5 Things I would Change About Online Poker Part 4

There is never a shortage of opinions when it comes to improving online poker, and you probably have heard all of the arguments about Anonymous Tables, Tracking Software, and VIP programs. While I have my own opinions on all of these topics and more (there is never a shortage of opinions coming out of me) in this column I’m going to focus on basic changes to online poker; changes that could be made tomorrow by any online poker site.

These changes I am about to propose are for the greater good and not for the benefit of winning players (although these players will benefit down the road) and will likely be laughed at by many of these players who will see these proposed changes as an attack on their livelihood. But I have my reasons and will explain my rationale for each proposed change.

• Change #1: Eliminate All Heads-Up Tables and Short-Handed Tables of Less Than Six Players
• Change #2: Eliminate All Tables with Stakes Lower Than $.05/$.10 NL and $.25/$.50 Limit
• Change #3: Eliminate All Tables with Stakes Above $10/$20 NL and $50/$100 Limit
• Change #4: Eliminate All of the “Trendy” Tournaments and Structures
• Change #5: Allow Deeper Buy-Ins

So far in this series I have focused on cleaning-up and contracting the cash game areas of online poker sites, and now in this installment I will turn my eye to the tournament lobby.

Let me start off by saying that I’m in no way an online poker noob, so when I find a tournament lobby a bit overwhelming (even with filters) I would say there is a problem.

Change #4: Eliminate all of the trendy tournaments and structures

I have a simple piece of advice for all online poker sites: If you need tournament filters, you have way too many tournaments to choose from.

I get that we have unlimited room in cyberspace and can cater to each player’s whims, but do we really need five different color codes (FPP tournaments, Freerolls, Women’s only, satellites, live satellites, regular tournaments, steps tournaments, and so on) and do we need to offer the following list of tournaments:

• 9-man, 6-man, 4-man, and heads-up Freeze-outs
• Shootouts
• 2-table, 3-table, 5-table, 10-table, 20 table and so on
• Bounty tournaments
• Progressive Bounty tournaments
• Double or Nothing tournaments
• All-in or Fold tournaments
• Coin Flips
• Turbos
• 2x Turbos
• Hyper-Turbos
• Deep-Stacks
• Shallow Stacks
• Rebuys
• Reentries
• Multi-entries
• Fast/Fold

And this says nothing about the different blind structures and games offered. Or how about Sit & Go tournaments where the sites offer stakes of $1.10, $2.20, $5.50, $11 and on and on, AND at the same time, if the tournament structure is slightly different –say a bounty instead of a freezeout—the site lists the stakes as $3.30, $4.40, $7.70 and so on. Or even worse, when just the rake is slightly different! So you end up with five different colors, five different stake levels between $4.40 and $5.50, and hundreds of lines of tournaments.

Visiting a tournament lobby without using a number of filters has become akin to solving quantum mechanics equations. Is it any wonder fewer and fewer casual players find their way to online poker sites?

Really, can you imagine being some regular guy who says, “Gee, I think I’ll play a $10 tournament tonight?” Oh yeah; well what $10 tournament, since there are about 200 to choose from?

Let’s simplify the whole process, and go back to simpler times. I’m good with 6-max and full ring events; with regular and turbo tournaments; and with STT’s and MTT’s. Everything else; all of the bounties, DoN’s, hyper-turbos, and shootouts can get thrown right on the scrap heap for all I care. Remember, it’s all about solidifying player pools and bringing in casual players.

Read Part 1: /blog/5-things-i-would-change-about-online-poker/

Read Part2: /blog/5-things-i-would-change-about-online-poker-part-2/

Read Part 3: /blog/5-things-i-would-change-about-online-poker-part-3/

Read Part 4: /blog/5-things-i-would-change-about-online-poker-part-4/

Read Part 5: /blog/5-things-i-would-change-about-online-poker-part-5/

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