Wasting TimeBank. Is that really clever?

Is it cleaver to waste timebank in order to let others leave a tournament?

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Brigistul

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  • #51
aorodrigo said:
Maybe that will be polemic, but is it really cleaver to spend all your available time each hand to let reach final stages of a tournament?

I think that depends on the situation, but, in most cases, does not worth it.

At Turbo and ST tournaments blinds increases really fast, so I think the more hands you see before they eating you is better. Let's suppose each blind takes 2 full hands. If you are at button, it will take just 4 hands until blind goes up and up and up again.

I was playing 888 freeroll right now, first 50 wins $109 ticket. There were still 200 players left, blinds ULTRA high and players burning their time. For me that's not make sense. If there were 60-90 left, ok, but with 200 it's preferable to see more hands rather than letting those BB hitting you.

What are your toughts? You also use timebank for this porpouse?
Click to expand...
Timebank isn’t “clever” or “not clever”. It’s just a tool. Sometimes you use it to see more hands, sometimes for ICM survival. With 200 players left, seeing more hands is usually better than burning time.
In Turbo / Hyper / Ultra formats, where blinds jump fast, you’re right about one thing: seeing more hands before the blinds hit you matters.
But that doesn’t mean burning timebank is wrong. In many situations, it’s actually optimal:
ICM spots – near the bubble or big payout jumps
satellites – where survival > chips
fixed‑prize freerolls – like the one you mentioned (top 50 get a ticket)
The issue is that many players use timebank without understanding the context. With 200 players left and huge blinds, yes, seeing more hands is better. But once you reach 60–90 left, timebank becomes extremely valuable.
In short: Timebank isn’t the problem. Using it without logic is.
 
SPANKYSN

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  • #52
Any player who has confidence in their ability would rather play more hands to possibly eliminate opponents than waste time waiting for opponents to disappear.
 
bronwen777

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  • #53
I have deliberately delayed as long as possible before either folding or calling to wait for others to be knocked out to improve my chances of getting in the money.. not sure when hand for hand play comes in, but other smaller games, absolutely time bank that thing. So yeah, makes sense to me. You either play or you fold. you should know your hand strenght immediately at any time. so never need it otherwise. 👌🏻👍🏻
 
seiya1989

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  • #54
Only once in a while when it's really necessary, the players who consume their time on each hand are just idiots
 
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piic

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  • #55
I get why people think about this, especially in late reg / bubble spots, but in general it’s not really “clever” in a meaningful EV sense.

If you’re using timebank just to try to force others out of the tournament or stall the pace, you’re usually not gaining anything mathematically. You’re not changing the structure, ICM, or payouts—you're just delaying hands for everyone, including yourself. In most cases, that’s neutral or slightly negative EV because you’re reducing hands played per hour where you could actually pick up chips.
 
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