This competition was a venture into the poker unknown for Nottingham and behind the scenes was actually about three months in the planning. It was also something of a risk, in that we did not know how successful it would be. Having never hosted a competition of its kind before, a structure had to come from somewhere.
What started off as a one day competition with a 30 minute clock, evolved into a two day event with a 45 minute clock. The problem with the structure of any poker competition is that it must suit a competition with as little as 40 runners and be just as suitable for a competition with 120 runners.
With 10,000 starting chips you are looking at a structure which allows equal playability with 400,000 points and with 1.2 million points in play. But you never know how many players you have until registration closes. You cannot tailor make a structure 15 minutes before a competition starts, it would be great if you knew for a fact that you would get 100 runners, but when you try a competition for the first time it is a best guess scenario. (It is amazing how many of the Notts regulars did not play because they thought there would only be 3 or 4 tables)
Believe it or not, this forum was largely responsible for the final structure: having read through many of the comments from different players about the good and bad points from other festivals / competitions you get a very good idea of what different players value in these types of competition.
Likewise the feedback and comments of many of the notts regulars have been very helpful in trying to create a playable competition.
I am with all of you in the hope that this can become a regular event, and the structure will probably be modified until we find the best balance with regard to clock/blinds, starting chips etc.
it is true that you can't please all of the people all of the time, what we have to think about in planning these competitions is pleasing the majority of the people for most of the time.
I think this competition achieved this and from my point of view i was very happy with the structure on this occasion. Many thanks to everyone for their feedback and suggestions (there were a lot of these!)
In Summary:
10,000 starting chips - Some thought it was great some thought it was too many
45 minute clock - Some thought it was great some thought it was too long
2 day event - Some thought it was great some would prefer one
That's life in the poker world i guess!
One important point i would like to address is the following:
Not sure it was too fair to offer 300 to 19th - 11th place. This should be announced on the previous day, if not before the tournament starts. My bro went out in 20th. He'll be gutted when I tell him he hit the bubble without even knowing. Plus, it would also affect the play with 20-25 left.
The official line on prizes for 99 players is that 10 prizes will be paid. The casino cannot create extra prizes unless it is in the published payout schedule.(At Notts 110 runners generates a guaranteed 20 prizes in a freeze-out competition...100 runners for rebuy events)
As such no announcement could be made with 25 players left as there were only 10 official prizes.
The 300 for all returning players was suggested by 4 or 5 players at the end of day one and this was the proposal placed on their behalf at the beginning of day 2.
At the end of the day it is up to the players concerned to decide if they would all like to do this or not. If one of the returning players does not agree then there are only 10 prizes. There never was a 20th prize and the official bubble was always 11th.
My personal opinion is that it is a good thing for players to make suggestions and decisions such as these in the interests of a more rewarding game.
The competition finally finished at 1am with a three way split with the blinds at a modest 8,000/16,000 (1,000,000 chips in play). It was great to have a final table where there was sufficient time to play with out the pressure of restrictive blind levels or a fast approaching finishing time.
many thanks once again to all who supported this event. looking forward to the next one already.
nightfly
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