Official - William Hill Welsh Amateur Poker Championship

[Des]

[Des]

Reserved for any additional updates to the original post.

[AceOnTheRiver]

Des - There was some really good constructive feedback regarding improvements which could be made to the £5 rebuy structure following the previous satellites. Has this been looked at?

[Des]

Des - There was some really good constructive feedback regarding improvements which could be made to the £5 rebuy structure following the previous satellites. Has this been looked at?

Hi JP - We have reduced the starting stack to 1500 chips and there will be 1500 chip rebuys and an addon also.

[AceOnTheRiver]

Des - There was some really good constructive feedback regarding improvements which could be made to the £5 rebuy structure following the previous satellites. Has this been looked at?

Hi JP - We have reduced the starting stack to 1500 chips and there will be 1500 chip rebuys and an addon also.

Great that should please most, especially Ger

[Sharkey]

Des, I notice on the APAT Home page it says maximum buy-in of 100 players but on here it says 120. Is that so you hold 20 back for people that maybe dont have William Hill accounts or is it a mistake?

[TightEnd]

Des, I notice on the APAT Home page it says maximum buy-in of 100 players but on here it says 120. Is that so you hold 20 back for people that maybe dont have William Hill accounts or is it a mistake?

the event will run at 120 people

Online holding tank has been set at 100 for the moment

[bear21]

Just a query DES , at Coventry William hill didn"t seem to be very well advertised in casino just wondering for Cardiff ?

[Paulie_D]

Just a query DES , at Coventry William hill didn"t seem to be very well advertised in casino just wondering for Cardiff ?

I"m sure something will appear if the link-up is to continue.

[Des]

Just a query DES , at Coventry William hill didn"t seem to be very well advertised in casino just wondering for Cardiff ?

Their choice completely Gary. We love the banners, but it"s not worth APAT investing in them alone as we will not be with WH after this event.

[AMRN]

Just a query DES , at Coventry William hill didn"t seem to be very well advertised in casino just wondering for Cardiff ?

Will probably get into trouble for this post, so apologies in advance if it"s offensive.

Why would William Hill be advertised at the casino? In comparison to previous years, particularly with Blue Square and Betfair, and 888 to some extent, I don"t really see what the sponsorship brings.

- We now pay 10% rake, but in prior years, the sponsor paid it on our behalf and it was a significant APAT differentiator
- There is no complimentary buffet, but there used to be one funded by the sponsor, and it was an APAT differentiator
- There is now no trophy for live nationals, and this used to be a very special APAT differentiator

OK there are still added seats to live and online games - that"s equal to the past, albeit the value is slightly less than in prior years (eg £1060 GUKPT seats, etc). However, the added seat benefits a single person - the lucky winner.... the other several hundred players don"t see any added sponsor value (that I"m aware of), where they used to in the past.  I"m guessing administrative overheads, website, etc are about the extent of it now...

I guess that even the poker providers feel the pinch, particularly now the rapid growth in poker has probably slowed down as the market has saturated.  The trouble is, APAT used to gain huge benefit from being different, and was an attraction to new players for some of the reasons stated above which no longer prevail, and cannot prevail without the significant sponsor funding we became used to.

Sorry for the negative post.  

[Paulie_D]

I don"t see it as a negative post Steve, but it"s obviously based on a recognition of the current state of play.

The sponsorship deals of the past, as you say, just aren"t as easy to get any more. The poker sites are tightening their belts and APAT has had to do the same.

Des has been pretty up front with us about it (as much as he can be) and all of the changes you mentioned were open to comment before being implemented.

The only item on your list that I regret is the implementation of the reg fee but that was such a huge part of the package that it was easily the first to go.

APAT had, as you said, a number of differentiators but these were soon copied by other tours.

Nevertheless, I believe that APAT is STILL has a leg-up in having (AFAIK) the lowest buy-in for the structure we have. Perhaps the difference isn"t as large as before but it"s still there.

It comes down to the fact that without sponsors (and I thank them all) there would be no added value at all and, quite likely, no S6.

I know which I"d rather have.

[Des]

Not an easy topic to discuss on here beyond what I"ve said previously. I would agree with Paulie that the core of our offer is very strong. I would also add that I"m four months into a negotiation that offers some great potential for the future.

[AMRN]

I would also add that I"m four months into a negotiation that offers some great potential for the future.

oh yer a big tease man!

[AceOnTheRiver]

Des - Just spotted the fact that it"s 2.30pm on Sunday for the Main. Is that right? I thought the move to 1pm for Day 2 was a permanent thing?