UK Amateur Poker Championship at Manchester

[JohnWain111]

 Although the event is still on today, a post to thank all involved at APAT for a great event at Manchester. Hopefully all goes well for those still in the competition today. This was my first entry to the event and although am unfortunatley not there today at the final tables, finishing somewhere around sixtieth, I felt I got much out of the day by the way of experience and met a lot of good people.
One constructive criticism I have is that at our table we ended up with 3 empty seats of those who just did"nt turn up - bad form! Their stacks were obviously blinded down throughout the course of the day, but it does cause inconvenience to those players there, not to mention the dealers who occassionally miss dealing them in, have to cross over players to retrieve dead cards, and players closest to the empty seats ensuring absent players blinds are put in. There must be a better solution to this problem!
Anyway, not to take anything away from a great day. I"ll certainly be trying for another seat.

Cheers APAT  
 

[AMRN]

I love it when people don"t take their seat!!  They"ve contributed to the prize pool, but don"t pose a threat to me taking it down!!    My problem is that I tend to concentrate more on stealing dead blinds rather than playing poker - forever tripping up on this...

[kinboshi]

I can"t believe people don"t turn up and don"t call in advance to get their buy-in refunded.

Not only are they doing themselves out of some money, they"re also preventing someone else from playing from the reserve list.

As for removing the chips - not really a simple option there.  The player has paid his entry fee (or qualified for the seat) and might be held up in traffic (or something similar) and will arrive a few hours late.  That"s their prerogative in my book and having them fold their blinds is only the same as having someone sitting at the table waiting for AA or KK that never comes.

I think it took 7 hours until these empty seats were blinded out.  There might be a case for saying that after so many levels their chips are removed or they"re blinded every hand - but the second option certainly changes the table dynamic - and makes it an unfair playing field on the table (some are in better position to steal these chips), and also makes one table different to another. 

Maybe removing their chips after a certain amount of time is the answer?  But what happens then if they turn up just after their chips have been removed?  Have they not paid the same as everyone else, and now have the right to turn up when they want?  I guess it could be written in the APAT rules that people who don"t turn up have to arrive before the end of a certain level (e.g. level 5), or must call to say they will be turning up and have been delayed, otherwise they are automatically withdrawn?

[Jon MW]

I don"t think that there could be any way that peoples stack should just be removed.

Somebody on that table could have mediocre hands for the first 5 levels and then hit a run of good cards - I think they should be allowed the opportunity to pick up the dead blinds just as much as the players with good cards in the first few levels.

The blinds just being paid as normal by the missing player/s probably causes the least disruption to the playing dynamics of the game. I think this longer, smaller disruption is preferable over the shorter more significant change that would be caused if there were any kind of accelerated blinding off of absent players.

Basically, that"s all just to say that I think the current system is the best. Although I agree it is odd that some players don"t turn up and don"t cancel.

[APAT]

There were very few no shows, but it is not an option to remove them from the event.

[Swinebag]

There were very few no shows, but it is not an option to remove them from the event.

Its the law!

[kinboshi]

Is it the law?

Different casinos have different methods of blinding them out - some make them post the BB every hand.  Others, like this weekend, only post their blinds once per orbit.

If the rules on APAT events said that you forfeit your right to play (and lose your entry fee) if you don"t arrive or notify the organisers before a certain time - would that be acceptable or is that not possible?

I didn"t think it was much of an issue, we had one no show on the first table I was on.  However, just as the blinds were getting serious and I was in the perfect position to steal them - I was moved to another table (which had a no show on it as well). 

In fact one of the most enjoyable hands of the day for me came after one of the short breaks.  SB hadn"t returned, and the BB was a no show.  I was UTG+1 and flat called.  Lots of laughing around the table who decided that I must have a monster as I didn"t raise to steal the blinds on offer.  Everyone folded and I took the blinds with a call .

[tumblet]

There were very few no shows, but it is not an option to remove them from the event.

What would happen if say 1 person phones up after the tournament has started and sais they wont be able to make it.

Would an alternate then be able to take their seat?

[JayCbee]

Fantastic weekend - thoroughly enjoyed myself.

We had a no-show on our table.  Aparently he started a fight there the night before and was barred!!  

Only one thing to moan about - That blinking cabaret singer.  It was all happending a really important time in the tournament for me.  I made a button raise with A10 and was re-raised all in.  I really needed to think hard about what to do and simply couldnt because of her screaming out that titanic number behind me. 

Really - Could they not have had that going on that evening.  I mean it was the UK championship and a little respect to the game by the G casino would have been nice.

Apart from that it was a great weekend.  Just a little shame things like that happen - thoughts?

     

[Flush!]

I was at your same table and i agree with you the singing and really off putting.
They should not have done in considering the APAT was on and it was becoming into the important time of the night.
I have to say i crashed out in 80th (about) and i had a few decisions which i needed a little thinking but you could not hear yourself think in there,

anyway will make sure i take some ear muffs next time,

[linziwan]

I don"t understand why people are "No shows", there are things called "telephones" all they have to do is ring the Casino to get a message to the APAT team to advise they can"t make it.... or email in advance.

Hello thats £75 back into their pockets, even if they qualified for the seat.

As somebody who sat patiently(not) in Walsall as an alternate it was very frustrating to see empty seats (and too tight players not putting their chips in  ).  In the end only one person got in as an alternate in Walsall....

PLEASE PLEASE if you can"t make it let the team know.... even 5 mins before...

The method at the moment of blinding them away is the best one....

[Shy Talk]

Only my second APAT tourney (first was Walsall) and found the experience superb (apart from not winning and of course the wonderful "singer"   )

The organisation going into these tournaments has been top quality and I take my hat off to all involved.

I would agree with the comments about no shows - can"t understand why they don"t let anyone know. It must be so frustrating to people who really want to play, so come on all concerned - buck up!!!  

PS: finished 149th in Walsall and 46th (ish) in Manchester, so I"m on the move!!

[UKChamp]

Re: no show players

Maybe the answer is to say that the original seat/player gets his/her money back only if an alternate buys his/her seat. The alternate then has to play from the remaining chip stack and can only do so after four levels of play and nobody has turned up or when the original player cancels his seat (the earlier of the two). For this the alternate pays £60 not £75 and thats the value of money returned to the original player.

At present with no plyaers getting their money back there is no incentive to notify APAT, other than common decency

Make sense?

[kinboshi]

If someone notifies APAT before the start - they get their money fully refunded.

If they don"t notify APAT, then they are entered into the tourney - as is there £75.

I think Walsall was a unique case - as the accident on the M6 delayed a lot of people were delayed by over an hour, which meant that there were far fewer people being knocked out in the first few levels.  However in saying that, I fully expected there to be more than 3 alternates getting in at Manchester.

[thacker]

anyone that dose not turn up and couldnt be arsed tp phone should be not be able to play for the season.