Thoughts, comments and suggestions for the Merrion

MrPudding

Hi all,

Please use this thread as a space to post comments about what you feel about the games we have been running in the Merrion. These comments can be positive or negative, whatever you feel. I would prefer that any negative comments were constructive, I think any abusive comments about either Suited Aces ability/inability to run games or how the Merrion treats the game will be removed.

This is your chance to get anything that annoys you off you chest. Hopefully there will be the odd positive comment too.

So with that in mind...begin.

MrP

cormie

More playable blind structure. 4k chips with 25 min increases perhaps.

No more hidden requests from Merrion.

Iago

Personally I object to Gerire dealing, gave me nothing but muck last night

On a serious note, or a slightly more serious note anyway, I think it's been organised very well, the only negative thing I've heard is the end of the night last night (although I wasn't there, just read the thread)

The only (very very slight) complaint I have is with the timing, makes it difficult to get up for work in the morning (although I shouldn't complain seen as I was knocked out before 9!!) but I would prefer a Saturday afternoon, where you could go for a few drinks afterwards and swap bad beat stories, like the mid-month madness last month.

I like the idea of either best hand/worst bad beat getting a prize, and would be more than willing to pay an extra 1 or 2€ to go towards the prize, if you have 50 players then you get 50 or 100 which makes it a worthwhile prize to get.

Apart from that keep up the good work..

DeVore

We'll be running Mid Month Madness every month too, its specifically to address the "work next day" problem.

I'm going to just post factual information here. So if you want to know something I'll try to answer it briefly and concisely.

DeV.

careca

I thought the tournament was very good. Overall a good standard of play (probably a lot of improvement in us due to the amount we play). Even though I didn't like the pushing of the charity thing, I agree with pokertroll about it being a nice touch with the beers and there was finger food at the final table. I will certainly be back to the next one.

I would like to know at the start of each tournament who the Director is and I would expect the director to stay for the duration of the tournament. I heard on Mon last that some guy from the Merrion was director but he wasn't to be seen at the latter stages. Muso seemed to be the only SA guy around to clarify any matters and he was still playing at the time, which could have led to difficulties if he was involved in a hand that needed a ruling.

Overall though, very well done to all involved.

karlh

Well done lads, well run and a great standard of tournie. You could drastically improve things by letting me get to a final table. once.

Anyways, it was mentioned on the 'show 1 show both' thread by Corben Dallas that you should have your own house rules for these tournies.

I think a printed sheet of rules, stuck on the board on the way in, one with each dealer would make things a lot smoother. There were a lot of arguments over the show both cards rule which should be up to the SA boys to decide beforehand (personally i think you should pay to see both cards). Rules like this, maybe even the full rules of holdem swiped from somewhere else and the blind structure etc would be good - just to avoid any delays/disagreements.

Since you have a laptop there why don't we have a proper poker clock? Worked brilliantly in BSOP and I'd agree to an extra €1 surcharge to pay for a licence. Personally I find it makes a big difference to have a proper clock rather than just having someone with a stopwatch shouting every 20 minutes.

Besides these minor points, well done again.

dirkey_wynne

I also thought it was very well run. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, even those of us who got nowhere near the money! The one thing I feel needs clarification is the amount of involvement from the Merrion staff. Basically it comes down to the charity thing. I really felt pressure was being applied, unfairly. In my opinion, the tournie is organised and run extremely well by the SA guys. This includes taking the money, setting up the tables etc. I think the Merrion is getting E200 odd, for, well basically rent! They don't appoint dealers - again SA guys have this sorted. Therefore I don't feel it fair for them to try interfere, especially given that we had entered under the premise of paying 5 to the house, and rest to the prize fund. This tournament has an extremely big fanbase, already, due to it being enjoyable and well organised, and I'm sure another casino would be quite happy to facilitate, seeing the amount of bodies it brings through the door. That's why, in my opinion, the Merrion should be happy to let the SA guys continue to run the tournie their way, as they're doing a damn fine job so far imho.

DeVore

Good points Neil.
We dont make rulings in the hands, we will leave that to the director we are assigned by the casino to avoid any claims of favouritism between SA guys.
What we are considering at the moment is having ONE of us sit out the tournie and just be the event organiser for that night. Still no rulings from us but we'd be better placed then to sort out the casinos, take names and placings as people leave, organise the prize fund etc. Its hard to run an event and not play but its something we have to consider.

Karl, I reckon we can pull together a set of rules (isnt Marq working on something like this? we can always nick his ). We'll pull together a list of the most commonly mistaken/contentious rules for the next one (particularly for the shootout as people are going to get confused if they dont know what a shoot out is!)

Dirkey, you're right, we need to clarify how much involvement the host casinos have in the event. I'll say nothing more about that for the moment. When I have news, I'll convey it to you all but, yes, we are in agreement with you.

DeV.

Marq

I'm sorry the list of Fitz house rules is taking so long, there are still come things I need to clarify and I haven't managed to sit down and chat to Luke or Danielle for a couple of weeks as I have been away when they're there and vice versa. But give it another week or so and I hope to have it done.

Back on topic: I think the Payday Monday is an excellent tournament. I feel that organisation of tables, dealers, table joinings etc is handled very professionally. I think that the place has a great vibe when the tournament is on, and the atmosphere is great. Standard of play is also great.

For me, there aren't many areas in which the tournie could improve, but I'll have a stab at some suggestions.

