3-Bet: Rob Yong Unhappy With partypoker MILLIONS UK Turnout, Triet Nguyen Wins CPPT Bike Big Poker Oktober Kickoff Event & EAPT Announces 2018 Grand Final Schedule

Rob Yong and The Bicycle Hotel and Casino
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  • PG News October 12, 2018
  • 6 Mins Read

Live tournaments have been constantly undergoing changes in their formats and approach, with organizers forever looking at new ways to draw players.

In his recent blog, Rob Yong, owner of the Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) venue in Nottingham that recently hosted the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS UK series, expressed reservations on the approach used by organizers towards qualifying players. Yong felt that participation numbers in the series were disappointing and revealed his discussions with partypoker Live President John Duthie as an outcome of which there could be several big changes in the format of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Main Events next year.

Back in US, the 2018 Big Poker Oktober series organized by Card Player Poker Tour (CPPT) opened at Bicycle Hotel & Casino on October 1. Gunning through the $500,000 GTD NLHE Kickoff event, Triet Nguyen bested a huge field of 2,274 entries to the win the title and top prize of $78,222.

The 2018 Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT) is slated to open on October 19 at Casino Sochi in Russia. Tour sponsor partypoker has doled out several attractive offers for the series.

Rob Yong Unhappy With partypoker MILLIONS UK Turnout

Owner of Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) in Nottingham Rob Yong seems to be unhappy with the turnout at the recently hosted partypoker LIVE MILLIONS UK series. In a blog posted on partypoker on Wednesday, Yong termed the participation numbers a “big disappointment.”

Rob Yong
Rob Yong

Yong was talking about the £5,300 Main Event that drew 1,014 runners this year, around 300 less than last year’s turnout. He attributed the decrease in numbers to the change in approach towards qualifying players.

He pointed out that while last year’s event saw 500 direct online qualifiers, this year the organizers changed the system, relying on players to use their PP Live Dollars for buying into the event. As a result, Yong said, only 200 players chose to spend PP Live Dollars in the event.

“Who can blame any player who prefers to use their PP Live Dollars next month for the online $20M Guaranteed MILLIONS event or the $30M MILLIONS Caribbean Poker Party in the Bahamas – DTD is a shed on a retail park in Nottingham; there is no beach,” Yong said.

Yong also reopened the re-entry debate, recalling how knocking out a top pro earlier used to mean that the player would not be able to enter the tournament again.

“Apart from the WSOP Main Event, most players don’t experience this nowadays; you can wander in anytime and register, if you have deep pockets or are staked you don’t worry about busting, and you can easily make Day 2 – just skip Day 1 and buy-in on Day 2!

You don’t often get seated with a famous player as they tend to late register, sometimes you can start with less than 10% of the field, and it must be soul destroying to bust Fedor Holz and have to bust him again and again!”

Yong’s blog also found echoes of support on Twitter, with players sharing their views on the re-entry debate.

The DTD owner in his blog also informed that he had discussed these issues with EPT founder and partypoker Live President John Duthie during the MILLIONS UK and the two had chalked out a new format for the series’ Main Event for next year.

The features expected to be included in the format are, $10K buy-in, with $5-$10 Million guaranteed, depending on the venue, freezeout format with reduced late registration, qualifying 60% of the field online and live, only one Day 1 and 200 big blinds.

Another option being considered is the Double Chance, where players can take 100 big blinds at the start. This aspect, Yong admitted, needed to be debated with player inputs. Yong also informed readers that from next year on, the series may feature a $10K Second Chance Tournament for DBI players who bust the Main Event as well as $500-$1,000 events for qualifiers.

Notably, as a thank-you gesture to players for supporting partypoker live events over the past year, partypoker would be adding $500,000 of value to WSOPE online satellites running at partypoker for the two weeks leading up to the event, at buy-in levels from €0.01 up to €1,050.

On a parting note, Yong promised players that DTD would return strong in 2019, with UKPC, WPT and most likely, a WSOP event as well. “I am not sure whether DTD is ‘big enuf’ to host a MILLIONS at $10K buy-in, as international players may prefer the other ‘more glamorous’ stops, but we will discuss with players,” Yong said.

Triet Nguyen Wins CPPT Bike Big Poker Oktober $500,000 GTD Kickoff Event

The Card Player Poker Tour (CPPT) returned to the Bicycle Hotel & Casino for the 2018 Big Poker Oktober on October 1. The 17-event series will continue till October 21 and grabbing early attention at the series was Triet Nguyen, who bested a field of 2,274 entries to take down the $500,000 GTD NLHE Kickoff event for the top prize of $78,222.

The Bicycle Hotel and Casino
The Bicycle Hotel and Casino

Nguyen struck a three-way deal with the other two finalists that saw Ronald West take second place for $77,060, while David Fernandez finished third for $62,260.

A number of notable players were spotted in the field, including Vinnie Vinh (4th for $30,620) and five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Allen Cunningham (6th for 19,210).

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Triet Nguyen – $78,222*

2. Ronald West – $77,060*

3. David Fernandez – $62,260*

4. Vinnie Vinh – $30,620

5. Peter Cross – $24,520

6. Allen Cunningham – $19,210

7. Donald Maloney – $15,075

8. Hai Le – $11,665

9. Huy Minh Nguyen – $8,765

*denotes a three-way deal

The star attraction of the series, the CPPT NLHE Main Event that features a $1,100 buy-in is scheduled from October 17-21, and will have three starting flights.

Players competing in different tournaments at the series can take advantage of the Quantum Tournament format for buying in directly into Day 2 for $4,300.

Bike Tournament Director Mo Fathipour, the brains behind the Quantum Tournament format explained, “Players love it because the prize pool goes up and the tournament draws some professional players. The concept is getting popular. We had it in Canada, we had it in Las Vegas, and we had it in San Diego. It’s going almost everywhere.”

The Bike Casino is running satellites to the event, allowing players to qualify and enter the event for as less as $200.

EAPT Announces 2018 EAPT Grand Final Stop in Sochi

The 2018 stop of the Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT) is on the edge of kicking off this month, with the 18-event series set to open at Casino Sochi in Russia, on October 19. With over $750,000 in guaranteed prize money, all of the tournaments combined will pay out more than $1.5 Million through the series that will conclude on October 29.

Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT)
Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT)

Tour sponsor of the series, partypoker is offering a one-year pro sponsorship worth $50,000 to a player who enters the EAPT Grand Final Main Event using PP Live Dollars and wins the tournament. The first 100 players who pay the $990 entry fee with the partypoker PP Live Dollars are also eligible to compete for the sponsorship.

The EAPT Grand Final schedule has a fair mix of different events and formats, including a number of deep stack tournaments, Chinese pineapple, a high roller and a PLO Bounty event. The opening event will be the Russian Poker Championship that features $180,000 in guaranteed prize money.

Sweetening the deal, partypoker is also doling out 1,000 in PP Live Dollars to anyone who can guess the number of entries in the EAPT Grand Final Main Event. Alongside, players who sign up at My partypoker LIVE and link that registration to their account on partypoker.com will win a free $22 Live satellite ticket.

2018 EAPT Grand Final Schedule

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