BBC Game Settings & Turbo Structure Analysis

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Supraglider
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Hello,

A turbo poker game is a format characterized by a very rapid increase in blinds, usually every 3 to 5 minutes.

Can BBC parts be categorized as TURBO game ? ;)
Default game name : BBC Step 1
Game type: Only invited players
Start Cash: $3000
Blinds :

First Small Blind: $15
Big Blind is double Small Blind
Blinds raise every 5 minutes
Manual Small Blind settings: 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1,000, 1,200, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 8,000, 10,000, 12,000, 15,000, blind doubles hereafter

Timeout for player action: 10 s
Delay between hands: 7 s
According to some friends, Yes, in terms of the time it takes for the blinds to increase but with a increase by 25%, there is too many micro-levels at the beginning, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50, 30/60. These four levels are virtually identical in practice and serve almost no purpose. With five minutes each, that's 20 minutes where the dynamics of the game change very little.

So it would be like not a real turbo after all, because In a true turbo, the blinds typically increase by 33 to 50% or start higher ( 25/50 or 30/60 from level 1)

On BBC, the blinds increase rapidly in terms of time, but too slowly in terms of value at the beginning & too strong at the end. The structure of the blinds greatly favors passive survival for 40 to 50 hands. With a 25% increase, players retain a deep stack (in big blinds) until level 10.

There you go, this topic is a reflection on the blinds setup in order to understand the issues at stake for the parties involved in the BBC.

What do you think? BBC is probably a new hybrid game structure :)
Last edited by Supraglider on Tue Mar 03, 2026 12:17 pm, edited 3 times in total.
<·> The majority of players are looking for reasons to fold. I am looking for reasons to play <·>
[Daniel Negreanu]
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Supraglider
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Ok according my dear friends, It is a hybrid structure, neither fast enough to be turbo nor smooth enough to be standard. It unnecessarily prolongs the initial phase and accelerates the end too abruptly, reducing the impact of the skill.

This BBC setup presents a critical imbalance.

Major problems:

# Too slow a start: The early levels (15/20 to 100/200) are very gentle, keeping the stack deep (> 15 BB) for too long.

# Too abrupt an end: From level 1,000/2,000, the stack falls below 1.5 BB, forcing all-ins and destroying any strategy.

# Uneven progression: Increases vary between ~25% and 33%, but the transition from 800/1,600 to 1,000/2,000 (+25%) then to 1,200/2,400 (+20%) is too slow, followed by a jump to 1,500/3,000 (+25%), then 2,000/4,000 (+33%), which unbalances the pressure.
<·> The majority of players are looking for reasons to fold. I am looking for reasons to play <·>
[Daniel Negreanu]
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Supraglider
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What do you think of this analysis of AI friends in terms of major problems ? =)
<·> The majority of players are looking for reasons to fold. I am looking for reasons to play <·>
[Daniel Negreanu]
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Supraglider
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Hey,

Here some concrete ideas for improvement & rectify the three major issues

(Data to paste into a spreadsheet for better readability)

Actual structure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Level Small Blind Big Blind Round Start Time


1 15 30 +0:00
2 20 40 +0:05
3 25 50 +0:10
4 30 60 +0:15
5 40 80 +0:20
6 50 100 +0:25
7 60 120 +0:30
8 80 160 +0:35
9 100 200 +0:40
10 120 240 +0:45
11 150 300 +0:50
12 200 400 +0:55
13 250 500 +1:00
14 300 600 +1:05
15 400 800 +1:10
16 500 1000 +1:15
17 600 1200 +1:20
18 800 1600 +1:25
19 1000 2000 +1:30
20 1200 2400 +1:35
21 1500 3000 +1:40
22 2000 4000 +1:45
23 2500 5000 +1:50
24 3000 6000 +1:55
25 4000 8000 +2:00
26 5000 10000 +2:05
27 6000 12000 +2:10
28 8000 16000 +2:15
29 10000 20000 +2:20
30 12000 24000 +2:25
31 15000 30000 +2:30


