Changes to the 888PL competition in 2010

[Garth Kay]

1.) Noone will be happy with this but we are scrapping the Challenge Semi Final concept and moving to one $30K Semi Final in Vic and SA with more of an emphasis on creating a true two day state based carnival atmosphere. We are also looking to stretch the payouts out to over the top 30 for this event.

garth, can you expand on this?

does this mean that the semi final will become a 2 day event, comprising of qualifiers form both challenge and foundation games?

if so, then i dont think people will mind. i prefer 1 larger, 2 day tourney.

See above.

[Garth Kay]

Hi Guys,



4.) All Foundation Away games will have an increased start stack of 2,000. Passports will be redeemed for more chips.

Good idea, more skill involved, tourneys take longer so people are around more/contributing to the venue more. Only thing I would suggest in this area would be to push back the break/final time to redeem chip ups so that people will contribute more.

I like the initial idea of this Garth.

With increased start stacks we could do three 15min level before the 1st break - extending total time by 5 mins OR two 25min levels - extending 10 mins to the redemption time.
Or even four 15min levels till the first break (or is an hour way too long?) We can quicken up the later levels as there will be carp of chips around, this way we get back our time and the punters have a bit longer to fill up their cards?

You've probably been over this ad-nauseum at HO but what do you think? Pros/Cons?

Will discuss with the ops team, but perhaps post in the staff forum and see what other TC's feel about this.

[Michael Ratnik]

Glad to see we are having a great response to this.

Will definitely have to talk about this tomorrow.

Michael

[Garth Kay]

Glad to see we are having a great response to this.

Will definitely have to talk about this tomorrow.

Michael

What the hell.

Go to bed you tool! By the way I am definitely going to be in at the office at midday.

[maccatak11]

One small issue i have (which i think will be a big issue for some other players) is that there is no longer any games in the 7'oclock - 9o'clock timeslot. Extra games is awesome, but having nine games starting from 9 onwards and none earlier is a bit silly. There will definately be lots of people annoyed about this i think.

Is there a reason for this? One might assume that it is because 888pl want more patronage at their away venues (which of course is good) but 4 out of those 9 later games start at or before 10'oclock SA time anyway. Most players won't be home from their regular venue at that time anyway.

What about moving all of the below games one hour forwards?? or at least the first couple....

Simply because we wanted to put more emphasis of playing in venue and also because we have received many complaints about the times online games were operating from many clients. We are trying to make it as balanced as possible without affecting the in venue trade from our major revenue stream; the venues.

This is the only way we can operate these events at this time and we need to re activate many players to play in venue once again. At the moment the average player who plays both online and in venue is participating in 10 online games to every one in venue game, and that is with the current limited home game fixture.

Fair enough, but i really don't think that shifting the games from 7-8pm to 9-10pm will change much. How many people here are home from their regular venue/s by 9 o'clock? i know im not.
When 888pl was launched, there would have been some expectation of people giving up some of their live play for online games. Has this happened more than expected?

[Todd Rivers]

Will discuss with the ops team, but perhaps post in the staff forum and see what other TC's feel about this.

Not even gonna bother, thinking as a TC, answer would always be: "What, ANOTHER ten minutes work! No effing way!"

****JUST KIDDING!!!****

We are the hardest working, best looking(pfff), most dedicated, knowledgeable team of tournament professionals - and poker players(pfff) in this country!

[gmatical]

Dear 888pl

The dream Team scoreboard will freak me out even more now!!
I think it will STILL be dominated by Free Rollers (9 chances per day now) - The total games these players play will now be up 700ish per season (which is mind boggling to me).

I think it would be a idea to limit the amount of free rolls playable per day to 2 (or another number decided by 888pl).

Love always

Gmatical

[Des]

gmatical, away games and CBI tourneys have multipliers attached

[gmatical]

gmatical, away games and CBI tourneys have multipliers attached

Thanks Des, i am aware of this. I think the multipliers will aid live and paying players, however the commitment and volume the free rollers play (eg. if they play half of the proposed free rolls and win 10 of them (fairly acheiveable) their avarage points will be 170ish.

Winning at my away venue (ave players between 60 - 90) will give the winner a whopping 685 points under the new structure. But being that it is a hard fought night with a lot of good players (and poker being poker), it is unusual to see anyone win multiple games - so the season average of an above average player will unlikely be higher then a below average (skill level) free roller who plays a huge volume of free rolls.

I could very well be wrong (and time will tell) but i still think that half (or more) of the dream team at the conclusion of the Season 1 2010 will be free rollers.

Limiting the amount of free rolls a person can enter a day will be a way to ensure the Dream team will be made up of a broader and better balance of players.

Love Always

Gmatical

[bennymacca]

this is the point - you are being encouraged to play multiple pub games per week rather than 1.

i dare say that someone playing 5 games a week in pubs will now have a significant advantage.