what do you look for from a poker tournamemt?

ditpoker

What makes you walk away from a tournament satisfied (other than winning).

Is it competent dealers, good structures, atmosphere, etc etc. What "above and beyond" service do players look for? players and people railing?

assuming you have 2 tournaments, both $200 buy in, both 30 min blinds, both 10k stacks... what will set one apart from the other. What will make you leave, win or lose, happy to return to have another shot?

Rb

Sexy female dealers and good food at the break.

ollyk1

One word FISH.

pocketdooz

There's two different questions in the OP - what matters most and then what differentiates identical structure tourneys.

To me, the most important thing is structure. Getting a decent starting stack and having long blind levels is essential. In some of the weekly tourneys in town it becomes a ship/fold decision after 3 levels. If you don't have a stack built by the break there's no play afterwards - it's just get your money in good and hope it holds up.

In general, the dealers in town are good and each casino has their exceptional dealers and their slower / newer / grumpier dealers. A reasonable rego is good too - the SE tourneys reg. is a bit much sometimes.

At the end of the OP, you ask about identical tourneys and what would differentiate them.

1) a good starting time, I used to love the Sunday SE game cos it started at 7.30 so you were either out by 12 or cashing - either way you could get out of bed happy in the morning. It's important they start on time instead of sitting around waiting for ages

2) food - to be honest it's not that important to me. Good drinks service is always a bonus - Fitz generally the best for this.

3) numbers - crutial. I think CHL has the best structure but the numbers aren't there (yet). What's happened the SE recently ???

4) A good payout structure (although this is probably more important to me than other players here as I often cash but rarely win - this is something I really need to work on, advice would be appreciated)

This is all I can think of now . . .

ditpoker

i suppose i should be more specific, i'm not necessarily talking about tournaments in town. I'm talking broadly speaking. Like what would you ADD to a tournament, for example, a tournament clock that has details like payout/average stack/etc, those silly massage people going around, clearly accessible rule sheet...

...basically not suff that affects the playability, or potential success of the playing of poker, but incidentals that contribute to a quality experience during poker

connie147

Well I guess if both tourneys are identical in structure, the main think for me is hospitality. Theres nothing to beat being made feel welcome somewhere, and that people appreciate your custom. Your obviously not gonna get that here in Vegas, but I do feel its important at home. Quality and friendliness of dealers is a huge bonus too.

Connie

Requiem4adream

connie147 wrote: »

Well I guess if both tourneys are identical in structure, the main think for me is hospitality. Theres nothing to beat being made feel welcome somewhere, and that people appreciate your custom. Your obviously not gonna get that here in Vegas, but I do feel its important at home. Quality and friendliness of dealers is a huge bonus too.

Connie

Spot on. I dont know whether this is what you were after Jeff but for me small things like a comfy chair, uniformly good dealing, some leg room under the tables, moving players done smoothly, the room not being ridiculously hot/cold, the service for food/drink being good, generally just the "he runs a good ship" feeling when you're on the way home after getting beat!! It's the same with snooker halls, you would think they'd all be Ten-a-Penny but the little things go a long way - making sure the tables are re-clothed regularly, brushed n ironed, making sure it's not cold in the hall, making sure the food n drinks are well stocked up etc these type of things set 2 very similar places apart.

mistabutta

a well run tourney as in time wise..not waiting around for ages for it to start and then breaks going for longer or shorter than they should

and also space..dont have tables on top of each other and also good floor staff to deal with problems

but the worst thing for me is bad dealers..nothing tilts me worse.. i was at a pretty well known tourney this year that was advertised on boards extensively and a lot of boardsies would have played.. where the dealer was shuffling in the old style of letting the cards slide over each other into the other hand.. then said dealer would stop every now and again and tell a story about a hand he played and the story could last 2 minutes.. but the worst thing that happened was his phone rang and he talked on it for a whole minute while cutting the deck repeatedly.. i had to get up and leave.. i didnt wanna say anything cause i didnt want to sound like a pric.k cause he was a sound guy and most of the table didnt seem to mind him but then again they all seemed like noobs/students and/or too shy to say anything, or thought of it as norm

DeVore

Comfy chairs, nice chips, well organised and starts on time, good tournament director who can control things and is authortative, good food but as Connie says, unless I'm playing above 200 euros I really like there to be a bit of craic and fun off the table and being made felt welcome is a big plus.

DeV.

newbie2

I'm a online MTT donk but when I do play live I like the tourney to:
start on time,
have decently long blind levels,
pro dealers,
comfy chairs ,
room to breath,
nice tables/chips (broken tables - like a drinks holder missing and faded chips suck),
nice food,
beer for when i get donked out
<((((><

Goodluck2me

connie147 wrote: »

Well I guess if both tourneys are identical in structure, the main think for me is hospitality. Theres nothing to beat being made feel welcome somewhere, and that people appreciate your custom.

+1. I dont like the feeling of being burdened to play there either.

edit: other things of note are comfort (gold club i letterkenny is probably the best ive played for this), decent healthy food like the fitz cold cuts, and plenty of value at the games.

Your obviously not gonna get that here in Vegas, but I do feel its important at home. Quality and friendliness of dealers is a huge bonus too.

Connie

I thought Ceasars was very good for this to be fair, when Reggie and I went there the floor staff were all very curteous as were several of the dealers, even though we played there quite a bit they remembered mine and rogers name the whole time.

CHD

newbie2 wrote: »

I'm a online MTT donk but when I do play live I like the tourney to:
start on time,
have decently long blind levels,
pro dealers,
comfy chairs ,
room to breath,
nice tables/chips (broken tables - like a drinks holder missing and faded chips suck),
nice food,
beer for when i get donked out
<((((><

lol why play on Tuesdays then!!

i like there to be...
CLEAN nice tables!
CLEAN nice chips!
Comfy chairs
Decent strucure and well run.

newbie2

chdpoker wrote: »

lol why play on Tuesdays then?.

<(((((><

What i like and what is provided are two different things.

CHD

newbie2 wrote: »

<(((((><

What i like and what is provided are two different things.

true!



btw its <'{{{{>< :rolleyes: !

aodea

Any tourni Ditpoker is playing is were i wanna be at. On a serious note dealers who know players and continually talk to them instead of watching the action really grinds my gears. I also hate when a tournment does not start on time really annoying.

FrmTheCutOff

The two most important things in a tournament for me have to be trained dealers and the structure.

Having trained dealers is definately worth while. There's nothing worse than people who don't have much experience dealing slowing the game down, and I include myself in that group. So I will glady pay a reg fee that covers the dealers.

A tournament should have a good blind structure and clock. Without these their is no play, and the players end up in a crapshoot situation where it's either fold or all-in far to early in a tournament.

Slash/ED

Wherever I have the most positive ev

I'll put up with the rest.