mikelbyl
I don't know if this will motivate any readers here, but there is starting to be a pretty cool list of pros coming for the Full Tilt Montreal Festival...
The biggest names (and associated with Full Tilt) are Gus Hansen and Viktor Blom aka Isildur1.
In addition we expect to see Jonathan Duhamel, David Williams, Chris Moneymaker, Victor Ramdin and Vanessa Rousso. Plus our friends Antonio Esfandiari and Jeff Gross.
Current estimate of seats for the Main Event awarded/sold is up over 400 now.
BlondeFish
mikelbyl;359111 wroteI don't know if this will motivate any readers here...
Lowering the virtually unbeatable cash game rakes will motivate readers here to play at Playground! To T8urmoney & anybody else going, GL and please post a report about Snake's Poker Club $10 cash/hour & other cash game structures available around Kahnawake.
jontm
mikelbyl;359111 wroteI don't know if this will motivate any readers here, but there is starting to be a pretty cool list of pros coming for the Full Tilt Montreal Festival...
The biggest names (and associated with Full Tilt) are Gus Hansen and Viktor Blom aka Isildur1.
In addition we expect to see Jonathan Duhamel, David Williams, Chris Moneymaker, Victor Ramdin and Vanessa Rousso. Plus our friends Antonio Esfandiari and Jeff Gross.
Current estimate of seats for the Main Event awarded/sold is up over 400 now.
Does 400 include projected online sat ins?
Your 1ks have typically seen 325-380 walk ups from what I've seen at past classics, so could there even possibly be an overlay?
With Edgewater and Manitoba happening at same time, hard to say if this will be under 1000 players or stomp it. No history of "branded" 1k to even give a good guess.
Got my attention, look forward to seeing what happens
T8urmoney
jontm;359130 wroteDoes 400 include projected online sat ins?
Your 1ks have typically seen 325-380 walk ups from what I've seen at past classics, so could there even possibly be an overlay?
With Edgewater and Manitoba happening at same time, hard to say if this will be under 1000 players or stomp it. No history of "branded" 1k to even give a good guess.
Got my attention, look forward to seeing what happens
Looks like about 180 as of now counting both FTP and Stars
BlondeFish
I'm willing to make a friendly bet that it will reach the guarantee and no overlay. Even an unaffiliated and unpopular Fallsview can have two 600-player Day 1s if it finally gets smart and does it for its upcoming Poker Classic, so the popular Playground Poker Club with its unholy alliance with FTP will easily get 1,000 players after three Day 1s and players from around the world grinding the satellites in the two biggest online sites. While there may be only one forumer who's going so far, the 1,000 target will easily be met by poker players.
jontm;359130 wroteWith Edgewater and Manitoba happening at same time, hard to say if this will be under 1000 players or stomp it. No history of "branded" 1k to even give a good guess.
mikelbyl
When I post numbers they have and will include online satellite winners. We're getting the lists the following day and we produce physical tickets that we keep on hand here in the player's name so we're up to date on these numbers all the time.
There will be no overlay in this event, I'm 99.8% certain of that. I'm starting to think more about a sell-out than anything else.
I should add though that while I love good numbers and great prize pools, our primary goal is always to provide a great event for players, however many make it into the event.
jontm
Either result its win for the players, given GTD prize-pool.
Both brands involved have star power, so I expect fantastic numbers for Canada.
My reasons for even wondering are the 2 competing events in Vancouver & Manitoba (which usually see some players staying on home turf due to lower overhead) and 2 other series in Calgary and Saskatoon, right before and right after.
Given the great structure and multiple starting days, it's a 3 day commitment to min cash, so players are looking at what, about $1,500 to $2000 in expenses if they are traveling in, not including buy-in. With all that said, lets say 500 sat in total, another 500 walk up (shattering all your previous 1ks), what has been done differently this time around to more than double your projected attendance?
Outside forums and FB was it advertised in anyway I'm missing? I agree with Fallsview logic, but this is set up differently in terms of travel an accommodations. The 3ks make sense as a min cash puts you in black, plus you have significant side events.
US players can't sat in, most don't tend to travel up for a single 1k?
Lmk. This one is a complete guess to me.
jontm
1500 would obv be the new biggest 1k field in Canadian poker history and crush even Vancouvers comparable WSOPc event, which would be good news & a very positive sign for Canadian poker and a step towards what I've said (and published) about where our scene needs to go; gtd prize pools or at least realistic estimates, several true majors a year across the country with exceptional numbers and effort, leaving more realistic and humble expectations for regional events.
It might be my personal bias, but I can see how recreational players will be drawn to WSOPc & WPT event to get the "I played in a" t-shirt, I just don't see "FTP live event" rolling off the tounge with the same prestige.
My other concern is that players will take the cheaper alternative, fire too many bullets at this and WSOPc to skip the WPT TV event or at least compromise it; just when we were building a world class stage to put Canada on the poker map, we are going to dilute it all with a saturated schedule.
The reason Fallsview does so well is because its take it or leave it for Ontario players. If there are too many events in an area, history shows all will suffer....
mikelbyl
Jon - the festival is being heavily promoted via ads on TSN - I suppose they may not be airing them in the West? The ads are on all day alongside all kinds of programming and have been for a month. Also - it's a somewhat different audience than for the Fall Classic and WPT, so I wouldn't worry too much about cannibalization.
But as always it's all about the prize pool. This is the first $1M Guarantee tournament ever in the Montreal area (though we've well exceeded that in prize pools in the past in larger events). That's exciting for people. And excitement motivates people to play!
As well - satellites are the key to any big event. With somewhere around 400 entries already committed - that alone is enough to attract anyone who might have been on the bubble when this was announced. And there's still a month to go - there still a ton of seats still guaranteed in live sats between now and the Main event, and online sats are still running every day.
