@12beat22 took @puggywug in 3 straight games. The first was every even balanced, the second was a sick comeback, the third puggywug just couldn’t get any cards, and gave up halfway through.
Congratulations.
I’m going to go on a 2M chip tilt bender now, if anyone wants to suck away my bankroll for some unofficial heads up games now.
Results 1st game BRICK52 vs Dogsofwar 5k tourny #3899082 winner BRICK
Thanks, @BRICK52. I have confirmed and entered into the record book.
I just played a HU game with BRICK. I think the lobby chat system is probably broken. I will need to test it a lot more first to confirm this. We both selected a Lobby and arrived. I only saw 1 line of chat from BRICK: “are you there” and then nothing. I have many many lines of chat. I’m not sure what BRICK saw me chat or what he chatted beyond the 1 line i saw.
The point is if its broken I don’t really care to take my chances playing in this “random take my chances” competition. We did get 1 game played which was good, but it wasn’t easy AND if the system & chat in lobby worked properly it should be incredibly easy and 99.9% fool proof, with 00.1% chance of gatecrashes stealing games.
If the chat system does prove to be broken i’ll create a NEW post about it & hope it can be fixed or improved by RP. I will also be showing very little interest in this competition & only playing 2K buy in. For the rest of this round I have agreed to play BRICK 5K.
replaypoker .com/tournaments/3899082
Clicking the LINK & opening it fresh has confirmed to me the chat is broken & not updating properly. It shows BRICK actually chatting, of which I didn’t see at all whilst I was waiting in the lobby.
I will still test this system more extensively but its deff broken and not working properly. Extremely frustrating as always from RP.
I already had my suspicions that the system was broken after failing to get blood from a stone and not being able to play 1 game with my opponent in Round 1.
The current system is more than adequate IF it actually worked properly. Very frustrating.
Dogs
as a follow up with @puggywug we tested for a while & can confirm the SnG Lobby Chat System is very flawed. I will be following up with testing & making an official post in the hope RP can address this issue.
To summarize, lobby chat doesn’t seem to be updating reliably. You may need to manually refresh the lobby window in order to see the chat stream updating. This is not an ideal situation.
The issue is that if a player seats themselves at a 2-seat table before their opponent is ready to join them, then they risk a random player showing up to play, unaware of our tournament. This is why i had recommended that we use lobby chat to establish we are both present before anyone sits. But if lobby chat is unreliable, we will need to proceed with this awareness.
My new recommendation is to use the lobby chat, manually refreshing the lobby window every few seconds or so. And if at all possible, be punctual.
Finally, lobby chat is not an option for players who have been muted. If you are muted, then you will need to just seat yourself when you see your opponent chatting, and take your chances.
It shouldn’t be that hard to arrange, if both players are good about being on time, but if you do get hijacked, just play out that game and try again to meet with your tourney opponent as soon as possible.
@puggywug took two of three games from @pokerrick in a brisk noon match today, including a quick 1-hand game where puggy hit a straight to beat Rick’s set of 888s.
Congratulations to Rick in the first game, where his re-raises and 3-betting got the best of the pug, who shoved pocket 44s into JJs.
In the final game, I just had the cards, and hit a few nice draws. Taking down the final pot with AQ flopping top pair, and calling an aggressive all-in bet from middle pair.
Well played, all three games.
Hi Puggy, I hope you can come up with a better plan for hu matches . I know you worked hard on it. The aggravation I went through last night wasnt worth it. there has to be a set amount for buy in and some kind of set time. Its almost impossible to expect matches between Aussie and USA. Put on your thinking cap , I know you can do it ! BRICK
I mean a set amount and time for EVERYONE as difficult as it may be. The only way it can work. IMHO
@BRICK52 I appreciate the feedback. I’ve also heard quite a bit from @DogsOfWar as well. I’ve forwarded some of these concerns as well as some suggestions for how the site could be improved to facilitate our needs better to Replay for consideration.
In the short term, I do not expect anything to come out of that, but they do seem to be interested in supporting the interest in heads-up play that we’ve demonstrated. So that’s a good thing. But it doesn’t do anything for us in the now-term.
I knew from the beginning that the success or failure of this experiment would hinge in large part on the individual participants. Each game is an discreet event in a series, which I am tracking in order to link them together to create the tournament. That is an entirely manual operation on my end, and there’s nothing in the way of site features that facilitate my doing this.
In a normal Replay private league, games are scheduled, and if league members can play at the scheduled time and want to, they can and do. If a player can’t make it to a game, they don’t, and the game is held anyway, and it’s not a problem.
