Launch of the Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT)

[Bongo]

I'm not so sure a straight draw is the best solution because:
some people may go a long time without being drawn, while others get into every event
people will want to play certain events more than others - e.g. the event closest to them.

I had a quick think (literally 2 minutes... be gentle!) and came up with an idea:
Standard draw - each person who has registered an interest gets 10 tickets in a draw, obviously they can only win 1 seat and any duplicates are discarded

For every event they get a place in the number of tickets they get in the draw for the next event is lowered (e.g. 6,4,2,1). This gives those who haven't played an event yet a bit more chance to get in but doesn't exclude the others.

Each member gets 1 wild card per year. This would gives them 20 tickets in the draw for the comp of their choice - regardless of any previous entries won. This is to give people more of a chance to enter the event they are more interested in and also ensures they are not less likely to gain entry to that event by winning a place in a previous event.

[Jon MW]

I'm not so sure a straight draw is the best solution because:
some people may go a long time without being drawn, while others get into every event
people will want to play certain events more than others - e.g. the event closest to them.

I had a quick think (literally 2 minutes... be gentle!) and came up with an idea:
Standard draw - each person who has registered an interest gets 10 tickets in a draw, obviously they can only win 1 seat and any duplicates are discarded

For every event they get a place in the number of tickets they get in the draw for the next event is lowered (e.g. 6,4,2,1). This gives those who haven't played an event yet a bit more chance to get in but doesn't exclude the others.

Each member gets 1 wild card per year. This would gives them 20 tickets in the draw for the comp of their choice - regardless of any previous entries won. This is to give people more of a chance to enter the event they are more interested in and also ensures they are not less likely to gain entry to that event by winning a place in a previous event.

to a certain extent anyway.

The general concept of giving a weighted draw like this would help counter the drawbacks you've identified. With the number of entries that could be involved it could still be a long, long wait for some people to gain entry to a tournament and the exact nature of the weighting (the 6,4,2,1 for example) would have to be carefully considered.

But as a general concept I think this idea seems sound.

[Copag]

I havent joined yet, mostly for the same reasons Acidmouse said, but I would like to at least play the on-line tourneys so I will join soon.
 I think it was said earlier that on-line sattelites would only be for European events but if, when you join APAT, you could nominate which local event you want to play in, and if over subscribed, have password protected stt's or mtt's you could guarantee say 10 or 20 seats to local members, or even live qualifiers in each area.
 Just an idea, probably for further along the road.

[ifm]

I will join up when you have a policy on how people get a place in tournaments, if say 500 want 120 places then there is a real problem and if you don't get lucky whats the point in joining?

This is the problem, apart from the tour what is being offered?
Tikay you keep saying :-

I think to say that issues such as Standardised Rules, Clocks & Structures that don't get changed halfway through a comp, the ability to engage in dialogue on behalf of the Members with Venues & the GC, the desire to improve discipline in Poker, to enable Recreational players to "play on a full-size pitch", are not side issues to me, & I'm working to achieve all these things. I have worked very hard on this for many months (along with several others), almost non-stop for the last 2 weeks, night & day, so it's a tad painful for me if you consider these are "side issues", because they are why I'm doing it. To me, they are THE issues.

I agree to an extent (not all members will want all of these though) but my point is how do you achieve this?
How are you going to get Grosvenor or Gala to implement things? or are you just talking about the tour?
I want to know about the association not the tour.

[tikay]

I will join up when you have a policy on how people get a place in tournaments, if say 500 want 120 places then there is a real problem and if you don't get lucky whats the point in joining?

This is the problem, apart from the tour what is being offered?
Tikay you keep saying :-

I think to say that issues such as Standardised Rules, Clocks & Structures that don't get changed halfway through a comp, the ability to engage in dialogue on behalf of the Members with Venues & the GC, the desire to improve discipline in Poker, to enable Recreational players to "play on a full-size pitch", are not side issues to me, & I'm working to achieve all these things. I have worked very hard on this for many months (along with several others), almost non-stop for the last 2 weeks, night & day, so it's a tad painful for me if you consider these are "side issues", because they are why I'm doing it. To me, they are THE issues.

I agree to an extent (not all members will want all of these though) but my point is how do you achieve this?
How are you going to get Grosvenor or Gala to implement things? or are you just talking about the tour?
I want to know about the association not the tour.

Hi Ian,

I keep saying it because Posters keep asking it, & I consider it extremely important.

I agree, not ALL Members will want the same thing. Hence, my proposal that the Members form a Committee to formulate their concensus, then we can act accordingly.

How are we going to implement these things? By dialogue & negotiation, as we have done so already with The Broadway & the GC.

If we can get a bunch of Venues to implement & standardise certain things, & these things prove successful, & work, then it's all downhill after that, it will be a lot easier to spread the improvements to other Venues if we can demonstrate that they are popular, successful, & will improve player attendances. Leading by example, then following up, as it were.

There is no point us talking to Gala or Grosvenor yet, though, until we have a Membership Committee who can form their views. It was necessary to get the ball rolling with The Broadway, because we agreed to stage an event at The Broadway before we were even open to accept Members.

I am not just talking about the Tour, but we do have to start somewhere, so we have began with the Tour Venues for now.

"I want to know about the Association not the Tour". What do you wish to know?

I hope you are well.

[Indestructable]

I have been trying to buy Poker Player Magazine, but struggling. That's what comes from living in out in the sticks. Have also tried all the Motor way service stations on m40, m42 etc and no luck.
Although i will still try to buy a copy, is there any advantage in me getting this before signing up, or do I just sign up? Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.

[Acidmouse]

I get my copy from Tesco

[Indestructable]

No Tesco but we have a Budgens.  Will try the nearest tesco, thanks.

[Jim-D]

Just bought mt copy, got the code and am now a registered member (£5 is the whole membership right?).

And very looking forward to this tour.

I cant really add any suggestions yet as im a complete "live" novice but with Tikay, Tighty and Mel involved then im sure it will be a success.

[TightEnd]

Yes £5 is the membership through the magazine

[Raindogs]

I mentioned the September APTA comp to one of the cardroom supervisors at the Broadway on Friday night and he said he had not been told anything about it.  There was no details posted in the cardroom either.  It may be that the Broadway don't want to distract attention from their September festival but I was still surprised they weren't promoting it.

[I, Zimbra]

I have now also signed up - I don't know if I will be playing any of the live games (I don't think I can get to the Birmingham one in any case, much as I would like to), but I will play some of the online games and have signed up for the full £10 just in case something happens and I can in fact get to play live.

Kudos to everyone who debated the issues on this thread, I read every post and my decision to sign up emerged from reading these posts, we have some very knowledgeable and passionate voices in this forum and that is all to the good. £10 for the first year is not too high a price, even taking into consideration the fact that some of the mechanics of the tour have yet to be finalised, to show support for this endeavour; so much thought has gone into this concept and I hope it becomes a real success story.

I look forward to next week's online opener.

[Karabiner]

All questions seem to have been answered except the question of eligibility.

[Indestructable]

I am now officially a member and have also subscribed to the mag. Looking forward to seeing my photo holding a trophy aloft.
 

[Dewi_cool]

Ed, make that 3 trophies