Bloomington Indiana's Premier Poker League | Indiana University
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Happy New Year!
Yeah…a new year. 2012. Woo Hoo. Meh.
JUST KIDDING! It’s going to be a GREAT year for us! B-Town Poker is going to have its’ most successful year EVER because of YOU!
This year will be about making beneficial changes for you, our poker players. You have made interesting comments about game-play that Jay and I discussed and we take every comment seriously. One e-mail came over the inter-webs recently that made us stop in our tracks and think hard.
So hard, that it made my head hurt.
So hard, that I actually discussed it with my friend WHILE ON VACATION! After a while, she told me to, “shut the hell up!”
The e-mail I am talking about discusses the act of “chopping” points between the final two players in any tournament. First place points get 1200 base points and 250 bonus, while second gets 800 and 200. When a chop occurs, each player receives 1000 and 225. The e-mailer thinks that this is unfair in the interest of overall points.
I happen to agree and let me tell you why;
Let’s say that you and I chop. If I had won outright (1200), I could be ranked 16th instead of sitting at 19th, while you (800) would be 5th instead of 3rd. That’s a big difference when you think about the fact that last season 1st through 3rd place were only separated by a few points and it came down to the last tournament. Maybe some of the others knocking on the door didn’t get the same splitting opportunities, holding them at a disadvantage to advance.
As for chopping the money, the incentive for a player who doesn’t have many points and doesn’t care about points is totally gone once the money is decided. That means the action is corrupted and the players decision making will be totally reckless and fully loose. That’s not fair to the other player who wants those points. That $50 is not only a prize but also insurance that the action is normal.
Winning a tournament is a difficult task and should be rewarded accordingly. Winning tournaments should give a player a major advantage to winning the overall season point leader, and chopping the key part of the tournament cuts the legs out from the leagues’ built in philosophy.
So here’s what we are going to do for Season 09; No more chopping of points or prize money, UNLESS the time limit of the tournament is going to exceed 4 hours. If this occurs, both players’ chips will be counted by the tournament director and then first and second place will be determined with the $50 prize going to the winner.
With this rule in place, we will be able to keep the competition pure and the integrity on the game intact.
Good luck and happy hunting, everyone!
** UPDATED RULE can be seen here and scoll down to Rule J **
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#2 written by Stacy Haskin 1 month ago
As it happens, I DON’T disagree about the sportsmanship aspect, as I have posted before (http://btownpoker.com/?p=198), but not in this case. If you make it to the final table, your chances of making it to Head’s-Up goes up significantly, as do your points standing for a TOC entry and a shot at overall leader. That means that you ARE working on your game, whether you complain or not. If the difference between your making it or just falling short depends on a 200 or 400 point difference, would you take a chop? I sure wouldn’t!
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#3 written by Craig Ferree 1 month ago
It seems to me that the easier way to discourage people from chopping would be to give the winner an automatic seat into the the Tournament of Champions( As long as they qualify on their bonus points). Why even call it the tournament of CHAMPIONS if some guy who only made a hundred points and then converted his bonus points gets in, That or have a separate tournament for just the Season’s winners. If a win got me into the tournament it would strongly discourage me from chopping.
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#4 written by Jay Nelson 1 month ago
First, I would like to thank you two for your opinions. I would like to point out a couple of things that may help you and everyone have a bit more understanding…
- Please don’t forget there is a business behind the fun of the poker league to manage and operate. One of the many core items that we (management) must focus and stay on top of is having a good crowd on a consistent basis. To help insure this, we must have a competition structure in place. By not having the winner each night automatically qualify for a seat in the TOC, ensures the players to continue to come out to gain points to be qualified. In addition, we would not have enough players to participate in the Tournament of Champions (in business perspective) if each night a player was awarded a qualifying seat.
- Don’t forget the MOST important keys to the whole league:
B-Town Poker provides FREE ENTERTAINMENT.
You can WIN CASH in a fun and social environment.
There is no entry fee, minimum purchase requirement or league dues.
