What Day Should Online Series Games Be Played On?

[KVNSTV]

When I say to the wife on a Saturday night I plan to sit down and play poker on the internet all night the look she shoots me could stop a Rhino in full charge. Having said that I do occasionally get the chance to dip into the online series and enjoy the games a lot. 

I agree with Jon"s comments about the games needing to be on a Friday or Saturday to allow the maximum possible number of APAt member to play because the vast majority hold down regular jobs and this enables them to compete for the title.

I also think you have to consider those who work weekends and those who can"t commit to  play enough tournaments to compete for the season championship. What I would like to see is a regular monthly tournament held on a rotating week day that offers an APAt season title for  variety of different poker formats, quick example;

So 1st Monday in Jan APAt Season 2, 7 card stud championship
1st Tuesday in Feb Season 2 Omaha championship
1st Wednesday in March Season 2 Limit Hold'em championship
1st Thursday in April Season 2 Omaha Hi/Lo championship
1st Friday in May Season 2 Pot Limit Hold'em

The season title could become "The main event" with this other titles enabling others to compete in there favourite formats. 

[kinboshi]

I"m not sure the work argument discounts Sunday evening as a valid option though?  Surely a counter-argument can be used to say that because most people work Monday-Friday, then Saturday night is the only night they can do things with their family, friends (not that I know what they are), and carry out other social commitments.

I"m a sad git, so I can play many of the Saturday tournaments.  However, I have missed a few due to "unavoidable" events - such as weddings and the like. 

If you "go" anywhere at a weekend, that makes Saturday night difficult - if not impossible.  Anyone who works Mon-Fri will usually have to be back home for Sunday evening - and this seems to me to be the ideal time for an online poker tournament.  As has been pointed out elsewhere, many other tournaments are played on a Sunday night.  I guess start might have to be slightly earlier than 8 - maybe 7 or even 6 could be feasible?  

It might be that one night suits a substantial number, and another night is better for a different group - again consisting of a large number of members.  Surely the ideal solution is one that tries to accommodate as many members as possible - and this would suggest to me that the tournaments would need to be held on different days - maybe alternating between Saturday and Sunday?

As KVNSTV pointed out, having the tournaments on different nights might actually help to save a few marriages!

[ClintonO]

Please avoid Sundays, there is far too many other poker events going on Sunday. Saturdays are working well

[kinboshi]

Please avoid Sundays, there is far too many other poker events going on Sunday. Saturdays are working well

No one is making a decision at the moment - we"re just putting together reasons and suggestions that can then be looked at in more detail and hopefully formalised and put to the members as a vote (and then a decision made with this information in hand).

Saturdays are working well for many - but might not be working well for others.  Personally, I don"t mind.  I have no social life...

[Jon MW]

Although I don"t think alternating nights is a good idea overall, it might be worth trying it in Season 2 and contrasting the number of entries to give a pointer for a fixed night for subsequent seasons.

Having said that I prefer the idea of weekday and weekend tournaments with the top 15 results counting. Although it would be hard to register 15 results it highlights the fact that if you don"t get to enter every online and live event it doesn"t mean the end of your challenge.

[APAT]

When I say to the wife on a Saturday night I plan to sit down and play poker on the internet all night the look she shoots me could stop a Rhino in full charge. Having said that I do occasionally get the chance to dip into the online series and enjoy the games a lot. 

I agree with Jon"s comments about the games needing to be on a Friday or Saturday to allow the maximum possible number of APAt member to play because the vast majority hold down regular jobs and this enables them to compete for the title.

I also think you have to consider those who work weekends and those who can"t commit to  play enough tournaments to compete for the season championship. What I would like to see is a regular monthly tournament held on a rotating week day that offers an APAt season title for  variety of different poker formats, quick example;

So 1st Monday in Jan APAt Season 2, 7 card stud championship
1st Tuesday in Feb Season 2 Omaha championship
1st Wednesday in March Season 2 Limit Hold'em championship
1st Thursday in April Season 2 Omaha Hi/Lo championship
1st Friday in May Season 2 Pot Limit Hold'em

The season title could become "The main event" with this other titles enabling others to compete in there favourite formats. 

I saw you mention this elsewhere Kevin and think this idea has lots of potential.  Will definitely be adding this to the development list for season two.

[APAT]

Please avoid Sundays, there is far too many other poker events going on Sunday. Saturdays are working well

No one is making a decision at the moment - we"re just putting together reasons and suggestions that can then be looked at in more detail and hopefully formalised and put to the members as a vote (and then a decision made with this information in hand).

Saturdays are working well for many - but might not be working well for others.  Personally, I don"t mind.  I have no social life...

We may have to use a random draw to reach the decision  

[kinboshi]

Please avoid Sundays, there is far too many other poker events going on Sunday. Saturdays are working well

No one is making a decision at the moment - we"re just putting together reasons and suggestions that can then be looked at in more detail and hopefully formalised and put to the members as a vote (and then a decision made with this information in hand).

