Would you like the 20:30 Mini's to start at 19:30? Have your say.

MynaFrett

This has been prompted by the Mini performing relatively poorly particularly on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights - nights on which the mini is 10 minute blinds and therefore has a late finishing time for weeknights. The Tuesday mini which finishes the earliest of those weeknight minis has the best participation. There seem to be a few options to help those Monday, Wednesday and Thursday minis perform at least as well as the Tuesday but what would you be in favour of?

Essexphil

Move all minis from the 20:30 start time to a 19:30 start time but leave the existing blind structures as they are (no need for rebranding)

Think of those options, prefer the 1st one.

Still like the idea of a 7:30 Mini and 8:30 Speed Mini.

MynaFrett

I like your idea as well Phil but it's going to be enough of a challenge just to get them to consider implementing changes to the mini as it currently is, let alone throwing a whole new 'mini' into the mix. To be fair.

Enut

Move all minis from the 20:30 start time to a 19:30 start time but leave the existing blind structures as they are (no need for rebranding)

I'd definitely play it if it was a 7.30 start, so voted accordingly.

mumsie

Move all minis from the 20:30 start time to a 19:30 start time and also change the blind structures to 7 minute blinds (rebranding required)

Im with @Enut on this one but the altruistic @mumsie in me feels for the ones that put their kids to bed at 20:00 so they can play the 20:30 mini and have done for the last 3 generations.

Enut

Move all minis from the 20:30 start time to a 19:30 start time but leave the existing blind structures as they are (no need for rebranding)

mumsie said:

Im with @Enut on this one but the altruistic @mumsie in me feels for the ones that put their kids to bed at 20:00 so they can play the 20:30 mini and have done for the last 3 generations.

Easily sorted, have the kids adopted. Thus freeing up time, and money, for a new 7.30 start!

MynaFrett

@Tikay10 I would like to change the title of this poll but when I go into edit and then preview, the actual poll itself isn't visible, don't want to confirm the changes and the poll has to be redone. Please advise.

Dozza

Essexphil said:

Think of those options, prefer the 1st one.

Still like the idea of a 7:30 Mini and 8:30 Speed Mini.

Along with the expansion of the final table jackpot and a 20K top prize if you can win both minis and the main event on the same night.

Tikay10

MynaFrett said:

@Tikay10 I would like to change the title of this poll but when I go into edit and then preview, the actual poll itself isn't visible, don't want to confirm the changes and the poll has to be redone. Please advise.

@MynaFrett

What would you liked to change the thread title to? Let me know & I'll see if I can do it, hopefully without ruining the :Poll...

MynaFrett

Tikay10 said:

MynaFrett said:

@Tikay10 I would like to change the title of this poll but when I go into edit and then preview, the actual poll itself isn't visible, don't want to confirm the changes and the poll has to be redone. Please advise.

@MynaFrett

What would you liked to change the thread title to? Let me know & I'll see if I can do it, hopefully without ruining the :Poll...

Something like "Would you like the 20:30 Mini's to start at 19:30? Have your say."

Tikay10

@MynaFrett


That OK?

MynaFrett

Brilliant, cheers Tikay.

MynaFrett

@Tikay10 There was no reason for me to put it in quotes anyway but didn't think you would post it with the quotation marks. Just noticed that but it's not a big deal

Tikay10

@MynaFrett


Yes, that was astoundingly stupid of me, sorry. Am watching the Newcastle v West Ham game so was on Auto-Pilot.

I've edited it now.

MynaFrett

Tikay10 said:

@MynaFrett


Yes, that was astoundingly stupid of me, sorry. Am watching the Newcastle v West Ham game so was on Auto-Pilot.

I've edited it now.

Not stupid, perfectly legitimate excuse, apologies for interrupting the game.
FYI the mini has missed again tonight, is the writing on the wall?

Enut

Move all minis from the 20:30 start time to a 19:30 start time but leave the existing blind structures as they are (no need for rebranding)

Dozza said:

Essexphil said:

Think of those options, prefer the 1st one.

Still like the idea of a 7:30 Mini and 8:30 Speed Mini.

Along with the expansion of the final table jackpot and a 20K top prize if you can win both minis and the main event on the same night.

You do realise that if someone actually won that jackpot @Tikay10 would be straight on the dole queue?

MAXALLY

Hands off my minis

I vote to scrap the Mini's......they are OBV rigged.

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
GFKIJKLL	Small blind		125.00	125.00	6881.00
MynaFrett	Big blind		250.00	375.00	7006.00
	Your hole cards	Q Q
Tsaaaar	Fold
MAXALLY	Raise		1050.00	1425.00	3300.00
Arrogant	Fold
Suitnboot	Fold
GFKIJKLL	Fold
MynaFrett	All-in		7006.00	8431.00	0.00
MAXALLY	All-in		3300.00	11731.00	0.00
MynaFrett	Unmatched bet		2906.00	8825.00	2906.00
MynaFrett	Show	J J
MAXALLY	Show	Q Q
Flop
		10 2 J
Turn
		2
River
		8
MynaFrett	Win	Full House, Jacks and 2s	8825.00		11731.00

MynaFrett

Joking aside, what's your actual vote @MAXALLY ? Don't see you on the list.

MAXALLY

Hands off my minis

MynaFrett said:

Joking aside, what's your actual vote @MAXALLY ? Don't see you on the list.

