APAT Season Four - Pre Launch Discussion

[Waz1892]

as per a other thread .....live web streaming the FT at APAT live events. 

just thinking over poor ole Tighty!!

This is in the proposed budget but are you sure this is a good thing?  It would be the end of the Tighty update as we know it.  ps - the first to suggest we mic Tighty up gets a slap.  

noo...keep tighty upto the FT...then give the poor man a break!!

[MAIR]

I see you have mentioned HORSE Des, does that mean you are looking at a new sponsor for the online events or are Bsq introducing it?

I would love to see a live feed of the Final table at the events whereby railers can see live action.

Would love to see Regionals come back, sure miss them and was a great place to hang out with APATers as well as qualify for Nationals.

Next year I also would like it to be more APAT based for APAT Team tournaments criteria rather than players being selected for their non-APAT results, my view is that we work so hard within APAT to achieve and learn and grow our game and there are so many of us who do not play much poker outwith APAT so are unable to compete with those with big non-APAT stats.  Thats just my view and would hope that next year players will be selected on their APAT stats alone, might be a bit much to ask, but I feel that APAT is for us amateurs to grow, and achieve results but it seems to have gone astray this year with the selection process and kinda unfair on those of us who support 100% and do well within APAT.

[Jon MW]

I"m proposing that every National Online Championship in S4 takes the form of a weekend festival, with Omaha (Friday evening) and Horse (Saturday evening) Championship events (lower buy ins) in addition to the main event on Sunday evening. 

Loving that idea!!!!!  Can"t think of too many providers that have HORSE capability though..... is the APAT and BSQ arrangement coming to an end?

Well it amuses me that everyone automatically ruled out the possibility that BlueSquare could be adding HORSE tournaments.

This may not be the case but that was what I thought of before I thought that it could mean another site partnering APAT.

[APAT]

as per a other thread .....live web streaming the FT at APAT live events. 

just thinking over poor ole Tighty!!

This is in the proposed budget but are you sure this is a good thing?  It would be the end of the Tighty update as we know it.  ps - the first to suggest we mic Tighty up gets a slap.  

noo...keep tighty upto the FT...then give the poor man a break!!

I suppose we"ll need someone to point the camera......loooool.

[APAT]

I see you have mentioned HORSE Des, does that mean you are looking at a new sponsor for the online events or are Bsq introducing it?

I would love to see a live feed of the Final table at the events whereby railers can see live action.

Would love to see Regionals come back, sure miss them and was a great place to hang out with APATers as well as qualify for Nationals.

Next year I also would like it to be more APAT based for APAT Team tournaments criteria rather than players being selected for their non-APAT results, my view is that we work so hard within APAT to achieve and learn and grow our game and there are so many of us who do not play much poker outwith APAT so are unable to compete with those with big non-APAT stats.  Thats just my view and would hope that next year players will be selected on their APAT stats alone, might be a bit much to ask, but I feel that APAT is for us amateurs to grow, and achieve results but it seems to have gone astray this year with the selection process and kinda unfair on those of us who support 100% and do well within APAT.

Nothing has been decided on sponsors for S4 yet Mary, so Horse remains "proposed" until we finalise in that area.  We"d like to extend the Online Championship concept, while retaining affordable buy in"s, but let"s see where we end up.  I guess the most relevant feedback on this point that I would expect some of our members to have is a) we won"t have time to play three events over a weekend b) will cost too much. 

I don"t think the Regionals can make a comeback, although we haven"t ruled it out yet.  The issue that we have is with the inconsistent delivery across the casinos, and the sometimes unsatisfactory experience that our members were experiencing.  The Nationals receive a great deal of attention, and I don"t think we are resourced to micro manage 15 to 20 national venues in a weekend.

With regards to the team events.  European Team Championship selection will remain in the hands of the captains.  I think it is right that they should be able to pick from all of the members as opposed to those who play the most.  One idea that was looked at by the Regional Controllers and myself a couple of months ago was inviting the top ten APAT Poker Clubs to the UK Team Championship.  In the end, we all felt it was too late in the day to make that sort of change for this season, but we may do that for next season and I think that would reward those players who play with their clubs every week.  No decisions have been made on this for S4, so we"d welcome everyone"s feedback.

[Mikeyboy9361]

Defo stay with BSQ. The GUKPT events are great added value, and they have done a great job this seasom IMO. Would love to see the return of the regionals, even though I understand the problems. The on line league was great, but maybe a bit too long, maybe 12 rounds, and some further incentive to keep players playing, the latter rounds were very small. The live nationals are great, any chance of a couple more?

[KarmaDope]

For the online leagues, can we drop the rule where you had to join the team closest to you within geographical distance, and change it so we can form teams of 10/15 players each and all play one big freezeout every other Sunday?

I"m suggesting this because if you were going to do this:

One idea that was looked at by the Regional Controllers and myself a couple of months ago was inviting the top ten APAT Poker Clubs to the UK Team Championship.  In the end, we all felt it was too late in the day to make that sort of change for this season, but we may do that for next season and I think that would reward those players who play with their clubs every week.  No decisions have been made on this for S4, so we"d welcome everyone"s feedback.

then people who play in places like Thanet and other less populated teams are at a disadvantage.

