Hello Poker Fans,
First of all, wanted to say how much I enjoyed the WCOAP in Nottingham. I"d never heard of APAT until I saw the event listed in Bluff or some such magazine. I was seduced by the possibility of becoming a World Champion (though that didn"t happen of course) and went along and really enjoyed it, the atmosphere and banter was fun, as was the poker of course. I"ll definitely be back to play some more events, and quite possibly at Wembley. Anyway, for what it"s worth, the views of a newcomer are....
Buy ins - Stay at £75? Increase? Decrease? Side events?
........ I was very happy with the buy-ins in Nottingham. I played the six-max and the main event and the money was well worth it for the pretty slow structures. You"ve got to prepared to lose your stake, and I was "happy" to lose mine for some potentially good time at the tables (though, as it happens, I min-cashed in the main event so even better!).
Festival style three and four day events - good? or too long?
.......... I"m happy to take a day or two off work for a good meeting, some good tourneys and structures. Of course, runners will reduce the more time off work is required. So I guess two or three days makes sense, with four being possible at Easter.
Timing - An event every month, every two months, or four big festivals every year maybe?
............ I"ll never be able to come to all of them, but the more there are, the greater my chances of making three or four.
WCOAP - Should it extend further with the addition of two day side events and an even larger main event?
Bigger numbers in an event always makes it more exciting. But it"s good to play side events too; spread ones eggs in to couple of baskets. I guess most people will want to play the main event(?), well I would anyway. So how would you schedule a two day side event alongside a main event?
Team events - Should we invite multiple teams from same communities? structure?
.............. I don"t have any idea how team events work or how the teams are formed. It"s a new concept to me!
Formats - Should we be looking to include anything new? Should we run one of the nationals in a different format, outside of the WCOAP and ECOAP?
............. I"m new. No valid opinion. Actually, no opinion at all.
Registration - Thoughts on satellites, direct buy in via client, generic satellite packages versus specific satellite packages, should satellites packages include a contribution towards travel and hotel?
........ I thought the website registration for Nottingham worked really well. I was a bit worried that my name wouldn"t be on the list when I arrived, but it was, and I was happy. I did wonder about people registering and not turning up, I don"t know whether that was a problem?
I wouldn"t be keen on registering via random poker sites. I quite fancy next week"s IPO in Stratford, for example, but understand that you can only register via Boyles Poker. My home PC is practically dead, and I simply can"t be ar5ed trying to load new poker software on the knackered ald piece of junk so I doubt whether I"ll make it along to the IPO. (Hopefully I"ll be getting a decent PC upgrade soon...)
Seat reservation - Should this continue? If so, why? If we added a Paypal button to enable players to pay the 10% fee upfront, would this work? So players not taking up their reservation would lose the fee element of their buy in?
......Sounds fair enough to me. Reg fees are not high, but having made a financial commitment, however small, should reduce no-shows.
Locations - Overseas? New locations? For example we could take the ECOAP to Western Europe. Would players come, if destination was cheap and outside of holiday periods?
............. Count me as definitely interested.
Commercial - To increase our budgets we might ask you to qualify for events at a third party site, or join us for a crazy night of blackjack or slots tournaments. Is this acceptable, not acceptable, would stop you playing, etc?
.............. I don"t really do the other casino stuff.
Awards - Further develop the medals? More bracelets? Differentiate between live and online event awards? Added value?
............ Sorry, no view really. I"ll let you know when I"ve won one!
Merchandise - Should we sell stuff? Shirts, cards, chip set, card protectors? How deep should the range be? High quality or cheap? Would you buy high resolution pictures of yourself at events, branded with the event name, APAT logo and in an APAT sleeve?
............. I might be interested in a nice photo. Not too grand, though. Say, around a fiver.
.................
- I agree with other opinions re start times. The pros might live vampire hours, but the rest of us are used to getting up in the morning.
- I also like the idea of a womens event. My missus knows the rules, has played a bit and even won a few homes games and a couple of pub games, but playing live is still a bit scary for her and I think a ladies event might make her more likely to come along to a future event.
Hope that helps; I"ve totally lost the thread of this film I"m trying to watch!
Anyways, well done APAT, I"m glad I found you!
Cheers, Andy Mac.
