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Sync Breaks - explanation & discussion thread.
Good morning.
There have been several threads about these recently, most notably yesterday, when The Rt Hon Melty started one. He got much support for his view, but not total support - one chap argued 100% the other way. Such is life. There is, of course, no one-size fits all answer. Not everyone can be happy at how they are applied, nor everyone unhappy. (See "Abraham Lincoln").
I make a bit of a nuisance of myself by sending all these threads up to Head Office, & I sort of sense the suits groaning when they get yet another note from me. But at least it makes them aware of general views from players, so if the Suits get a bit miffed with me, so be it. My notes are always scrupulously polite though, & politeness is much under-estimated, as folks generally take more notice of polite stuff than rude stuff. If you had to deal with 2 people, & one was polite, & the other shouty-wouty, who would YOU deal with first?
Anyway, the chap that sorts Sync Breaks - & most other day to day tweaks, bells & whistles, replied to me, in great detail, & I'm going to paraphrase/post what he wrote.
Note that he can - & will - change ANY of the Sync Breaks if a good case is made.
What he cannot do though is please everyone.
So I'll list his points below, & if you have anything you disagree with, fire away, & I'll ask him to look at it if a good case is made.
I'm pretty sure the current Sync Break allocation is not 100% correct, a few anamolies are bound to slip through. These CAN be changed, at the touch of a button. Most, however, are OK.
More follows......
Comments
Not all Tourneys have Sync Breaks. There are usually good reasons for this.
When deciding what should, or should not, have Sync Breaks, the question at the top of the checklist is......
Would having a Sync Break make that specific game more, or less, enjoyable?
It does not matter a jot or tickle one way or another to Sky Poker whether there is a Sync Break or not, it is meaningless to the Business, EXCEPT to TRY & give players a comfortable playing experience. There is no hidden agenda here, no angle, no financial purpose, just "what do we think works best for the players?"
Start Time
If a Tourney or Satellite starts at 40 or 50 minutes past the hour, has 10 or 12 runners, & is set to conclude within 30 minutes, should it play for 5 or 10 minutes & then immediately break?
Logically, no, & that is the default.
"Grinders", (strewth, I loathe that word in its poker context) who are playing 10 MTT's at the same time, of course, will disagree, as it's awkward for them. But the vast majority of players are one-Tabling.
Blind Structures/Length of Tourney/Satellite
This one is a bit more awkward.
Assume, say, a fast structured Tourney or Satellite, (5 min or less blinds), expected, in most cases, as with, say, a Satellite with a 1 in 10 or 1 in 5 payout, most of these dont get many runners & are not expected to run for an hour.
The general rule in these cases is NOT to have a Sync Break.
Satellites
Satellites that run far ahead of the Tourney start time, (early semis & "directs" days before the event) with 10 minute blinds have no danger of running beyond the Target Tourney Registration time, so Sync Breaks are usually included. A perk of satelliting in early, if you like.
But.....
Semis, such as the £20k Roller Semi that start @ 6pm on Sunday have 7 minute blinds. The players in these EXPECT this to conclude BEFORE the Target Tourney commences @ 8pm. So Sync Breaks are turned off, to avoid the players sitting in late.
They COULD, of course, start the 6pm Semi @ 5pm, & include Sync Breaks. The data suggests - very strongly indeed - that this lessens the number of runners. Poker players, by nature, tend to leave things to the last possible minute. A 5pm Semi-Final would have far less runners. It's the "how long is a piece of string?" thing.
Same applies to Late Reg Semis, & Directs which commence near or even after the Tourney start time. The danger is these running BEYOND the Late Reg period in the Target Tourney. So no Sync Breaks.
Freerolls
These are USUALLY fast-structured, & so don't need Sync Breaks.
If a Freeroll is expected to have a lot of runners, & have a slightly slower structure (such as the i-Pad freerolls), then Sync Breaks may be included.
So, that's a sort of broad brush outline of how where why & when as to Sync Breaks.
Some Tourneys may be wrong, most are right, but if you have any constructive feedback, Post it, & I promise, it will be considered. They can be added or removed at the touch of a button, & Sky Poker have no agenda here, either way - it does not matter to them - except to give as many players as possible the most comfortable & enjoyable playing experience. Working together, we can help make things like this better. But there is no way to please everyone.
I must add thanks to "Sky Peter" - lets call him Peter the Plumber, as he fixes broken syncs, amongst a myriad of other stuff - who took the time to explain all this.
But NEVER forget how important the little guy is to poker, be it this site, or any other site - without them poker would collapse overnight.
The big guys like Scotty, Style, Sam1986, Thewy, Melty, DTM, are VERY important, (and the little guys like Matt Bates) but for every one of them, there are any number of one-tablers. Generally, they don't have a voice, never open poker forums, & have never read a strategy piece in their life. But they do a days work, come home, have dinner, put the kids to bed, then play a Tourney, or SNG, just one at a time. These players are the foundations the poker economy is built upon, so they deserve to be taken account of just as much as the Big Boys.
Personally, I just can't one table these days, I need more action, but plenty prefer it that way.
With the exception of
1) Games that are expected to finish <1 hour and
2) Are immediatly before the start of a main event, eg a 7:15 sat for a main event that starts at 8.
3) If game/ starts at 7:45/7:50, then 1st break should be at 8:55
It's just so difficult playing some games, then 3 MTT's go on break and the otehr game (freeroll or sit and go) is still running.
Incidentally, players don't HAVE to be present for every hand of an MTT, they can sit out for a few minutes any time they want. They'll miss an orbit or so, but they'd be just as likely to lose a hand(s) as win a hand(s).
If we "Late Reg" by half an hour, say, we've missed a bunch of Orbits anyway.
I have no idea if you play Live Poker, but lots of players get up & have a wander around, to stretch their legs, or have a puff, or a wee, every now & then.
Mr Hellmuth, no less, rarely arrives to take his seat before Level 4. Think of how many hands he misses. Not stopped him winning a dozen bangly things though.
It's good tr have a debate about Sync Breaks, but I think we need to keep it in perspective. Missing a few hands is not the end of the world. IMO, of course.
No, but I'll do better than that.
I'll leave the thread to trundle & chunter along all weekend, then send it up to Peter the Plumber on Tuesday, with a list of all the "could we?" questions.
I'll summarise each request seperately for him, so it makes is nice & easy for Peter to sort the wheaty stuff from the chaffy stuff.
Yeah, thats all fair comment, (especially "I agree with you tikay") except the bits that are not fair comment.
I know you can miss a few hands but the type of tournaments that we are referring to are short ones (simple tap in for you there!) so the effect of missing a few hands can have a significant effect on the tournament.