How Do You Feel About Late Registration?

[Tero]

I think my late CC ID: Naforole says it all.
Not a fan of rebuys or late entries.

Who wants to live in a world where late-registration lasts 4 hours or so

 

[nabmom]

Technically, if you are a good/winning player you loose starting late - statiscally you have bigger stack already if you are not late, just because you play more hands. So from the perspective of someone who started earlier in such case it is +EV when players join later increasing the reward pool.

However, I do not see much sense in long micro stakes MTT, so I'd prefer those shorter and with shorter late reg.

That’s a good case of doing what keeps you sane even though analytics might tell you otherwise.

 

[nabmom]

I like it now if you can gamlbe all in.

If you do play this way, how successful are you with these”shove fests?”

 

[MK_]

I'm guessing you mean tourneys with a very long late reg as opposed to a regular late reg period.....,

I would say the pros are it gets more players and more money in the pot,

cons are it takes far longer to play the game, If I play those I generally tend

to adjust to the structure by late regging and short stacking if need be,

just as I would adjust if I played any other structure... or mainly I just

don't reg those long late reg games👍

 

[ArmiSoo7]

I hate it when it is over 30 minutes. You start play tournament, and after 2 h, there is some players at table , playing bingo. 😔

 

[pirateglenn]

I can live with late registration being like 1hr but no longer and it also depends on the type of tourney you are playing, Rebuy tourneys i loathe but late reg has its place, i like the extra value and especially if its a KO tourney.
I think other things to consider are the original start time of the tourney and also whether it is a turbo or not - slow tournaments do not appeal to me at all, maybe its because im older now and i dont like the late nights!

 

[nabmom]

Actualy i only play in last time of late rage

Do you find that to be a successful strategy for you?

 

[nabmom]

I can live with late registration being like 1hr but no longer and it also depends on the type of tourney you are playing, Rebuy tourneys i loathe but late reg has its place, i like the extra value and especially if its a KO tourney.
I think other things to consider are the original start time of the tourney and also whether it is a turbo or not - slow tournaments do not appeal to me at all, maybe its because im older now and i dont like the late nights!

For me it’s a getting older thing too. I find that I have less and less ability to play long tournaments and to stay up late.

 

[pirateglenn]

For me it’s a getting older thing too. I find that I have less and less ability to play long tournaments and to stay up late.

Yep - its so true, i was talking with ISA earlier and i realised that its been over a year now since i last played real money online poker due to study and other quality of life things - i will definitely however be playing something over the Xmas holidays!
ARRR!

 

[najisami]

TBH, I miss the old days freezeouts. The late registration only started when smaller sites started appearing. They wanted to compete with the existing bigger ones by offering tempting guaranteed prizes, but the only way for them not to lose money was to come up with those ridiculous long late registration periods.
The weird thing is that the big sites followed suit too!

And to answer the other question, no, I don't avoid them. In fact, I like registering early and try to chip up, that way, towards the end of late reg, it becomes easy to knock some of those late comers who just shove their short stacks with any marginal hand.

 

[pirateglenn]

TBH, I miss the old days freezeouts. The late registration only started when smaller sites started appearing. They wanted to compete with the existing bigger ones by offering tempting guaranteed prizes, but the only way for them not to lose money was to come up with those ridiculous long late registration periods.
The weird thing is that the big sites followed suit too!

And to answer the other question, no, I don't avoid them. In fact, I like registering early and try to chip up, that way, towards the end of late reg, it becomes easy to knock some of those late comers who just shove their short stacks with any marginal hand.

I have played a lot of live tournaments (2022 was a big year) and Freezeouts are my favourite live tournament.

 

[nabmom]

Yep - its so true, i was talking with ISA earlier and i realised that its been over a year now since i last played real money online poker due to study and other quality of life things - i will definitely however be playing something over the Xmas holidays!
ARRR!

Wishing you good luck on the felt!

 

[nabmom]

TBH, I miss the old days freezeouts. The late registration only started when smaller sites started appearing. They wanted to compete with the existing bigger ones by offering tempting guaranteed prizes, but the only way for them not to lose money was to come up with those ridiculous long late registration periods.
The weird thing is that the big sites followed suit too!

And to answer the other question, no, I don't avoid them. In fact, I like registering early and try to chip up, that way, towards the end of late reg, it becomes easy to knock some of those late comers who just shove their short stacks with any marginal hand.

I do believe these late registrations are very profitable for the sites (otherwise why would they really have them so much). I miss the freeze outs too.

 

[najisami]

I do believe these late registrations are very profitable for the sites (otherwise why would they really have them so much). I miss the freeze outs too.

