APL update

My current information is that APL will carry on in New Zealand, but its operation has been drastically scaled back. The only game still played under full APL rules will be played at the Porirua club on Mondays. The APL monthly finals and nationals will go ahead, and players who have already qualified for these events will be allowed to play.

There are also a few games, referred to as "minor league" games, which are not played under standard APL rules, but which provide qualifiers to APL's monthly finals. These typically involve an entry fee. I don't know at this stage whether or not the "minor league" games will continue their association with APL.

The So Bar is no longer hosting poker. The Bellevue Gardens and the Glass House will carry on as independent games. Additionally a new game has been started at the Little Totara in Totara Park, Upper Hutt on Thursdays. These 3 games have a $5 entry fee and are run by Ryan (ex-APL), with similar rules to APL. At this stage the games are indepdendent, and not part of a league.

If anyone knows more about this than I do please feel free to leave me a comment. Meantime, I'll update my "where to play" entries.

APL pulling out of NZ?

Still at the rumour stage, but it looks like there will no longer be an APL presence in New Zealand. Existing APL games will most likely carry on as independent games. I'll keep you updated.

Raffles suck

One practice that is very prevalent in New Zealand, and very destructive to good poker, is the practise of holding raffles for extra chips at the beginning of a tournament.

Yes, I realise that the bar/club must make a profit, and the organisers (i.e. the poker league or club) must make a profit, and that ultimately the profit must come from the players. But the players want a fair competition, where skill rather than spending power is the deciding factor.

It's a fine balancing act, and to some extent all leagues are forced to compromise the fairness and integrity of the game to serve the interests of their hosts. But the practice of holding raffles for extra chips is an abomination for any serious poker player, and is possibly illegal under the Gambling Act 2003.

Kudos to APL for saying NO to raffles! (By the way I am in no way affiliated with APL).

Free Roll Poker games and Drink Cards

The majority of pub poker games in New Zealand, especially those run by poker leagues, are free-rolls. There is no entry fee; the intention is to circumvent the Gambling Act 2003 by falling outside the legal definition of "Gambling".

Typically there will be no monetary prize; the league will instead award the winning players merchandise such as card protectors, and a qualification for a final event, usually held once per month. The host venue may also award a bar tab.

The venue pays the league around $200-300 to run the game, hoping that the increased bar sales will cover the cost.

The league usually offers incentives to the players to support the bar by awarding extra chips for food and drink purchases. This may be done by means of "drinks cards", but is also often done in an informal or ad hoc way.

For freeroll tournaments, this practice is probably a necessary evil, but it does tend to distort the game. It also tends to promote drinking, and drunk people are not fun to play poker with.

Ideally, the amount of extra chips awarded should be in proportion to the amount spent at the bar, but in practice there is a lot of inconsistency. Sometimes, the amount of chips depends on who serves you at the bar rather than what you buy or how much you spend; sometimes, alcoholic drinks are given preference regardless of cost; sometimes a can of coke is awarded the same amount of chips as a pint of beer.

With these things in mind, my suggestion to all the leagues is to apply the following rules:

• Extra chips should be available only from about 30 minutes before the start of the tournament until about 2 hours after the start. Above all, "drinks cards" should not be able to be carried over to another night.
• The amount of chips awarded should be consistent and proportional to the amount spent, regardless of whether it is spent on food, alcohol or non-alcoholic drinks.
• There should be a limit to the amount of chips that can be bought this way; the total should not amount to more than a normal starting stack, and it should be possible to reach this total without getting drunk, even if all the bar spending was on alcohol.

Of the leagues I've played in so far, APL is the only one that has got all this right.

Incidentally, the practice of offering incentives to players to spend money at the bar is illegal in the state of Queensland, which has strict laws against encouraging alcohol consumption. As a result, bars in Queensland are heavily reliant on pokies, the most antisocial and destructive form of gambling ever devised.

APL NZ National final

The APL New Zealand National final was held in Taupo over Easter weekend.

The winner was a local player, Alan Richardson, who headed off 122 other players to take the title, $2000 and a seat at the APL Poker Tour at Jupiter's Casino.

Second and third, and also getting seats on the APL tour, were Jason Holtham (Porirua) and Grant Little (Bulls).

Myself, I drew a very tough table which included pro player James Honeybone and PokerNZ blogger Dan McLeod among others. I held up well for the first couple of hours, doubling my starting stack, then blew it all in a moment of madness.

Euphoria closes

The closure of the Euphoria bar in Main Street is a major blow to the Upper Hutt pub poker scene. Just a few weeks earlier, the Quinn's Post also stopped hosting poker nights.

Superleague poker head Dave Bennett is currently looking for replacement venues.

On a slightly more positive note, BJ's in Taita have a new game on Wednesday nights.

I have updated my "days of the week" poker listings to reflect these changes.

Update 1 May: The Monday afternoon game will be hosted by the Stokes Valley Cossie club, and the Wednesday evening game will be hosted by the nearby Hut Sports Cafe.

Where to play poker in the Wellington region - Saturday

Hope Bros - 31-35 Dixon St, Wellington. 1pm start. $10 entry. Run by NPPL.

Stokes Valley Cossie Club – 35 George St, Stokes Valley. 5pm start. Run by Super League Poker.