APAT & tikay

[tikay]

Where to begin? I'll follow the same Format as my "APT & blonde" thread, & try & anticipate your questions.

How did I get involved?

I was approched by Des Duffy late last year. It was, due to two heavy diaries, March this year before we eventually met up, we had a 1 to 1 meet in London one Wednesday.

What is my Role?

Chairman, APAT. Year one the Chairman was selected (how else can we do it in year one?), year two on, the Chairman will be Elected by the Members. In addition to "Chairman", I have what amounts to a consultative role. Alongside Des, & on several areas, Tighty, I meet & negotiate with Venues, Compliance Officers, discuss structures, clocks, venues, rules, PR, & a dozen or more other things. Sadly, as an Officer of the APAT, that means I can't play the Events.

I have no relationship or involvement in any of the organisation except the APAT - the "Live" Events. So the Online series is not my baby.

Will I seek Re-Election?

I have never applied for a job in my life - not one, not when I left school, in my Business career, blonde, 425, PNL, & now APAT, I have NEVER applied for any of these roles or positions, and at my time of life, I don't intend to start now. If I am am "Proposed" (& I hope I am) I will allow my name to be put forward, but I will not run an Election Campaign, my record will be there for all to see, & to judge me on. But 12 months from now is a over the horizon for some of us, so who knows?.....

What am I being paid?

Nothing. I have accepted a small (single-digit) shareholding in Amateur Poker Ltd, which may, or may not, have some value at some point. I am not in it for monetary gain, clearly. I will be re-imbursed legitimate expenses when on APAT Business. Des & I visit the Venues in advance to check them out, & I have occasional meets on APAT's behalf. Travelling Exs only are chargeable, not time. I am doing it because I genuinely & sincerely believe we can change Poker for the better. (See further notes below). The cynics can have their fun, let them, I say, but this is serious. I blather away on TV & on blonde about the need to change things in Poker, for my betterment & the players betterment, how could I turn down the chance to walk the walk after talking the talk? I consider myself extraordinarily lucky, & fortunate, (how on Earth did all this happen to me?) to have found myself in this position, but it is what it is.

What are Tighty & Mel getting out of it?

No idea & I'm not fussed, it's none of my business. But I believe they too have a small shareholding in Amateur Poker Ltd.

I'm very busy, why did I accept the role?

Initially, I did not. But then Des D did a job on me, & opened my eyes to what I gradually realised was a wonderful opportunity to try & put into practice what I have preached so many times. We chatted for a long time, & more & more I began to see how good this could be. We sort of "developed" the theme, to a point where I realised this was a clean sheet of paper, a chance to look after players the way they deserve to be looked after. I've had, though I find it embarrassing to admit it, a very successful (considering my total lack of education) business career, & it was wholly founded on the principle of "Customer Care & Client Satisfaction". It's what I did for a living, & I was good at it. 

When I was in Paris for the WPT, I had a couple of meets with a PokerStars Director. Listening to that individual, who was really "on fire" about what APAT it's online equivelant stood for, helped me realise this was the real thing. PokerStars are supremely professional in everything they do, & they don't sponsor an organiation without good reason.

Let's fast-forward now, & look at how we hope to put this in practice at Event One. (It may change in later events, who knows?).

Everyone will be "meeted & greeted" when they arrive on the 23rd. Everyone will be issued with a name badge, bB style - we want everyone to know each other, get on, have a fun day. Name badges help in this respect.

ALL our Live Tourneys will start & finish at civilised "worknig peoples" hours.  So, for Event 1, we start at 3pm Saturday, & finish around Midnight. Day Two, start similar time, should finish mid-evening, time for players to get a good nights sleep before work the next day. Those that wanna stay behind & chill, or play a little cash, fine, we can & will.

Our comps WILL start on time. BANG ON TIME. Amsterdam style. It's my pet hate, why do Live Events never start punctually? Our scheduled breaks will be EXACTLY the advertised duration. !0 minutes for the intermediate breaks, 1 hour (I think) for the main break.  A plasma screen will "count-down" the breaks, & "shuffle up & deal" will be TO THE SECOND when they should be. No messing.

All those returning for Day Two will be invited to join Des, Tighty & myself, as guests of APT, to have Sunday Dinner, & a chance to "lighten the mood" & relax the players before they commence battle for their prize, & EPT seat.

A set of APAT Rules will be available, so there are no misunderstandings. Anyone can have a copy. APAT staff (myself included) will be on hand throughout to clarify these, & any other APAT related queries that may arise.

We will have Final Table Commentary, Thomas Kremser style. The players will all  be individully introduced pre-Final. One or two Celebs will be on hand - Jonny Gould & Dave Compton are amongst those planning to be playing Event One - & one of us (not decided who yet, depends on availability) will do the Final Table Commentary. Personally, I am hoping Jonny Gould gets knocked out the comp so he can do the commentary - he really is a top "pro" with a microphone in hand at public events. But he tells me he intends to win the event! Bully for him.

A proper prizegiving.

When I am in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, & many other countries, it's customary to give a little round of applause to those who bust out. Many think this is funny, usaully the "usual" cynics & knockers, but it's genuine, sincere, well-intended, & really rather nice. I'm hoping the APAT Members do this, & I shall encourage them so to do. Because it's nice, & we want everyone to enjoy themself. I know, laugh all you like, but this is my dream, & it either happens, or it does not, but boy oh boy, the grand plan is for Members to have a ball, & I assure you they will. And if it goes wrong? So be it. Failure I can cope with, not trying I can't.

That's just a pencil sketch of my thoughts, hope & dreams for APAT. But you get the drift.