After (proposal for a new structure)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Level Small Blind Big Blind Round Start Time

1 15 30 +0:00
2 25 50 +0:05
3 50 100 +0:10
4 75 150 +0:15
5 100 200 +0:20
6 125 250 +0:25
7 150 300 +0:30
8 175 350 +0:35
9 200 400 +0:40
10 225 450 +0:45
11 250 500 +0:50
12 275 550 +0:55
13 300 600 +1:00
14 325 650 +1:05
15 350 700 +1:10
16 450 900 +1:15
17 550 1100 +1:20
18 650 1300 +1:25
19 750 1500 +1:30
20 850 1700 +1:35
21 1000 2000 +1:40
22 1150 2300 +1:45
23 1300 2600 +1:50
24 1500 3000 +1:55
25 1750 3500 +2:00
26 2000 4000 +2:05
27 2500 5000 +2:10
28 3000 6000 +2:15
29 4000 8000 +2:20
30 6000 12000 +2:25
31 10000 20000 +2:30
32 15000 30000 +2:35


So it's up to you to choose & refine the right configuration and let us test it ;)
Last edited by Supraglider on Thu Mar 05, 2026 2:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
<·> The majority of players are looking for reasons to fold. I am looking for reasons to play <·>
[Daniel Negreanu]
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Supraglider
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Here is an adjusted recommendation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You may notice a slightly faster start to avoid unnecessarily prolonging the initial phase & and not to hasten the end too abruptly, thereby increasing the impact of the skill.

Concern the middle phase, which remains relatively unchanged like on level 15 at 400/800 +1:10 (actual) & 350/700 +1:10 (new)

For 10 players with a stack of 3,000 chips, a balanced structure should gradually increase the pressure without being too gentle or too brutal.

Why?
- Avoids dead phases at the start of the tournament
- Maintains pressure without killing the strategy
- Predictable end: the critical stack (< 10 BB) arrives around 1:30–2:00

This allows for:
- A steady increase in blind pressure
- A controlled tournament duration, typical of a true turbo (1.5 to 2 hours)
- A natural transition to short stack phases
Last edited by Supraglider on Thu Mar 05, 2026 2:08 am, edited 2 times in total.
<·> The majority of players are looking for reasons to fold. I am looking for reasons to play <·>
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Danek
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Tyvm for all your suggests Supraglider.
AI is an interesting and powerful tool that can also be very useful for improving poker skills.

BBC has been created and handled for many years by experienced players; you can be sure they made the right choice for a good tournament :)
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Supraglider
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Danek wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 1:44 am Tyvm for all your suggests Supraglider.
AI is an interesting and powerful tool that can also be very useful for improving poker skills.

BBC has been created and handled for many years by experienced players; you can be sure they made the right choice for a good tournament :)
With pleasure & passion dear Danek =)

It is indeed interesting to have an objective opinion from an AI based on real, recent games played around the world.

We probably won't be playing the same poker in 2026 as we did in 2006 ;)

Personally, I find this AI analysis coherent and easily improvable without breaking anything. Just a few blind structure steps at the beginning and the end.

AI Analysis Report
===============

This BBC setup presents a critical imbalance.

Major problems:

# Too slow a start: The early levels (15/20 to 100/200) are very gentle, keeping the stack deep (> 15 BB) for too long.

# Too abrupt an end: From level 1,000/2,000, the stack falls below 1.5 BB, forcing all-ins and destroying any strategy.

# Uneven progression: Increases vary between ~25% and 33%, but the transition from 800/1,600 to 1,000/2,000 (+25%) then to 1,200/2,400 (+20%) is too slow, followed by a jump to 1,500/3,000 (+25%), then 2,000/4,000 (+33%), which unbalances the pressure.

# The structure of the blinds greatly favors passive survival for 40 to 50 hands. Players retain a deep stack (in big blinds) until level 10. either after 45 or 50 minutes of play.
<·> The majority of players are looking for reasons to fold. I am looking for reasons to play <·>
[Daniel Negreanu]
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