Late registration for a poker tournament - pros and cons for professionals and amateurs

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Late registration is nothing new for tournament poker, this year most poker rooms introduce late registration for their tournaments, reaching several hours. However, not all players use this opportunity, being unable to assess its pros and cons. Let's consider late registration, its pros and cons in more detail. It should be noted at once that late registration in the tournament is a convenient feature primarily for those who for some reason cannot (or do not want to) participate in the game from the very beginning. At the same time, some players deliberately build their personal game schedule on this, while others simply do not want to wait long to get into the prize zone.

1. Is it fair to play tournaments through late registration

Discussions about whether it is fair to use late registration have been going on in the poker environment for a long time. After all, in large tournaments, players have to spend many hours at the table to get at least the minimum prizes. However, for most, the use of late registration is a normal practice, allowing not to wait for the start of the game, but to immediately join the fight. Such a “jumping into the last car” (and some can enter the tournament with 20 or even 10 big blinds) significantly reduces the time spent, and can also be a little profitable.

2. Advantages of late registration

1. Easier to play. 
   Reducing the size of your stack contributes to simpler gaming solutions. Even in the depth of 50-70 BB, there will not be so many complex solutions on the post-flop. When the stack drops to 10-20 BB, the game actually enters the push-fold stage, which requires only a good understanding of the situation at the table and the strength of the starting combinations.
2. Increase the chances of winning for amateurs. 
   Practice shows that recreational players (amateurs) make much more mistakes when playing in deep stacks. They simply do not understand how to play hands with so many chips, and throwing a pocket pair of aces even at a depth of 150 BB per check-push from an opponent on the river seems to them something unrealistic. There is a good chance that an amateur will make some costly mistakes when playing with a deep stack. In short stacks, it will not be possible to unleash “creativity”.
3. The cost of ICM chips is getting higher. 
   Despite the fact that the stack size in the big blinds has significantly decreased, according to ICM, your chips have become more expensive, since there are already fewer opponents in the game.
4. You spend less time and effort. 
   Entering the game 1–2 hours after the start of the tournament allows you to sit down at the table fresh, not tired of several dozen hands. This plus applies more to professionals who play many hours of sessions on many tables and strive to achieve the maximum advantage.

3. Disadvantages of late registration

1. The main disadvantage of late entry to the tournament is the missed opportunities to play against frankly weak rivals who gather at the tables at the start of the event. 
   These are mainly amateurs, as well as players who were able to qualify for the tournament through satellites. Such players do not understand how to play in deep stacks, like to participate in many hands with weak hands and easily part with chips in the early stage of the tournament.
2. The second drawback is the stack size. 
   Yes, you have a shorter way to go to the prizes, but you pay for it by reducing the stack size. He did not change in chips, but in the big blinds he managed (sometimes decently) to settle down. Thus, you start the game with a stack less than average, when the task of catching up with the leaders becomes much more difficult, and the loss of any expensive hand makes your position in the tournament critical.

4. First Conclusions

The general rule for registration in tournaments will be as follows: 

• If you have a big advantage over the field and high performance of the game in the deep stack, then it makes sense for you to go from the beginning of the tournament.
• If you are just learning to play, your winrates are not high, and you have difficulties in large stacks - go to late registration with a 70-80bb stack.  

5. Factors in the decision to enter the tournament

When deciding whether to sit down at the table at the beginning of the tournament, or to take advantage of late registration, a professional player should start from a mathematical expectation.

It is determined by the level of opponents, the depth of the starting stack, the smoothness of the blind structure and the calculated ROI. Having registered after the start, you will have to play with fewer blinds. This reduces the chances of realizing your edge over your opponents in the post-flop and brings the game closer to the push-fold stage. 

Tournament Structure 

The structure of the tournament can have a strong impact on the profitability of late registration. A smaller AFS (number of participants) of the tournament and a smooth growth of blinds and a deep initial stack of more than 100 bb will make late registration more profitable. The presence of knockouts (bounty) in the tournament for knocking out players, on the contrary, worsens the situation. Rebuys (re-entries) to the bounty tournament should also be treated more conservatively, since this further reduces the ROI compared to conventional MTTs, since the average stack is growing and we will overlap few people along the stack, entering the deep late registration. 

Buy-in Size

It may seem that tournaments with a low ISA will be more profitable for the game from the start, because the number of weak players in them should be more. However, oddly enough, the ISA of the tournament will not always speak directly about the strength of its composition. Sometimes expensive and large tournaments with large guarantees and a large number of participants can have a weaker field than low-limit tournaments with a small AFS. This is due to the presence of a large number of qualifying tournaments (satellites), as well as the desire of recreational players to win a big prize at once. In general, the later you register, the stronger the field will be, because many weak players will have time to fly out of the tournament. Early registration will allow you to play in weaker squads. 

Tournament type 

In different tournaments, it makes sense to adhere to different rules about entering the tournament in early or late registration.

6. Strategy for skipping the first levels in MTT

Another option for late registration in the tournament is the strategy of skipping the first levels in MTT. Representing essentially the same voluntary refusal to play from the start of the tournament, this strategy is designed primarily for playing online and has slightly different goals that are worth explaining. According to this strategy, the player registers in the tournament from the very beginning, but then intentionally plays a super thread for a while, while collecting information about opponents (using HUD and viewing showdowns of hands) to get an idea of the strength of their game, opening ranges and decision logic.

7. Conclusion

1. Late registration with MTT is a viable concept that makes game sessions shorter and increases earnings with proper use;
2. If you use late registration in the last levels, when your stack is 10-15bb, there should be no more than 2.5 times more players than prizes in the tournament.
3. Remember that the benefits of late registration do not work in turbo tournaments and knockout tournaments.