Midland Masters

[dik9]

P.S. Welcome back M3boy, glad your back sir!!

[Snatiramas]

Oh to have been there...........foul mouthed players are a particular favourite of mine. All I would say is that they would not allow anybody to talk to a croupier like that

[kvnstv]

Obviously tournament structures should be within the remit of the amateur poker association to lodge complaints to casinos on behalf of the membership. Would you think instances like the casinos failure to act against abusive individuals should be a matter for the APA as well?   

[ifm]

Obviously tournament structures should be within the remit of the amateur poker association to lodge complaints to casinos on behalf of the membership. Would you think instances like the casinos failure to act against abusive individuals should be a matter for the APA as well?  

The trouble with that is they have no durastiction whatsoever with casinos, this relates to the question myself and Dik were trying to get answered on the apat thread.
Richard, i was referring to that comp, the manager editted the structure as people on here asked for them, my point was that he did it because he wasn't full, maybe he wouldn't if it were?
Though i'd like to think he is willing to do this for his punters.

[RED-DOG]

Tom I am surprised you went and played as in another link you stated that due to the structure you would be giving it a miss, so you did in fact already know the structure.

30 minute clock on a two day event? Ridiculous! (imho of course) I won't be playing

They changed it to 45 minutes

[kvnstv]

Obviously tournament structures should be within the remit of the amateur poker association to lodge complaints to casinos on behalf of the membership. Would you think instances like the casinos failure to act against abusive individuals should be a matter for the APA as well?  

The trouble with that is they have no durastiction whatsoever with casinos, this relates to the question myself and Dik were trying to get answered on the apat thread.
Richard, i was referring to that comp, the manager editted the structure as people on here asked for them, my point was that he did it because he wasn't full, maybe he wouldn't if it were?
Though i'd like to think he is willing to do this for his punters.

No organisation will have jurisdiction over card rooms and casinos other than the law and the gaming board, but a unified and well supported amateur player’s organisation could put a tremendous amount of pressure on these business to at least hear players grievances. Do you believe failure to maintain a civil playing environment is something that our association (I am an APA member) should be lodging complaints with the card room operator about?

[ThinkerJE]

I played at Walsall this week, which was my first experience of a Poker festival.  So although I have no other festival to compare against there were a couple of things that I thought could have been done better.

Firstly I won seat into the £500 freeze on tuesday and not knowing the procedure I asked one of the cardroom guys if I would be entered into the tournanment automatically.  I was told "yes" so imagine my surprise when the draw was made on Thurday night and my name was not on list.  I hastened over to the cardroom to find the other players who won a seat in my sat also asking the same question.  It took some 10 minutes to sort this out and then a re draw had to be made.  This additional delay, coupled with the late start to he comp (which I heard no communication about) seemed very amateur for a tournament with a £500 buy in.

I also agree with RED about the structures.  I went deep in the £200 freeze on Tuesday and was never above average chips after the 3rd level.  I was able to keep my stack at a M of between 7 and 10 but I only had 2 moves, all in or fold.  I reached the final table short stacked (M about and the other stacks were quite similar, meaning very little play at the final table.  All decisions were made pre flop.  When we got to the final six players the high blinds and the close chip stacks combined with the top heavy prize distriution meant a deal looked attractive.  The six of us did a deal enabling us all to take roughly what 2nd would have won had we played on.

I don't want to appear negative as this has been the best week of my poker life.  But I thought these issues should be raised and hopefully things can improve in the future.

[TightEnd]

.

Firstly I won seat into the £500 freeze on tuesday and not knowing the procedure I asked one of the cardroom guys if I would be entered into the tournanment automatically.  I was told "yes" so imagine my surprise when the draw was made on Thurday night and my name was not on list.  I hastened over to the cardroom to find the other players who won a seat in my sat also asking the same question.  It took some 10 minutes to sort this out and then a re draw had to be made.  This additional delay, coupled with the late start to he comp (which I heard no communication about) seemed very amateur for a tournament with a £500 buy in.

I also agree with RED about the structures.  I went deep in the £200 freeze on Tuesday and was never above average chips after the 3rd level.  I was able to keep my stack at a M of between 7 and 10 but I only had 2 moves, all in or fold.  I reached the final table short stacked (M about and the other stacks were quite similar, meaning very little play at the final table.  All decisions were made pre flop.  When we got to the final six players the high blinds and the close chip stacks combined with the top heavy prize distriution meant a deal looked attractive.  The six of us did a deal enabling us all to take roughly what 2nd would have won had we played on.

