NPL needs an overhaul

[Dug]

I've become disheartened with NPL. Firstly you get 1000 chips starting stack and to succeed you must at least fill up 1 "poker passport". Still this only achieves 2000 chips.

Then not only must you spend to get chips, NPL doesnt even give you a chance with blind levels down to 12 minutes. NPL being an amatuer poker league, with amatuer players 12 minutes gives you 4 hands sometimes. Hardly enough time to play good poker.

If you dont double up in the first blind levels, your chances are greatly reduced.
With 2000 chips max first up, it hardly encourages skillful poker with raising consuming 1/4 of your chip stack. Its almost all in or nothing.

NPL is a money making organisation clearly, who aim to provide "free" (cough), friendly poker and i commend you on that.
However with other leagues slowing gaining ground, i would very strongly suggest you at least look to changing the playing conditions. Eg 4000 chips with 20 minute blind levels is perfect, as it gives you a chance to raise, re-raise without losing all your chips for one, and encourages good poker play.

A vital part of NPL is poker passports and if they remain then at least provide 2000 initially with chip ups.

Your response to this is that without it we cant offer $25,000 prize pool. But you have 750 people each trying to win.
$33 per person. It costs almost that much to fill up a 2 poker passports, each and every time, for every person weekly.

You do the math.

I'll continue to play NPL, because all in all it is a good league, i'm just saying please make it better. Interested to see your response

[Bacon]

3 and a bit hours of poker is long enough for me... if you increase the starting stacks, you'll be playing for longer. And pubs have closing times, wages to pay etc etc.

I prefer the passport buy-in process, rather than the old way.

It might be just me, but I don't see other leagues in pubs. I know that one is owned by a Supermarket chain and only hold events in their pubs, I've seen those, but I dunno where the others hold their events. I regularly see NPL signs around the place, on places I didn't know about.

And I do look, cos I wonder if those places would want to hold poker.

[Nevah play JJ]

I have never played "the competitors" poker nor am I interested in doing so, so I cannot comment on their practices.

Having said that, I have often played without the benefit of stamping up and have still managed to do fairly well. My only reason for not stamping up is only due to being short of finances at that time.

I guess this sounds silly but the chip stack is really irrelvant in a way. You play according to what you have in your hand. So if you have a chipstack of $3,000 then surely your bets would reflect this, as they would if you have a chipstack of $1,000.

Mind you I guess the difference is you have a stack of $3,000 it gives you licence to be a bigger bully or to learn to play your hands by bluffing rather than by learning to use the cards you have in your hand along with the ability to learn to be patient.

Moderators:
Feel free to edit this so it makes sense, I know what I am trying to say, however I just don't think it makes sense to read.

[Nevah play JJ]

Also I can't help but wonder if Dug is just trying to do some recruitment for the other side?
1st post and it is promoting them and bagging NPL, is a bit strange.
Unless someone out there knows him?

[Dug]

quite the contrary.
First post is because its been playing on my mind for some time, and i felt the need to speak up/type up.

I think i raise some valid points. That it would be interesting to see a response form NPL itself.

I'm not trying to bag NPL, they have been good for poker and SA, and they hooked me. Just trying to make it better

[rcon]

Mind you I guess the difference is you have a stack of $3,000 it gives you licence to be a bigger bully or to learn to play your hands by bluffing rather than by learning to use the cards you have in your hand along with the ability to learn to be patient.

I think the op's point was that you don't have much of an opportunity to get anything decent to play with, 'cause you don't get dealt enough hands given how aggressive the blinds are. I completely agree with him, but you know what you're getting yourself into when you come along (which he also acknowledges)

I'd personally like to see a more relaxed blind structure, but hey, if I was really after that, I'd go play else where. I like the atmosphere, people (staff and players) and venues that NPL gives me. I like to play poker, but its not everything

[Bacon]

I wouldn't say he's promoting. I'd rather a first post like this, that a stats pad

Just a bit on his "It's all in or nothing"... even with $1000 starting stack, the first blind are 25/50... Even if you dealt AA and you wanted to raise 6xBB (which is a big raise), it's only 30% of your stack. There is really no need to go all-in pre-flop at the first blind levels.

If I'm sitting at even money at the first break, then it is a successful first period.

Aren't the first blind levels 15-20 minutes anyway? I didn't think it went to 12 minutes until after the 1st break.

[Des]

The blinds in NPL allow most, if not all tournaments to end within 4 hours. This suits most venues as they can have a 7.30 start time and be finished by 11.30pm. Imagine the numbers a tourney would be getting if tournaments ended at say 1am. I know for a fact a lot of people wouldnt be able to play that late as a lot of people have to work the next day.

25k prizepool - 5 seasons a year = 125k a year

Other leagues dont offer anything even close to this.

One league only gives out a prize if you win their weekly final. So you can win as many regular events as you like and get absolutely nothing for it. With NPL the venues give out weekly prizes and the NPL offers leaderboard prizes, freerolls, and 25k state finals among other things.

You mention your maths skills regarding 25000 / 750 = $33 per person in regards to state finals and saying stamping up at one venue sometimes costs more than this. I guess the costs of chips, laptops, cards, weekly prize packs, uniforms, banners didn't come into your calculations?

As far as I know, lately the NPL has experienced increased numbers overall, so I'm not sure how the other people are gaining ground.

Seeing as you posted in a decent manner, I thought I would give you a decent response, however I am tending to think you only signed up to this site today to try and stir up a little trouble.

What I really suggest is contact Garth with your issues and I'm sure he can help you.

[Nevah play JJ]

Hi rcon,
I do have to ask this.
Whose fault is it that the blinds skip along so quickly?

Lets be honest, we are all guilty of sitting there to think about our hands at some point, this does drag the time down. So having asked that, maybe a "time" limit needs to be put on that.
Then there is the player that has to run to the toilet in the middle of the hand, we often wait a few moment to see what happened to him/her. Then the ones that run to the bar to get the last stamp so they can be given protection.

Then we wait for those that are chatting to everyone around them, those that are learning, those that are just plain slow to act at times. The drunk player that pissfarts around....

The list is endless.

So yeah, I can absolutely see how the blind system does need to be changed. But how does that make us better players?

However, I also believe that half of these behaviours would not be allowed in the professional games you see in the casino, etc.

[torch]

I think the bigger the stack as the 'competitors' have is not good. They dont play 'real' poker it is just a game of chuck in your chips. I, personally, am very happy with NPL. I have played thethers & certainly WONT again. Npl is professional & I have a lot of fun & manage the chip stacks as everyone else does as we are all starting out the same.

So getover it Dug. If you want a bigger stack - go play elsewhere!!!!