BoylePoker International Poker Open 2009

[Ciaran_Corbett]

IPO Satellites

We have IPO satellites starting on Monday

Details can be found at the below link

http://www.boylesports.com/sections/poker/d.asp?show=IPO_Satellites_Info

[CelticGeezeer]

Do the sat winners get  the full 10k chips ?

[Texas_Dime]

Do the sat winners get  the full 10k chips ?

That would be a negatory... 1,000 chips for every player that builds up 250 VIP points during the month of August & 1,000 chips for every player that builds up 250 VIP points during the month of September on Boylepoker.com... There will be no exceptions to the above.

I know your not a major fan of the offer and I can understand why...... but I'm amazed how positive the reaction has been (I think because players realise how hard we all worked to make this a great event last year and we are aiming to outdo ourselves this year).

Stephen.

[robbiebox]

I agree that messing with starting stacks like this does cause resentment.

What Boyles could have done is make the tourney reg free for all players who earnt the 250 points each month and kept all players with 10k chips. Reduce the added value or make it in in relation to rake acheived by all entrants.

Have side events been confirmed yet ??

[Texas_Dime]

I agree that messing with starting stacks like this does cause resentment.

What Boyles could have done is make the tourney reg free for all players who earnt the 250 points each month and kept all players with 10k chips. Reduce the added value or make it in in relation to rake acheived by all entrants.

Have side events been confirmed yet ??

This is the provisional list (if there are any changes I will post again) with full details of blind structure etc. The registration desk opens at 11am each day for all side events and the only way to play is to buy-in with cash.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Side Event 1 & 2 (6pm Start)
Friday 16th & Saturday 17th Oct
No-Limit Hold 'em.
€50 (+ €10 reg) with one €50 re-buy allowed;
2,000 starting chips, 2,000 for re-buy, 3,000 for top-up
Time Blinds
18:00-18:20 Level 1; 25-50
18:20-18:40 Level 2; 50-100
18:40-19:00 Level 3; 100-200
19:00-19:20 Level 4; 150-300
19:20-19:40 Level 5; 200-400
19:40-20:00 Level 6; 300-600
20:00-20:20 (Break 20 mins)
20:20-20:40 Level 7; 400-800
20:40-21:00 Level 8; 500-1,000
21:00-21:20 Level 9; 800-1,500
21:20-21:40 Level 10; 1,000-2,000
21:40-22:00 Level 11; 1,500-3,000
22:00-22:20 Level 12; 2,000-4,000
22:20-22:40 Level 13; 3,000-6,000
22:40-23:00 Level 14; 4,000-8,000
23:00-23:20 (Break 20 mins)
23:20-23:40 Level 15; 5,000-10,000
23:40-00:00 Level 16; 8,000-15,000
00:00-00:20 Level 17; 10,000-20,000
00:20-00:40 Level 18; 15,000-30,000
00:40-01:00 Level 19; 20,000-40,000
01:00-01:20 Level 20; 30,000-60,000
01:20-01:40 Level 21; 40,000-80,000
01:40-02:00 Level 22; 50,000-100,000


Sunday 18th Oct
Side Event 3 (1pm Start)
No-Limit Hold'em
€50 (+ €10 reg) with one €50 re-buy allowed;
4,000 starting chips, 5,000 for re-buy, 6,000 for top-up
20 Minute Blind Levels
13:00-13:20 Level 1; 25-50
13:20-13:40 Level 2; 50-100
13:40-14:00 Level 3; 75-150
14:00-14:20 Level 4; 100-200
14:20-14:40 Level 5; 150-300
14:40-15:00 Level 6; 200-400
15:00-15:10 (Break 10 mins)
15:10-15:30 Level 7; 300-600
15:30-15:50 Level 8; 400-800
15:50-16:10 Level 9; 500-1000
16:10-16:30 Level 10; 800-1500
16:30-16:50 Level 11; 1000-2000
16:50-17:00 (Break 10 mins)
17:00-17:20 Level 12; 1500-3000
17:20-17:40 Level 13; 2000-4000
17:40-18:00 Level 14; 3000-6000
18:00-18:20 Level 15; 4000-8000
18:20-18:40 Level 16; 5000-10000
18:40-19;00 Level 17; 8,000-15,000
19:00-19:30 (Break 30 mins) - Dinner
19:30-19:50 Level 18; 10,000-20,000
19:50-20:10 Level 19; 15,000-30,000
20:10-20:30 Level 20; 20,000-40,000
20:30-20:50 Level 21; 30,000-60,000
20:50-21:00 (Break 10 Mins)
21:00-21:20 Level 22; 40,000-80,000
21:20-21:40 Level 23; 50,000-100,000
21:40-22:00 Level 24; 80,000-150,000
22:00-22:20 Level 25; 100,000-200,000
22:20-22:30 (Break 10 Mins)
22:30-22:50 Level 26; 150,000-300,000
22:50-23:10 Level 27; 200,000-400,000
23:10-23:30 Level 28; 300,000-600,000

