Cannonball Run

I played a new format of MTT that just cropped up on PokerRoom.com called a Cannonball. (Coincidentally, I did watch a few minutes of the movie "Cannoball Run" on CMT this weekend. Burt Reynolds has a nice home there on CMT.)

The Cannonball format is a half turbo half regular MTT. The first six levels are played at turbo speed, with new levels every three minutes. After level six, levels are increased every 12 minutes. Note that it's AFTER level six, so level seven occurs three minutes after the beginning of level six. Level seven is 150/300 Blinds.

I won a few pots early and managed to stay ahead of the turbo blinds until level seven started. On the small blind I held AT and figured I would take the big blind with an all in when it folded around to me. AT is pretty good against a random hand, right? He called with AJ and the board came 5678. I begged for a nine, ten or at least a four, but the river was a Jack, sealing my fate.

I kind of like the format. The early levels of most MTTs seem completely pointless to me, except for the few folks that donk themselves out and the others who chip up very quickly. Those that chip up inevitably go out before the money because they are way too active to survive the long haul of an MTT.

This format gets that pointless time over faster. Instead of three and a half hours to get an MTT in, you can get one over in two and a half hours.