NPL needs an overhaul

[Manth]

I have seen first hand how many people do get drunk and drive home... in order to fill the cards up. Responsible service of alcohol flys out the window especially if there is a double game on at the venue.

It makes me wonder how many other people have been caught out.

I completely agree. I too unfortunately have lost my licence for 12 months after leaving an NPL venue. Although i am a big girl and able to make my own decisions, unfortunately for me it was a bad one I was blinded by the chip up damn it....... and maybe the Jack Daniels

[Rayni]

i should not laugh but what can ya do... its a pain in the back side... looks like i will save money by not playing so many games, there for i will be able to get my P plates and drive him around....

[Nevah play JJ]

Hi Smokey,
Nice cherry popping and great post.

I will cut and paste a few of your comments sorry if I butcher them but I do want to address a few of your comments.

I work for another league that has been referred to in this thread. I also play npl on a regular basis.
What I do feel a need to clear up is a couple of misleading statements made in this entire thread.

I am not sure if your league is the competition I referred to in my post, but I am kind of going to assume you are of similar type, rather than cause a ruckus

I do stand by what I have said in regards to my playing just once with this competition. I did not find it as professional as NPL, sorry if that offends but I just didn't.

I also stand by my comment that they are not as good quality of some of the players that NPL currently offer.
Having said that, I truly believe this competition gives these a perfect opportunity for a social game of poker. It offers them the opportunity to go in, have a beer, socialise and basically have a really great night.
It has its place, as I stated and you know what, it can only be good for poker as a whole.

Secondly. Deeper stacks does not equate to longer running times.

Sorry but to me it did, I was well over an hour later home with much less players.

I feel that the people bashing the other leagues for offering a totally different playing experience are just being defensive and naive.

I would absolutely agree!!
But only IF the player knocking the competition in question has not at least experienced one or quite a few games with any of those leagues then they are being defensive and naive.

However, if a player has experienced at least one game, then frankly this does give them the right to make a comment. Maybe they need to experience a few more games, as I will be, but they still do have the knowledge from their point of view to make a comment as they see it.

To sum up this post.
Just because other leagues have a different feel to the game doesn't mean that they are doing it wrong. I don't believe that a relaxed blind and/or deeper stack would at all cause NPL to become like those other leagues because NPL is a totally different league with a different sort of player base.

I guess I would agree, because alot of this thread is about how other leagues do have it different to NPL and that can come across as saying that they have it wrong.

I did not mean to state in my post that I think they have it wrong, I wanted to state that they are different, that they have ideas that are fantastic!

No system or setup is perfect, there is no such thing as perfect frankly!


However, the night I played there were a few NPL players there.

They love and thrive in this competition because this is of the type that they find they do well in. NPL does not offer them these chances, because by definition they are chasers, they are constant callers and they are constantly out of the points range. Their skills rely on luck rather than ability and discipline.

So this competition WILL and DOES provide them with the opportunity to play the type of poker they wish to play.

So I really believe that competition leagues do offer so much to oter players. Personally I do not find they are leagues that appeal to me as a player, but again, I gained knowledge from playing with them.



I did however state the TD in my experience was not as professional as the TD's that do NPL.

HOWEVER, the relaxed atmosphere made for a fun night. If I was a beginner, I would be feeling VERY welcomed and not overwhelmed at all!

But this competition does not lead for improving your game or your skills. That is just my honest opinion.


Sorry I did have more to say but the footy is on and I have to scoot.. but will come back to this.

Again.. good post Smokey.

[Smokey Haze]

I absolutely agree that other TD's are not as professional. I for one am probably more professional then most in my league however not even as close to how NPL TD's are.

But at the same time if I ran an event like NPL it would kill our entire league because the majority of players we have are locals from the pub that are there for a fun night.

That was one of the points I was trying to make. It is not the deepstack or blind levels that make a league what it is. If NPL went to 4k stacks like we have I don't believe it would turn NPL into a league like our because it's about the way the different leagues are run not the stacks. You'll have the same players just experiencing a different starting stack.

[mr_niceguy_1979]

Have read all the posts to date and would like to contribute my thoughts, thank you for reading and thank you to NPL for a great league.

1) Interested in the comment from Garth "We will be introducing a different tournament structure for events with under 25 runners. This will see an increased chip redemption amount for passports as well as a slightly more relaxed blind structure".

Can you expand on this?

I think the following ideas could make NPL even better than it is now
2) I read posts about drinking and driving and trying to support the venue without drinking alcohol. How about a scheme that rewards people for spending money on the pokies. In QLD, they ran a promo that gave punters raffle tickets for every $x won/deposited on the pokies. At a certain point in the night, a draw was done and people who got drawn out got extra chips. This would be a way for people to support the venue, yet be responsible with drinking. Perhaps you could get 1-2 stamps for x dollars won/deposited on the pokies??

3) I love the idea of a trophy for venue champion after 10 weeks. This could go hand in hand with an honour board, perhaps with venue voucher for the winner and runner up. This would give top 5 something to play for when their state final seat is secured, and may increase spending from these players and make NPL more enjoyable.

4) I think a combination of the following could improve NPL
-Starting stack of 1500
-1st session have 3 blind levels of 15 minutes
-introduce 400/800 or 75/150 blind levels
-1500 for redeemed cards
-Also like the idea of partially stamped cards getting 100/300/600 for 1/2/3 stamps. This would discourage people buying that extra drink and potentially being over the limit, yet it would encourage people to fully stamp up to get the best value. I don't know how many times I've bought more than I should have just to get that extra stamp and redeem. I've also been in the situation where I wouldn't be able to fully stamp up a card without going over the limit, so I haven't bought a drink at all.
-If there is a concern about finish times, perhaps consider start times of 7pm. Down side to this is there's not enough time for people to have meals.