Side Event 4
€100 (+€10 reg) Round Of Each Double Chance Freeze-out
25 Minute Blind Levels - 3,000 starting chips, 3,000 Dbl Chance
Blinds
15:00-15:25 Level 1; 25-25
15:25-15:50 Level 2; 25-50
15:50-16:15 Level 3; 50-100
16:15-16:40 Level 4; 75-150
16:40-16:50 (Break 10 mins)
16:50-17:15 Level 5; 100-200
17:15-17:40 Level 6; 150-300
17:40-18:05 Level 7; 200-400
18:05-18:30 Level 8; 300-600
18:30-19:00 (Break 30 mins) - Dinner
19:00-19:25 Level 9; 400-800
19:25-19:50 Level 10; 500-1000
19:50-20:15 Level 11; 800-1500
20:15-20:40 Level 12; 1000-2000
20:40-20:50 (Break 10 mins)
20:50-21:15 Level 13; 1500-3000
21:15-21:40 Level 13; 2000-4000
21:40-22:05 Level 14; 3000-6000
22:05-22:30 Level 15; 4000-8000
22:30-22:40 Level 16; 5000-10000
22:40-23:05 Level 17; 8,000-15,000
23:05-23:30 Level 18; 10,000-20,000
23:30-23:55 Level 19; 15,000-30,000

Side Event 5
€150 (+€15 reg) Pot-Limit Omaha Double Chance Freezeout
25 Minute Blind Levels - 4,000 starting chips, 4,000 Dbl Chance
Blinds
18:00-18:25 Level 1; 25-50
18:25-18:50 Level 2; 50-100
18:50-19:15 Level 3; 75-150
19:15-19:40 Level 4; 100-200
19:40-19:50 (Break 10 mins)
19:50-20:15 Level 5; 150-300
20:15-20:40 Level 6; 200-400
20:40-21:05 Level 7; 300-600
21:05-21:30 Level 8; 400-800
21:30-21:40 (Break 10 mins)
21:40-22:05 Level 9; 500-1000
22:05-22:30 Level 10; 800-1500
22:30-22:55 Level 11; 1000-2000
22:55-23:20 Level 12; 1500-3000
23:20-23:30 (Break 10 mins)
23:30-23:55 Level 13; 2000-4000
23:55-00:20 Level 14; 3000-6000
00:20-00:45 Level 15; 4000-8000
00:45-01:10 Level 16; 5000-10000
01:10-00:20 (Break 10 mins)
01:20-01:45 Level 17; 8,000-15,000
01:45-02:10 Level 18; 10,000-20,000
02:10-02:35 Level 19; 15,000-30,000
02:35-03:00 Level 20; 20,000-40,000
03:00-03:10 (Break 10 mins)
03:10-03:35 Level 21; 30,000-60,000
03:35-04:00 Level 22; 40,000-80,000
04:00-04:25 Level 23; 50,000-100,000


Cheers,
Stephen.

[Texas_Dime]

Surely there must be some sort of scandal we can get going on this forum to keep this thread alive... ... There are lots and lots of celeb players taking part in this tournament if that helps sway the vote for anyone thinking of hopping on a £4 flight to Dublin in October .

[kinboshi]

Hope all the celebs have to earn their additional 2,000 chips as well...

[StuartHopkin]

Is my boring ginger mate going this year?

[Texas_Dime]

Hope all the celebs have to earn their additional 2,000 chips as well...

You better believe it!...We're making them sweat for every point

[Texas_Dime]

And we're past the 300 player mark...301 players registered and paid in full right now .

Stephen.

[PSpillane]

Hope all the celebs have to earn their additional 2,000 chips as well...

http://boylepokerblog.com/index.php/ipo/ipo-2009-fair-or-unfair.html

[StuartHopkin]

If we all agree you can keep the €25,000 your offering to add can we all just start with 10k chips? 

[TightEnd]

From cardplayer's Rebecca McAdam

Boylepoker's IPO Extra Chips Incentive Under Scrutiny

Head of Poker at Boylepoker Discusses Rationale Behind Extra Chips Strategy

This year’s Boylepoker.com International Poker Open (IPO), the largest poker tournament outside of the U.S., has generated a lot of controversy since it announced that by playing on the site in August and September players could add 2,000 chips to their 8,000 starting stack.

In a recent blog entry at the site, head of poker Paul Spillane discusses the rationale behind the event’s ‘extra chips for online play’ strategy…

Details have been announced of this year’s IPO extra chips incentive and unsurprisingly it hasn’t gone down well with everyone. It is a new (ish) idea and to that end I just wanted to answer a few questions that have popped up on various forums and also explain in a little more detail the thinking behind it.

The most common complaint is that the extra chips incentive is unfair. It’s unfair to those who don’t play on the Internet and/or don’t play with Boylepoker and I guess it depends on which way you look at it.