In a HU game, since there’s only two players, both players must be at their game in order for it to happen at all. Players need to agree to a time to play, and keep to that time and be punctual, in order for it to happen.
There are many pitfalls that go along with this, most of which I foresaw, and tried to come up with solutions for. That said, it still requires the effort of all participants in order for it to work.
Everyone needs to read and respond to their Replay messages, and quickly.
Players who do not respond to messages in their inbox within, say, 24 hours, are going to make it hard to communicate with them. Some of us are excellent at responding to messages quickly, others not so much. This is the most important factor, in my opinion, that will influence the success/failure of the tournament. Unless everyone has established a Friend connection with everyone else in the tournament, and unless everyone reads and responds to messages in a timely fashion, the tournament doesn’t function.
Scheduling
Everyone has their own schedule when they are available and not available.
Some players may have schedules that are completely incompatible with another player’s schedule. There’s not much I can do about that, if two people can’t get together to play, their games don’t happen.
To account for this, I provided a week-long window of opportunity for players to figure out a time when they can play, and if they don’t play, it’s too bad, but it’s fine, the tournament moves on to the next round. I also requested that everyone provide me with their times during the typical week when they prefer to play, and the times they are unavailable to play. My hope was that with this information posted on the Player’s Tab of the record book, it would help everyone figure out times when they are available to play.
To date, however, I’ve only received availability information from about half of you. And many of you, attempting to be flexible and accommodating, provided very vague answers. Unfortunately if you are available 24/7 to play poker, picking a time to meet someone for a game isn’t any easier. My hope was that by having this information, in many cases there would be a time when any two opponents would be able to play against each other, and it would be a relatively narrow window of a few hours, which would make it relatively easy for players to agree on that time.
I suggest scheduling your games with your opponent by looking up their Availability on the Players tab, and then messaging your opponent to say “Hey. I’m your opponent this week. I see you’re available a hh:mm on XXXXday. Let’s play then, is the standard 10k stakes agreeable?” and then they should reply yes, or suggest an alternative time.
Very quickly you should be able to come to an agreed time, unless your schedules are just terribly mis-aligned and it’s not possible.
Time Zones
Players living in different time zones will have a harder time coordinating and scheduling. Just translating time from Zone A to Zone B can be error prone, so I found the World Clock Meeting Planner and shared it with everyone to help them correctly get the time of their tournament in their local time zone.
Assigned times
I have thought about it, and I find that if I assign a specific time to two players, it doesn’t seem like it would work well, either.
I don’t know Player A’s or Player B’s schedule, and if I pick a time and tell them both to play it, the most likely result is that one or both players don’t even read the message until it’s too late, or that people will complain that I picked a time that wasn’t good for them, and then they end up either not playing the game, or scheduling their own time to play anyway.
What I can do is look at the two matched player’s availability, see when they prefer to play, and if those times line up, suggest a mutually preferred time. I don’t see why two players can’t do this for themselves though. You just need to care enough to want to do it.
Stakes
The suggested a standard stakes level is 10k per game.
Players may optionally play at different stakes, if they and their opponent both agree to it.
I picked 10k for a number of reasons:
Table reservations and getting smoothly underway.
This isn’t as easy as it could be, either.
Our only option for playing HU SNG is at public tables, where if you aren’t quick, can fill up with a random third person sitting at the table. Once two seats are filled, the game is locked and starts immediately.
As a way to avoid this problem, I suggested using the lobby chat to announce yourself so you both know you’re at the right lobby, and can then get started immediately. I didn’t anticipate that the lobby chat would not update reliably; that’s something that we discovered recently. I don’t have great solutions for this problem, either, but I was able to coordinate with my opponents and we didn’t have too much trouble.
It’s not ideal, but I don’t see much that can be done about it. But clearly, messaging back and forth with Replay messages to schedule the game well ahead of time, and then being punctual, and opening up the right lobby and then saying something in the chat to announce you’re there, then seating once you’re both there, is workable, albeit not completely foolproof.
Again, though, it goes back to players being responsive to communications, and the reliability of the chat and messaging system.
@WATCHOUT8 has provided the Tournament IDs for the Round 1 match vs. SUPERPOTATO17.
The standings through today’s date for all confirmed games reported to me thus far are as follows:
| Rank | Player | Games | Wins | Losses | Net | Points | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12beat22 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 25458 | 570000 |
| 2 | pokerrick | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 43638 | 380000 |
| 3 | WATCHOUT8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17991 | 19000 |
| 4 | Waidus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DogsOfWar | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 4699 | 0 |
| 5 | SUPERPOTATO17 | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 16044 | 9500 |
| 7 | BRICK52 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 23743 | 9500 |
| 7 | puggywug | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 39819 | 190000 |
I too have been very frustrated trying to “Play” HU games. The time zone differences is only a minor obstacle IMO. We were able to play our 1st game in less than 36 hours of Round 2. I think that is pretty good. I’m sorry I didn’t want to play again, but as I said the technical difficulties put me slightly on TILT. I was very irritated & aggravated.
