near future. I expect 18 to 20 people If i were to do this I need some advice\info.

1. what is the best way to set up the tournament?
2. how many different chip denominations would this set up take?
3. how long should this set up take?

If anyone could answer these questions it would be a big help. Thanks.

[HalfSugar]

I could refer you to lots of threads but I can't be bothered tbh and I think I'll get Adam/Carson to make a new forum section instead and move this thread to it...... In the mean time, some pointers:

Chip denominations - depends wot the starting blinds and stacks are. You can easily get away with only 2 denominations - say $25 and $100. Obviously the SB must be equal to or larger than the smallest chip, that goes without saying so choose the small chip carefully in relation to the total stack. In the past I have played smallest chip $25, stack $1750 so 70 times bigger. Works well, perhaps too high tho, you'd get away with $1000 depending on how u have the blinds changing.....on that note.

Blinds - start low eg. bottom denomination for SB and then raise at a set interval in stages. For example, start at 5/10 (if the smallest chip is $5 or less!) and then every 10mins go up a level. Something like 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 50/100, 100/200 200/400 etc etc. Start the movement relatively small and then gradually increase them. A game should aim to play for between 2 and 4 hours for it to remain fun in my opinion, any more and people get bored and any shorter and it's just not enuff.

Format - with 18-20 people u could run 2 or 3 tables. With 3 tables of 6 you could play til each table has 2 ppl left then make a final table or u could play til a table loses at least 2 more than another table and then move players until u end up with a final table of 6. For example:

Tables have 6,6,6 to start. Table 1 loses 2 ppl in one hand so it's now 4,6,6. That's fine if ur playing each table down to 2 players but if ur not, move one player from table 2 or 3 to table 1 to make it 5,5,6 and so on til u have only 6 people left. Never let a table drop below 2 less than the higest seated table and it's all good

Other stuff
- Drinks and food should be readily available. Every1 likes a drink, especially if some1 else gets it and it makes u a good host!
- Make sure every1 knows the house rules prior to sitting down. This can be something simple like a question which cropped up in another thread such as can u show ur cards before the hand is over and still be a live player or does that mean u have folded? Little arguments can ruin the atmosphere which is all important.
- I'm out of ideas right now.....