Pokerpops ponders poker

[pokerpops]

I"m sure most APAT members will have seen Rob Yong"s latest blog. It included this sentence..


"At the moment MTTs are horribly sluggish, 80% of players don"t even bother to play from the start, MTTs finish so late that nobody who has to get to work in the morning can realistically play, all these bad changes have been made by operators to hit guarantees at all costs regardless of player experience."


Seriously?

I love DTD, have had lots of great experiences there. I"ve played tournaments way outside my bankroll through their outrageously good value satellite structure. Picked up a few flags there

But they pioneered late registration and have stretched that period to the limits at times when guarantees look like being missed. They"ve even gone so far as to throw in extra Day 1s at the last minute.

I applaud the move to shorten late reg, and the move back toward genuine freezeout tournaments, but let"s not forget that this "problem" stems in part from DTD itself.

[Chipaccrual]

I"m sure many would agree with that David, although I doubt many would actually say it.

[pokerpops]

I"m sure many would agree with that David, although I doubt many would actually say it.

Indeed.

[George2Loose]

Maybe post it on blonde where it might get seen.

I don"t think DTD started this- extended late reg was on stars long before it was anywhere live iirc

[pokerpops]

Newcastle on Sunday for the English Championship. All being well I"m travelling up with The Fossil, aka Erimus, aka Brian. Considering how close we live it"s a shock to realise I haven"t seen him for six months. Back in the day we"d probably see each other two or three times a week but I"ve cut back on my poker a lot and he has better things to do on Sunday afternoons.
It will be good to catch up.

I"m looking forward to the game, I don"t get to play many decent structure 40 min clock events these days and it"s a bit of a treat to be honest. I am intent on making Day 2 so expect me to be nitting it up like a good un

[Fatcatstu]

Newcastle on Sunday for the English Championship. All being well I"m travelling up with The Fossil, aka Erimus, aka Brian. Considering how close we live it"s a shock to realise I haven"t seen him for six months. Back in the day we"d probably see each other two or three times a week but I"ve cut back on my poker a lot and he has better things to do on Sunday afternoons.
It will be good to catch up.

I"m looking forward to the game, I don"t get to play many decent structure 40 min clock events these days and it"s a bit of a treat to be honest. I am intent on making Day 2 so expect me to be nitting it up like a good un

I am there as well mate! Be good to see you.

[Erimus]

Ditto, been a while, see you Saturday, whilst I am here pop to next door to read another exciting foray into the G poker room.

[pokerpops]

I"ve been having a debate with Nick Whiten, the Operations Director at DTD lately. It revolves around the value of my Golden Chip FT in the two Grand Prix tournaments back in 2012.
I believe that I was misled and he thinks it was all dealt with at the time.

I won"t fill this post with the full story, but suffice to say that my most recent email in which I suggested that I should share the details with a wider audience seems to have upset him.
So upset was he that I have been removed and blocked from accessing the Facebook groups for DTD and Party Poker, and I have been banned from Blonde.

Watch this space.

[pokerpops]

Setting aside any controversial issues...

Does anyone ever fold pre these days?

I played the Sunderland Day 1 of the Summer Sizzler last night. £110 buy in, £20k gtd.
it seems that limping in is the new raise
Limp calling is pretty popular too, and contagious.

Am I out of touch? Is this the new reality that we all see lots of flops and turns and rivers and hope we make the best hand?

Hope this doesn"t sound too bitter. I didn"t make day 2 obviously, although I kind of enjoyed my evening which could have ended a lot better than it did if I could a) avoid attempting to bluff someone off the second nut flush b) avoid people making runner runner straights and c) accept that KK is an Ace Magnet (seriously, Ace on flop, another on turn and both pre flop callers have one in their hand..)

[pokerpops]

I"m in pondersome mode...

So, how many entries should anyone be allowed in a tournament?

Time was, it was one shot and that"s your lot.
Then we got one re-entry allowed.
Following on from that we had the situation where, with many of the bigger tournaments having multiple starting days we"re allowed to enter each of the starting days, and have two or more bullets each day.
Our local G, and I assume all local Gs, now allow two re-entries (albeit only in the first two hours)

Now, I know all the arguments about re-entries being good for the prize pool. That we just have to take advantage of the gamblers and pick up their chips when they decide to gamble because they can always have another bullet. But is that really the way it works?

As I see it, there is another factor in play. Bankroll capacity. The players with deeper pockets, or bigger staking deals, have an advantage. They aren"t playing in a freeze out, they are playing a Rebuy

Beyond that issue there"s another one raising it"s head. Direct buy in to Day 2 of an event.
Again this seems to be to the advantage of the same group of players.

Of course "recreational" players will still get results, but there have been a number of recent results in $109 buy in tournaments that suggest that the pro"s and the staked players are making use of their advantage.

[Fatcatstu]

Agree, hate all the re entry and straight to day 2 nonsense. I can see why thy do it, in a world of people feeling entitled huge guarantees on tournaments, but it doesnt make it right IMO.

It will lead to those who can afford it ruining it for other people, who cant afford to just throw loads of dosh at something.

[Chipaccrual]

Beyond that issue there"s another one raising it"s head. Direct buy in to Day 2 of an event.
Again this seems to be to the advantage of the same group of players.

Of course "recreational" players will still get results, but there have been a number of recent results in $109 buy in tournaments that suggest that the pro"s and the staked players are making use of their advantage.

Both of these points really worry me about the state of the big tournaments in the UK.

Doesn"t feel like a level playing field for the recreational player who rocks up for their one or two tourneys a month anymore.

Maybe it never was, but feels much more so now.

[duke3016]

Hate the way it"s going. But maybe that"s just me.

[pokerpops]

Hate the way it"s going. But maybe that"s just me.

Nope, it"s not just you.
Many many other things may well be uniquely Ger, but not this one.

[pokerpops]

Beyond that issue there"s another one raising it"s head. Direct buy in to Day 2 of an event.
Again this seems to be to the advantage of the same group of players.

Of course "recreational" players will still get results, but there have been a number of recent results in $109 buy in tournaments that suggest that the pro"s and the staked players are making use of their advantage.

Both of these points really worry me about the state of the big tournaments in the UK.

Doesn"t feel like a level playing field for the recreational player who rocks up for their one or two tourneys a month anymore.

Maybe it never was, but feels much more so now.

It may not have been level in terms of skills Leigh, but having multiple chances to utilise their skills definitely aids those who can fire multiple bullets.
In snooker and darts it is clearly the case that the longer the match the more likely the better player prevails as they have the chance to overcome short term misfortune. Multiple entries to the came tournament gives the same impact.

I"m not decrying the efforts of those who have prevailed in big tournaments.
See, Robert Baguley
http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=157893

some old fish
http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=210781&_ga=1.240688389.761401061.1455816979


But the fact is that these results are going to get rarer and rarer.