You're a Bunch of Factors

After my first states I'd have to say I am re invigorated with my poker. I learnt a lot from a lot of people on the weekend and thank you all.

However, a topic that did get my interest was a discussion relating to the two games and the different play and cultures of the room.

I believe 888 have announced that next or should I say this season there will only be 1 joint CBI and Foundation Semi final.

Some people have suggested that also we may lose the semi's altogether in seasons to come and just have one main event.

What would you prefer?

Matt In The Hatt

i liked the separate semi finals,

BUT

if they are combined to make a deeper stacked 2 day final, comprising both sets of qualifiers, then i would rather this than two separate finals.

garth said somewhere that this is happening, can't find the thread

MattyMoo wrote:After my first states I'd have to say I am re invigorated with my poker. I learnt a lot from a lot of people on the weekend and thank you all.

and yes, state finals are by far the best things about 888pl

i also think garth said they may go to 2GF's per year, but still have 4 state based semi's.

For me the answer would come from knowing what the structures of the alternative will be.

I know i will sound a bit biased, but i really really liked the challenge semi, (for more than the obvious reasons), but the number 1 reason i like the challenge semi over the foundation semi is the structure, an extra 10k starting stack means a lot to the way i approach my game.

If the joint semi proposed by management has a larger start stack then i wont be disapointed to loose the individual event, but if the combined event is a 5k start stack then i will be sorry to see the loss of this event.

But as i stated this is purely because i feel the larger starting stacks combined with relaxed levels allows me the chips and the time to develop my stack the way i feel the most confortable.

I'm not a fan of having one big SF, where the Challenge qualifiers play with the Foundation qualifiers.

But, if the starting stack of this 2 day event is greater than 5k, then maybe. (agreeing with Krunch)

Mid year & end of year GF's sounds a good way to go to me.

Hard facts:

1.) I will not continue to run a $15,000 final for less than 100 players. I won't even run a $5,000 semi final for less than 100 players.
2.) The amount of manpower and planning required for two events is excessive for the return we are getting in terms of player interest.
3.) A 2 day semi final event would require people to organise accommodation and perhaps would turn a lot of the regional players off.
4.) The ultimate destination for ALL 888PL players is not the Semi Final but the Grand Final.
5.) I would prefer to see our Semi final weekend turn into a mini festival of poker and FHG products.
One Semi Final that operates for 12 hours where we play down to the money and all the money players return on the Sunday. We operate championship side events all weekend. I am considering our options and we will be discussing these with the ops team.

Garth Kay wrote:1.) I will not continue to run a $15,000 final for less than 100 players. I won't even run a $5,000 semi final for less than 100 players.

fair enough, if its a business decision rather than a poker decision, we can't really argue with that

Garth Kay wrote:3.) A 2 day semi final event would require people to organise accommodation and perhaps would turn a lot of the regional players off.

how many of these players come down for the weekend anyway? i dare say that it would be quite a few

Garth Kay wrote:One Semi Final that operates for 12 hours where we play down to the money and all the money players return on the Sunday. We operate championship side events all weekend. I am considering our options and we will be discussing these with the ops team.

instead of having a final that is free to enter, what if there was a $25 or $50 buyin game with the same structure? it means that 888pl no longer has to pony up the prizemoney, but we, as players, still get a single day, deeper stack tourney. maybe have a GF ticket added for first place or something, but have the majority of the money coming from players?

have you considered running normal cash buyin games where the top x amount of players get tickets to the GRAND final?

what about a $20 a week game, where $10 goes to individual cash prizes on the night, and $10 goes towards generating tickets for the top leaderboard finishers?

if there were 30 players a week for a 10 week season, that would mean that 6 tickets would be awarded at the end of the season. leftover money could be given as cash prizes to the remaining x leaderboard spots.

just an idea. im sure you have prolly considered it before though. what do you think?

bennymacca wrote:

Garth Kay wrote:One Semi Final that operates for 12 hours where we play down to the money and all the money players return on the Sunday. We operate championship side events all weekend. I am considering our options and we will be discussing these with the ops team.

instead of having a final that is free to enter, what if there was a $25 or $50 buyin game with the same structure? it means that 888pl no longer has to pony up the prizemoney, but we, as players, still get a single day, deeper stack tourney. maybe have a GF ticket added for first place or something, but have the majority of the money coming from players?

And top 3 qualifiers from Challenge games get entry. I would've paid to play the Challenge Semi on Saturday if the option was there.

Garth, the Grand Final should be the pinnacle for players. But, for me, there are few avenues to qualify, and the Challenge Semi appeared to me to be the best quality way.