"Improper behaviour".

Will not be tolerated. Penalties are in our Rules, & WILL be imposed. No ill mannered lout is going to spoil everyone else's fun. See, it's that clean sheet of paper......

Clocks, Structures, etc

As an Association, we have an absolute DUTY to do so. Different structures, clocks, anything is do-able. Because it's our train set. "Our" being the Membership.

Event Two

We wll review everything that happens at Event One & make such changes for Event Two as experience & our Membership suggest appopriate. So if Event one has a few glitches, well so be it, we will change for Event Two. So no point in getting too excited about what observers or critics see as insurmountable Event One problems, nothing is cast in stone, & we can & will modify things if we need to. So everything is cool.

OK, I could go on all day (I already have I think) so that'll do for now. I better go answer some questions on the Main Thread. Anything you wanna know just ask.

But I hope you can now get a "feel" for why I've decided to take on this role.

I honestly believe this is a chance to change Tournament Poker for the better.

I know the pitfalls, the downsides the problems I have let myself in for. I'm happy to take that gamble. Right now, our biggest problem looks like finding venues big enough to accommodate our demands. But we think we have an answer to that, too.....

Tony Kendall
APAT Chairman

[dik9]

BRAVO OLD CHAP

[RED-DOG]

Two threads about APAT, and you've mentioned trains in both of them.

[tikay]

Two threads about APAT, and you've mentioned trains in both of them.

Damn, you've rumbled my hidden genda.

Hey - here's a thought to solve potential capacity problems - hold an event on a train!

Can you imagine how cool that would be?

[TightEnd]

I should add my two penneth to this

On the long thread on which I launched apat earlier this morning a poster asked

"does that mean tikay and tighty are leaving blonde?"

Well from my point of view, no it does not. Whether as a mod or a poster, I'm not going anywhere unless the bosses ask me to!

My situation was that I got involved with apat rather later than tikay and Mel. I met Des only earlier this year at the P4C event at the Western Club. Following that Mel put me more formally in touch with Des and discussions started between us. Various job roles were thought about in part because of my business background.

As time went on it seemed sensible for me to do the "media" job with as it has turned out quite a bit of poker consultancy thrown in

I am a shareholder in apat, but am not salaried.

 I play live a lot and I share many of the gripes of a lot of you about how players are treated, what should improve and what players would like to see. I hope the apat tournaments reflect some improvements. Time will tell.

I also very firmly believe that a voice for the players to negotiate with the various stakeholders is important and long overdue . I could not for a long time though see how one organisation could speak for both amateurs and pros. For example one group may be interested in image rights whereas another is more interested in starting on time or finishing early because of work.

So I am grateful to my involvement with blonde to leading me to this opportunity, and I believe I can co-exist in both roles and a few others that are on the horizon

[dik9]

Two threads about APAT, and you've mentioned trains in both of them.

Damn, you've rumbled my hidden genda.

Hey - here's a thought to solve potential capacity problems - hold an event on a train!

Can you imagine how cool that would be?

Strangly enough I looked into chartering one for just this purpose

[RED-DOG]

Two threads about APAT, and you've mentioned trains in both of them.

Damn, you've rumbled my hidden genda.

Hey - here's a thought to solve potential capacity problems - hold an event on a train!

Can you imagine how cool that would be?

Strangly enough I looked into chartering one for just this purpose

Can we go on the Trans-Siberian? it's always been a dream of mine.

[londonpokergirl]

I guess I ought to add my ha'penny in aswell

I've been involved in APAT since about March time, and was asked if I could
help them with Tournament Structures, Rulings and basically the Tournament Directing side of things.  

The Rules I had done were given to the powers at Gaming Commission , slightly altered but  approved, which is a great achievement in itself

I am also a shareholder in APL but not salaried.  

I seriously hope that Tikays, Richards, Des's and my involvement can only help and improve amateur players into becoming the next EPT /Caribbean or WSOP winner

Heres to the future!

[dik9]

Good Luck all of you, in this venture. The association is most needed!!

[turny]

Two threads about APAT, and you've mentioned trains in both of them.

Damn, you've rumbled my hidden genda.

Hey - here's a thought to solve potential capacity problems - hold an event on a train!

Can you imagine how cool that would be?

in fact tikay its not as silly as it sounds it would virtually eliminate licencing problems.

i know that a moving vehicle does not require a alcohol licence so should imagine a tournament on the move wouldnt require a gaming licence either.

[turny]

and by the way good luck to all involved and for what its worth you have my 100% backing on this venture and if i can help in any way just shout!

 

[Bongo]

I willl also explain - before you start! - as to why on APAT Threads & Posts, it is necessary for me to add the signature you see below. I know, it's looks pretentious, but there is a reason, so just bear with me please.

Tony Kendall
Chairman, APAT

Have I missed this?

It sounded like it might be interesting, is all...

[londonpokergirl]

and by the way good luck to all involved and for what its worth you have my 100% backing on this venture and if i can help in any way just shout!

 

Thanks   most appreciated

[Harmony26]

Just want to thank you all, Tikay, TightEnd and Mel, for these summaries of how this all came about - and Des for facilitating the meetings in the first place.  Tis so interesting and helpful to see how things have come about and how talents and expertise can be put together to create a much needed Association to represent the community of amateur poker players.

Bainn and I are very glad to see your dreams coming into fruition and wish you all, and APAT, the very best of success.  We support you all the way!

[ANAKASH]

Very best of luck in this new venture Tikay & the others involved sorry I do not really know you, thought I hope that this will change in the future.
It seams areally good idea to me and I am sure that I would like to take part in some of the events
So please keep us informed of the details