Years ago I used to pop over to the Merrion casino for the Irish Open and on my first trip there Luke Ivory explained to me how he ran his monthly tournament for cash game players. The idea was the more you played in the club the more chips in a monthly freeroll tournament you would start with and I thought it was a genius idea. You could play one hour in the club and still be eligible to play in the freeroll but obviously the more you played the more you were rewarded; this incentivised players to his club and rewarded loyalty.

The extra chips incentive at the IPO is based on that principle. You do not have to play on the Internet or on Boylepoker to play in the tournament but if you are a customer you are rewarded with extra chips and I don’t think that is unfair.

Is it fair to run a tournament where some players have more chips than others? Well it’s not the norm at the moment but the market is changing and again it’s down to one’s own perspective, but as a live player whenever I see something I think is unfair I simply don’t play. Harrah’s made the equivalent of third place prize money in every tournament they ran at this years WSOP which I think is too much, but I still played in one of the very well run events.

Ladbrokes recently announced details of its Killarney festival, and only allowed you to play in it by qualifying online at their site. I didn’t think this was unfair, it’s their tournament and they want their customers there for the main event, but I will still go for the side events and the craic as it’s such a superb event.

Pokerstars doesn’t run the EPT for anyone’s benefit other than its own. The Tour makes huge money for the company, unlike the IPO which is a loss leader for us, but again I don’t think that’s unfair, I think its sound business from the market leaders and its only the buy-in that prevents me from playing an EPT.

FullTilt recently took over sponsorship of the Poker Million and the first thing they did was to reduce the added money the previous sponsors put into the event. I have no issue with it as again it’s a premier tournament in Europe and with the amount of players FullTilt sponsors, it is already making a healthy contribution to the poker community.

The IPO is what it is because we pump so much time, effort, and money into it, and I think it’s agreed that last year’s was a dramatic improvement on the previous year. The total cost last year was a decent six-figure sum and will be again this year, and personally I commend my superiors for allowing us to spend that kind of money in a recession without a guaranteed return.

Some have questioned how much we will make out of the players from the accrual of the necessary VIP points to get the extra chips, and the honest truth is we cannot accurately predict. We set the bonus target very low based on the fact that all four of us in the team play online poker at small stakes and came up with a target that was reachable fairly quickly.

We estimate that the most expensive way to get the points is to be on VIP level 1 and play MTT’s, effectively costing $16 in August and in September. We are adding €25,000 to the prizepool, divided by 1,300 runners = €19. By clearing 250 ipoints each month players also release $5 of their first deposit bonus (if a new customer, obviously) and can enter into one of our many ipoint freerolls.

We hope that customers get to see how easy it is to attain and maintain a level in the VIP scheme and see how much we are giving back in tournaments as well as experiencing other bonuses, promotions, and our great service. No one was more cynical about this than our very own Matt Broughton, co-presenter of The Poker Show, but as you can hear through the archive on show 32, he accumulated the points very quickly and realised we are only asking for a nominal amount of play to entitle you to the bonus.

People have asked how we can administer the additional chips properly and I can assure you we have planned for this more thoroughly than any other area of the event. As it’s our first time doing this we cannot say there will not be issues, but as a betting man, I’m massively betting against it.

To clarify, you must play on the site to gain the extra points and there are no exceptions to this, including VIP’s, Boyle Pros, or anyone else. There is one group of players I feel this is grossly unfair on and that is the Dutch players.

Last year they turned up in their droves and added a lot of fun and colour to the event. Due to laws out of our control we are unable to accept Dutch players. Last year we allowed them entry without having to register and this year we are again making an exception for those that played last year, but unfortunately they are unable to accrue points to get the extra chips and this may well put them off attending, I really hope it doesn’t.

For everyone else you do have to register online for the tournament but we can assist with that if you do not have access to the web either by registering through one of our many shops, phoning us, or emailing us here.

We are a business and we have made a business decision. Last year we tried something new and it didn’t work; we added 20 percent of players rake net of bonuses to the prizepool and I thought it was an extraordinary generous offer, but it didn’t succeed for whatever reason (if it had we might have added €100,000 to the prizepool!)

We want to look after our regular players as well as encourage players to try our service but do not want to exclude anyone from playing the event. I do understand that it’s not for everyone’s tastes but how about coming and just play the side events where all the chip stacks will start level, I will even promise to buy you a beer and discuss how we can make the IPO 2010 even better.

As Stephen McLean succinctly put it, the tournament isn’t viable without the sponsorship and backing of an online poker room, and the IPO is sponsored by Boylepoker. More than anything we want to make this event a championship poker tournament available to every player in Europe. We have added money and are trying new ideas to make the venture more viable for us so we can constantly improve on it, I personally don’t think that’s unfair.

The Boylepoker.com International Poker Open hits the Regency Hotel in Dublin on Oct. 16 with $25,000 added by the sponsor. Last year’s winner was Ruairi Coy who took home €37,530 from a total prize pool of €205,000.

[kinboshi]

It penalises the Dutch.  So maybe it's not an idea without its merits then...

[boldie]

It penalises the Dutch.  So maybe it's not an idea without its merits then...

OHNO!