Hello everyone,

the photos from our Manchester Masters Academy are up on facebook now with more to come!

Take a look here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Plymouth/Masters-Academy/311167130950?ref=ts

Thank you!

The Trafford centre was amazing, a beautiful place and very busy! The two days were hard work but very interesting. The stands on Peel Avenue were constantly busy and our sponsors are very happy to see so many different people, not just your usual poker or sports book players so it was great to see new sign ups.

I spent a lot of time at the bandstand in the food court where the training was taking place, it was not as busy but there were lots of people showing an interest and taking part, I very much enjoyed taking part in the event.

As for the training Scott O’reilly said:

 “Having never been to the Trafford centre before I have to say I was impressed at its resemblance to a Las Vegas mall. The food court where the bandstand was located was astoundingly vast. We ran two different formats for the tutoring, one where we were discussing through hand examples and the other in the form on single table tournaments in which we could discuss strategy as the pupils were actually playing for themselves. We received a wide range of skill levels of which I am sure everyone walked away with new found knowledge. I really enjoyed meeting people that wanted to learn skills to develop their own game. It was a pleasure working with Paul and John as they were both very knowledgeable about the game.”

This weekend has helped us understand more about what the public want and how they view poker. Many want to learn and by meeting the players and sites they felt more confident. All of this we will take into account when arranging the next Masters which we are definitely interested in doing. It is a new way to meet players and to introduce the game to a wider audience though without greater on line support and qualifiers we admit that the academy and festival will not fill up.

A more detailed report will follow along with pictures and film of the event.

Kerri.

Have your shot at winning a place in one of the UK’s largest tournaments. The Irish open gets bigger and better every year. Get yourself a guaranteed seat. Play tonight at 8pm at the Circus Casino Manchester.

Irish Open Qualifier £125 + 10 5000 starting chips, 50/100 blinds, 30 min clock for 2 levels then 20 min clock (25 player minimum)

Also, don’t forget the Masters Festival Main Event tomorrow at 3pm at the Circus Casino

[Irish Open Qualifier Friday Night in the Circus Casino Manchester]

Free roll at 5pm at the Circus Casino to win a seat to the Masters Festival Saturday main event.

Then at 8pm get involved in a classic £10+£1 freeze out comp - 5000 starting chips, 50/100 blinds. 30 min clock for 2 levels then 20 min clock

Irish Open Qualifier Friday Night in the Circus Casino Manchester

Thanks for the input, I am sure there are many different views on who will attend seminars and I will definitely take everyones comments on board.

I will be at the trade show now for four days so I may not reply until next week but please keep the comments coming as we would still like to put on another Masters in September and want to ensure we position things better next time. The casino issue is something I know I will have to address and will review accordingly.

Dave

We have worked within the gaming industry for several years and share many of the player’s frustration with the way U/K casinos sometimes operate. Two years ago we decided to stop promoting events in the U/K as we could not convince the casinos to promote poker in a way that would ensure players attended on a regular basis. We understand that they make their revenue from the gaming tables and that poker too many of them is a necessary evil. However it is our experience that a casino that runs as an entertainment centre providing diverse and interesting events for the general public who will ultimately gain the most in the long term.

We work with many sites and take hundreds of players to the WSOP booking the hotels and pre registering them for all the events, this year we are busier than ever and many players are approaching us on an individual basis to sort the trip for them, so there are plenty of players with a decent bankroll. We asked them what they think was missing from the U/K and researched our Poker in the Pub players as well.

We decided to launch the Masters experience this year as we felt the change in legislation allowing us to do a roadshow would create a great opportunity to have a weekend of poker where the sites could promote their products, players could learn new skills via an academy and the local casino could put on a series of low stakes events that would fit many player budgets. Despite all of our research and marketing we did not sell enough tickets for the academy, we are also seeing very poor attendance in the casino so far this week for the poker events.

I know times are very tough and budgets are tight but I am amazed at the small turnout in a city like Manchester. We have certainly posted enough on forums, facebook twitter etc and have put posters up and carried out leaflet drops and PR across the city. I know many players might not like some of the structure but this is set by the casino, is this the main reason why players will not attend?  Is it the casino? Lack of funds?  Or is it simply that you will not fill a tournament unless there has been several online qualifiers to create a decent starting number.

For us to continue to look at poker festivals we need to understand whether there are too many events and not enough players to fill them. I am confident that the roadshow will grow in the coming years and working with TIPS and other speakers we will create an educational series of poker academies to go with it. I would like to know what poker tournaments to put alongside these events. I believed that Manchester had a large enough community to fill such a small tournament and this is not proving to be the case. Tournaments are not profitable and so running one outside of a casino is not likely to happen.

Thanks in advance for your input

Dave

Midway through the Masters Festival! Tonight’s Manchester event

Another chance to win yourself a free seat at the Saturday main event. Starts at 5pm at the Circus Casino in Manchester. Followed up by a 8pm £10 NLH freeze-out

Don’t forget that tonight you can head down to the Manchester Circus casino to play the Masters Festival. 5pm is the start of a FREE satellite for the Saturday main event.

Then at 9pm come along to the £20+£2 re-buy comp - 90 minutes of re-buys, 2000 starting chips, 50/100 blinds, 30 min clock (free buffet at 11:15)!

Also, don’t forget the Irish open qualifier on Friday night!

Jon “Skalie” Kalmar has now confirmed as a speaker at the Manchester Masters Academy. He will be speaking on a number of topics. His game experience and ability to give helpful and constructive advise makes him an ideal speaker.

Check out his profile on http://www.masterspokeracademy.com/the-event

Tickets are available for the Manchester event from only £25!