Cardschat Freeroll Times, Why so Early?

Why do the freerolls start at such bizarre times?

The two sites I play on (Ultimate Bet & Bodog), their freerolls start at 3:00 PM EST (for Bodog), and 1:30 PM EST (for Ultimate Bet). Since I (and probably others) have jobs that keep us chained away until 5PM (at least), its pretty tough to make these things.

Are they schedule as such because of the website they're played on? Do they only allow freerolls to occur at times of low site traffic? Or are we trying to cater to our European friends who are available that early?

I'm just asking because I really like playing in large MTT's, but its just so hard to make it to these things.

We have awesome international players from the UK, Canada and France for example. They are 5hrs to 6hrs and sometimes 8hrs ahead of us. CC tries to accommodate everyone!

Canada would only be 1hr ahead of eastern time, max. Even if you're German and are 6 hours ahead, starting at 5PM EST would make it 11PM there (which is still playable). 5PM EST would be 10PM EST in London. I'm betting its because sites often have low traffic during the day, but I don't really know :P

Additionally, if you're on the west coast of the US, 3PM EST is 11AM, which is way too early for most people who have any sort of day job.

We're just trying to come up with some times that are doable for the majority. We're also looking into another site for more tournaments (stay tuned), where we will try to offset the times a little more.

While it's true that a 5pm EST start time would be 10pm in London, would you really want to start a freeroll at 10 or 11pm, especially if you know you have to work the next morning? We do have games during the weekend that are more accessable to all as well (more people are off work, etc.).

We have 30,000+ members. It's tough to make things right for everyone, though we do try.

Not sure what you mean by Canada would be 1hr ahead of Eastern time, because I am Eastern time and am in Canada (I live in southern ontario).

I would not want or expect our members to start a FR at 10pm or 11pm!

I like staying tuned it gives some suspense as to what is coming!

While this may just be me, because I stay up really late anyways, but I really wouldn't mind. I stay up til 1-2AM most nights, and I have to be in to work by 9AM. Plus, I'd have to rush home from work to start @ 5PM EST, so both groups of people NA's and EU's are being inconvenienced by a 5PM start time. If you want to accomodate all the groups who would like to play in 1 free roll, I think its going to have to involve some staying up late, or getting home from work early.

Also, wouldn't a good compromise be to split the tournaments up? Have one tourney start at 2-3PM EST (for European players), and one tournament start at 8-9PM EST (for Americans). As it is now, if you're an American with a day job, you're SOL for playing in the freerolls during the week.

And sure, there are weekend events, but I do this thing where I pretend to have a social life, so that gets in the way :P

Although I see your point, I'm in NA and work a day job. Also I'm old and get up early. Not to be rude but the argument I thought had already been given to you that there are players from all over playing these. Not everyone has a day job either. I would like one to play at 4 in the morning so I could play before work, lol. I like the way they are set up. Yes I don't get to play in many, but they try to accomadate everyone. I like a place that doesnt pander to a set group of people.

don't agree with the first part of your post - i'm English, have a job and a family, and certainly wouldn't entertain STARTING a game at 11pm when it wouldn't finish until gone 1am, and i'd have to be up at 6am the following morning. Personally I cant play in the 1.30pm EST one as that's too early (6.30pm in family time, not poker time) but I wouldn't expect it to be changed to accomadate me.

The 2 different start dates for different midweek freerolls makes sense though - the Ultimate Bet ones will be removed if the alleged superuser rumours are proved correct, meaning that a new one would have to be arranged anyway.

If the new freeroll is non-US friendly then that one could be early, with the Bodog one being moved later. That will leave Canadians out of the loop (they can't play at Bodog) but it has always been impossible to accomadate everyone.

We currently have 4 freerolls and the times for them are all different - finding one that suits you should not be a problem. We have the Pokerstars at 5pm every other Saturday and the Fulltilt every Sunday at 3 pm. As we set others up the times will vary. All of our members are not on the east coast like you and I.

Like Tammy said - as we set new ones up the times will continue to vary but there is no way we can accommodate all time zones.

The way it is set up at the moment everybody should be able to access at least one or two of the freerolls. Obviously if people have decided that other parts of their life take priority (e.g. social life at weekends) then that is their decision...

