blonde poker

Well, we have seen the evidence. 6 months ago, the place was bulging, players turned away almost every night, never less than 100 runners. Then the wheels came off. Why?

Nightfly's departure, for one. He had his critics, and was maybe overly passionate, but he cared, and had a 'free' forum to advertise his wares on blonde, andhe used it well. So far as I know, nobody from Gala Notts (Staff/Management) have bothered to use the forum since Rob left. Why? It's free, we encourage Card Room Managers to utilise it, and most of the other venues do.

Smoking? No point in even discussing that, everyone knows the view of the majority, but they have peeps blowing down their ears that smoking is OK, so it's OK.

Moving the low-stack? Ditto. I guess it does make them unique.

Earlier starts were asked for almost unanimously. No joy.

Want to order some food? 'Membership number please, or no food'. What? Meal arrives, and it's a big deal to get the sauce and condiments. The salt pots - none of them - work, as the salt is damp. I tried 5 last night, eventually receiving the offer from Margaret that she could undo the bottom of the salt pot and sprinkle the salt on for me from her bare hand. What?

blondepoker offered to sponsor a Gala Notts League, cash prizes and a trophy, with full coverage on blonde, but they turned us down as we did not have a Health & Safety Certificate. I jest not.

And they remain the only UK venue to have turned down 425 coverage, on the grounds that we need to give them a letter from the Gaming Commission. Nobody else has ever requested such a letter. 425 helps to promote every venue we visit, and in every single occasion, management are given the opportunity to do a 'promo interview', if necessary in front of their chosen advertising banner. So that's their free advert out of the window.

Range of Comps? Well, this is subjective. Many is the good judge who believes that the single rebuy or add-on comp on a Thursday night, with a decent starting stack, was as good a comp as one could find in the Midlands. It encouraged 'proper poker' and the deeper pocketed players had no advantage. But they got into a bit of a muddle here, and some of the structures they came up with were truly bizarre.

I discussed this with Ash Abdullah last night, who was a tad cross with me for suggesting he had the ear of the management at Notts. He denied this, but then went on to say what comps he'd advised them to hold - and this is where I disagree with him.

He took the line that Gala want Freezeouts or Single Rebuys, because peeps bust out earlier, & thus spend more time on the tables. The old conspiracy theory rears it's head. That, in my view, is stuff and nonsense. First thing's first, of course casinos want poker players to pay the tables - why ELSE would they hold poker tourneys? They make naff all out of the poker tourneys, but then again, they can't force anyone to play the tables.

So Ash has proposed multi-rebuy comps, they encourage 'better poker'. We disagreed, and he told me that he knows the poker market better than me. Maybe he does, but I won't concede. I genuinely believe that single or limited rebuy comps encourage better poker, and better players. But he has the management's ear, and I no longer have. (I had the temerity to suggest banning smoking in the card-room was a good thing). So there you have it. Multi, unlimited rebuys are the way forward at Gala Notts apprently.

I witnessed a quite bizarre scene a month or two back in Gala Notts. Ken, a suit, almost got lynched during a tourney break so much so that the break got extended by 20 minutes. A mob had descended upon him with quite legitimate complaints about the structure of that night's comp, which, truth to tell, was truly awful. (The top up was 4 x BB!). But they had not the first idea of the psychology of negotiation. "You are just stupid bloody idiots," is hardly the way to persuade management to change their view, now is it? When negotiating, you MUST leave your opponent room to maneouvre an honourable settlement. Basic negotiation skills. Back someone into a corner and he ain't gonna die quietly. Leave him room to escape with his dignity, ffs.

Well, there are the negatives, what about the Positives?

Plenty, and it has to be acknowledged, they are trying - hard.

All the staff have swanky new uniforms.

They have installed a swish new plasma screen thingy to record the comp progress.

Rebuys can't be fiddled, they use the 'bar-code' system.

Olga, Benz and Jim - I have no idea who is in charge - but they all try hard, and are customer-friendly.

New schedules with better structures are promised.

The notice board is festooned with news of upcoming events and schedule changes.

They have a league, too, excellent news.

The House Dealers - when used - are much, much, improved, and deserve some credit for this.

I think with a little more thought they can get the punters back. I hope so, it's a smashing cardroom, it really is, one of the best in the UK. None of the suggestions I make, which in my view reflect public opinion, would cost a button. Surely worth a try?

I wish them well, and hope to be able to continue to support them, and continue to offer blonde's forum for their use.

What say you?