2/05/2011 3:13:00 PM
Changes for Season 16! Back to Basics
STRUCTURE CHANGES FOR SEASON 16
Season 16 Pro & Free Length
Season 16 will run for 19 weeks, finishing on the 11th September 2011, bringing it in line with a future change to 25-26 week seasons from Season 17. 2 seasons per year, with 2 of the biggest prize money Poker Grand Finals in Western Australia every year! You will not want to miss this! The proposed date for the Season 16 Grand Final is Sat/Sun 17-18 Sept.
Pro & Free League Winner Points
We are keeping our regular points structure, but are making one significant change, that is that the winner of a Pro League Tournament wins a bonus 200 points on top of the standard point win for that event. This will mean smaller Pro tournaments (with a greater chance of winning) are now more appealing, and it's easier to chase down a player who has got away from the pack with a couple of wins!
Pro League Prize Payout Structure
The Payout Structure for our regular WAPL events has been adjusted to bring it closer in line with a Top 10% payout. The issue was that 10-39 players was too big a field for top 3 payout, so it will now be top 1 2-9, top 2 10-21, top 3 22-34, top 4 35-44, etc. This way more players win a fairer amount!
Championship Currency winnings will be worked into the new payout system.
Grand Final Qualifications – Back to Basics
To encourage more players to get to the Pro Grand Final, we're going back to an easy system to qualify for the Final, whilst doing so giving regular players a more affordable buy-in into the Grand Final even if they don't qualify; we have adjusted the qualification process and made it simpler to understand!
1-10 for the Season = Free buy-in
11-100 (Minimum 5 games) = $100 buy-in
101+ (Minimum 10 games) = $200 buy-in
Direct buy-in (101+ & less than 10 games) = $1500
Tournament of Champions Expanded
At the end of the season, the Top 8 on the venue ladders play off against each other in a single table Venue Play-off! - $50 buy-in ($40 prize) with the winner getting a $200 Tournament of Champions seat to join the Venue Leader in the Tournament of Champions! Any extra in the prize pool will be paid in cash to 2nd place. If the Venue Leader also wins the Venue Play-off, they will win up to the $200 cash and stop a player from playing against them in the Tournament of Champions!
For this event, we must get at least a $200 prize pool (ie. 5 players). For less than 5 players, all players have the option to pay a $10 PoCA Fee + $200 divided by the number of players in buy-in to make 1 Tournament of Champions ticket to 1st place, or the Play-off won't run.
Pro League Season Prizes
To keep our Grand Final as the major cash payout event for most of our members, we will be reducing the Season Ladder winner prizes from Top 5 back to Top 3, with more money going back to the Grand Final Prize Pool. For those who are aiming to win the overall Season, there is a trip of a lifetime in store for them they'll never forget! To lead the WAPL Team to Macau as our League Champion, playing in the Main Event at the Macau Poker Cup Championship!
1st Place Season Champion = $5000 WAPL League Champion Package.
This includes flights, accommodation, Main Event entry in Macau, and more!
2nd = $1000 Cash
3rd = $500 Cash
Championship Currency (from Steps and Pro events)
Championship Currency can be used to in part or in full pay for –
- WAPL Grand Final buy-in.
- Any Steps events to win more Championship Currency (Steps start 2hrs after regular Pro events).
- Championship events to join the WAPL Team, playing poker in great destinations around the world.
Your current Steps are automatically converted to Championship Currency and can be used now!
Steps Adjustments
All 3 of the Step levels have had the starting chip stack increased, Step 1 2,500, Step 2 5,000, Step 3 10,000. The time of blind rounds increase with higher Steps, too.
Step 1 has been adjusted to a $60 buy-in, with top 2 of 8 winning $200 CC!
Both Step 1 and Step 2 can now be run with 4 players, with top 1 rather than top 2 winning the prize (half steps). This will usually only occur if we cannot get 8 players by the time Steps is due to start (2hrs after Pro event starts).
Cash Table Procedure Changes
Your Cash Table Dealer will now always cut the deck. Upon leaving the cash table after a break, players will write their own name and chip count and leave their chips in place for the Dealer to check and sign off.
Chips are a player's responsibility, and if the chips are miscounted, the player will be called back to help reconcile. If the cause of the error cannot be found, the Dealer's count is final.
Players will sign when receiving chips/money to return to the cash table.
Close to the 30 min 1st break, cash table players will have their cash chips brought out to them at the tables to speed up them getting to the cash table.
30 minute 1st Break
We will work hard to ensure the 1st break is no longer than the scheduled 30 minutes.
We hope you enjoy the new changes, and look forward to a great Season 16!
Your WA Poker League Team