The other thing is that although the whole series is made up of smaller events than our Fall Classic, players really seem to be excited at the chance to play in a "Big Festival" that is still very accessible.
As you would expect, we're not skimping on anything for this event - players will have the same big event feel as they would in a much more expensive series. We're going to have as much wall-to-wall event coverage as I can manage with my 1.5 person team (which is quite a bit, if I do say so myself), for example.
Lastly - we're doing everything we can to grow poker in Montreal and Quebec and Canada, not just compete for a static player base. I'm just going off the top of my head with this (i.e., not from any internal research we may have done), but the daily player pool in Montreal has pretty much doubled since Playground opened. I think events like this help to do this on a wider scale.
And... so far so good.
Jon I would be curious to know if you have compiled attendance records for Canadian events in the past 5 or so years - is that information you have at this point?
jontm
Excellent answers. No, I have not seen the ads, but it does answer where the extra players outside the poker die hard community will come from.
In terms of attendance Playground Poker events are some of the best attended. Obv BC & Ontario have had bigger 1-1.5ks so far, but PPC hasn't headlined one yet before now.
I don't have records either than looking back as usually make a point of zeroing in on a few stats (compare to estimate, cap, triple digits or 1k plus players) and keep a somewhat accurate mental note of them.
For instance any 1k (or event for that matter) over 300 in Canada since about 2008 is worth remembering.
Some of the static series have watched go by 5-10 times, so it's not hard to get a feel.
Consensus is that this will break GTD though. I was way wrong about WPT Montreal, despite what I thought was optimistic goal posts so I'm fully prepared to watch this set another benchmark
BlondeFish
mikelbyl;359160 wroteWe're going to have as much wall-to-wall event coverage as I can manage with my 1.5 person team
Wat, Tyrion Lannister joined your team?!
mikelbyl wrotethe festival is being heavily promoted via ads on TSN - I suppose they may not be airing them in the West? The ads are on all day alongside all kinds of programming and have been for a month.
I can confirm that the rare time I was watching TV and TSN, the FTP Montreal ads kept repeating. Needless to say, I lost my appetite and had to restrain myself from throwing stuff at the TV. :p
jontm;359155 wroteIt might be my personal bias, but I can see how recreational players will be drawn to WSOPc & WPT event to get the "I played in a" t-shirt...
This is correct. While very few forumers will probably go to this or CPT Mega Stack series, the few poker players left in the forum are interested in checking out the "poker mecca of Canada" and other Montreal poker rooms so we will try to do so during the WPT or WSOP series. Those who make the highly -EV trips to Las Vegas/Seneca to buy into tournaments may decide to use that money to play in a WSOP/WPT event with no 30% withholding tax and higher EV. I'm looking forward to meeting the mikelbyl and Half-Man team! ;)
JimmyHo
Vegas may be more -EV but I find these Montreal clubs to be so isolated and there is nothing to do once you step out the door. Havent been to Mtl for a while so might check it out this year.
mikelbyl
Hey gang,
We have an updated list of the big-name poker pros who are going to be here for the Main Event of the Full Tilt Poker Montreal Festival:
Gus Hansen
Viktor Blom
Tom Dwan
Jonathan Duhamel
David Williams
Vanessa Rousseau
Chris Moneymaker
Victor Ramdin
Gavin Smith
Antonio Esfandiari
Jeff Gross
Jon Roy
Jason Duval
Chanracy Khun
Christopher McClung
Jean-Philippe Piquette
Derek Lerner
piggypie123
No Daniel Negraneau? I figured he would be there for sure.
mikelbyl
He's not on the list. I had originally anticipated him joining us as well.
mikelbyl
527 today for Day 1a of the $135 + $15 Re-entry Event 1. Lots of locals (including, interestingly enough, November Niner Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, who I hear came out with his Dad to play the event), but also reports of lots of regs from Woodbine and Niagara. I can't quantify what "lots" is though LOL.
There was also a ton of cash game action - upwards of 25 tables at one point
T8urmoney
fixed
mikelbyl;360399 wroteHey gang,
We have an updated list of the big-name poker pros who are going to be here for the Main Event of the Full Tilt Poker Montreal Festival:
Gus Hansen
Viktor Blom
Tom Dwan
Jonathan Duhamel
David Williams
Vanessa Rousseau
Chris Moneymaker
Victor Ramdin
Gavin Smith
Antonio Esfandiari
Jeff Gross
Jon Roy
Jason Duval
Chanracy Khun
Christopher McClung
Jean-Philippe Piquette
Derek Lerner
T8
sn1perb0y
I have a question that might be stupid, but i was wondering is there anyway to know the estimate of when does the bubble burst in a tournament?
For example on which day does the bubble burst for the ftp Montreal main event?
jontm
sn1perb0y;360564 wroteI have a question that might be stupid, but i was wondering is there anyway to know the estimate of when does the bubble burst in a tournament?
For example on which day does the bubble burst for the ftp Montreal main event?
Usually the creator of the structure will have a solid clue if he is good. Ron Campbell of a Players Poker Canada could prob come close if he read sheet.
jontm
mikelbyl;360537 wrote527 today for Day 1a of the $135 + $15 Re-entry Event 1. Lots of locals (including, interestingly enough, November Niner Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, who I hear came out with his Dad to play the event), but also reports of lots of regs from Woodbine and Niagara. I can't quantify what "lots" is though LOL.
There was also a ton of cash game action - upwards of 25 tables at one point
Playground's signature $150 re-entry is an amazing event for prize-pool and field size. I'd be curious to see how big it would get with no cap and an extended reg. totally think it could rival Rio daily and break 2k.