Drink card redemption

[sunbury2]

Garth
i think it is good you trying to change things up and create renewed and/or sustained interest in the NPL.

To be honest I really enjoy playing NPL and in the long run over the course of a season the good players are still finishing in the top 5.

My only gripe though is this.
The drink cards.
Okay I am sure everyone has had an an opinion but here is mine along with a suggestion.
at the venue I play you get discounted cola drinks with your R&R card so I am able to complete 2 cards for just over $10. Even though it is free poker I am okay to pay my $10, no problem there.
This is my problem. Not everyone likes cola or soft drinks.
So you get other players buying 8 pots at $3.00 each approx and spending $24 to get their cards stamps.
They can spend as much as they like but the enjoyment goes when you are playing against players that are clearly drunk.
I know the clubs/pubs have to make their money but here is my suggestion.
You change to six stamps per card.
you get one stamp for every $1 spent.
This way you only need to buy 4 pots to get your full card.
From what I am aware of venues with 50 players will still be making money. If all players fill cards.
I am unsure if this will reduce income for the club but will increase enjoyment for the sober people. In a friendlier environment more people will play and enjoy themselves. I think anyway.

[Garth Kay]

The poker passport is issue is a very contentious one.

Venues can differ on their stamping policies as their is no set policy for venues. In 2009 we are "advising" venues on the best possible scenario for maximum venue spend. However we can never force venues to change their stamping policies if they are happy with the revenue raised and the financial position they are in.

I agree that some players do have the tendency to over indulge and I see this as a responsible service issue rather than a passport issue.

TD's will undergo training throughout 2009 and one of those courses will be a RSA course so they are prepared to handle intoxicated patrons. I would also like to see ALL venue management and staff support us in removing intoxicated and disruptive patrons from a tournament and the venue.

In the end it is about creating a better playing environment and atmosphere for all players.

Thanks for the comments and i have forwarded your comments to our BDM's who will discuss this with venues in the new year.

[queen9]

yes, here I am again, jumping on another topic, but I wanted to add my support to sunbury 2 and to let you know that we have stopped playing at one venue because of the amount of intoxicated people who play there and the lack of fun we have because of it.

As Garth rightly said, this is an RSA issue and the clubs should control this, but they are not always doing this as it will affect their bottom line. Luckily the players I am referring to only play in one venue, but unless there is some special reason to go to that venue, there are around 6 or so of us who rarely go simply because of this reason.

The problem is that they are regulars at this venue, people who come every night or straight from work, come for a drink and then see poker and decide to play. this then becomes a habit and the problem becomes one for the TD's, which is not fair.

In this case, it is not the fault of the drink cards, they would drink that much regardless of drink cards, and they do. If the venue took the RSA policy a little more seriously, they would lose some of their regular spenders - however, they may get back some of the poker players

[Matt Porter]

I think 'drink cards' is a misnomer. NPL staff actively encourage punters to buy meals for stamps for their poker passports, often it is the best value for stamps. A meal & a couple of drinks should get both cards stamped up & no-one is encouraged to get 'clearly drunk'.

[BigPete33]

That's an excellent point.

If responsible drinking is your thing then it's in your interest to have a meal along with your couple of bevvies.

Not all venues (at least here in SA) have quite cottoned on to what people think is fair and reasonable as far as stamping goes but nobody is forcing anyone to do anything.

[queen9]

there are some interesting and good points on the forum about the drink card issue and RSA. The problem I have is that a venue I used to frequent in another region, gives stamps every time you open your wallet to buy something. so if you feel like a toasted sandwhich, ($3.00), you get a stamp ... a soft drink ($2.20 - cos that's all I drink), you get a stamp, you get a meal, you get stamps etc...

but even I can't drink 8 soft drinks to get 2 cards stamped up at the venues I play at now. In fact, you can only get stamps for drinks, nothing else. so if you have a meal, get a receipt, cos that is worth a chip up of $500, but if you go back for dessert, or a snack later, you get nothing .. so people drink more, buy them 2 at a time and drink them faster, so they get their stamps done before they start to play - so they can use one card and have the other ready for if they go all in and lose, and given that you can't get a drink card until you register, and you can only register an hour before the game starts, some guys are having 4 scooners (a scooner gets you 2 stamps) in the first hour or less and by the time the game starts, they are already 'challenged' ... not just guys, women too.

