Happy Mondays

[GreekStein]

You'd have to be some sort of a tosser of a boss not to let an employee take a days holiday to play a FT where they could win £50k or whatever.

This

You two have been out of employment for a long time and it shows!

I completely disagree with the statement.

If you know you're going to play a tournament that finishes on a monday, take the monday off well in advance. You get 25 odd days a year of annual leave. Why should your colleagues/team/company take the brunt of your social activities by having to come in on a monday and be told 'x is still playing poker' so deal with all their workload with no advance warning.

I only worked for 3 years in the company I was at and in a junior role too but it would have been seen as completely unprofessional to do something like that and I'd have expected some kind of disciplinary warning if anyone found out.

It's just not how it works in most workplaces that you can have a day off at the drop of a hat.

[GreekStein]

Tbh, I imagine most people prefer a Sunday finish. From the pros POV it doesn't matter too much either way, although as bergeroo said if you're going to miss a Sunday for a live tournament it's probably better that it's a tournament that's already a deep run. Certainly for me, these Monday/Tuesday day 2/3s are a pain because it has to fit around work, and I would prefer it if I could turn up on the Friday night, play a day 1 and then (hopefully) play day 2 Sat and day 3 Sun. Also I imagine from the pros pov, if finishing on Sunday invites more recreational players to come along then it's got to be a good thing, and since the atmosphere atm is very much about making the game as accessible as possible for the recreational players I'm surprised to see the move to midweek finishes.

That rather misses the point - see Argue's replies.

The WHOLE IDEA is to see if a Monday finish would make the event more accessible for recreational players. Bear in mind, 1,000 runner event, how many recreatiional players will need to turn up on Monday for a 9 player Final Table?

You and Arbboy seem to both be missing the point imo.

It's not about the fact that only 9 of the 1000 runners will have to play the final on monday. It's about the fact that every single one of the runners will have to be prepared to play it on a monday. With a full time job that's not very easy at all.

This is exactly it. No point entering an event if you can't play the final table! Might as well set fire to your dough instead.

I appreciate that so you have no other option but to set fire to all those holidays if you are in a profession which has no flexibility like teaching etc.  I am sure the majority of people across all professions could easily get a Monday off last minute if they were in this situation once every twenty years.  For most recs it will happen once in their lifetime.

Employers make allowances for short notice 'days off' for things like medical appointments, things happening to family members or more serious things such as deaths etc. I think that's already reasonable. I didn't expect my employer to make such an allowance for me when I was working and now that I play poker for a living I don't expect other people's employers to be so lenient either.

[DungBeetle]

It's not that you won't get the day off.  It's the impression it gives when they are working out your bonus/promotion.  If your boss is me then no problem.  But to many bosses you'll have just taken a day off at late notice to gamble.

[arbboy]

Obviously the work place nowadays doesn't work where work mates cover for each other's shifts at short notice even if you incentivise them accordingly.

I have just texted ten friends who are non pro gamblers and have real jobs whether they could phone up work tomorrow morning or tonight and ask for an emergency day off tomorrow as a holiday not as sick and nine said they could do that easily with no hassle.

[The Camel]

It's not that you won't get the day off.  It's the impression it gives when they are working out your bonus/promotion.  If your boss is me then no problem.  But to many bosses you'll have just taken a day off at late notice to gamble.

Meh, you tell them you won a seat for a tenner or something.

I haven't much experience of proper work, but still in this spot none of my bosses would have stopped to think, they would have said "sure, take it off and good luck."

Obv if you're a nurse, doctor, teacher etc, it isn't that easy, but almost all jobs in the private sector must have a bit of flexibility.

[Rexas]

Tbh, I imagine most people prefer a Sunday finish. From the pros POV it doesn't matter too much either way, although as bergeroo said if you're going to miss a Sunday for a live tournament it's probably better that it's a tournament that's already a deep run. Certainly for me, these Monday/Tuesday day 2/3s are a pain because it has to fit around work, and I would prefer it if I could turn up on the Friday night, play a day 1 and then (hopefully) play day 2 Sat and day 3 Sun. Also I imagine from the pros pov, if finishing on Sunday invites more recreational players to come along then it's got to be a good thing, and since the atmosphere atm is very much about making the game as accessible as possible for the recreational players I'm surprised to see the move to midweek finishes.

That rather misses the point - see Argue's replies.

The WHOLE IDEA is to see if a Monday finish would make the event more accessible for recreational players. Bear in mind, 1,000 runner event, how many recreatiional players will need to turn up on Monday for a 9 player Final Table?

You and Arbboy seem to both be missing the point imo.

