Can"t believe all that I"ve just read. We"re talking about a little weekly $10 poker comp with some significant added value but which has taken a huge amount of negotiation and organisation by the guys at APAT.
Yet despite all that, we have people throwing toys out of the pram? For crying out loud, I"d even play for Stockton if it meant I could get a decent game with a decent bunch of people, and some competitive spirit every week...... and although I was born in Bournemouth, I don"t feel the need to play for a Southern Region - I live in the West Midlands, and will be happy to play with them as my local region.
Need to see the bigger picture here guys.
It"s a bit different playing for a region of England as opposed to saying heres an England team but you can only play for Ireland. I"m sure most would rather play for their country as we have seen a few express.
It"s not different at all.
The rule of the comp is to play for the region in which you currently reside - if I lived in Ireland, I would play for Ireland, simplez - but that doesn"t make me any less patriotic, or any less English. If this were a competition about county vs country, then that would be very different - but it"s not, it"s about region vs region.... and it just happens that APAT have divided up the British Isles in such a way that Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, are regions within the regional structure.
As it happens, I have some Scottish ancestry, my wife is Welsh, my kids are half Welsh, I drank Guinness in Ireland a few times, I was born in Bournemouth (and that remains my most favourite place in the world), but... I live in the West Midlands at the moment, so I will happily play with the West Mids team in accordance with the APAT rules.
I really don"t see why people are getting so wound up by this.