Registering Online for Live Tournaments

I got into a discussion recently outside CHL about this and I, personally, don't like the idea. If I have an account with a reputable site already then that is fine and I don't mind quite so much (although I still prefer live registration) but the recent practise of registering for live tournaments online so as to build the player databases of the sites attached to that tournament is, in my opinion, a bad idea.

I had a whole thing about datamining researched to attach to this post but my computer crashed yesterday and I am posting this from my brother's so as soon as I find the report I will post it up. I don't want to put anything up about it without proper support from the evidence because it leads to small inidental rows.

As a point I am aware of the security implications. At the IPO they would have had tens of thousands in cash on site if they had live registration, however I am discussing this in a general sense. Would you rather pay an extra €5 reg per head to cover security costs or leave your information exposed online?

So basically my question is: do people think that online registration for live tournaments is the way forward?

Mr.Plough

i prefer online reg tbh. I don't play many live events but i much prefer being paid and registered in advance and not having to worry about running late etc. Saying that I wouldn't register for a 1k event through some random site like boobiepoker.com, only ones that I trust.

I don't see any reason why reg can't be done both online and on the day tbh.


also, as regards leaving your info online, it's going to be there anyway whether you reg for a big event or not.

mocata

I think online registration is a v good idea indeed. Good for organisers, cos they can plan + budget for events better (which also helps players) good for the site involved, cos they get quality exposure to the precise market they are aiming at, good for us too, imagine that IPO tournament with queues 200 deep waving wads of cash about and clamouring in 5 different languages!:O

newbie2

I'm surprised at the positive comments for online reg. Leading up to the IPO there were loads of comments on here about how crap it was that every one had to reg online. Personnally i think it's a good idea. OK you cant' leave the event a spend your winnings straight away but thats not such a bad thing. As for keeping details on the interweb I think you'll find that there's more info online about you than you care to imagine.

Black helicopters en route.
Maybe a poll would be a good idea........

RoundTower

suppose you have a small stakes tournament with a lot of people. However sloppily you run it you can't charge much in the way of reg. Therefore to make money on the event a good idea is to get an online site involved. Force people to register for that site in order to play your tournament. Take a cut of the revenue they generate for the site. Instant profit.

For some bonus $, refuse to pay them out except through the site. This way most likely some of them will play and stay on the site. Tell everyone you are doing this for the good of the players and for Irish poker in general. If challenged on it, cite "security issues".

BTW if anyone wants to use this plan please send me a cut of the profits, but claim you didn't make any and you just did it for the good of the game.

Ace2007

obv for players who constanly play online then its a good thing... but for anyone who only ever play live it can be real awarkward. Its also a pain if you don't have a cc as most sites require it. It can also be annoying have accounts with loads of sites and tryin to remember passwords/account names, if you say for example you only use the accounts to play a particular live tournament... but tbh from the success of the IPO using the online reg system, i think that thats the way things are going to be going in the future...

RoundTower

RoundTower wrote: »

Tell everyone you are doing this for the good of the players and for Irish poker in general. If challenged on it, cite "security issues".

BTW if anyone wants to use this plan please send me a cut of the profits, but claim you didn't make any and you just did it for the good of the game.

OK my new years resolution is going to be to agree with RT more.

Like I said above, if the reg for the Irish Open was on PaddyPowerPoker, no problems. I play Full Tilt too so I'd happily reg there but if every time a good tournament is coming up I have to register with ANOTHER site then I am gonna have more usernames and passwords than Jason Bourne. (just got Ultimatum on DVD, brilliant)

Though right now it seems ok think of it this way:

You are going to play the EPT, Irish Open, IPC and maybe 2 other events during the year. You would need, if all were internet reg, a PokerStars, PaddyPowerPoker, PartyPoker and lets say Mermaid and JoeBloggsPoker a/c to register. You need to give your details to 5 different companies?!!?!?! That would be insane and impractical. Edit: See post #18 in this thread for an explanation of this statement.

This system will only work if it is used now and again, if it does become more commonplace surely it will make poker tournaments less accessible to the average player; which is something none of us want.

thechamp87

Deleted User wrote: »

You need to give your details to 5 different companies?!!?!?! That would be insane and impractical.

I don't play as much online as many of the others on here but I have an active account with 8 different sites. The majority of more serious online players have more I'm sure. Your above comment is absolutely ridiculous.

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

Macspower

I'd like to have it as an option... TBH I'd prob play more live events if I could reg online..

ditpoker

RoundTower wrote: »

suppose you have a small stakes tournament with a lot of people. However sloppily you run it you can't charge much in the way of reg. Therefore to make money on the event a good idea is to get an online site involved. Force people to register for that site in order to play your tournament. Take a cut of the revenue they generate for the site. Instant profit.

For some bonus $, refuse to pay them out except through the site. This way most likely some of them will play and stay on the site. Tell everyone you are doing this for the good of the players and for Irish poker in general. If challenged on it, cite "security issues".