I don't see why they would be profitable to them. They are more of a protection for them not to partially lose their guarantees. And they did lose many times.
I remember playing on tourneys where the entries only covered about 75% of the guaranteed prize pool (ACR mostly), then they started stretching the LR from 2 to 3 and even to 4 hours sometimes (I've seen 5 hours too).

 

[istbno]

Late registration comes with clear advantages and disadvantages, and whether to use it depends on your style, skill edge, and bankroll goals. The main advantage is that you skip the deepest, most post-flop–heavy levels where stacks are large and decisions are tougher, meaning you reduce the time spent and often enter with a shallower stack that simplifies play. You also avoid early bust-outs that waste hours. The disadvantages, however, are that you usually enter with fewer big blinds, have less fold equity, and face fields already built by bigger stacks who can pressure you. Your skill edge has less room to work, and variance increases dramatically. Personally, I don’t avoid tournaments with late reg—it's a useful tool, but I use it selectively. If the structure is deep or the field is soft, I prefer registering early to maximize edge. If it’s a turbo or I’m short on time, late reg is fine. In the long run, early registration tends to be more profitable, but late reg can still be optimal depending on the format and goals.

 

[nabmom]

I don't see why they would be profitable to them. They are more of a protection for them not to partially lose their guarantees. And they did lose many times.
I remember playing on tourneys where the entries only covered about 75% of the guaranteed prize pool (ACR mostly), then they started stretching the LR from 2 to 3 and even to 4 hours sometimes (I've seen 5 hours too).

Well, I meant profitable in the sense of getting a higher number of buyins. You are correct that this doesn’t mean they even break even. So maybe I should have said “lowers risk” of losing money.

 

[nabmom]

Late registration comes with clear advantages and disadvantages, and whether to use it depends on your style, skill edge, and bankroll goals. The main advantage is that you skip the deepest, most post-flop–heavy levels where stacks are large and decisions are tougher, meaning you reduce the time spent and often enter with a shallower stack that simplifies play. You also avoid early bust-outs that waste hours. The disadvantages, however, are that you usually enter with fewer big blinds, have less fold equity, and face fields already built by bigger stacks who can pressure you. Your skill edge has less room to work, and variance increases dramatically. Personally, I don’t avoid tournaments with late reg—it's a useful tool, but I use it selectively. If the structure is deep or the field is soft, I prefer registering early to maximize edge. If it’s a turbo or I’m short on time, late reg is fine. In the long run, early registration tends to be more profitable, but late reg can still be optimal depending on the format and goals.

I like the way you phrased this. Like so many decisions in poker, “…it depends on your style, skill edge, and bankroll goals.”

 

[kmiarka]

When I play "for fun" - usually I'm one of the latest to join however when it comes to real game I dont want to lose opportunity to grab stacks of those that are here "for fun" lol

 

[Gutshot Gus]

It would be really frustrating if I missed entering a tournament because I was running a bit late. How long would you say is the optimal length for late registration? I think the first 2-3 blind levels, but not more.

Where I play at Pop's Poker the blinds are 20 minutes and break/ end of late registration after 5 levels. After that The Big Blind antes start at level 6. That is when you buckle up and get serious.

 

[Sunz of Beaches]

That’s a good perspective of not wasting so much time on the early stages of a big game that are often coin flips. I personally end up with better placements when I just avoid games like these all together.

Early stages of a big game are not often coinflips. People tend to flip more later when the blinds get higher. In early stages peole are supposed to be more carefull.

freerolls are a different thing though. There u see a lot of players already flipping in the early stages yes.

 

[RonanPERNA]

In my case, I don't mind. For me, it's part of the game. I personally enter late when the chip count isn't too low.

 

[machinm19]

If it’s a freeroll I’m not worried about when I register as long as I’m in at some point but if it costs money to buy in then I’d much prefer to be in at the start.

I suppose it’s easier to gamble when it’s free but I know some players don’t like players doing that.

 

[Roobz75]

I don't mind late registration, so long as it's not more than 45mins and rebuys.
Sometimes it can work as an advantage, depending on the type of games you play.

Works OK in sitandgo multi table games. A lot of players on PS, tend to go crazy with lots of all ins. Help builds up the pot for decent players....

 

[fernandovr]

I don’t like very long late registration; if it’s short, it doesn’t really bother me. I know late registration is important because it increases the prize pool and gives flexibility to players who can’t join at the start.

 

[Igor Popadyk]

Sometimes I don't have time for my favorite tournament - but it depends on the stack, it's not always good to enter late registration