PokerStars to Introduce Two ‘Double Bubble’ Tournaments at 2015 PCA

Traditionally, only a very small percentage of the top echelons of a playing field make it to the money, with add-ons and the lion’s share going to the winner.

PokerStars is set to change this with their upcoming 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, with two events featuring as “Double Bubble” tournaments. These events will usher in a new format of payout structure that will ensure prizes to 50% of the field.

The new format stresses on the idea of having 50% of the players get back their buy in, with the top 8% getting another share.

Lee Jones PokerStars, Head of Communications wrote about the new concept in the company blog, stating, “For the longest time, poker tournaments paid about 10% of the field. As time has progressed, most of us in the business have come to believe that paying out more of the field is better. That is, increasing the number of players who get something back is preferable to putting an extra bonus on top of the already staggering size of the prizes at the top.”

As per the new format, 50% of the players would receive immediate refunds of their buy in, as soon as the first bubble is burst, without the necessity of going to a cashier.

Jones explained this “When we get down to half the field, we’re going to return the original buy-in to all remaining players. So suppose it’s a $1000+$100 event with 80 runners. When 40 players are left, we walk around and drop $1100 in cash (or chips) in front of each of the remaining 40 players.”

This would mark the first bubble and after its closure, the players would begin to work towards the second bubble, which is what exists now and ensures players get additional amounts over and above their buy ins.

“So there are really two bubbles — [one] at 50 percent of the field and [one at] eight percent of the field,” Jones said.

Jones continued saying that “The money that’s left is distributed in an eight-percent payout structure.” He added that the new payout structure would not affect the current standard payout model, which assured prizes to just 10 percent of the field.

Reasoning out why the company had decided on this new pay scale, Jones remarked that it arose from a study of different types of players and the existence of a “Bird in the hand” theory.”

“My point is this: whatever people’s plans and dreams are at the beginning of a tournament, for most folks there comes a point where locking up some money right now is preferable to the possibility of more money later,” said Jones. “Call it the ‘bird in the hand’ theory.”

He further explained, “Look at all the final-table deals. If everybody really wanted that almost unimaginably large first prize, then deals wouldn’t happen. But in point of fact, they happen almost all the time. No matter whether it’s nervous amateurs afraid of playing for huge sums or seasoned pros trying to reduce the variance, there seems to be a universal appetite for deal making.”

A way of saying that most people prefer to secure what they have got, than risk it against unknown factors, especially after they have notched up significant earnings.

Jones also spoke of another factor, which was the way people approached bubbles. He said, “Let’s talk about the bubble. For all the people who talked about not wanting to min-cash, look at the wave of ‘chip and a chair’ behavior as the bubble approaches. Those people are not making ICM-optimal decisions to maximize their chances for a final table; they’re doing whatever it will take to get to the money. The very smallest minimum payoff.”

This view certainly made sense of the newly formatted structure that would ensure a payout to as many people as possible, at a low cost of reducing the top prize a little.

Jones also stated that the new structure would encourage and give players more enjoyment for their money.

He added that serious players would be better off playing regular tournaments. However, for those seeking “good fun with nominally a 50% chance of getting your money back, and the chance to still win some nice prizes deep in” Double Bubbles were the right thing.

Talking about the future of Double Bubbles, Jones said, “We’re going to give them a test-drive at the PCA, which is the perfect place for a light-hearted entertainment-centric event such as Double Bubbles are. We think they’ll be fun and offer players a chance to try something different. Do we expect Double Bubbles to revolutionize the poker tournament scene? Not likely, but there’s no harm here -we’ll run a few and, as always, see what the players tell us with their feet.”

Clarifying about the title, Jones joked that, “Being the marketing geniuses we are, we borrowed and adapted the name of a classic American bubble gum and called these tournaments “Double Bubble”.”

These two $2,200 Double Bubble events will roll out on the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure on January 5 and 8.

Image Courtesy: poker.org