Woodbine SNGs start on September 9!

BlondeFish

The Good:
- Baby steps starting on Monday, September 9 in what will hopefully become MTTs later if forumers include the one-table tournament whenever they sign up for games at Woodbine.
- Same great beatable rake as the other OLG Slots locations, e.g., $75+$5, (only 6%), $220+$10 (only 4%) up to $540+$20 (only 3.6%!). :cool: This is even more beatable than the ~10% rake of online SNGs that I used to play at PartyPoker before it blew itself up.

What Can Be Improved:
- I was told that you can only sign up for an SNG between 8 AM - noon. I hope the employee is wrong and it's actually 8 AM to midnight. Can somebody with the brochure please clarify?
- The payout structure is 70/30, but it's better to have the standard 50/30/20 of online SNGs if you have 10 (or 9, 8, 7) players. Hopefully, Woodbine will be flexible and allow players to have three payouts. Otherwise, have at least $10 cash so we can all pitch in and third place will at least get their money back.

So who's in for a Forumers' SNG Trip To Woodstock the week of September 9?

Toronto Pimp

More info please buy ins $ ???

Thanks in advance

BlondeFish

I'll update my OP with what I know, but to anybody going to Woodbine this week, please pick up the new brochure and post the info. If I had known earlier today, I would have gone to Woodbine tonight, but I plan to play at Fallsview this long weekend.

Toronto Pimp;359180 wroteMore info please buy ins $ ???
Thanks in advance

BlondeFish

To Toronto Pimp, pkrfce9, pokerJAH, AlwaysLearning416, compuease and anybody else who goes to Woodbine, please fill out the green feedback form in the poker room to:
- increase the SNG hours past noon
- give players the option to have three payouts (like online's 50/30/20).

Even SNG lovers like me would not go to Woodbine between 8 AM - noon just to play a turbo SNG. Next time I go to Woodbine, I'll fill out the form too. Thanks.

Toronto Pimp

Thanks alot . I will fill in a card for sure.

Whos going to fallsview this weekend ? Trying to decide where to put my hours in. Long weekend should bring some loose yanks to the falls, but woodbine is way way shorter drive.

BlondeFish

Woodbine is way shorter for me too especially with the QEW traffic this long weekend and the construction at night resulting in only one lane driving back. I had winning sessions at Fallsview the last couple of times, but driving back, I had to worry about running out of gas in the QEW parking lot and falling asleep on the wheel! :-\

Toronto Pimp;359208 wroteThanks alot . I will fill in a card for sure.
Whos going to fallsview this weekend ? Trying to decide where to put my hours in. Long weekend should bring some loose yanks to the falls, but woodbine is way way shorter drive.

AcidJoe

Where in Woodbine are they holding these? I think they will find limited interest if it only runs for 4 hours in the morning. Most pros I know don't hit the tables until 11am to 1 pm. If they did 50/30/20 with that rake I know where I'd be every weekend.

BlondeFish

The SNGs will be in the same poker room at Woodbine Racetrack that everybody in the GTA has been playing at since November. Unless enough players fill out the feedback form or ask to talk to a high-level gaming manager (not just the low level employees inside the poker room who can't change anything), these SNGs may suffer the same fate as all the other failed SNGs in Ontario casinos.

Brantford, Mohawk, Western Fair, Georgian Downs & other OLG locations all have long Rules documents that authorize the running of SNGs, but OLG had neglected to ask players what kind of SNGs they would play, so they was rarely enough interest to get a single SNG started. The only SNGs that I have ever seen run was during the Tournament of Champions promotion at Georgian Downs, which is now dead. pkrfce9 and I played them at NIGHT, and we agreed that the SNGs should have three payouts instead of two.

AcidJoe;359224 wroteWhere in Woodbine are they holding these? I think they will find limited interest if it only runs for 4 hours in the morning. Most pros I know don't hit the tables until 11am to 1 pm. If they did 50/30/20 with that rake I know where I'd be every weekend.

AlwaysLearning416

BlondeFish;359196 wroteTo Toronto Pimp, pkrfce9, pokerJAH, AlwaysLearning416, compuease and anybody else who goes to Woodbine, please fill out the green feedback form in the poker room to:
- increase the SNG hours past noon
- give players the option to have three payouts (like online's 50/30/20).

Even SNG lovers like me would not go to Woodbine between 8 AM - noon just to play a turbo SNG. Next time I go to Woodbine, I'll fill out the form too. Thanks.

Deal.

I spoke to Mario when I was there Friday night (and ROCKED the 1-2 game, full of non-reg fish :)) and asked why just the STTs & so early. He said it was a trial to see how it would go and that they may add more if they get enough interest. I kindly pointed out that they're almost setting it up to fail by only offering 4 hours of STTs. I told him weeknights when they only spread 5-7 tables, why not have some then?

I am usually there on weekends in the mornings and will try playing them (I'll definitely fill out the green form though as well). I feel like on weekend mornings, they should be fairly soft as it's mainly TAG regs who play those times, making a turbo-type STT fairly easy. I'll definitely give a few a shot when I'm there on weekend mornings.