I don't want to appear negative as this has been the best week of my poker life.  But I thought these issues should be raised and hopefully things can improve in the future.

they frequently foget to enter satellite winners into the comp. did so again last night, half the field are sitting down and they have to redraw

Late starts? Never known Walsall or Luton to start a major comp on time. Blackpool under Yogi was different

No play? Every side event festival comp is like this for the majority of people post the 200-400 level...you need to win a key confrontation, a race or do an outdraw to progress to the business end unless you are chipped up early

It is my contention that this is why so  many people gamble early to get chipped up or get out, to avoid this one move poker that pervades the middle levels of these comps

I think in future I will not spend four days on such tourneys, and instead use the same buy in money to buy in direct to a main event and take one shot at it. 

[DesD]

Obviously tournament structures should be within the remit of the amateur poker association to lodge complaints to casinos on behalf of the membership. Would you think instances like the casinos failure to act against abusive individuals should be a matter for the APA as well?  

The trouble with that is they have no durastiction whatsoever with casinos, this relates to the question myself and Dik were trying to get answered on the apat thread.
Richard, i was referring to that comp, the manager editted the structure as people on here asked for them, my point was that he did it because he wasn't full, maybe he wouldn't if it were?
Though i'd like to think he is willing to do this for his punters.

Juristiction is largely measured in commercial terms by the large casino groups.  When the APA is in a position to fill their cardrooms week after week then you will find that we will have a significant influence in the way players are treated and in the quality of games they play. 

However, the APA will never acquire that power while players wait on the sidelines for something 'notable' to be achieved.  Until the players get fully behind the Association, its ability to influence the industry will be marginalised and nothing notable can be achieved. 

I know some of you are uncomfortable with the amount of focus we are putting on the Tour, but in the short term, while we organise and grow, this is one area where the APA can demonstrate a vision for the industry under a strong and united Association.  Great venues and structures, serious added value and publicity, and players getting the opportunity to enjoy a premium experience with low financial risk.

If we can prove ourselves commercially to the major casino groups, then local and regional tournaments will become a reality and at that point we will be in a position to enter legislative discussion in an authorative way.  I'm afraid stomping up and down outside the venue is simply not an option.  You will simply get banned.  When we have 20,000 members, a stomp might become a great deal more meaningful.

If you identify with the concerns highlighted in Tom and Paul's posts; and are still not a member of the APA, I would ask you to genuinely consider your reasons. 

Please bear in mind that the commercial company behind APAT have NOT sold 1 advert or struck 1 affiliate deal since launch in August.  That is despite having had over 100,000 visits to apat.com and having had plenty of offers to mail stuff to our members.  We have not spent one penny unwisely and everyone involved has invested a great deal emotionally and in many other ways. 

Perhaps the £5 / £10 membership fee is a barrier?  If this was not the only source of funding that the APA has, I would recommend to the management team that it be abolished in the morning. 

Regards,

Des.

[TightEnd]

Ok, I'm buckled in

Fallout alert, Fallout alert

Status: Yellow

[DesD]

Ok, I'm buckled in

Fallout alert, Fallout alert

Status: Yellow

I've got to send out a couple of thousand emails....I'll be back shortly 

[byronkincaid]

Guess the film

TWENTY THOUSAND HARDCORE MEMBERS!

[Colchester Kev]

Guess the film

TWENTY THOUSAND HARDCORE MEMBERS!

Debbie does Dallas ??

[Dani Versace]

Cheers guys for focusing on all the negatives of this festival. Makes my job worth while. To tired from all the hours ive put in our this week to write how disapointed i am to here see your comments. But Viva France as they say in rome.

Dani

P.s You have the well documented 150/300 level in tomorrows main event

[RED-DOG]

Cheers guys for focusing on all the negatives of this festival. Makes my job worth while. To tired from all the hours ive put in our this week to write how disapointed i am to here see your comments. But Viva France as they say in rome.

Dani

P.s You have the well documented 150/300 level in tomorrows main event

First, let me say that I am one of Walsall Grosvenor's greatest supporters, it's my local, and my favorite cardroom. I know all of the staff and most of the "Hands on" managers personally, they are a great bunch and work tirelessly, with smiles on their faces. I take my hat off to them for their ability to maintain this attitude during festival week, when the stress and the workload become enormous




Of course, these are just my opinions, (although I know that they are shared by many others) and credit where credit is due, Walsall Grosvenor have always taken players views into consideration, and at the end of the day, thats really all you can ask.

That's unfair Dan, I don't call this focusing on all the negetives. I am the first to prase you guys usually, but It means nothing if I cant be honest when I think something is wrong.