Triton Tempo made its debut in Jeju

In Jeju this month, the Triton Poker Series unveiled Triton Tempo, the tour's new chess-clock style time management system for tournament poker.

Each player is allocated a certain amount of thinking time in every tournament, which is tracked on the Triton Tempo terminal embedded into every table. The information is also displayed on the Triton Poker Plus app, and on the stream for people watching at home.

Players' time-bank allocations follow them through the entire tournament, with additional seconds added at specific landmark moments (close of registration and reaching the final table).

It allows a fair amount of thinking time for all players and replaces the previous system of time-bank cards.

Early responses to Triton Tempo have been near universally positive, but here are some answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the new system.

Why has Triton introduced Triton Tempo?

The Triton Poker Series is committed to providing the best player experience in the world, and welcomes the sensible rollout of any innovation that can improve that experience. A common criticism of live poker is that it is too slow — both for players and spectators. Shot clocks and/or time banks are known to speed up the pace of play, and Triton Tempo improves on the existing model of time-bank cards to keep play moving at an agreeable pace.

How does it improve on time bank cards?

Triton Tempo is granular. Players are only ever charged for the exact amount of thinking time they use. With time bank cards, each card represented an additional 30 seconds of thinking time, meaning a player needed to "spend" a 30-second allocation even if their decision took only five additional seconds. Triton Tempo measures precisely the actual thinking time used, and a player's total allocation stays with them throughout the tournament.

Furthermore, Triton Tempo is much neater than time-bank cards. Players no longer need to have the time-bank cards beside their chips, or store them in chip bags overnight. Triton Tempo does away with this entirely.

How did you decide how much time to allocate?

Through 10 years on the Triton Poker Series, we have collated an enormous amount of data relating to all aspects of poker tournament play. After analysing this data, and discussing the issue with players, floor supervisors and dealers, we have been able to determine what we think is a fair amount of time to make most decisions.

As with everything at Triton, we listen to feedback from all relevant parties and can make adjustments as necessary.

The Triton tournament rules page shows the current allocation.

Do players get more seconds in their time banks if they go deeper in the tournament?

Yes. As per the Triton tournament rules, players receive an additional 100 seconds in their time bank when registration closes, and another 100 at the beginning of final table play (50 seconds in turbos and satellites).

Special events, such as Main Events, which are longer, have specific additional Triton Tempo allocations.

Why is there a different amount of time bank time given if players arrive late?

If players register to a tournament late, they necessarily do not have as many decisions to make, so they do not need so much decision time. But there is also an incentive aspect to it. Poker tournaments run most smoothly when players arrive and are seated in a timely manner, and anything tournament organisers can do to encourage this is considered worthwhile.

Who is controlling the time bank?

The Triton Tempo terminal sits in front of the dealer. Every Triton dealer is fully trained on how to operate the time clock, and shifts it from one player to the next as action progresses.

The dealer controls the Triton Tempo interface at the table

What happens if a player moves tables?

Triton Poker Series uses a bespoke tournament tracking system — a specially-tailored version of the popular kHold'em Card Room Management System — to follow a player's progress through the tournament. It is synced with the Triton Poker Plus app, which gives real-time hand-tracking, chip-count and table allocation information to players and staff.

Triton Tempo draws from the same information source, with floor staff updating the app whenever tables are broken or a player moves seats. Shot clock information follows the player to their new seat.

How long does a player get to act before the time bank begins?

Players only begin using up their allocated time bank after they have used what is considered to be an acceptable amount of thinking time. The "acceptable time" depends on what stage of the hand the decision is at.

A pre-flop decision can take up to 15 seconds in NLH (20 in PLO).

A flop decision can take up to 25 seconds

Turn and river: 30 seconds

When this "base decision time" is expired, the additional time comes from the player's time bank.

What happens if a mistake is made and my clock is running for someone else?

We are confident that errors of this kind will be incredibly rare, and most likely will never happen. In the very unlikely event it occurs, tournament officials are able to rectify time banks on an ad hoc basis.

What happens when a player's time reaches zero? Is every hand declared dead immediately?

A hand is only declared dead if the base decision time, plus any time bank time, is expired. (If there has been no action from any other player to this point, the expiration of a time bank means the player automatically checks.)

When a player's time bank is expired, they still have the "base decision time" to make any decision on any future hand.