- In the 7 years combined that Stacy and I have been operating a poker league, we know that periodically we need to make minor changes to the league’s structure. We will always take all thoughts/comments/suggestions into consideration. There is always a reason for our madness
Don’t hesitate to Contact Us at any time.
I wish the very best to each and every one of B-Town Poker’s players and our host locations in 2012.
Jay Nelson -
#5 written by Jerry Harris 1 month ago
If this is about points only, then I don’t have a problem. But if this effects how we can put money in our pocket at the end of the night… that’s another thing.
So, all of a sudden, we have a problem with two people chopping a pot at the end of the night that worked 4 hours to be in that position. But there’s no problem at all for someone that doesn’t come out that frequently to be able to bring can goods for two weeks to add to their bonus points which can eventually be converted into regular points.
Basically, it sounds like someone cried foul that all of a sudden isn’t in this position to win, or threatened by others that keep making it to the final table.
Bottom line… if two people agree at the end of the night that made it to the FINAL TWO people left in the tournament, and they want to split the money… that’s their decision.
But I guarantee you… if it is that big of a problem to say to someone do you want to split the money, then I will easily say “If I win I will split my winnings with you, and if you win will you split your winnings with me”. Because come TOC time, I better have the option of taking home a little more money if given that opportunity of being in first or second place.
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#6 written by Stacy Haskin 1 month ago
I understand and I appreciate your insight! As the Senior Tournament Director, it is my responsibility to uphold the integrity of the league, in accordance to its’ rules and the structure of the business contracts. We are making this change to make sure that the points system stays pure to the game. The tournament director will award first place (all or the most chips at time limit) 1200 points and the $50 cash prize. What the winner does with the prize AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE TOURNAMENT is up to that person. What CANNOT happen is the discussion of splitting the cash prize WHILE THE PLAY IS CONTINUING. Any discussion of that matter must be done away from the table.
As for the charity donations, it has been made clear to all who participated in it would receive extra starting chips at the TOC. These extra starting chips are awarded on the conditions that they have qualified for the event based solely on their LEAGUE PLAY. Donations are no longer termed as “Bonus Points” to be allowed for conversion for entry to a TOC. They are only extra starting chips at the TOC.
I hope that this clears it up for you!
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#7 written by Josh Miller 1 month ago
This may be stretching the topic a lil bit, but since their are financial (business) benefits for people coming out to play, I would suggest a restructure of the points system; not sure what that would be, but somewhere add in points for people showing up to play every night (or most nights); it could be a minor point addition, but would benefit the loyal players and might even attract more players to come out and play on a consistent basis.
Possibly set it up so that if a player comes out and plays every event, but does not make top 16 in any event, they would be the cutoff for indeed making the TOC, because although this is a game and we all want to win and compete, the people running the events every night are spending their time, effort, money etc, and if more people coming to play on a nightly basis (possibly because they are garunteed at least some points) increases profits for the “Management”, then I personally am all for it.
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#9 written by randy kinser 1 month ago
I wonder why some people have such a huge problem all of a sudden with people chopping. after you get knocked out of the tournament the outcome is no longer in your control so why complain about it. I say if you want to play the game then put on your big boy/girl pants, suck it up and play your best. If you make it to the position to discuss a chop then you have the right to say yes or no. Since people want to be so petty, you will find you will lose more players than you will gain. Again just my opinion.
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#10 written by Jay Nelson 1 month ago
Another reason for this decision is players do not need to feel pressured by another play to chop. “let’s chop, I really need the cash.” This is unfair to the other player.
Remember, after the 4 hour mark you can chop the cash (not the points). We have an agreement with the establishment to run as close to a 4 hour tournament as possible. -
- Comment Feed for this Post
I happen to disagree. Most of the time, a chop occurs (at least where I am concerned) is in interest of time, or if my opponent needs points. I think if people would work on their game as much as they complain, they would have more opportunities to make it to heads up and be part of the chop. Just my opinion. And yes, I am one that is only concerned with making the points I need to make the TOC and then helping those that still need points. I think this shows sportsmanship and if you disagree, that is just your opinion against mine….lol.