STR82ACE;307681 wroteVery well written article, Jon, thanks. I can almost hear your personal frustration at the whole industry from your wording. And as much as no one will admit it from up high, CPT sounds like a flopping salmon on the river bank. Truely a sad situation for players and members across the country.
In your opinion, is it salvageable at all? If so, what needs to be done from the higher ups...from the players...from the regions? If it isn't possible to recover, what alternatives are there? Deepstack sounds interested, but still, only very limited in this country, and there is still NOTHING IN ONTARIO!
I'd like to get more involved in playing sanctioned events, but they're poorly advertised and often conflicting with real life needs. Be nice to see something local, promoted MONTHS in advance, sanctioned, and well attended.
I am personally frustrated as I am tired of seeing players and friends burnt on both sides of the felt. I have friends at Epic and I used to promote both CPT and Montreal Open with FTP because I believed in all 3 and in the end...well you know. I wonder if there is a straight up organizer in poker sometimes.
It is salvageable, but not in it's current form. Remember, for the most part these "sanctioned events" are still set up and belong to the casino, with varying structures and rules, the CPT just awards points. Only COPC, Stampede and a few others are actually CPT "owned". Even those did not show any branding last year but where run by the Deerfoot with CPT marketing; there are some behind the scene issues as to why.
The model that makes the most sense is what GTA suggested. Set up regional "stops" for majors and make sure they a properly designed with the casino. Heartland Poker Tour and Deep Stacks are good models.
Don't spend the coin on parties and pros, pay a regional rep to promote the brand and stay on top of results and casinos all year, so that the points mean something and are consistent. Then when majors happen, the brand is important to some, as will the POY. Having regional standings will also increase support since obviously amount of events that can be offered province by province is skewed. Facilities also vary so it needs to be a level playing field of sorts.
The membership fee needs to be dropped or greatly reduced. Players don't pay extra to earn point in WSOP, Bluff or CP POY standings to my knowledge. CPT doesn't track non members, even at sanctioned events as it takes labour, but as the underdog should go extra mile in this area not take an exclusive club attitude. Again, less for the 1% more for the 99% as those are the foundation that will make it grow.
Running out of coffe break, brb.
