Amateur Poker Association & Tour

Poker Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: IrishTom on April 28, 2017, 08:13:57 AM

Title: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: IrishTom on April 28, 2017, 08:13:57 AM
(http://www.apat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/APAT-S11-Banner_edited-1.png)

As we work to finalise the schedule for Season 11, and whilst waiting on agreement of venues and dates, APAT
welcomes feedback from players on Season 10, including WCOAP... whilst remembering that Season 10 was a special anniversary year where we concentrated on rewarding our players with Destination Vegas packages... we expect to return to a more traditional APAT National Championship weekend schedule in Season 11...

We hope to have confirmation with all venues next week, and of course when we have we will release Season 11 tour dates and venues immediately after... this will include the venue and dates for WCOAP 2018, with a WCOAP schedule confirmed within a month or two later....

Not forgetting... Season 11 'non-UK' destinations/dates already confirmed HERE (http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php/topic,20003.msg252883.html#msg252883)

And finally, if you're heading out to Vegas during the time APAT and Prizewinners will be there (June 3rd-10th) then let us know via HERE (http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php/topic,20064.msg253479.html#msg253479)


Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: GGUK2008 on April 28, 2017, 10:01:11 AM
Another good WCOAP. Preferred Stratford for the past two years to Manchester, but understand the need to use a Grosvenor venue this year. Prefer Stratford because of the proximity to lots of decent food joints etc. 

On a poker note: can there be laminated game "plaques" for HORSE (and presumably 8-game, though I didn't play it), please? Quite cheap to do, and might save a lot of confusion for players and dealers alike.

Thanks again for all of the effort you guys put in.
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: IrishTom on April 28, 2017, 10:04:17 AM
Another good WCOAP. Preferred Stratford for the past two years to Manchester, but understand the need to use a Grosvenor venue this year. Prefer Stratford because of the proximity to lots of decent food joints etc. 

On a poker note: can there be laminated game "plaques" for HORSE (and presumably 8-game, though I didn't play it), please? Quite cheap to do, and might save a lot of confusion for players and dealers alike.

Thanks again for all of the effort you guys put in.

Thanks Gareth... and yep agree on 8-Game and HORSE we'll have them for 2018
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: nosey-p on April 28, 2017, 11:01:30 AM
Not alot to change, Same again please. However I think over the last 2/3 seasons the online side of things could be better. I know that the focus is on the live game (so it should) but a bit more imagination with the online.   
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: IrishTom on April 28, 2017, 11:12:52 AM
Not alot to change, Same again please. However I think over the last 2/3 seasons the online side of things could be better. I know that the focus is on the live game (so it should) but a bit more imagination with the online.    

Plans are afoot Wayne... but where does your imagination lead...
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: nosey-p on April 28, 2017, 11:25:54 AM
Not alot to change, Same again please. However I think over the last 2/3 seasons the online side of things could be better. I know that the focus is on the live game (so it should) but a bit more imagination with the online.    

Plans are afoot Wayne... but where does your imagination lead...

Should have known that question was coming,  :D Will get back to you
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: Paulie_D on April 28, 2017, 12:43:40 PM
Tom,

WCOAP

Overall, I thought the WCOAP was top-notch. Casino was excellent, dealers were superb, TD & Cardroom management all great. Valets pretty good...there's never enough of those.

I agree the casino location is a little lacking as far as surroundings but the offerings inside were more then adequate for me.

The "break"

I know working around casino availability can be a problem but the 2 day break in the WCOAP was, it seemed to me, to be a bit off-putting especially for those travelling a long way. I'd hope that we can go without that next year.

Stud/Razz

Again, we have a pretty packed schedule as it is but there were a lot of comments about not having Stud & Razz as separate side events. Now I had thought before that these weren't popular but I've been turned around on that point.

The 8-Game & HORSE weren't real subsitutes so I'd like to see Stud & Razz make a comeback in S11.

PLO/PLO8

I'd like to see these separated in the schedule more. I was fortunate enough to FT the PLO but it meant that I had to late reg for the PLO8 when I was eliminated.

Those of us who love the 4-card game don't get enough opportunity to play live so moving these further apart on the schedule would be optimal.

Non-HE scheduling

This follows on the from the point above and I know working around all the other events can be tricky but I see the WCOAP as my opportunity NOT to play HE so having all the non-2 card events spread out would be a real treat.

