Went to DTD with a mate on the first Thursday. It"s a fantastic place but I"ve got one minor reservation.
This is the annoying case that they allow alternates. I wouldn"t mind this in a tournament starting early but these one"s don"t. This means that if you want to win it you"re not going home until 5am and even that might need a chip count.
On the plus side I live about 5 minutes away so me and my mate (Stuart Hopkin, second in Manchester) will be there if something gets arranged for the apat members.
See you there
All/most card rooms and casinos now allow alternates for the first two level for their tournaments. This enables a greater number of people to play, and reduces the number of disappointed people who can"t get into the tournament.
Simon Trumper who manages the card room has structured the tournaments so that they will finish before 6am. There"s no way round having a tournament that takes place over 1 night and has a decent structure and clock, other than start it earlier and/or finish it later.
I"m not actually sure how much longer the inclusion of alternates makes a tournament last. The blinds continue to go up at the same speed, and I can"t see it moving the finish of the tournament significantly. Might be wrong though.
The other thing is that if you"re there to the end, you"ve cashed and you won"t be bothered anyway!