Instructions

The Madness Cup is a multi-round tournament that continues until only one player is left standing!

In each round, you will be paired up against another (human) participant. But, you don't actually play poker directly against them -- instead, both you and your opponent:

• will be dealt the exact same hands (currently 100 hands)
• will play against the exact same "bots" (virtual poker players), who will also be holding identical hands

Additionally:

• the bots will be seated in the same seats
• the bots will use the same strategy when playing against you (except that they MAY adjust based on your strategy over the course of the 100 hands)

In other words, everything will be identical, and the winner is the one who wins more chips against the bots. You have 24 hours to play your hands (you and your opponent don't have to play at the same time).

It is only necessary to perform better than your opponent! Even if you were to lose 10,000 chips to the bots, if your opponent loses 11,000, you win! Since you and your opponent are dealt the exact same hands, the skill you use in playing those hands becomes the prevailing factor, and the luck factor is greatly reduced.

Note that other participants in the tournament will also be paired up against each other. They will be dealt different hands than you will get. It is only each PAIR of participants that get the same hands.

Play the Madness Cup

How to Play

Press the "Register" button and note the start time of the tournament. At the designated start time, Round 1 will begin. You'll be able to see who your opponent is for Round 1, and you'll have 24 hours from the start time to press the "Play" button and play your hands.

The system will keep track of the total number of chips you win against the bots over the course of the hands. You have to win MORE than your opponent does.

When the 24 hours are up, you'll be able to see how many chips your opponent won, and you'll find out if you won or lost. You'll also be able to watch a replay showing how you played the hands, compared to how your opponent played. (Remember, you both are playing the exact same hands.)

Round 2 will begin immediately when Round 1 ends. You'll have a different opponent, and a different set of hands. Please note that even if you lose Round 1, you are not immediately eliminated -- keep reading.

Qualification Rounds

At the start of each tournament, there will be several qualifying rounds (usually 3, but sometimes 4 or 5). In each round, you will be paired up with a random opponent. Win or lose, you will always play all of the qualifying rounds.

Bracket Rounds

At the end of the qualifying rounds, some players will advance to the championship bracket, which is similar to an NCAA basketball “March Madness” bracket. Players will be chosen for the bracket based on:

1. Number of wins (the most important factor considered)
2. Margin of Victory (as the first tie-breaker - see below)
3. Total number of chips won in the qualifying rounds (as the final tie-breaker)

Roughly 20-30% of all participants will advance to the bracket section; the rest will be eliminated. For example, if 120 players start the tournament, 32 will advance to the bracket. The number of players in the bracket will always be a power of two (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, etc). For the mathematically curious, the formula is 2^{floor(log₂(n)-1.5)}, where n is the number of players.

Much like a basketball or football playoff bracket, the bracket will be played out until just one player remains, who is crowned the champion. Each round will again be 24 hours.

Margin of Victory

The most important factor considered in whether you qualify for the bracket is your number of wins. When there is a tie between participants (in number of wins) your cumulative Margin of Victory over your opponents in the qualifying rounds is used. "Margin of Victory" points are awarded to you each round, and they are displayed on the main Madness Cup standings grid.

Example #1: You win 13,900 chips against the bots. You opponent only wins 5,000 chips. You win the round and get 8,900 Margin of Victory points. You opponent gets the loss, and -8,900 points.

Example #2: You get dealt some tough hands, and lose 23,000 chips against the bots. However, your opponent performs worse, and loses 27,000 chips to the bots. You win the round and get 4,000 Margin of Victory points. You opponent gets the loss, and -4,000 points.

Margin of Victory points are limited to a maximum of 20,000 each round, regardless of how large your actual Margin of Victory is. If your opponent forfeits the match, you get points equal to however many chips you win, maximum of 20,000, but never less than 0. (Your opponent gets -20,000 points.)

Madness Points

All players that qualify for the bracket rounds will win "Madness Points". You’ll be awarded Madness Points based on where you finish in the bracket. The total number of Madness Points given out depends on the number of entrants. The amount of points you win doubles with each round of the bracket that you survive. You can check out your Madness Profile to see how many points you’ve won.

Think of Madness Points as your "payout" at the end of a multi-table poker tournament. These determine your long-term ranking among other Madness Cup participants.

You can learn more about the Madness Points if you're curious.

Forfeiting Matches

If you don't play your hands before the 24 hours is up, you will forfeit that round. But during the qualification rounds, you can still keep playing the next round. For example, suppose you forfeited Round 1. If there are 3 qualification rounds, you can keep playing, and you might win Round 2 and Round 3. That would give you two wins, which will usually be enough to qualify for the Bracket.

In each round, it's best to finish all your hands in one "playing session". If you can't, be sure to use the "Quit and Save" button, and then return to the main Madness Cup page and we'll restart you where you left off. If you don't use the Quit and Save button, you might lose any chips you had wagered during the current hand. Some of the ways this could happen:

• You close your browser or shut down your computer
• You accidentally click on a link and navigate to another webpage
• You leave the game idle for hours until you get timed out

Replays of Matches

The complete replay of ALL matches are available to ALL participants in the Madness Cup. This is a great learning tool, especially when you compare your opponent's decisions to your decisions (since you were playing the same hands).