Saturdays are working well for many - but might not be working well for others.  Personally, I don"t mind.  I have no social life...

We may have to use a random draw to reach the decision  

[Numero37]

Yep, with most people here, very difficult to get a good night for everybody. Think it is important that it alternates weeks. Perhaps, alternating weeks and nights would be good.

[Ascot]

Always out on Saturdays - why not alternate with Sundays - maybe with a 4pm kick off? Another forum ran a $1000 added tournament for members last sunday at 4pm and it was well supported.

[Paulie_D]

The simple fact is that you CAN"T please everyone all the time.

No single day &/or time is going to suit everyone..all any organisation is try to satisfy as many of it"s members as it can.

Weekends are when MOST people are off work and early evenings are when MOST people have free time at weekends, allowing for a reasonable end time.

Life is full of compromises and so, the question for us, as members, is what are we willing to give up to take part in the online series. An evening out...so be it.

An evening with the wife/kids..perhaps not..but that"s a choice we have to be willing to make and live with.

All of the above being said, different days/games/alternating...whatever...I"m sure it"s all going into the APAT thinktank.

[KVNSTV]

When I say to the wife on a Saturday night I plan to sit down and play poker on the internet all night the look she shoots me could stop a Rhino in full charge. Having said that I do occasionally get the chance to dip into the online series and enjoy the games a lot. 

I agree with Jon"s comments about the games needing to be on a Friday or Saturday to allow the maximum possible number of APAt member to play because the vast majority hold down regular jobs and this enables them to compete for the title.

I also think you have to consider those who work weekends and those who can"t commit to  play enough tournaments to compete for the season championship. What I would like to see is a regular monthly tournament held on a rotating week day that offers an APAt season title for  variety of different poker formats, quick example;

So 1st Monday in Jan APAt Season 2, 7 card stud championship
1st Tuesday in Feb Season 2 Omaha championship
1st Wednesday in March Season 2 Limit Hold'em championship
1st Thursday in April Season 2 Omaha Hi/Lo championship
1st Friday in May Season 2 Pot Limit Hold'em

The season title could become "The main event" with this other titles enabling others to compete in there favourite formats. 

I saw you mention this elsewhere Kevin and think this idea has lots of potential.  Will definitely be adding this to the development list for season two.

Excellent news, I will always play an APAt online tour event if im available on a Saturday night but with a family it's very rare. I realistically will only play two or three of these a season and maybe one live event due to financial restrictions. so realistically its unlikely I will be in the running for the title (not discounting the fact I"m also rubbish), this would not stop me playing any of the events especially the live ones because I enjoy them very much but I"m very excited about the chance for me to play for a title in an poker discipline I specialize in Like Hi-lo Split or Razz. I think this move will be very inclusive to those APAt members who can"t always dedicate the amount of time to the game as we would like!  

[George2Loose]

I"m in favour of moving it to a weekday night.

Like to concentrate on the major"s on a Sunday..... and the mrs won"t let me touch the laptop most Saturday"s!

[Sheriff Fatman]

I"m not a fan of the Saturday evening start time.  Despite intending to play in most of them I"ve found that most of them have clashed with something that has taken precedence to it.

The simple fact is that most social events (e.g. weddings, family visits, stag do"s, anything organised by the Mrs) tend to be focused on Saturday nights.  Given the nature of most of these things its pretty much impossible trying to justify not attending one of these for "another night playing poker on the PC".

Personally, I think Sundays would be the best time for the APAT events.  I also think an earlier start (anything from 4pm to 7pm) would work well.  With regard to potential late finishes, only a small percentage of players would survive to the end stages of each event anyway so the chances of the same people being affected over and over again are slim (although it"d be a nice problem to have).

Also, given that there are other popular tournaments going on at the same time I would imagine that many APAT online players are already planning to play online on Sunday evenings anyway so it seems to me to be a "natural" time to hold the events.

Personally, I"d prefer just about any alternative to the Saturday evenings.  Taking up half a dozen weekends per year to play the live events is a big enough "sacrifice" to family/social matters and is far easier to justify.  Extending that to all the fortnightly online tournaments is just too much to expect.

I also suspect this is the reason why the numbers for the online events haven"t grown significantly throughout the season, as only a small number of "hardcore players" are able to devote the time to playing these events regularly.  Considering the speed at which the live events sell out you would think that the online events would attract higher numbers.  I think the start time is the main reason they don"t.

Sheriff

[ThinkerJE]

I also suspect this is the reason why the numbers for the online events haven"t grown significantly throughout the season, as only a small number of "hardcore players" are able to devote the time to playing these events regularly.

I have played every online event.  Does this make me "hardcore"???