I"m aware that this could be fun to organise with regards to a points system in a large freezeout, but it shouldn"t be too difficult lol!

Oh, and please take into account that some members still cannot access any iPoker sites due to the AOL problem still not being resolved.

[APAT]

Defo stay with BSQ. The GUKPT events are great added value, and they have done a great job this seasom IMO. Would love to see the return of the regionals, even though I understand the problems. The on line league was great, but maybe a bit too long, maybe 12 rounds, and some further incentive to keep players playing, the latter rounds were very small. The live nationals are great, any chance of a couple more?

We certainly wouldn"t envisage offering less added value in S4, and I agree, the Blue Square team have looked after us very well in S3. 

We are proposing that the Online National League will break into three divisions in S4, with the top ten finishers in S3 going into Division One, the next ten into Division Two and the final ten going into Division Three.  There will be prizes within each Division and promotion and relegation between them.  We are looking at holding two x ten round National Leagues during S4.  It is also very likely we will invite some new clubs into the League, possibly in place of some of the existing teams in Division Three.  We will also put a greater focus on individual rankings with prizes within each Division.

It is planned to have some additional National events and as I speak, Ian is in a rowboat off the North West coast of Scotland seeking new territories!    We hope to add at least three new international events in S4.  We may also add a Championship event for the Pub Leagues.

[Mikeyboy9361]

Sounding good Des.

[tumblet]

I would love to see the league games moved to the same date each month rather than the same day. Personal obv due to not being able to play on Sunday nights.

Easier possibly if everyone knew league games were on for example on the 10th and 20th of each month...

Maybe also the team system needs changing due to the lack of players in each league. There is so much competition for the forum challenge, maybe the teams could be forum based, with each forum having to have a minimum of 10 registered players. This would also help APAT in promotion from the forums, with players choosing which forum they wish to represent.

Top 20 forums could then play the forum game next season, with the top 4 or whatever number playing in a league playoff like this season..

Just an idea, maybe something can be taken from it... but weekday or set day games would be great for me, not sure about everyone else..

1 Sunday night off for the whole 20 games and i FT...  

[APAT]

For the online leagues, can we drop the rule where you had to join the team closest to you within geographical distance, and change it so we can form teams of 10/15 players each and all play one big freezeout every other Sunday?

I"m suggesting this because if you were going to do this:

One idea that was looked at by the Regional Controllers and myself a couple of months ago was inviting the top ten APAT Poker Clubs to the UK Team Championship.  In the end, we all felt it was too late in the day to make that sort of change for this season, but we may do that for next season and I think that would reward those players who play with their clubs every week.  No decisions have been made on this for S4, so we"d welcome everyone"s feedback.

then people who play in places like Thanet and other less populated teams are at a disadvantage.

I"m aware that this could be fun to organise with regards to a points system in a large freezeout, but it shouldn"t be too difficult lol!

Oh, and please take into account that some members still cannot access any iPoker sites due to the AOL problem still not being resolved.

As we said at the start of S3, building a National League is not a short term project and it will require patience but I believe we"ve made an excellent start in S3, with some 800 players registered for clubs. 

We will take what we"ve learned in S3 onboard (shorter leagues, individual prizes, both promotion and relegation to fight for, etc) and the National League should grow rapidly in S4.   There is also the possibility that some of these clubs may get into the UK Team Championship.  

[jbworldwide]

All starting to sound good

[APAT]

I would love to see the league games moved to the same date each month rather than the same day. Personal obv due to not being able to play on Sunday nights.

Easier possibly if everyone knew league games were on for example on the 10th and 20th of each month...

Maybe also the team system needs changing due to the lack of players in each league. There is so much competition for the forum challenge, maybe the teams could be forum based, with each forum having to have a minimum of 10 registered players. This would also help APAT in promotion from the forums, with players choosing which forum they wish to represent.

Top 20 forums could then play the forum game next season, with the top 4 or whatever number playing in a league playoff like this season..

Just an idea, maybe something can be taken from it... but weekday or set day games would be great for me, not sure about everyone else..

1 Sunday night off for the whole 20 games and i FT...  

Long term project    Remember APAT controls the poker clubs and can develop them over time, but the forums are outside our control. 

Would welcome thoughts about holding the National League matches on a weekday or Saturday, as opposed to Sunday.  I don"t think I"d know whether I was coming or going if they were on a common date as opposed to day - but that"s just me!

[KarmaDope]

Have a vote on the forum, and see what day gets chosen the most. Much rather have them on a set day than a set date.

Hopefully in season 4 I"ll be able to play them!

[tumblet]

Thanks for your reply Des

Tbh I cant see why the games are better on a sunday rather than a week night, as its work next day the same. Obv this would make more sense if the reason they are not on these days if they were held on a Fri or Sat.

I personally believe that a set date sticks in someones mind better than just having them on a paticular sunday unless you know that they are always on say 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month. I think that is maybe an issue to why people miss games (along with a reason not to play due to the league format which happens in most online league games).

Saying that, there are always facebook messages and posts on the forum in the lead up to the league games.