It's not about the fact that only 9 of the 1000 runners will have to play the final on monday. It's about the fact that every single one of the runners will have to be prepared to play it on a monday. With a full time job that's not very easy at all.

This is exactly it. No point entering an event if you can't play the final table! Might as well set fire to your dough instead.

Yes this is what I was trying to get at

[arbboy]

This situation happened to a professional gambler and highly esteemed blonde.

He had a good steady job and had made a final on a day he was scheduled to be working. No worries, just do a sickie he thought.

He went on to win the £500 final table in Bristol for a cool £36,750.

His work found out and he was sacked.

His name was Neil Blatchley.

Didn't affect him too badly. He had a shot and lived the life for a year or so, robbed people busto'd his family to pay them back and went back to a reasonably senior job in a highly respectable industry.  How he got his current job in that industry given his past is quite amazing. Don't firms Google people prior to interviewing them nowadays?

Sounds like it worked out just fine for him with £36k on top.  Without getting sacked he probably would never have taken a shot and give himself a chance to make it coming from an accountancy background.

[tikay]

Obviously the work place nowadays doesn't work where work mates cover for each other's shifts at short notice even if you incentivise them accordingly.

I have just texted ten friends who are non pro gamblers and have real jobs whether they could phone up work tomorrow morning or tonight and ask for an emergency day off tomorrow as a holiday not as sick and nine said they could do that easily with no hassle.

Hold up - you saying you have 10 friends?

[arbboy]

Obviously the work place nowadays doesn't work where work mates cover for each other's shifts at short notice even if you incentivise them accordingly.

I have just texted ten friends who are non pro gamblers and have real jobs whether they could phone up work tomorrow morning or tonight and ask for an emergency day off tomorrow as a holiday not as sick and nine said they could do that easily with no hassle.

Hold up - you saying you have 10 friends?

Ok drinking partners!!!!

[doubleup]

Another thing is that there is usually a supporting event on the Sunday and that makes it worthwhile for people to travel as they have a comp to play in if they miss the final.  I would guess that a supporting event on a Monday wouldn't be a huge success.

Also can't see why the day 1s can't start at say 4pm, most people could make that or register a bit late.  If that means Saturday is a long day to play down to the final, just live with it, it can't be worse than a Monday final.

[david3103]

You'd have to be some sort of a tosser of a boss not to let an employee take a days holiday to play a FT where they could win £50k or whatever.

This

Or you'd be a Head Teacher.

In fact there are lots of jobs where an unscheduled day off has a major impact.

Personally I quite like the idea of a Monday FT, but I don't work now so why wouldn't I? But just assuming that everyone can snap get a day off by ringing up on Sunday night is plain wrong.

[arbboy]

You'd have to be some sort of a tosser of a boss not to let an employee take a days holiday to play a FT where they could win £50k or whatever.

This

Or you'd be a Head Teacher.

In fact there are lots of jobs where an unscheduled day off has a major impact.

Personally I quite like the idea of a Monday FT, but I don't work now so why wouldn't I? But just assuming that everyone can snap get a day off by ringing up on Sunday night is plain wrong.

Everyone can't.  I think more than 50% could though.  I find it amazing how workers with kids are allowed to have emergency days off for one off incidents yet single people who choose not to have kids are not allowed the same when they need it for different reasons in a totally one off situation.  Similar to how smokers are allowed to stand outside work probably for an hour a week smoking in 5 minute spells but non smokers just have to suck it up and don't get an hour less at work a week.

Makes me happy to be out of the corporate world where yes men rule if it is that tough in 2015.  In all the jobs i had between 1990 and 2002 it would have been relatively simple to get cover for a day off at short notice from work mates and/or talk the boss into giving you a day off in the vast majority of different jobs i did outside of gambling.  Do people still talk to each other at work nowadays or just constantly on their iphones during breaks etc?  Sounds like a grim world out there.

[nirvana]

Probably lucky that I have never  been a job where I couldn't ring up on any given day and say I need the day off. You accrue this benefit by being an excellent employee before you ask for it.

Also, you don't have to say you need the day to gamble, you just need the day.

A bit moot whether people in general would want to 'waste' 200 days lifetime (lol as usual at extremes to support a point). It's not a waste of a day if you opt to take a day off to pursue your pastime.

[h]

I like my job unless the ft is life changing money ( realise this amount will vary by individual )
i not taking an unplanned day off work and i have never pulled  sickie
Would not being phoning my boss on Monday morning asking to take day off
think this would be taking the piss
i just would not be comfortable asking for no notice time off so that i can play cards

[BulldozerD]

Always avoided any comp that finishes on a Monday. Stopped playing the UKIPT when they changed it