Late registration
Entering a tournament after it has started, for the same starting stack but fewer big blinds of depth.
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- What it means
- A tournament that allows late registration lets a player buy in for the usual starting stack after play has begun, up to some level or time.
- How it is calculated
- Stack depth is chips ÷ the big blind. The chip count is fixed at the starting stack, but the big blind has already risen by the time a late registrant sits, so their starting depth in big blinds is lower.
- Worked example
- A 3,000-chip starting stack is 150bb at a 20-chip big blind. Registering once the big blind reaches 100 makes that same stack only 30bb: 120bb, 80% of the starting depth, given up before the first hand.
- Why it matters
- The cost is depth, not chips, so no rebuy buys it back one-for-one: chips bought at a higher big blind cost the same money but are worth fewer big blinds than chips bought at level one.
See also: Stack depth, Push/fold, Rebuy