The Sunday Hi-Roller 11-game was reduced from 10k to 5k chip entry. Please put it back to 10k. There are a handful of regs who consistently play this and you may lose them by reducing the buy-in. I'm going to guess that Ugot0chance, BertBert, and ohhhhhsnap who all play this regularly may be substantially less enticed to play it and may now sit this tourney out as a result of the changes. There could be a few more like beansontoast, MrBug and UniverseAAA who I would imagine are not excited about playing a smaller buy-in. It's bad enough that the structure is way too slow and it takes 3 plus hours to finish what is essentially a sit and go. Playing for less just makes it worse.
This was the only tourney that a lot of the players who play the mid stakes mix cash games actually played. You may have killed it. I understand that that this tourney was changed due to the rise in BTC price, however I believe the buy-in was too small to begin with. I think you are having trouble grasping how big of a percentage of your site's draw is mid stakes mix game players. You should have tourneys for them. You now have 0 tourneys that cater to them.
A lot of the players who play this tourney have the ability to chat. I suggest next time asking them before you alter the buy-in.
Thank you for your input, SwC always appreciates different players perspectives and will take these thoughts into consideration, while maintaining our overall vision for the tournament schedule.
Looking at the numbers, the new 5k buyin had 14 entries, including 4 of the 6 players you mentioned.
The week prior, the last 10k, had 9 players, including 4 of 6 of the players you mentioned.
We will continue to monitor the demand, and if it continues to grow at the 5k level, we will look into adding a 10k again.
It seems that every time SWC actually responds to a post I make here, SWC proceeds to nitpick small details and find fault in them to somehow discredit very valid points.
The following points I made were not addressed:
1) Tourney changes were not discussed prior with any of the players listed above. Without the 6 players listed above. Almost all of the the previous 10k 11 games tourneys would have either not met the minimum amount of players to start or would have had substantial overlay.
2) Structure is too slow (possibly late registration is too long). 1st 30 mins is a huge waste of time. You will notice that certain players never register on time yet almost always play.
3) Tourneys that cater to players who play mid stakes cash games are needed with larger buy-ins. Not everyone who plays on seals is broke. You have players who like to play bigger games (most of the non heads up games that run are mixed games). You have degenerates too. You are not catering to either of them.
Instead what I got was a desperate and flawed response attempting to prove that SWC's decision was correct. You pointed out that more players entered on the 1st week. First of all this proves absolutely nothing since it is only one week. Second, it is almost guaranteed that it will result in more players the 1st week or 2. The regulars who liked the 10k showed up assuming it was a 10k and played anyway. And sure you got a few new players since it got reduced, but will they keep coming back like the core group has? It will take time to see if you retain these players who were the reason the tourney had run in the 1st place. Thirdly, the prize pool actually got reduced: 14 players at 5k each is a 70k prize pool where as 9 players at 10k each is a 90k prize pool. You actually made the tourney smaller. And it probably pays out an additional slot or 2 which really reduces 1st place. Not exciting to play for 3 or 4 hours to make 3x your buy-in. And finally, change is bad. You really shouldn't be changing things unless it is absolutely necessary. The 10k 75k guarantee has ran every week that I can remember and it never overlays. Why fix something that isn't broke.
Regarding the change in the 11 game tourney. I do think running it earlier is better. This was a positive change and very smart to coincide the change with daylight savings.
I don't see how the Big BTC being this late was or is a good idea other than to cater to the Aussies. And it's not even Sunday when it runs in Australia. It's Monday morning. Don't Aussies work on Mondays? Most major MTTs fire between 1 pm EST and 4 pm EST. Right after church on both coasts and just in time for the NFL games. The Big BTC now starts at 7pm EST. I don't possibly see how this caters to the people in the USA. Registration is right during dinner time for more than half the country. And on the east coast the tourney won't end until after midnight.
But meh these are just tourneys and not that important anyway. Reduce the heads up rake in cash games. That's important. Discouraging cash games from starting is what will eventually kill your site.
On the plus side, my original post wasn't deleted.
Although we appreciate feedback from players, SwC's decisions are not solely based on them. We will take into consideration your suggestions and see if any of them make sense to us. We also realize that it is impossible to make all players happy with every decision, and understand that although adjustments may attract some players, they may make other players feel "they are not worth it", and that ultimately we will do what we think is best for the long term health and growth of the tourney schedule and site.
Also, there are 6 player Sit&Gos at all buyin levels and are completed faster for many mix games, this may be a solution for you and your 5 or 6 poker pals who are looking to play higher and faster. And, of course, there are always cash games that can be played at any level that seems worthwhile to you.