Ok, I have been following this discussion with more than an interest, but didnt want to comment yet. However, I will now. FTR, I was the player who 'devised' the idea of the Mini way back in the day. I think it was in a Forum comp or suggestion page kind of thing.

'YOU CARN'T PLEASE ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME'

I voted stay as they are.

Reasons -

1)

TIMES

- If you move the time, it will upset a few players who always like to play at '8.30' in the evening on Sky (regardless if they play elswhere, or dont). It might not be the Majority of players, but I estimate, it would be a good number.

2)

REBUYS

- I think the no rebuy in the Mini is a USP of the Mini. I know the Friday rebuy has more numbers and bigger prize pools, but that is the only one I never play. Some players at the micro level treat the Mini as their 'Main' . If you allow rebuys, it will only drive micro players away and will just be another MTT for the higher BR players (IMHO).

3)

GUARANTEES

- I dont think Sky poker lose that much with the Mini's (in comparison to other higher priced tournaments that might overlay). An easy solution is just drop the guarentee if it is a big issue.

In conclusion, I would not change a thing...APART from maybe shorter blind levels (7 or 8 mins?) We have just lost the FTT games on here.....I would hate the MINI to go down the same way TBH. I however respect your views @MynaFrett and it is nice to see poker topics on a poker Forum for a change

gogogadget

Move all minis from the 20:30 start time to a 19:30 start time but leave the existing blind structures as they are (no need for rebranding)

I’d move them, but wouldn’t make them all the same structure.
I think that the variation is a good thing, even if I do prefer the Tue and Sat structure.

@mumsie if people are still putting their kids to bed 3 generations down the line, how old are these kids now? Surely they can get themselves upstairs on their own now and brush their teeth unsupervised 😬

MynaFrett

Great post @MAXALLY and I agree with so much of what you say especially around potentially driving away players at the more micro end of things if those £5.50 mini's were replaced by £5.50 rebuy mini's, for example. The £5.50 single entry in those mini's levels the playing field to some degree and takes some of that edge away from the better regs/bigger rolled players who still choose to play them (we already know that a lot of the better regs are not bothering with those Monday, Wednesday, Thursday mini's as it is though and that is part of the wider problem and a factor in why those mini's are struggling). I'm completely on board with what you're saying there as well as also viewing the £5.50 rebuy bounty hunter (Mini Avenger) as not a mini at all but as a £15 2nd Main event. The mini avenger does very well thanks in no small part to bringing back those regs/better rolled players looking for greater returns on their time investment who might mostly grind elsewhere during the week but flick in the main and mini on the Friday or Friday + maybe the Tuesday/Saturday because of the faster structures combined with more money up top. We already had some of the better regs pop up and tell us as much on the other thread and we know it to be the case. We know that these factors make the Mini Avenger by far the toughest mini to go deep in consistently and if it was introduced as the default mini structure every night of the week it could potentially harm the ecosystem and the pathway from freeroll to micro to £5.50 single entry mini with players viewing the £5 rebuy version as too big, too tough and too expensive - easy ways to bust modest bankrolls too and that's obviously disastrous.

However, if Sky decided right, we're not touching the 20:00 start time for the main or the 20:30 start time for the mini. We are going to make the Mini Avenger the default format for the mini Monday to Friday. I believe what happens in that scenario is that the combination of the rebuy/add-on element, the juiced up guarantees, the return of those regs/rolled players on weeknights means that those tournaments would take care of themselves in terms of meeting guarantees. The mini and main would boost each other in terms of participation and outlay and make £5k and £3k+ guarantees every night of the week. I think those tournaments could even start to compete with/complement the ipoker evening schedule and bring players back from there.

So that's terrible for the micro guys we've been talking about right? Not necessarily. What I think could happen in that scenario is that the £5.50 single entry £800 bounty hunter starting at 18:30 (which consistently gets around £1000 as it is) becomes the new mini in all but name, especially if it was given a nice looking £1000 gtd in the lobby or a more ambitious £1250... The advantages this tournament already has over the mini (in my opinion) are its start time and proximity to the freeroll which is getting nearly 600 runners - how many more of those players in that freeroll are going to be drawn to that £5.50 single entry bounty hunter which finishes between 22:30 and 23:00 if it has the same prize pool as the current mini on those nights which is two hours away from that freeroll and also runs much too late for a lot of them? Of course I don't know and it's all supposition and assumption on my part but I have/did spend a lot of years cherry picking tournaments from lots of different sites in the £2.20 - £10 buy-in range and a £1250 bounty hunter on Sky starting at 18:30 and finishing by 23:00 for £5.50 would have had me absolutely salivating.

I'm not saying that's the way I would like to see things go (as I am in favour of the earlier start/finish times along with the majority of people who have voted in this poll so far) but I do think it could be a direction that boosts participation and money in all three of those 18:30, 20:00 and 20:30 tournaments. It could actually get Sky Poker thriving once more and punching above its weight again. There's no doubt in my mind that players who have gone away to grind elsewhere during the week would be drawn back to Sky by a £5k main and £3k £5 rebuy mini every weeknight and the players who would then feel that £5 rebuy mini was prohibitive for them would find a great alternative in that 18:30 £5.50 bounty hunter with a nice £1250 gtd on it.