Actually because I work permanent 2pm-10pm, and play poker until about 5am, I find that I have access to an enormous number of freerolls. That's because most places set their tourney times up to favour US players

It's refreshing to find one website that tries to accommodate all nationalities equally

Statement was 1 hr. MAX. Canada does have some areas in Atlantic time zone which is 1 hr. ahead of Eastern.

The times are pretty interesting. I can usually make the weekend ones and the 1:30 Ultimatebet one at work. One of these days it's going to cause me to "work" late, if I ever last in the freeroll until the second break. So far (in my 1 experience) I didn't quite make it that far.

I can see where the Euro members need the freerolls to start no later than 3pm Eastern USA time, makes perfect sense. I guess if you're tailoring 2 of the freerolls towards Euro players though that you should do a weekday evening one aimed more towards North American players too.

See, the thing is that the mid-week freerolls also have the smallest attendance. I'm not sure of all the reasons for this, but the start time may have something to do with it, along with other reasons.

So obviously starting a freeroll at 10PM is out for you English people. So why not move the ultimate bet ones to ~8PM EST, and keep the Bodog one as is. That gives Europeans one to play in that starts @ 8-9PM their time. It also allows all Canadians & Americans (east and west coast) to have one mid-week to play in.

Um, I understand you're a mod, and you read a lot of posts, but this is kinda insulting. Obviously in my posts I'm trying to consider other users, and I obviously know how to read the stickies to figure out when the freerolls start. So while you don't *have* to be constructive, I kinda hold mods to a higher posting standard, and I'd like for you to at least semi-address my post. :P



Also, how were the times originally determined? Was it originally voted on by the members of this site, or picked based on other factors? (like how many people on this site are EU/NA)

I'd just like some insight into how these decisions are being made. And if there are new tournaments being scheduled, then I think this thread can be especially constructive for scheduling the new tournaments.

Lets make a few assumptions.
-This is a Worldwide poker Community---says so in the Logo.
-I don't live in your timezone
-In Nicks masterful master plan, CC should achieve Worldwide domination by the end of '012.

At which time freerolls will be held at 2am your time. This will be done to accommodate all those members whose English needs translation, and typing skills include pebbles and sticks.

Shoot....Saw a "documentary" the other day about all the domesday therorist claiming the worlds will end in 2012. (based on all kinds of re-interperted stuff from cultures worldwide) Wait a second! Maybe this is a sign that CC will become the new world order? It'd be a nice change...swap bullets for chips and go to battle.

Sorry, just saw 2012 and thought of that...totaly off subject but a tiny bit of humor never hurts. Any hints on the potential new site???? I have one I could sugest I've been playing at for 4+ years that doesn't get talk about at all around here. I won't drop names unless asked by a mod.

So as not to insult you any further or to fail to address your questions any further...
Management decision.
No
Yes and member location is one factor that plays into it as well.

We're always willing to listen to requests/suggestions, but you also need to understand that making a suggestion doesn't mean it will be implemented. That's why we ask for member input; so we have additional info on which to make the best decisions we can at the time (sort of like playing poker). So, if you have more ideas, please do share them. But there is more to it than simply a member vote for who can rally up the most people to vote for a timeslot. So as long as the forum funds the freerolls, that is where final decision will remain.


EDIT: Oh, and by the way, Daks didn't ignore your comments, she simply addressed what you weren't saying as well. If you forget about particular poker sites, the fact remains that we do have four different freerolls spread out over the week at different times. So, unless I totally mis-read something, the fact seems to be that you'd like the particular FR that you most want to play in moved to a time to best accommodate "everyone".

because you prefer to socialise at the weekend

If you were so "aware" of all of our scheduled freerolls then you should have mentioned all of the scheduled times - not just the 2 that you don't seem to like. If you want this issue addressed - and you want your opinions to be respected and considered you will be more respectful to the people who make these decisions in the future. And by the way - yours truly sends in the times for the Ultimatebet freerolls and until I chill from your disrespect to me in this thread you can rest assured the time will not be moved to suit you.

Amen brother Jack.

Wow, lets fly off the handle....