BlondeFish

Coles Notes: Despite being set up for failure with the morning restriction and the removal of the advertised and best-value $75+$5 SNG, a full ten-player SNG managed to run at Woodbine on the first day!
"cheers: :wav: "cheers:"cheers:

There was one 1/2 and one 2/5 tables running in the morning. I was disappointed that Woodbine management decided to make the best-value $75+$5 unavailable, despite it being the first SNG advertised in the brochures. :confused: All the SNGs that pkrfce9 and I played at Georgian Downs were $75+$5; neither of us ever played a $90+$10 SNG.

The following is the priority that I would want to play the SNGs, with the rake shown. I would NOT sign up for the worst-value $90+$10 while signing up for everything else.

1) $75+$5, 6.25%
2) $220+$10, 4.3%
3) $540+$20, 3.6%
4) $140+$10, 6.7%
5) $320+$20, 5.9%
6) Avoid the last-resort $90+$10, 10%.

Instead, players were forced to sign up for next lowest buy-in, which is the worst value $90+$10. This is the only SNG with double-digit rake; all the other SNGs have rake that is 33%-64% lower. Let's say that a Group A of ten players are in the $220+$10, while a Group B of gamblers chose the $90+$10. Both groups would pay the same $100 total rake to the casino, but Group B would only have a prize pool of $900 while Group A would have a prize pool that is 2 1/2 times bigger at $2,200 without paying any more rake! :cool:

However, even "Kim Kardashian" wanted to play an SNG and the first-ever $90+$10 SNG managed to get underway just before the noon deadline. I will drop off the feedback form next time I go to Woodbine with the following suggestions:

1) Make the advertised $75+$5 SNG available for sign-up.
2) Let players sign up for and play the turbo SNG past noon, e.g., ideally anytime there are empty tables anyway.

3) Let players choose if they want the standard 50/30/20 payout instead of Woodbine's 70/30.

4) Have a self-service drink area, just like Georgian Downs, Western Fair, Brantford, Rama and Niagara. Woodbine players complain about getting thirsty and having to hunt down a waiter.

5) Start planning for MTTs. Copy Casino Rama's successful model of having six tournament tables on its least busy day, then it attracts 5-9 cash game tables for the whole day. There are more cash game tables going on tournament Mondays at Rama than there are at Woodbine and Fallsview on Monday to Thursday nights! :o

Shortstack_Maverick

^^BF, thanks for the great trip report!

By any chance would you know the names/poker handles for the winners of Woodbine's first S&G? Who came in first and second place? "Kim Kardashian" is a regular NL 1-2 player there and I've played with him a handful of times.

BlondeFish

I didn't have time to stick around so I don't know who the winners were, or if the players were savvy enough to adjust the silly 70/30 payout in a 10-player SNG.

Shortstack_Maverick;359972 wrote^^BF, thanks for the great trip report!
By any chance would you know the names/poker handles for the winners of Woodbine's first S&G?

piggypie123

Are there multi table sit n go's? or is it just 10 players max?

BlondeFish

piggypie123;360029 wroteAre there multi table sit n go's? or is it just 10 players max?

Just 10 players for now - until enough players like you fill out the feedback form and makes MTTs a reality! ;)

GTA Poker

BlondeFish;360056 wroteJust 10 players for now - until enough players like you fill out the feedback form and makes 2 table sngs a reality! ;)

fyp

BlondeFish

For someone named "GTA Poker", you know diddly squat about the GTA live poker scene nowadays. Once Woodbine management listens to enough player feedback for MTTs, every single seat will sell out EARLY just like at Casino Rama, Brantford and Mohawk Racetrack. Mondays are usually the least busy in poker rooms, but during Rama's tournament Mondays, almost all 12 tables are full starting from 1 PM past 8 PM. If Woodbine listens to me and starts a 90-player MTT on a Tuesday-Friday morning, all 11 tables will be full for the entire day and it will rake over $1,000,000 every year. :o

With rake as low as 3.8% - even lower than the online MTT$ I grinded for year$ - I would "throw everything away" and move in with the horsies at Woodbine!

GTA Poker;360059 wrotefyp
Just 10 players for now - until enough players like you fill out the feedback form and makes 2 table sngs a reality!

GTA Poker

Sorry I meant 4 tables:(

BlondeFish

Both Casino Brantford and Rama will have their next eight-table tourney sell out. You should try out a high-ROI, zero-hidden-fees, low-rake, eight-table MTT next time you're lucky enough to be back in the GTA.

GTA Poker;360076 wroteSorry I meant 4 tables:(

AlwaysLearning416

Don't know if they'd ever run 8 tables, just because there is a possibility that even on weekdays they could hit 3 cash game tables. That being said, I see no reason why they shouldn't run 6 table tourneys. 60 players would still be immensely popular I'd presume, and they'd still have a whopping 5 tables open for cash. Don't know if 70 players is a normal number or not, but those would work too...

BlondeFish

Has anybody played an SNG since Monday? Woodbine claims that they have been running everyday. I will try to sign up for a $75+$5, $220+$10, etc. (avoiding the worst-value $90+$10) sometime this weekend, then leave my feedback form.

AlwaysLearning416;360098 wroteDon't know if they'd ever run 8 tables, just because there is a possibility that even on weekdays they could hit 3 cash game tables.

A lot more hands are dealt per hour, so a tournament table gets freed up soon enough, then the busted players help fill up the next cash game table. If there are only 2 tables open on a Tuesday morning, a 9-table MTT would help keep filling up the cash games for the rest of the day!