BTW if anyone wants to use this plan please send me a cut of the profits, but claim you didn't make any and you just did it for the good of the game.

saucer of milk for roundtower... meeeeow!!

god forbid anyone make some money from the game.. damn those ghouls at pokerstars, charging rake!!!!?!?! can you imagine, the nerve!!!

connie147

Only negative thing I can think of is dealer tips. If people dont get paid on the day,then obviously the tip they leave will reflect that. The tips in the IPO were very poor (I wasnt dealing but some of my club dealers were and the tips were sad according to them).
I believe the best way forward though is to give people the choice of on-line reg or reg on the day.

Connie

AdMMM

From a marketing perspective, online registration is the reason why so many well run tournaments are going ahead. A poker room wants a return on it's investment. Online sites are contributing huge amounts of money towards the running costs of major tournaments and without the support of these sites, the tournaments would fail. Deepstacked tournaments run over several days cost astronomical amounts of money to run (no registration fee will cover it) and online poker rooms feel that by requiring people to register online that they can see a positive return on their substantial imvestment.

From a players perspective, I can see why there are some concerns, but I think that the occassional email about certain tournaments and promotions is okay given what they contribute to live events.

thechamp87

thechamp87 wrote: »

I don't play as much online as many of the others on here but I have an active account with 8 different sites. The majority of more serious online players have more I'm sure. Your above comment is absolutely ridiculous.

My comment is perfectly reasonable and, frankly, it is your attitude that is ridiculous. You cannot dismiss my point out of hand like that. I understand that, in general, poker players will have a number of online accounts but many do not.

I am aware that online registration is restricted to a small number of tournamets and I also understand the logic for it. My main argument here is whether exclusive online registration rather than a combination of live and online is preferable? Surely accomodation must be made for those people who do not wish to keep an online account?

ditpoker

keith your comment that having your details with 5 diff companies is insame and impractical WAS ridiculous.

have a bank account? did you go to schoo? go to college? have an online gaming account? ever rent a dvd? ever order a pizza? well thats six companies right there that have your name and address and phone number... you're probably also a member of 4 different card clubs, i know i am a member of at least six! they all have my details too.. as does the cinema in town, numerous employers and any competition i've ever entered..

personally i think if you're expecting 100+ runners the ideal would be to register online. I have to say as a non credit card having person i often feel that people who do online registartions for events often neglect the fact that there is a much larger number of people out there without a credit card and perhaps more accomodation should be in place for them. i do, however, see no reason why a company shouldnt limit their event to online reg's only, say in the case of the IPO they lost 100 players cos of the online registration, they gained so much more in terms of feasibility, sponsorship, organisation, planning etc etc.

5starpool

If regular Dublin tournies were online only it would kill the game, so I assume most people here are talking about big tournies mostly? I would have no problem if there was a choice, as long as money was paid out on the day, but the time that you register for a 100FO in Dublin online only, and get paid any winnings into an online account affiliated with that club is the day that tournie poker in Dublin will likely die a death. How many people in a typical dublin tournie never or rarely play online? A good % I reckon.

I have no moral objection to online registration as an option at all, and since I have accounts with roughly 10 online sites despite not playing online that often, I obviously have no security concerns, but for the points I mentioned above it is a dangerous route if undertaken.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

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ditpoker

ditpoker wrote: »

keith your comment that having your details with 5 diff companies is insame and impractical WAS ridiculous.

have a bank account? did you go to schoo? go to college? have an online gaming account? ever rent a dvd? ever order a pizza?

OK Jeff, perhaps now I've read your point I realised I haven't made myself clear.

You shouldn't HAVE to do it. It is spurious to say that in this information age a persons details are not at the disposal of the numerous companies with whom he has a regular relationship. However it is equally juvenile to suggest that to do this without some modicum of caveat emptor is a good idea. I know it is my choice to join an online gaming room if I want to register for a tournament but since identity theft is the crime with the highest year on year increase in Europe and costs billions of euro each year, surely it is sensible to advocate some degree of restraint with how many companies a person would voluntarily lodge their details with.

If you'd read the entire post which you sought to deem ridiculous you'd have realised I had already stipulated that I have no problems with registering with an online company whom I am aware of and against whom I would have a legal recourse if there was any problems (i.e FullTilt, PPP; etc.). It is the practise of new sites, which was my ultimate point in that post, using sponsorship deals to create user databases with which they can attract advertisers which creates the issue in my mind. It would only take one rogue company to cause an enormous problem.


This, of course, is in no way a reflection on the excellently run IPO.

So no Jeff, my point is not ridiculous, though apparently a little vague in its construction.

thechamp87

The IPO is the only tournament which has had online registration as the only method. I can't think of another tournament that online reg has been the only option. Personally I don't mind having to bring the cash on the day to larger tournaments such as The IPC in January or the Irish Open in March. That said there are many advantages to having the other option available. To say that you don't feel comfortable having an account with many different sites in this day and age IS ridiculous. I agree with everything Jeff said above.

Kamaldihnio

Online registration is a great idea as long as you have option to register on the day aswell. I will not hear otherwise.