Now, given that this is a social night out and you are sitting with friends, who are having a few drinks, you drink with them .. so 4 scooners becomes 8 or more, over a 3-4 hour period.. then we fight with them to get their car keys so they don't drive home, and we end up the bad guy.

If the venues gave stamps for the 'extras' as well as the drinks, it might encourage those drinking, to have some dimmies, or a toasted sanger somewhere in there instead of another beer, and I am sure that would help. It would also make for better poker - I can still remember the 4 1/2 minutes it took to get one hand shuffled, dropped, picked up, shuffled again, misdealt, half dropped again, misdealt again and finally after another shuffle and a lot of help, we had a hand. you dont need to hear about the flop etc., but 7 minutes to play one hand when there were only 3 in it, that's a bit of a joke - and he told me he doesn't drink much!

[David]

It's a fine line, Rosemary.

Venues make the most money off the drinks they sell. It's a stretch to think that a venue wouldn't want people to buy drinks.

If you are dirnking with friends, and a few turns into a few more - that's the responsibility of you and your friends; not the venue, nor the NPL.

If the venue could be better with food, dessert and whatnot, then write to them or talk to them. Explain it. Maybe they'll consider changing it?

But really, it's all on you. You don't have to drink, and you don't have to get stamps.

[bennymacca]

rosemary, i am not sure if you have read previous discussion on this, probably not, it was a while ago.

but anyway, there were a few things that came up that means you dont have to drink drive

1. carpool with your friends - 1 person is designated driver, the others can drink - these people help out with the stamps of the designated driver so all have a full card.

2. buy meals - most pubs in SA give at least 1 full card for a meal, so a meal and 2 pints (schooners in vic) will usually get ur cards stamped up.

3. get there a bit earlier - a lot of the time, the bar staff know whether you have been buying drinks, and so they will just stamp you up when you get your cards - relies on the bartenders recognising you though, so prolly only works for your local

4. a lot of venues will accept pre-payment of drinks. i.e ask them whether you can buy X amount of drinks, and pre-pay them. get them to print out a receipt with it all on there. then during the night, u can just get them to cross it off your receipt.

5. dont buy as many drinks - although the venues would like you to spend as much as possible, there is nothing that says you have to - after all, it is meant to be free poker. plus, a pissed player with 2 full cards will get outplayed by a sober player with no cards 9/10 times.

6. talk with the managers of the venues - my experience is that winging to the bar staff about the amount of stamps given for certain items achieves nothing, but talking to the manager might mean that a compromised can be reached.

hope this helps
ben

[queen9]

hi guys ... no I haven't seen any previous posts on this issue, but I have already spoken to the manager of one venue (2 venues in our area run 5 nights of npl) ... and I was told it was an npl rule (which I doubted) and that they can't give stamps for anything other then drinks...

the other venue will not give you stamps for any drinks you have before 6.30, or any drinks you buy when you don't have a card in your hand to get the stamps. One venue will let you prebuy and prepay, the other venue won't ..the one that won't is where the trouble is..

and I know it is not an npl issue, and I know we are all responsible for how much we drink, which is why I DON"T drink, but when others take it beyond their limitations, and bar staff keep letting them have it, their behaviour becomes an NPL issue as their staff need to deal with it as some become abusive and aggressive and npl won't tolerate that.

so although it is not an npl problem, I think, in my opinion, that perhaps Garth could add this to the 'things to talk to venue managers' about as he stated in a previous post 9/12 @ 3pm.... sorry I can't work out how to get the quotes on here ... lol ....

and in all honesty, a hot dog (which they sell over the bar at one venue) would cost around .25c for the roll and .50c for the hot dog = .75c in total and they sell them for $3. or more ... surely one stamp for a hot dog wouldn't break the bank.

as far as us sober players beating those a little intoxicated, a short story... one overly intoxicated played the whole night, all in no look ... cos he couldn't see what he had anyway ... he played every hand like that ... and won!!! how do you play against that?

Good luck with this one ..

[queen9]

just as a footnote ... the venue that I am referring to, gives you a full card for a jug of beer, but only 3 stamps for 3 red bulls .. the non drinker does not feel very welcome.