I still think that the starting stack should be bigger. I know that some people think the twenty minute blind levels and the 75-150 level make this point irrelevant but I have noticed since the first payday monday that because we have dealers who are also playing the game, the number of hands per level tend to be very low. At my table on monday I was seat nine and the blinds had only just passed me when they went up to 50-100. Notice that in the Fitz blind levels are 25 minutes for the first three levels in rebuy tournaments, where you can accumulate chips a lot quicker. I understand that the organisers don't want to be sitting there till 4 in the morning waiting for the tournie to finish, so I think that the best thing to do is increase the starting stack to 4k - it would mean that you could take a hit early on and not then be just waiting for an oppurtunity to get all of your chips in and hope for the best. 20 minute blind levels are fine in a freeze-out if you have to chips to play them. The structure at the moment doesn't allow you to be in any way creative unless you accumulate chips very early on.

I agree that there should be an appointed tournament director, that everyone should be made aware of who it is, that they should not play in the tournament, and that they should be present at all stages of the tournament. I would have no problem with one of the SA guys doing this, as I believe that their rulings would be fair and not favouritistic. If they have a printed set of rules to back them up then they are simply the person that enforces those rules, and can't be accused of favouritism anyway.

Printed rules on the wall - great idea.

Visible poker clock - great idea.

Letting Karlh make the final table - not too sure about that one, although the tournie has been used to test things out in the past

Batbat

I dont like the Merrion venue, just didnt like the feel of the place, just my impression, event seemed well organised

karlh

Their tables are completely sh1te, i'd much prefer the Fitz too if at all possible but it's worth the sacrifice for such a cool tournie!

Iago

karlh wrote:

Their tables are completely sh1te, i'd much prefer the Fitz too if at all possible but it's worth the sacrifice for such a cool tournie!

have to agree with Karl here, the tables are very dodgy and uncomfortable

Krusty_Clown

The tournament is well run and very professional. With respect to increasing the level times, or the starting chips, I wouldn't really be in favour.

1st Tounament finished around midnight (not too sure, as I didn't stay until the end). 2nd Tournament finished at 12:30am when the remaining players cut a deal (could have gone on for at least another hour). 3rd Tournament finished at 2am. It's fine for the 3 or 4 people who are chasing the real money, but for those who end up in 5th, 6th etc. it's a pretty late finish to get your money back. Also awkward for the unlucky SuitedAces individual who has to hang on until the end.

Tournament Director: There was also one incident during the final table when a tournament director was absolutely required, but none was available. The dealer at the time (Marianne?) made a call, but wasn't sure if it was the correct call.

Oh, and my back was killing me after sitting in those chairs for seven hours.
The money helped numb the pain though!

mewso

Mags is her name and in fairness even though it was a mistake she made while dealing she would probably be the most qualified person to make a decision in matters like that so the right person make the call there.

DeVore

Thanks guys, its nice to see people appreciate the tourney. The best way to fix these problems is to air them so we know what needs fixing.

DeV.

gerire

Krusty_Clown wrote:

Tournament Director: There was also one incident during the final table when a tournament director was absolutely required, but none was available. The dealer at the time (Marianne?) made a call, but wasn't sure if it was the correct call.

As Dave said to her after she made the decision, "would you have made that decision had you not been dealing" and I dont think she would have, and I think it was a wron decision but as muso said she was the most qualified person on the premises at the time and had it been a different dealer she would have been the one that would have been called.

Obscure

Great game again!

However, i think you need to make it more explicit that they are SuitedAces games! The people that are playing in them are not there just because its a 50euro game (which is sort of affordable) but because its a SA game where they know the people, the quality of play and the relaxed atmosphere of the whole thing. (A side point of this is that the whole thing does not have to be TOO professionally run, as long as the game runs along nicely ppl will be happy).

So to make it more explicit to the people playing AND (very important) to the people running the casino (merrion\fitz\other) that its a SA game try to use the casino just for the chip and the chairs! Would there be enough players who would be willing to deal also? That way they would know that its not their game to dictate. Maybe when its gets to the final table a SA player could deal till the end and they could be given a few bob for hanging around till the end!

Also, at the end of the night I think there needs to be 2/3 SA people around. There was only one SA person left (MrPudding i think) last Monday and so the Merrion maybe took this to mean that they were running the tournament. I know it finished late and so i cant blame any SA person for leaving so i think the tournament should maybe start earlier and finish earlier so the game isnt a burden on the organisers (and their bosses the next morning).

Would like to see how the game runs in the fitz but unfortunately won't be able to make it to the mid-month game!

mewso

Pudding and I are easily confused but it was me that was there at the end. No comment on comparable sizes please.

careca

Just a thought. Have you (SA) ever thought about running a tournie in some pub in dublin. Many pubs have poker classics (normally five card draw). Normally the rooms are hired out free of charge as the pub makes the money on drink. Lots of guys have their own chips or they could be borrowed (leased) from the fitz, maybe even Special Days would sponsor chips ?? It would also mean players could have a few drinks during the game. I know tables sizes might not allow for 9/10 players but most tables on Monday night only had 8. Any registration money could go towards SA expenses. Closing time could be a problem but it could be run on a night with late opening. It would mean SA have complete control over the tournament. Might be worth looking into, even for a once off to see how it goes ??

DapperGent

I think there are legal issues with regard to running a tournament somewhere other than a card club. Particularily a licensed premises.

As far as I know for it to be kosher a certain percentage has to be given to charity, though I could stand to be corrected.

Personally I'd be all over poker in a pub like I would a 772 flop, if it was possible. Could be worth a look.