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An Idea To Boost Hand Request Numbers (FAO Tikay)
Over the last couple of months the volume of hand requests for the clinic has been a bit patchy. This is annoying to me since I think it's the best show of the week.
So a simple idea for boosting the number of requests is to offer one of the show prizes to the most interesting hand contribution. Recently the show prizes have been three or four Mini-Main entries rather than a single Main event seat so, as we are talking about a poker show, does it not make sense for one of these to go to a poker contribution? (Much as I love a clever limerick or James Bond question)
An unsophisticated suggestion from an unsophisticated man, perhaps.
Comments
Morning Borin,
Yes, I take your point completely, that in an ideal world, maybe it would be better if prizes were limited to competitions involving poker ONLY.
However, the Channel tries to reach out beyond the existing "poker mature" market, to viewers who may not have played poker previously, because part of the whole raison d'etre of the Channel is to try & attract these new players to the Site. So the remit has to be fairly wide, the channel is not just aimed at the existing Sky Poker players.
There IS a wider point here, too. Should players/viewers really need the incentive of a prize to persuade them to send in Hand Requests? Do you not think that might end up with Hands of dubious quality being sent in for no other reason that they want to win a prize?
Some of the hands sent in, really, do not warrant TV air-time, whilst others are sometimes really very good as a learning tool.
I should tell you also that a very large % of Hand Requests sent in are purely so that the player can see what his opponent held. In my personal opinion, we should NEVER show such hands, that is NOT the idea of Hand Requests on Ch 861 at all, as it is of interest to only ONE viewer!
That Show, really, is a Community thing. We - you, me, us, everyone - will get out of it EXACTLY what we collectively contribute to it. If players now need an incentive to send in Hand Requests, then the whole point of that section of the Show has been missed. That would be my personal view, anyway.
In some ways, it reminds me of this Online Forum/Community. The quality of it, & it's Content, is the sum total of what WE, collectively, contribute. If it is good, it is because everyone made it good. If it is bad........
PS - Whilst I don't agree with you entirely here, your Post was excellent, and more importantly, positive. Positive we like.
Intuitively it would feel like a disproporionate number of the channel viewers would be playing (or potentially playing - if watching the channel gets them started) at the lower stakes, getting into the game, learning some of the key strategies etc and would therefore stand to learn the most from hearing experts disect hands at this level.
I'd guess there are probably more mistakes and lessons to be learned down at the lower levels as well?
they put more money through the site
I completely agree with what you say, Mr. Kendall but my view is that it may encourage the more shy or nervous player to post their hands and a prize should only be given to a truly interesting hand. So if people just want to send in bad beats or brags they won't get anywhere and that could be made clear...
If players do send in hands just to try to win a prize, does it really matter? As long as those hands are interesting, would we really complain?
The reason this seems like a decent idea to me is that I know some folks don't feel comfortable with sending hands in. Whether that's because they're nervous about being shown up on the telly, or just don't like posting a hand they've lost. Sometimes it just takes a little gentle encouragement. Since the change to £5.50 Mini seats it just seems as though, if 4 are being awarded on a show, then one wouldn't be missed as the regular e-mail/forum prizes.
I appreciate you taking a look, though.
Stick a TV icon on the DTD games, and you'd insta boost the number that get posted imo.
Maybe make some 4NL or 8NL or 5NL Mastercash tables, to alot of people sittign down at a cash table with £20 knowing they could lose it in 1 hand is a bit daunting, and yes you don't have to sit with the max, but you really should
Although, i do agree, if Sky were to bang on a couple more "tv" icons on the tables thn this might increase the number of hands requested for that part of the show...
****** STUPID QUESTION TIME ******
Does anyone know why the "TV" icons are limited???
Feel free to shoot me down, if i'm missing something obvious as to why they are so limited.
Cheers,
Mick.
I also think the idea of introducing more TV tables is a fine one but it doesn't really explain why some Thursdays there are too few hands to fill a one hour long show. There must be thousands of hands on television tables during a week but players just aren't sending them in. The obvious conclusion is that people need a bit of encouragement.
I don't think I'd characterise it as being about people needing an incentive to ask for help, I think it's more about people needing encouragement to overcome their nerves. Obviously I don't have any problem with nerves and send posts and hands in frequently. Right now, though, if you're a person that might feel embarrassed by showing a mistake, there's really no reason to stick your neck out.
I don't claim ownership of this idea because it seems a fairly obvious one and I'm sure it's been suggested before. Of course if the decision makers think it's a bad idea then it won't happen.
That is NOT a "stupid question" at all, on the contrary, it is a very good question, especially since I do not recall anyone asking it before.
Firstly, please be aware, that although I don't suppose it is "law" as such, though it MAY cause some Data Protection complications, Sky Poker take the view that players should not be OBLIGED to have the possibility of their play shown or dissected on TV. We know with 100% certainty that many players DO NOT WANT their hands shown on TV.
Effectively, sticking the TV icon on a table or Tournament is a sort of imformal "waiver", so that players who enter KNOW their hands MAY be shown on TV. They therefore have the right not to enter in such circumstances.
The TV Icon actually acts as a deterrent to many players, who refuse to play on such tables, so the Business would be shooting itself in the foot if it put too many TV Icons up.
Remember also that Ch 861 is a sort of accessory to the main business, & if putting too many TV Icons on Tables caused reduced traffic, the tail would be wagging the dog.
As a general rule, if the Ch 861 Suits want a Table, or Tourney, to have a TV Icon, a request is sent to Head Office & they generally oblige, but the default setting is "no TV Icon".
So there you have it. I hope that helps you understand a little the background to the presence or otherwise of TV Icons on Tables & Tourneys.
Bit of a curates egg, that.......
I agree with some of it, but certainly not all of it.
There is no good reason why players should be "nervous" of sending their hands in. Analysts on the Channel NEVER EVER belittle players, & unlike so many on this Community, almost daily, NEVER refer to other players as "fish", "idiots", donkeys" or worse, so that kite does not fly, imo.
It is quite a skill not to belittle some plays, when, say, someone bets 20 into a pot of 6,000 or whatever, or calls a raise OOP with J-2 offsuit, but although the error is pointed out, it is done tactfully & politely in a way that does not embarrass the player. In my case, when I'm forced to comment on such play, I ALWAYS add the rider "if you feel that is unfair, please write in to the Show, or Post on the Community, & I will explain further. I must have said that a thousand times.
The issue of an "incentive" to send hands in is subjective, & your view may well have merit. I happen to opine to the oppsite view, (based on the hands I see sent in but not shown), that on many occasions the quality of hand submitted is just not worthy of TV time.
There actually may be a small misunderstanding here, too. When we say "not enough hands have been sent in to Show on the channel", what we really mean on occasion is that "not enough interesting hands" have been sent in. When a player, very deep in a Tourney, & bitterly disappointed (understandably) at exiting the Tourney sends in his exit hand, which turns out to be a standard flip (say, Q-Qv A-K), this is not going to be really good TV is it?
I appreciate your well-reasoned views though, please don't think otherwise. Debate (unlike argument) is good. In fact, this whole thread is a plus imo, because it enabled Micky to ask that question about why there are not more Tables with TV Icons on, & gave me the opportunity to explain something which many may not have realised.
All good.
Will you be at Luton this weekend?