[Kurn]

Lets make the numbers even stranger.

I beat 6150 people in Round 1. 960 people in Round 2, and 1209 people in Round 3.

That's 8319 runners not here + 27 at the final 3 tables, making our "entry fee: $246.23

Strategy wise, I've been mulling this over since I got the e-mail with the structure. Lets work backwards from the final table and see what I need to do.

270,000 chips in play means average FT stacks of 30,000. 'Stars extimates FT at about 7 PM which, with the level 4/5 break factored in, translates to 1,500/3,000/a200. So a Q of 1.0 = an M of 4.75. Average stack doesn't cut it at the final table.

So, while the tournay opens somewhat deep stacked, the final table will not be so unless the chips are very skewed. I'd say that what begins as a waiting game becomes a hunting game somewhere around level 4 or 5.

Fine. That gives me 3 or 4 hours to assess who can be hunted and who I should avoid. I does seem clear that I can't wait until we're down to 13 to speed up. I do think I can avoid taking big risks until we're down to 18.

Of course, all this may change once the tourney starts and I see how the field is playing, but the bottom line is that the FT looks like a crapshoot, so I'd better make hay while the sun shines (somewhere between 18 and 12 players).