Registering for APAT on day of play?

[inthepink]

Are we to assume that unless we live in town or city of casino we have no chance of playing,as it is a bit much to expect people to drive  for hours on off chance of getting a seat. Am a newbie, but didnt i read in a past poker player issue that the demand was so great in season 1 that you applied in advance and then had a draw to see who played, which seems a fairer way of doing it

[Jon MW]

The regional tournaments will have registration on the day.

I still haven"t seen any response to the query about whether we will be able to register by phone.

But if you can"t then you only have to be there when the casino opens and (unless I"m missing something) this will mean that you have as much chance as any local of registering.

[inthepink]

Thats the point i am making, for the locals who dont make it its only a bus ride home, but for others could be 2-3 hour journey,cant see many people taking the risk as am sure the demand is going to be great and with only 80 spaces

[kinboshi]

I can"t imagine that there"ll be a queue of 80 people outside the door of the casino at midday waiting to put their name"s down for the APAT tournament.

It"s going to be a bit of a pain for those that have to travel, but there"s no way round that.  There were teething problems in Season 1, and some of those were ironed out (some are still being sorted), and there"ll be issues that crop up during Season 2.  Even with these difficulties - it"ll be better than what was offered pre-APAT.

I"d imagine that the demand at some venues will be larger than others.  It wouldn"t surprise me if a few found it easy to fill the 80 places, whilst others get nowhere near that figure.

[inthepink]

Does anyone know whats happening with dusk till dawn, with regionals nearly upon us, as is my nearest casino, about 70 miles

[kinboshi]

The hearing started today.  Up to the magistrates to decide.

You can read all about it here: http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=26627.0

It"ll be a travesty if they don"t get the nod.  DTD will be my venue of choice as well for APAT (and a lot more!).

[FlyingPig73]

The regional tournaments will have registration on the day.

I still haven"t seen any response to the query about whether we will be able to register by phone.

But if you can"t then you only have to be there when the casino opens and (unless I"m missing something) this will mean that you have as much chance as any local of registering.

Jon, I think there will be a definitive answer to this shorlty. I am not sure if it will be down to the individual casino, or if one casino will and another won"t that will cause a disparity and may prove unfair on other members in other areas where this is not available.

I am sure Des will pick up on this and let us know in due course.

[PLBrael]

Before I add to this thread can I just day that I think APAT exists and that they"re putting the time and effort into organising tournaments like this. Really looking forward to the first game... assuming I can get a seat!  

For me, it"s a 4 hour round trip. To get there and not get to play would be a huge disappointment as I"ve had to talk nicely to my wife so that I can go!   My usual port of call on a Saturday afternoon would be the footie and I"m missing this to go to Edinburgh. If I"m stuck there at 2.30pm then I"ve no chance of getting to the game as a fall back. I"m sure there"ll be others in the same position and who may have even pulled strings at work to get away for this. Setting something up to allow registration at least the day before would be a great help.

One last point... game starts sharp at 2.30pm? Casino doesn"t open until 3pm??   Or has some arrangement been reached??

[APAT]

There will be additional detail around Regional event timings coming out early next week. 

This is being pulled together with the casinos as we speak. 

APAT is pushing for additional methods of entry, however, while APAT manages the entry process for each National event, logistically it would be an impossible task for us to manage 14 player lists.  At every event, players drop out and new ones are added throughout the week running up to the event.  I can"t imagine how 14 events would be managed without having a couple of paid employees managing the flow. 

So as far as APAT is concerned, our preference would be for members to be able to a) phone the venue directly b) call into the venue before the event and book that way.  However, to do this we need the venues to be able to manage these player lists in advance of the event, and that is a challenge as they do not currently take entries as we would like them to.  However, there is one other entry method that I believe would work, that I am investigating. 

Again, if we are not able to deliver an ideal solution for leg 1, that does not mean that we will stop trying to have the most player friendly process implemented for the following leg.

[mancdan]

All sounds good to me.

Will watch this space for further details.

[clynd99]

Im fully expecting a new Harry Potter book-style of camping outside casinos days in advance only for people to be dissappointed and resort to rioting.

[Bodddders]

There are 1080 seats available (13 Regionals X 80 seats) (1160 when DTD comes onboard) for each live qualifying round into the national events. Based on how long it took to sell the 300 seats for the recent European Open at Luton (nearly 24 hours I believe) shouldn"t there be enough to go around. There are just under 1400 forum members and I"m sure not all of them are able or wanting to play in these events.
Of course some venues will be more popular than others so unless a system to allow pre-booking is introduced, we will just have to to "suck it and see" I guess.

[Jon MW]

There are 1080 seats available (13 Regionals X 80 seats) (1160 when DTD comes onboard) for each live qualifying round into the national events. Based on how long it took to sell the 300 seats for the recent European Open at Luton (nearly 24 hours I believe) shouldn"t there be enough to go around. There are just under 1400 forum members and I"m sure not all of them are able or wanting to play in these events.
Of course some venues will be more popular than others so unless a system to allow pre-booking is introduced, we will just have to to "suck it and see" I guess.

The European Open at Luton isn"t a good comparison as that was very late notice for over the Bank Holiday weekend

[duncthehat]

I really feel we are worrying too much.

We have 200 odd players playing online trying to qualify and that is in the luxury of their own home.

Most of the venues i bet will be around the 30/40 mark only.

Even say Manchester and London i reckon will be below 80.

[Ivydrive]

Haven"t played live before as am a relatively new member... looking forward to hopefully playing the regional dates at Cardiff. With no mention of cardiff im hoping this is one of the "quieter" venues  

Probably a silly question but how do you prove you"re an APAT member upon sign on?

Also, off topic i know, but aside from the cash prizes and points for top 9, do you earn the opportunity to buy in to the national £75 event or do you actually win entry?

Looks excellent regardless! Can"t wait! I want a medal

Many thanks.
Matt