Main Event Buy Ins

cactusjac

Hi All

I don't post very often in the community, so please don't shoot me down in flames.

What are people's opinions on Sky reducing the buy in to the main event each night. I noticed that last night the roller smashed the guarantee as i beleive that most mains normally do (except maybe when the sun is shining).

Reducing the buy ins would hopefully allow more people to enter the mains which in turn would then allow the guarantee's to be increased. It would also allow sats to have more seats guaranteed thus increasing the people playing the main events.

Reducing the buy ins may also increase the number of people playing on site which will increase liquidity in other areas of the site.

thanks
Paul

The_Don90

The fact the guarentee was smashed in the roller on a night when alot of the high stakes guys where sat on a final table in nottingham suggests to me no or very little change.

Slykllist

For every player who wants the buyins lowered there'll be one that wants to see them go up.

Like Don says if they're busting guarantees on a 'slow' night, it suggests the buyin levels aren't too high.

GaryQQQ

I don't (cannot) play in the evening, therefore don't play in the Main Events, so I feel I can give an impartial view on this matter.

It would be a big u-turn on Sky's part, but I think the OP is correct.

Lets take The Primo as an example. This is the site's flagship Sunday evening event. Three years ago (before late registration and the jackpot were introduced) it was a fantastic tournament, there would be at least 500 entrants battling it out each Sunday. Nowadays it's just a shadow of it's former self; numbers have dropped by about 60%, it struggles to attract the 200 runners needed to meet the guarantee. 

Why? Would it be because the buy-in was controversially increased by 66% from £33 to £55?

I know my opinion won't be popular with the small but vocal group here who always call for higher buy-ins, but most of Sky's customer base are recreational players who don't want to play at high stakes. The big push to increase buy-ins to please that small group was a mistake. The Minis are now the real Main Events, that's where those 500+ runners are now found each evening.

There are signs Sky have realised this lately. The failing £33 Double Stack, which was in a downward spiral running with overlay most weeks and with an ever decreasing guarantee, has been recently replaced by a Turbo event that attracts a much bigger field and a prize-pool just as big. The buy-in is only £11. Also the Rewards loyalty program has been tweaked in favour of the lower stakes recreational players at the expense of high-rollers.

When was the last time you heard that old mantra that always used to be wheeled out when Sky were criticised here;

'Well, numbers are up'?

waller02

In Response to Re: Main Event Buy Ins:

I don't (cannot) play in the evening, therefore don't play in the Main Events, so I feel I can give an impartial view on this matter. It would be a big u-turn on Sky's part, but I think the OP is correct. Lets take The Primo as an example. This is the site's flagship Sunday evening event. Three years ago it was a fantastic tournament, there would be at least 500 entrants battling it out each Sunday. Nowadays it's just a shadow of it's former self; numbers have dropped by about 60%, it struggles to attract the 200 runners needed to meet the guarantee.  Why? Because the buy-in was controversially increased from £33 to £55. I know my opinion won't be popular with the small but vocal group here who always call for higher buy-ins, but most of Sky's customer base are recreational players who don't want to play at high stakes. The big push to increase buy-ins to please that small group was a mistake. The Minis are now the real Main Events, that's where those 500+ runners are now found each evening. There are signs Sky have realised this lately. The failing £33 Double Stack, which was in a downward spiral running with overlay most weeks and with an ever decreasing guarantee, has been recently replaced by a Turbo event that attracts a much bigger field. The buy-in is only £11. Also the Rewards loyalty program has been tweaked in favour of the lower stakes recreational players. When was the last time you heard that old mantra that always used to be wheeled out when Sky were criticised here; 'Well, numbers are up'?
Posted by GaryQQQ

+1

cactusjac

In Response to Re: Main Event Buy Ins:

For every player who wants the buyins lowered there'll be one that wants to see them go up. Like Don says if they're busting guarantees on a 'slow' night, it suggests the buyin levels aren't too high.
Posted by Slykllist

A buy in of £70.00 would have exceeded the guarantee in the roller last night night with the 300+ entrants it generated, this would have allowed more players to potentially buy in. The reduced buy in would also allow sats that guaranteed for example 1 seat could guarantee 2 and so on. Hopefully then in a few months numbers particapating in the main event would increase and then guarantee's could be then be increased. Hopefully making Sky Poker a bigger more attractive site

Slykllist

In Response to Re: Main Event Buy Ins:

In Response to Re: Main Event Buy Ins : A buy in of £70.00 would have exceeded the guarantee in the roller last night night with the 300+ entrants it generated, this would have allowed more players to potentially buy in. The reduced buy in would also allow sats that guaranteed for example 1 seat could guarantee 2 and so on. Hopefully then in a few months numbers particapating in the main event would increase and then guarantee's could be then be increased. Hopefully making Sky Poker a bigger more attractive site
Posted by cactusjac

Don't get me wrong, my personal preference would be for smaller buyins, but It's not my business.  I guess there are men in suits with calculators that make these decisions for what they believe to be good reasons.

THEROCK573

all main events should cost £55.00 im my opinion. sorry people but thats just my view.

waller02

Like gary said, you can't deny that the increasing the buyins resulted in both a fall in the guarantees and the amount of runners.

The primo used to be £15k GTD £33 BI......and regularly got 500+ runners. 500 x £3 rake = £1500.  200 x £5 rake (which is the ave runners nowadays)  = £1000. So surely this a lose/lose situation?????

Batkin88

How about keep them how they are but introduce a midi event!? Slap bang in the middle of the mini and main 1 to please all!

thefa1lacy

I personally think the Super Roller is too expensive at £110, if the main event every Sunday is £55, then I agree with the guy suggesting £70 for 'Big one,' especially as if it was £70 Sky can easily make the £20k prizepool. Plus of course, the lower buy-in should increase the numbers by a large percentage.

Talon

  There are other factors to consider through all of this.

   If you just look at number of entries it is quite irrelevant really. Halving the buyin and doubling the number of runners changes absolutely nothing. Prize pool is the same and rake is the same. Ther has to be a significant change to make this even a sensible option. Like halving the buy in to get treble the runners.

  Plus the other factor that noone seems to be considering is the restraints the current buy ins puts on the tournament.

  Let us say for example You slash the buyins for these tournaments and get a massive increase in runners for the first time. The numbers will drop off rapidly because this will cause the tournaments to finish a lot later. Now people  will be looking and saying i like the tourny and entry fee but i have work in the morning and it wont finish til 3 am. Really large fields have this effect.
 The turbo main on a tuesday is very popular because it finishes at a good time and has the tv time connected with it. Once these aspects start to disappear the appeal of the tournies starts to disappear as well.

  So for me they want to increase the fields for these events but there needs to be a point where you dont want it to go past or you will push people away from it. Dont know how this helps the original question one way or the other but thought it was something to think about

 

FlashFlush

I think you need to have flagship tournaments every night and if you reduce the buy in then it will lose that status and there is no point showing it on TV. 

My BR is nothing like it used to be and I don't play the mains that often anymore, but it's my goal to build back up and play the main like it should be for everyone else in the same situation.