5) As stated earlier, I like the idea of every tournament winner going into a regional final. Others could qualify for the regional final by being top 50/100/150 on regional leaderboard. This would encourage people to come to a venue that they wouldn't usually play at, and would also encourage people to go to venues with smaller numbers.

6) There was talk a while back about new prizes, I would like to see more practical prizes such that if you get 2 or more, they still mean something, eg stubby holders, love the bottle openers, etc. Also, it would be good to have a choice between prizes if you finished 2nd. ie if you finish 2nd and already have a hat, then you can choose the bottle opener.

Thank you for reading

[KING MOTH]

I only read the first page.

[Nathan Butler]

No no Brice, Thank YOU for reading!

[Garth Kay]

Ok I am finally getting around to replying to Brice's post. So much for the sleep in today, lol.

Interested in the comment from Garth "We will be introducing a different tournament structure for events with under 25 runners. This will see an increased chip redemption amount for passports as well as a slightly more relaxed blind structure".

Can you expand on this?

At the moment, no.

2) I read posts about drinking and driving and trying to support the venue without drinking alcohol. How about a scheme that rewards people for spending money on the pokies. In QLD, they ran a promo that gave punters raffle tickets for every $x won/deposited on the pokies. At a certain point in the night, a draw was done and people who got drawn out got extra chips. This would be a way for people to support the venue, yet be responsible with drinking. Perhaps you could get 1-2 stamps for x dollars won/deposited on the pokies??

We cannot promote gaming in any way, how many venues did you attend in Qld, in Victoria or SA this type of practice would be highly illegal and get the company and players in all sorts of trouble.

3) I love the idea of a trophy for venue champion after 10 weeks. This could go hand in hand with an honour board, perhaps with venue voucher for the winner and runner up. This would give top 5 something to play for when their state final seat is secured, and may increase spending from these players and make NPL more enjoyable.

If we spent just $20 on a venue winner prize we are then looking at almost $3,000 every season on that prize. $20 doesn't exactly buy much, and $3,000 can go along way in a promotion or marketing scheme where we see a return for our dollar spend. In saying that I have heard of several venues that will be doing a venue leader prize for their leader.

There is just no incentive to spend in that area, as it does not increase numbers at the venue, attract greater numbers or retain players. But there will be a bonus for all venue winners as next season's state finals.

4) I think a combination of the following could improve NPL
-Starting stack of 1500
-1st session have 3 blind levels of 15 minutes
-introduce 400/800 or 75/150 blind levels
-1500 for redeemed cards
-Also like the idea of partially stamped cards getting 100/300/600 for 1/2/3 stamps. This would discourage people buying that extra drink and potentially being over the limit, yet it would encourage people to fully stamp up to get the best value. I don't know how many times I've bought more than I should have just to get that extra stamp and redeem. I've also been in the situation where I wouldn't be able to fully stamp up a card without going over the limit, so I haven't bought a drink at all.
-If there is a concern about finish times, perhaps consider start times of 7pm. Down side to this is there's not enough time for people to have meals

Good ideas all, but the stamp card will remain the way it is, partially stamped cards for the amounts you have stated make it difficult for staff as well as communicating players. Always keep things as simple as possible.
Start times are not dictated by NPL but rather venues. I do not see a huge concern with the length of tournament, but we were also discussing how long a staff member works for, so the players are home at the same time (with an extended tourney format and earlier start) but staff are working a half hour to an hour longer for no additional pay.

5) As stated earlier, I like the idea of every tournament winner going into a regional final. Others could qualify for the regional final by being top 50/100/150 on regional leaderboard. This would encourage people to come to a venue that they wouldn't usually play at, and would also encourage people to go to venues with smaller numbers.

Why tournament winners? How is that fair if I can rock up to one NPL tournament play once and win the tournament and then qualify? If it is a regional final shouldn't it be based around consistent performance over an entire season? I don't see how this encourages players to play at a venue they wouldn't regularly play at.
Wait till next season's promotions, they are not regional finals, but they are going o be fun.

There was talk a while back about new prizes, I would like to see more practical prizes such that if you get 2 or more, they still mean something, eg stubby holders, love the bottle openers, etc. Also, it would be good to have a choice between prizes if you finished 2nd. ie if you finish 2nd and already have a hat, then you can choose the bottle opener.

The talk awhile back was about new prizes, new prizes such as hats, keyrings, glasses etc........ Prizes get re evaluated every second season. So we might possibly see new prizes season after next, although I still hear stories of players chasing a hat or bottle opener today.

[Luke05(Jamo)]

i don't want the torneys to start any early, i would not be able to play any more because of work.

[bennymacca]

i don't want the torneys to start any early, i would not be able to play any more because of work.

i actually prefer the 8pm start time that the willo has. they do this because then they can book meals in the poker area, so it makes sense for them

but i like it because it allows me to have tea at home (i cant afford to eat out every week), get to the venue around 7-715 and have plenty of time to get stamped up (and usually throw a few bucks in the pokies while i am waiting). or when i do have a meal, it doesnt mean smashing down the meal in 4 minutes.

i doubt that many venues would like starting earlier, because noone would have meals before poker - there is barely enough time to have a meal for a 730 game as it is.