Announcing TNP Phase 2!

At our last game, after having mentioned it here in the blog, a concensus was reached with only 1 dissenter. Therefore, the majority having voted in the affirmative, we start TNP Phase 2 on October 2, 2008!

What does this mean? For starters, we're wiping the slate clean. Deb had the same opinion as I did. It'll be more fun if everyone is in contention for first place. So, this Thursday will be the last game for Phase 1. Adam is working on a weighting system for a final game to determine the ultimate winner of Phase 1. The number of chips you'll be given to start the game will be determined by the amount of points you accumulated during the year. Adam's coming up with a formula so that it won't be too skewed to Deb & myself. Once this is done, we'll have a final game, probably on Sunday, October 12, starting at about 4 in the afternoon and crown our ulitimate winner for Phase 1.

As for Phase 2, the following changes are in store. We'll be instituting antes in conjunction with the blinds. Antes will begin with level 4. Blinds will be as usual, however, the starting chip count is going up. And there will be minimum bets. Here's the break down.

BASED ON 20 MINUTE BLIND INCREASES
Level 1 No Ante Small Blind 10 Big Blind 20
Level 2 No Ante Small Blind 20 Big Blind 40
Level 3 No Ante Small Blind 25 Big Blind 50
Level 4 $10 Ante Small Blind 25 Big Blind 50
Level 5 $25 Ante Small Blind 25 Big Blind 50
Level 6 $25 Ante Small Blind 50 Big Blind 75
Level 7 $50 Ante Small Blind 50 Big Blind 75
Level 8 $50 Ante Small Blind 75 Big Blind 100
Level 9 $75 Ante Small Blind 75 Big Blind 100
Level 10 $100 Ante Small Blind 100 Big Blind 200
MINIMUM BET FOR EACH ROUND IS EQUAL TO THE BIG BLIND

Starting chip count is 10 RED 10 BLUE 10 WHITE 2 GREEN ($500). Clock will be strictly enforced. Pots will be bigger but so is the starting total number of chips. We've been playing for a long time basically the same way. Now we're going to bump it up a bit and play more like the professionals. This should also eliminate the need for split winners and should get us out of the game no later than 11 or 11:30, even with the increased starting chips.

So, welcome to the big leagues, let's shuffle up and deal some real poker!

For a sneak peek at the new TNP Phase 2, go here: http://tnpphase2.blogspot.com/