u1400 or unrated?

I'm just starting out and I want to go to a tournament. There's one coming up this weekend near my home, the LPO. I know this is relative to my rating, but am I more likely to get killed in the under 1400 catagory, or the unrated catagory? I really don't want to play rated yet, I'd rather get better before I do so I don't totally blow my rating. Will the unrated tournament players have a reasonable average rating for me (>1400)?

my advice, play in the rated section
if you are and should be approx 1400 and gain say 100 rating points, then unless you improve your chess to bring you skill up to a genuine 1500 level, you will slide back towards the 1400 mark
similarly if you lose 100 points, over the next games your rating will edge its way back to your natural level, ie 1400

so try and adjust your mindset to concentrate more on your games than on your ratings - go on, jump in the deep end and enter the rated section - give some feedback on where you joined and what your results were ?

The strength in the unrated vs rated sections is different in every tournament... tell us what 'LPO' stands for and maybe we can help more. Also, even though you're playing other unrateds you will still probably be assigned a rating. In the USCF they 'assume' unrateds are all 1200 strength so your initial rating will be something like:

1200 + ( 400 x (#Wins - #Losses) / #Total_Games )

Eg, if you score +4, =2, -2 your initial rating would be:

1200 + ( 400 x (4 - 2) / 8 ) = 1200 + 100 = 1300P8

Dude, just start playing rated. Your rating will work itself out. Don't worry about it. Then you'll know what level of players you're looking to play.

LPO = Lipkin/Pfefferkorn Open

underoath11> am I more likely to get killed in the under 1400 catagory, or the unrated

Based on past LPO events, the average player in the Unrated section (950) is weaker than the average player in the U1400 (1250). The winner in the Unrated section (1450) peforms similarly to the winner of the U1400 (1550).

underoath11> I'd rather get better before I do so I don't totally blow my rating.

You'll be rated no matter what section you play in. "Unrated" means none of your opponents have established ratings. Eg, they've played less than 25 USCF games. It doesn't mean that your games won't be rated... they will! :)

underoath11> Will the unrated tournament players have a ... average rating for me (>1400)?

Players will not average >1400 in either section, but if you are leading in either section you will play at least one opponent performing that well.