An idea for an Online Tournament Festival

[Tom Bayes]

I've got an idea for a tournament series and I'd like to see if there's enough interest for me to pursue it with the appropriate online rooms.

As many of you know, I tend to be a contrarian and like the less fashionable and more obscure poker games. I'm this way about books, movies, music, sports, etc. too.

I'd like to set up a tournament series that I would tentatively call the "You Can't Play this in the WSOP" or something similar. The idea is that the games we will play will ONLY be games that are not currently offered as choices in the WSOP.

Here's a tentative list of games and possible rooms. I know that I can set up the Omaha games as private tourneys at Stars and I suspect setting up a HORSE tourney at FullTilt and some tourneys at GamesGrid would be no problem. I have no idea if 24h or UB are amenable to setting up private tourneys.

Please give feedback as to if you would play. I envision a $10+1 buy-in and playing once a week and setting up some sort of points system.

Tentative Possible games/sites list:

Limit Omaha
Pot Limit Omaha/8 (both easily available at PokerStars-I want to avoid NL Omaha games)

H.O.R.S.E. (Full Tilt)

Dealer's Choice (GamesGrid-maybe this should be our "main event")

NL 2-7 Lowball
Limit 2-7 Triple Draw (Games Grid)

Pot Limit Stud
Pot Limit Draw
Pot Limit Sökö
Spread Limit Holdem (all games available at 24h)

Crazy Pineapple or Crazy Pineapple/8 (available as ring at UB; would they run a tournament????)
A-5 Triple Draw (same question at UB)

Limit Draw (Planet)
Limit A-5 Lowball (used to be spread at Planet-still available???)

[timprov]

I'd be interested.

Given UB's response to our repeated requests for real-money triple draw tourneys, I think hoping for anything out of them is a bad idea. I doubt asking Paradise (for pineapple/limit draw) would get anywhere, but it's more likely than UB.

They had NL 2-7 at the WSOP this year, FWIW.

I'm not sure I buy dealer's choice as a tournament game. Definitely need a trial run on that one before making it a "main event" type tournament.

[THWAP!]

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Pot Limit Sökö


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you definitely have to help out the less initiated; what's this game?

[popniklas]

I like this idea a lot. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I would probably play the Crazy Pineapple and Draw tourneys. Why not ask Paradise to hold them?

[bobman0330]

This idea is outstanding

[lucas9000]

i would be interested, though the thought of LIMIT omaha high really makes me want to jump out of a window.

[Quicksilvre]

I love it. A few comments:

Pot Limit Stud should be changed to Pot Limit Mississippi Stud. Regular stud's five rounds of betting make it ill suited for pot limit IMHO.

Also, I'd like to suggest some other possible events:

Chinese Poker
Limit Hold'em/Limit Stud
PL Hold'em/PL Omaha
Limit Hold'em/Limit Omaha-8
History of Poker (5-stud, 5-draw, and 5-draw A-5 lowball in rotation)

Too bad they don't have Chowaha or Chowaha-8 online; those both would have been good too.

[bobman0330]

[ QUOTE ]
History of Poker (5-stud, 5-draw, and 5-draw A-5 lowball in rotation)

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This idea is so great it makes me dizzy.

EDIT: But are there any rooms that spread all 3? I don't think so

A straight 5-stud event would be good too.

[Tom Bayes]

It seems like there is some positive interest. I will over the next few days email the potential online rooms and see what games I can set up.

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed some of the esoteric suggestions for games like Mississippi stud, chowaha, or various mixed-game formats, I will probably be stuck with games currently offered by rooms. I anticipate that a Dealer's Choice (GamesGrid) and a HORSE (FullTilt) are likely, but not so sure about the others.

I have tentative plans for using PLO/8 at PokerStars as the opening tournament. I can already set up private tourneys there, lots of people have accounts there, and some people do actually play the game. I want the final event of the series to be a mixed-games tourney, possibly HORSE. What's in the middle is gonna depend largely on the response I get from the various online rooms.

Do we want this on a weekday night or a weekend???

[timprov]

It's worth asking PR about Chinese Poker, I think.

[Quicksilvre]

[ QUOTE ]
EDIT: But are there any rooms that spread all 3? I don't think so

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Aw, crap, I forgot all about that. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif I knew there was at least one card room had 5-stud (Paradise?) and hoped that there was draw there too. Oh well, I guess we gotta save it for the home game.

[mscags]

I'd be in, let me know. Sounds like a great idea though /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[MagicMan08]

I am in.

[twankerr]

I'd be in, but I'm guessing there would be a fee per tournament and not an overall fee? Would it be like KOTZ:Obscure?

[bobman0330]

Start this weekend! If you need help with standings calculation or a web page displaying that, I'd be glad to help, PM me.

[Tom Bayes]

Yeah, each tournament will be a $10+1 (or similar) with a seperate entry fee. You play as many or as few as you want.

What's KOTZ:Obscure?

[Tom Bayes]

I probably won't start this weekend-I'm still figuring out which rooms will participate and what games we will be able to run. I'll also want some time to "pimp" the game online (2+2, RGP, my blog, the LiveJournal poker and pokertalk communities, etc.)

I might take you up on the webpage. I'm considering using the PokerStars TLB system for scoring (there's a TLB calculator at http://twodimes.net/poker/stars/ ).

[popniklas]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Svar till:</font><hr />

Do we want this on a weekday night or a weekend???

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Weekend. Because people live in different time zones.

[Tom Bayes]

Catch-22. I've scheduled the first two events (HORSE at Full Tilt this Thursday and NL KC Lowball at GamesGrid two Thursdays from now-password is "Bayes") on weekend American nights (9PM ET). I realize this pretty much screws any European who wants to play and I'm sorry.

Problem with weekend afternoon (North America)/evening (Europe) is that lots of people are out on weekends. There's no perfect time /images/graemlins/confused.gif

After seeing how the attendance is in the first two events, I might try a weekend to see if it's better/worse.

[Hosayif]

H.O.R.S.E was played at one point in the WSOP too. One of the SS2 writers won it i once think.

[Quicksilvre]

Most of these games were in the WSOP for a long time, especially draw high, 5-stud, and HORSE. In fact, HORSE was there as recently as 2004 (Scott Fischman won). I think that it just has to be not spread now.

/showing off

[MarkGritter]

The "Weird Poker Series" opening tournament is tonight, a $10+1 HORSE tournament at FullTilt, 9pm Eastern time. (Password 'Bayes'.) Tom and I are registered, but I didn't see anybody else this morning... HORSE must not be weird enough. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[KotOD]

If I'm home in time, I'm in. Would you do a trade GG for FTP?

[MarkGritter]

[ QUOTE ]
If I'm home in time, I'm in. Would you do a trade GG for FTP?

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I'm not going to be able to log in today until just before the tournament start, so I probably can't help you.

[timprov]

[ QUOTE ]
The "Weird Poker Series" opening tournament is tonight, a $10+1 HORSE tournament at FullTilt, 9pm Eastern time. (Password 'Bayes'.) Tom and I are registered, but I didn't see anybody else this morning... HORSE must not be weird enough. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

The Household of Chaos is here, so I almost certainly won't be playing either of tonight's events.