Season 11

Side Events

I know I missed the side events this year  (although I understand the reasons why they had to be side-lined) so I'm looking forward to those coming back in S11.

Perhaps more of those.  ;)


Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: Big Club on April 28, 2017, 14:03:46 PM
Fantastic WSOP as usual.... my couple of pennies.....

Stud/Razz

Completely selfish and we are already spoilt with the 8-game and Horse but would love to see these return next year.

OFC

Needs a stronger TD than we had this year. We had a couple of renegade dealers who decided they would play their own rules regarding paying people off and could have been avoided by having a stronger TD making sure the rule was consistent across all tables.

Re-entry

Numbers for the main were impressive but I feel that with 3 day one's there could be room for 1 entry per day if busted. No stack merging and no carrying over biggest stack. Just re-entering another day 1 if 0 chips or stack surrendered before play.

Delayed advertised start times

This happened a couple of times from memory and I guess is unavoidable if dealer availability isn't there. However, with the no multi-tabling rule in place I decided not to play the Omaha so I could ensure that I could play the OFC because there was only a 2-hour advertised gap between the two. This turned into 4 hours (I think?) and had I known would definitely have played the Omaha expecting to bust in time or having built a stack to warrant missing the OFC.

Reporting was top notch as usual and the live stream was a great resource that will become more and more popular... Thanks Tom, Lucy, Leigh, Matt and Des for giving us 10 days to get excited about every year!
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: STRETCHY74 on April 28, 2017, 15:49:19 PM
thank you for a very enjoyable season , personally I thought all thestaff at the grovesnors where  helpful. the wcoap was brilliant although wasn't to keen on the area, don't think I would want my wife walking to nearest hotel(6-7 min walk) on her own at any time of day and wouldn't really want to spend more than a week there again... , also the  food places weren't great, would be ok for 2 day event, but personally I'm hoping  if wcoap is at a grovesnor (loved aspers but accomadation very expensive) hoping its blackpool where the team events was this season the casino is amazing as is location and to top it off accomadation is a very high standard for very cheap prices. also wish my local grovesnor(Portsmouth) was a lot bigger as that weekend for the uk champs was very popular in main and dest vegas side.
as no dest vegas packages looking forward to the side events, I'm hoping theses start early on day 2 and will be a mixture of the side events tht get played at the wcoap. i.e   at English have six max as side event,  horse at scotish, ofc (preferably ofc pineapple, I'm hooked)at uk etc  etc   
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: redsimon on April 28, 2017, 16:56:47 PM
Loved the WCOAP this year, only request for 2018/ season 11:

More small denomination chips in limit events.

Bring back Razz and Stud :)
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: shug on April 28, 2017, 20:50:49 PM
If the Scottish leg is in Edinburgh again try to avoid a six nations weekend as hotel prices go through the roof.
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: Paulie_D on April 29, 2017, 06:10:04 AM
If the Scottish leg is in Edinburgh again try to avoid a six nations weekend as hotel prices go through the roof.

We announce first...they'll have to work around us...right?
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: Zozzy on April 29, 2017, 08:10:04 AM
I only have good things to say about Season 10. The Apat/Grosvenor partnership has been a great success in my opinion.

There are over fifty Grosvenor Casinos throughout the UK, many of them equipped with Poker Rooms (and bars) big enough to manage an onslaught of excited players.  Apat have benefitted from being able to arrange venues easier and more quickly and have had online satellites into their 'Live' tournaments on the Grosvenor Online platform.
 
Grosvenor has benefitted by gaining more members in the Casino and online, which in turn will lead to more awareness of their own comps 25/25 .seasonal comps and Goliath etc.
In each of the Apat Main Event tournaments that I attended I found the Grosvenor staff to be friendly and efficient. What more can you ask for.
The WCOAP was the highlight. I haven't been to many in the past but I certainly found out what I had been missing. I personally wasn't successful but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The atmosphere was fantastic at Manchester G. The Poker Room is one of the biggest outside of London and the Cardroom manager is excellent. His dealers respect him and are professional.
And last but not least the players have had a hell of a lot of added value from the partnership. Grosvenor added seats into their own gukpt and seasonal tournaments worth hundreds of pounds over the Apat season. This included the extra online Apat Christmas Cracker as well as the online Main Events.
The Destination Vegas packages were a one off promotion celebrating 10 years of Apat. Flights, Hotel and entry into the wsop bracelet event WOW not cheap.