Lets get this straight. All the freeroll times start pre 5PM EST. None start after. I don't care what site you move to after 5PM, or even what day (except Saturday). I don't care if its ultimate bet, bodog, ect. ect. And frankly, if you want to be unfair to the lot of people who can't play before 5PM, and keep the times where they are, that's fine with me too. I got along just fine before then. If you don't want me making suggestions anymore, then we'll just leave this forum for just "omfg, teh freerollz r gr8" threads.

What I was trying to point out before people got all huffy was that all of the times neglect north americans. Do I have an interest in moving the time forwards? Sure. But I'm sure others do as well, and I'm trying to argue that point as objectively as possible.

I realize that I don't make the decisions. You guys do. But I thought that my suggestion would at least get met with a "hmmm, we'll think about this" rather than just requoting what you've already written in the stickies.

I highly appreciate responses like robwhufc's. He said he wouldn't play late at night, he didn't want to play @ 6:30PM in England since that's family time, and he wouldn't be opposed to comprimising on the tournament times. MDTed's response was also constructive since he said he plays in the Ultimatebet freeroll at work. Both of these responses are constructive feedback about the start time of the tournament.

Dakota's response on the other hand, wasn't constructive. She was just telling me "finding one that suits you should not be a problem" when the whole point of this thread is that it is a problem. And repeating things that are already in the stickies adds nothing to the post.

Maybe I'm just overly picky, and I need to sacrifice my Saturday afternoons & stop going to church to play in these events.

So yeah. Do what you want, you're in charge. But in the end I think I'm making a valid point, and if you want to ignore it, then I've done the best I can do.

PokerStars - I wish I had someone to High-Five when I belittle a member with less than 1K posts...

15 yard penalty for unnecessary comments...


Seriously, Adrenaline. Put yourself in the shoes of the owner of this site. You have 30,000+ (at last count) people around the world to service. Freerolls are offered at several sites, at several different times. Additional tournaments are sponsored for buy-in customers. <-- BTW - If you don't like a freeroll time, try a buy-in tournament.

In short, as I've said many times on this forum, if you want to play a freeroll that much, it is up to the player to make the time and committment to play it. I understand it may be inconvenient for you, but consider that I have to usually make a choice between running errands on a precious afternoon off, or playing in the $400 Sunday freeroll.

No, I'm not a moderator. Just another member of this community. Your opinions are welcome. Snipe comments are not.

The thread's drifted away from the OP which simply pointed out that both of the midweek freerolls (forget about the weekend freerolls for the moment) are scheduled so working Americans are unable to play in them. One can be moved - the Ultimate Bet one which is likely to be ditched anyway will be the most sensible one to change to US friendly time.

The next regular event that we add to the calendar will most likely be scheduled like this. I'll keep you all posted.

These are set up in advance - and by the time the next round goes in there might not be a next round.

And when we chose these times we were setting up events at 2 sites at the same time and chose opposite times for the other one. It has just taken longer to finalize and get started.

We can never please everybody. We also did not have a mid-week buy-in during the evening which we included this time.

Nothing in this thread excuses the rudeness and disrespect of the original poster.

<3

This is something that I forgot to mention. Yes, when we were setting up the Ultimatebet games, we were also trying to set up another set of buy-ins/freerolls at another site, where the times would have been a later freeroll and an earlier buy-in (sort of the opposite of the Ultimatebet schedule). Unfortunately, that particular site never got back to us. It was a great plan, until the other site's crappy support threw a wrench in our brilliant planning by being completely unresponsive...

Freerolls.

Hope we have tourneys times that will accomidate everyone's sched. Good luck with that.

The point that you seem to be conveniently "overlooking" is that the start times for 95% of freerolls around the world on any given day are heavily slanted in favour of North Americans, and I really hope that this site will continue on it's current course, which helps to balance things out a bit

And like I said, input is always accepted and considered. However, it appears (at least to me) like you were somehow thinking that your input here was some ground breaking piece of information that was never previously mentioned in the 3 1/2 years this forum has existed. And that with this new found information we would immediately need to spin things around.

Well, maybe. You know there are some North Americans that actually work other shifts as well right? And some of them might be concerned about moving mid-week FRs to later times. And there are some Brits that would probably like having a 10PM GMT start time. So yeah, sometimes it comes down to what you want/need to do.

Actually, any "current course" that may be balancing things out is purely coincidental. Our freerolls here are not scheduled based on how or when other sites schedule their games.