Preamble: I've been trying to get a monthly game going. I don't advertise it as a league as I'm afraid it might "scare away" some newer players from participating. Also, I don't want to charge league fees as that'll create a disincentive to play joining the league late, or be unfair to people who joined early. It just needs to be more flexible. Most people who have played more than 1 game are very casual and newer to poker. $15 9-handed STT.
TOC thoughts: I've been tracking league points in a silly but easy-to-track way. Think of golf scores...lower is better. Get 1st, 1 point. Get 2nd, 2 points. Don't show for a game, get player_count+1 points. So I'm thinking I want to wrap up the "season" with a Tournament of Champions (TOC) in December. A game only open to the top 9 players in points with a longer targeted play time ("regular season" games are ~3.5 hours without breaks, thinking ~5 hours without breaks for a target on this one). It won't be at the regularly schedule time (can't due to holidays anyways), so I'd like to work with players to find a time that best fits everyone. If some people just can't make it, we just don't run with 9. Say 2 of the top 9 are out all month on holiday. Well, 7-handed you go, blinds adjusted accordingly to hit the ~5 hours without breaks mark.
My questions are:
- How many points should this game be worth?
- How to administer those points (as a multiplier [2x, 3x, etc.]? "Negative" score?)?
- Is ~5 hours without breaks target too long?
- Do you think this is a good idea at all? Other thoughts/feedback?
Prize thoughts: I'm thinking about awarding 1st place in the league 2 "half-roll" tokens, and 2nd place 1 "half-roll" token, 3rd only gets his name on the board. A half-roll token allows you to buy into a future game for half the price. Because I haven't taken league fees, I'm thinking that using one of these would just reduce the prize pool...so basically a half-free-roll for the guy using the token. 1 token allowed per tournament game, first come-first serve. I like this concept because in order to "redeem your prize" you have to play more poker! Perfect as filling a table is a challenge. Of course, the guy winning is probably the most regular anyways, so probably not going to matter much for retention - but maybe it'd stop someone from "taking a season off" if that's a thing.
My questions are:
- Have you ever awarded a prize like this?
- Should I just pay the other half of the player's buy-in?
- Will the other players be too tilted, or they won't really care?
- Other thoughts/feedback? Is this a good idea at all?
Thank you for your time and thoughts!
TOC thoughts: I've been tracking league points in a silly but easy-to-track way. Think of golf scores...lower is better. Get 1st, 1 point. Get 2nd, 2 points. Don't show for a game, get player_count+1 points. So I'm thinking I want to wrap up the "season" with a Tournament of Champions (TOC) in December. A game only open to the top 9 players in points with a longer targeted play time ("regular season" games are ~3.5 hours without breaks, thinking ~5 hours without breaks for a target on this one). It won't be at the regularly schedule time (can't due to holidays anyways), so I'd like to work with players to find a time that best fits everyone. If some people just can't make it, we just don't run with 9. Say 2 of the top 9 are out all month on holiday. Well, 7-handed you go, blinds adjusted accordingly to hit the ~5 hours without breaks mark.
My questions are:
- How many points should this game be worth?
- How to administer those points (as a multiplier [2x, 3x, etc.]? "Negative" score?)?
- Is ~5 hours without breaks target too long?
- Do you think this is a good idea at all? Other thoughts/feedback?
Prize thoughts: I'm thinking about awarding 1st place in the league 2 "half-roll" tokens, and 2nd place 1 "half-roll" token, 3rd only gets his name on the board. A half-roll token allows you to buy into a future game for half the price. Because I haven't taken league fees, I'm thinking that using one of these would just reduce the prize pool...so basically a half-free-roll for the guy using the token. 1 token allowed per tournament game, first come-first serve. I like this concept because in order to "redeem your prize" you have to play more poker! Perfect as filling a table is a challenge. Of course, the guy winning is probably the most regular anyways, so probably not going to matter much for retention - but maybe it'd stop someone from "taking a season off" if that's a thing.
My questions are:
- Have you ever awarded a prize like this?
- Should I just pay the other half of the player's buy-in?
- Will the other players be too tilted, or they won't really care?
- Other thoughts/feedback? Is this a good idea at all?
Thank you for your time and thoughts!