On the subject of the WCOAP side events for Season 11. I do not have a preference for one or another, they are all a learning curve for me ,Stud, Razz and even Omaha I have had little experience with so far. So I will go with the flow on that one.
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: AceOnTheRiver on April 30, 2017, 23:10:59 PM
I pretty much agree with everything Paulie said when it comes to the WCOAP...

For the other stops, trying to make them all mini festivals would be great.. maybe vary the Friday night game completely, NLHE side at 8pm sat and a PLO variant on Sundays just 1 hour after the main resumes
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: Paulie_D on May 01, 2017, 13:06:16 PM
I pretty much agree with everything Paulie said when it comes to the WCOAP...

For the other stops, trying to make them all mini festivals would be great.. maybe vary the Friday night game completely, NLHE side at 8pm sat and a PLO variant on Sundays just 1 hour after the main resumes

Mind read much?...I suspect you may be very happy with S11.  ;)
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: KarmaDope on May 04, 2017, 20:59:56 PM
I didn't play much of Season 10 and if I'm truly honest, I'm unlikely to play much of Season 11 due to finances. However, I did play the Worlds and the Forum Event, and so will limit feedback to those two events.

Forum Event

Positives

Negatives

World Championships

Positives

Negatives

Suggestions

Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: koyte on May 06, 2017, 08:49:04 AM
don;t know if the team game takes more organising then other events, but would be great to see a European team event (not countries) but similar format to the uk team championship
keep up the good work
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: paulrice99 on May 06, 2017, 20:19:38 PM
If the Scottish leg is in Edinburgh again try to avoid a six nations weekend as hotel prices go through the roof.

We announce first...they'll have to work around us...right?

Can't Scotland just play all there games away next year.
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: shug on May 07, 2017, 21:38:45 PM
If the Scottish leg is in Edinburgh again try to avoid a six nations weekend as hotel prices go through the roof.

We announce first...they'll have to work around us...right?

Can't Scotland just play all there games away next year.
then we would never win any games
Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: amcgrath1uk on May 07, 2017, 23:13:20 PM
I didn't play much of Season 10 and if I'm truly honest, I'm unlikely to play much of Season 11 due to finances. However, I did play the Worlds and the Forum Event, and so will limit feedback to those two events.

Forum Event

Positives
  • Location worked really well. Cheap eats/sleeps/bites always handy, especially having a Wetherspoons over the road.
  • The increased numbers didn't seem to hurt the event at all. As always, it was the best event in terms of atmosphere and enjoyment.
  • Dealers & floor staff were excellent.
  • Live streaming and updates were very good - it's tough as hell tracking all the exits in this type of event and it seemed to go well from a player's point of view.

Negatives
  • I've said this before and I'll say it again - one forum, one team. I was lucky in that I got my entry because my team won it the year before, but I saw some forums/FB groups not get in whereas other areas appeared to form "groups" in order to get 2/3 teams in. It happens every year.
  • Food wait was horrendous. This seems to be reoccurring
  • Apart from the ME there was nothing for players to do who didn't want to play cash. A late turbo comp probably would have been good.

World Championships

Positives
  • Cardroom staff were tremendous in most tournaments. I can barely remember any misdeals and the games flowed really well. (I say most as saving one for later)
  • The APAT team worked their backsides off and it showed. The live streams were excellent, the updates complemented it well and the organisation was as slick as a PokerStars event bar the odd mishap.
  • It was good to see so many events being supported and decent sized prizepools.

Negatives
  • Catering was shocking, especially food. The chain as a whole seems to struggle in this area but it was rather obvious over the second weekend.
  • No Stud/Razz was upsetting.
  • The break on the first Monday/Tuesday didn't work. I understand that this was because of a sponsor-wide event but if APAT can, please get rid of this.
  • Dealing in the 8-Game wasn't as good as hoped. It was the only event where I heard complaints about the dealing standard. It's understandable as some of the games aren't dealt very often but still a bit sad for the layers involved as they were paying a decent amount to play.