I’m happy to play two games in a row next time we meet at the agreed upon stakes. It would be good if other players could also commit to playing 2 or 3 games in a row to keep the competition progressing faster. I definitely would have played 2 or 3 games in a row if we had smooth sailing. In future ill commit to playing 2 or 3 games in a row.
If any player gives me a time they want to play with 36 to a few hours notice I’m very flexible to play when wanted and if I agree to a time chosen I’m 99% guarantee to show up and play. I’m even happy to play between 2am - 6am when I’m usually sleeping if that is what is most suitable for my opponent.
In terms of the aggravation & Technical Difficulties we experienced, its now well understood, so it shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I’m sorry about the frustration & difficulties.
Im fairly certain our next meet will be fairly simple & easy.
It seems that things are going more smoothly this week. We’re at the half-way point for Round 2, and half of the games for this round have already been completed and confirmed.
We are still waiting on @12beat22 and @WATCHOUT8 to hold their match, and @SUPERPOTATO17 and @waidus as well, so Round 2 will continue until this Sunday, 9/27, unless these games are reported to me ahead of time.
| Rank | Player | Games | Wins | Losses | Net | Points | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pokerrick | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 43638 | 380000 |
| 2 | 12beat22 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 25458 | 570000 |
| 3 | WATCHOUT8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17991 | 19000 |
| 3 | BRICK52 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 35815 | 28500 |
| 3 | puggywug | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 39819 | 190000 |
| 6 | DogsOfWar | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 16771 | 19000 |
| 6 | SUPERPOTATO17 | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 16044 | 9500 |
| 8 | Waidus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hi m8. @BRICK52 & Dogs have completed all three games. BRICK won the first game (10K) & already reported it. These are the 2 played tonight BRICK won the first game & Dogs won the second game (10K).
replaypoker .com/tournaments/3905138 (game 2 of 3)
replaypoker .com/tournaments/3905447 (game 3 of 3)
Thanks
ROUND 3 Match up s are as follows:
@SUPERPOTATO17 vs @DogsOfWar
@BRICK52 vs @12beat22
@pokerrick vs @waidus
@WATCHOUT8 vs @puggywug
Round 3 will run from 9/27 - 10/4.
@waidus and @SUPERPOTATO17 played only 2 games for their Round 2 match; I will accept a late entry if you guys can get your last game in.
Current standings:
| Rank | Player | Games | Wins | Losses | Net | Points | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pokerrick | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 43638 | 380000 |
| 2 | 12beat22 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 25458 | 570000 |
| 3 | Waidus | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12166 | 7600 |
| 3 | WATCHOUT8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17991 | 19000 |
| 3 | BRICK52 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 35815 | 28500 |
| 3 | puggywug | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 39819 | 190000 |
| 7 | DogsOfWar | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 16771 | 19000 |
| 7 | SUPERPOTATO17 | 5 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 24648 | 9500 |
Hi 12beat22, I sent you a friendship request. accept so we can play. BRICK52
Pug, WATCHOUT8 and I are playing Sun at 1pm
| puggywug
September 27 |
- | - |
ROUND 3 Match up s are as follows:
@SUPERPOTATO17 vs @DogsOfWar
@BRICK52 vs @12beat22
@pokerrick vs @waidus
@WATCHOUT8 vs @puggywug
Round 3 will run from 9/27 - 10/4.
@waidus and @SUPERPOTATO17 played only 2 games for their Round 2 match; I will accept a late entry if you guys can get your last game in.
Current standings:
Very good 
| Rank | Player | Games | Wins | Losses | Net | Points | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pokerrick | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 43638 | 380000 |
| 2 | 12beat22 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 25458 | 570000 |
| 2 | SUPERPOTATO17 | 8 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 42639 | 28500 |
| 4 | Waidus | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12166 | 7600 |
| 4 | WATCHOUT8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17991 | 19000 |
| 4 | BRICK52 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 35815 | 28500 |
| 4 | DogsOfWar | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 32815 | 28500 |
| 4 | puggywug | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 39819 | 190000 |
Puggy, Just completed 2 games Tourny #3923673 -100k 12beat22 vs BRICK52 -winner 12beat22. 2nd game #3924055 100k -Brick52 winner