Suggestions

  • Catering wise - would it be possible to ask the Casino to run a limited menu for those days? Things that are easy to eat at the table but a bit more than burgers/chips. Also, more staff!!
  • 8-Game. Could we make a change here? Ditch the Limit Hold'Em, it's boring as hell in a tournament, especially 6-max. I would personally replace it with Limit Badugi but appreciate others might have better ideas. This would also give a better balance of games, 3 flop games, 3 stud games, 2 draw games.
  • I'll echo everyone else - BRING BACK THE STUD AND RAZZ! Also, I think it's time to ditch one of the Irish/Pineapple.
  • One team per forum/group please

Just a couple of things I'll bring up here..

8 game dealing - I may have just been lucky, but I can't recall any issues on the tables I was on during the 2 days. All it needed to run smoother would have been what they did on day 2, and have the rotating thing for the button. Let's be honest, I think you play this anywhere in the world, and due to the lack of the games being played, there will always be more errors.

Limit Hold em as part of the 8 game - it's part of the standard 8 game that's played online, I had no issues with it.



Title: Re: APAT Season 11... Season 10 feedback...
Post by: paulrice99 on May 09, 2017, 15:04:05 PM
I didn't play much of Season 10 and if I'm truly honest, I'm unlikely to play much of Season 11 due to finances. However, I did play the Worlds and the Forum Event, and so will limit feedback to those two events.

Forum Event

Positives
  • Location worked really well. Cheap eats/sleeps/bites always handy, especially having a Wetherspoons over the road.
  • The increased numbers didn't seem to hurt the event at all. As always, it was the best event in terms of atmosphere and enjoyment.
  • Dealers & floor staff were excellent.
  • Live streaming and updates were very good - it's tough as hell tracking all the exits in this type of event and it seemed to go well from a player's point of view.

Negatives
  • I've said this before and I'll say it again - one forum, one team. I was lucky in that I got my entry because my team won it the year before, but I saw some forums/FB groups not get in whereas other areas appeared to form "groups" in order to get 2/3 teams in. It happens every year.
  • Food wait was horrendous. This seems to be reoccurring
  • Apart from the ME there was nothing for players to do who didn't want to play cash. A late turbo comp probably would have been good.

World Championships

Positives
  • Cardroom staff were tremendous in most tournaments. I can barely remember any misdeals and the games flowed really well. (I say most as saving one for later)
  • The APAT team worked their backsides off and it showed. The live streams were excellent, the updates complemented it well and the organisation was as slick as a PokerStars event bar the odd mishap.
  • It was good to see so many events being supported and decent sized prizepools.

Negatives
  • Catering was shocking, especially food. The chain as a whole seems to struggle in this area but it was rather obvious over the second weekend.
  • No Stud/Razz was upsetting.
  • The break on the first Monday/Tuesday didn't work. I understand that this was because of a sponsor-wide event but if APAT can, please get rid of this.
  • Dealing in the 8-Game wasn't as good as hoped. It was the only event where I heard complaints about the dealing standard. It's understandable as some of the games aren't dealt very often but still a bit sad for the layers involved as they were paying a decent amount to play.

Suggestions

  • Catering wise - would it be possible to ask the Casino to run a limited menu for those days? Things that are easy to eat at the table but a bit more than burgers/chips. Also, more staff!!
  • 8-Game. Could we make a change here? Ditch the Limit Hold'Em, it's boring as hell in a tournament, especially 6-max. I would personally replace it with Limit Badugi but appreciate others might have better ideas. This would also give a better balance of games, 3 flop games, 3 stud games, 2 draw games.
  • I'll echo everyone else - BRING BACK THE STUD AND RAZZ! Also, I think it's time to ditch one of the Irish/Pineapple.
  • One team per forum/group please

Just a couple of things I'll bring up here..

8 game dealing - I may have just been lucky, but I can't recall any issues on the tables I was on during the 2 days. All it needed to run smoother would have been what they did on day 2, and have the rotating thing for the button. Let's be honest, I think you play this anywhere in the world, and due to the lack of the games being played, there will always be more errors.

Limit Hold em as part of the 8 game - it's part of the standard 8 game that's played online, I had no issues with it.


The dealing was pretty good on all the tables I was on but in the Antes Only we had a player transfer onto our table who came from one where there had not been playing a bring in.  There were 3 tournaments going on and so it was difficult to see the clock display because of the screen split and this might have made it unclear, but there is effectively only 2 variations in Antes only from standard NLHE that the dealers need to know about.  This was quite far into the first level.