I've been playing on ClubWPT for 3 years now, and have over 275k in tournament points, which you accumulate in their regularly scheduled daily MTT's.
The reason I have so many TP's is because I have won satellites for every tournament that they have held, so I have never had to buy in cold for any tournament.
The daily tourney's run every 2 hours for each different game. there's both limit and no limit holdem, and PLO. There are also daily tourney's that offer small cash prizes that only cost about 20 TP's. but you have like 800 players competing for a $20.00 prize pool.
The daily freeroll tourneys pay 1000 TP's for first place, 900 for second, 800 for third, and gradually on down to 500 for fifth thru ninth.
The weekend tournaments that offer the bigger prizes have buy-ins of either 1000 or 2000 TP's, depending on the size of the prize. But the satellites only cost 25 or 50 TP's.
The average satellite has about 400 entries, and only the final 9 earn a seat, unless it's a six max event, and then it's only 6. so the
odds are less than 1 in 40 that you'll get in. but you're only paying about 2.5% of the entry fee. so it's all kind of relative. And these satellites run every day. not sure how often exactly, but it's a lot.
If you play in the last one of the night (12:30 EST) like I do, then you're only looking at about 100 entries. so about 10% of the field gets in, and you're still only paying 2.5%. I've never had to play any more than about 4 of those in order to qualify.
They also have these regional events throughout the week that anyone can play in. The East, West, and Central events. They have a $1000.00 prize pool, and only cost like 400 TP's to get in. First place pays like $150.00.
But there are so few satellites for those, and only on the day of the event itself, that I don't even bother to look them up. This site is definitely designed for those who have nothing other to do than play poker all day. If you've ever noticed, all the people that have won seats into these big main events are like retirement age. And you know what, I just happen to resemble that remark.
I don't know if it's a software problem, or the platform they're using , or what, but this is probably the worst site there is, as far as technical issues are concerned.
It's quite typical to find at least half the players at your table froze, and sitting out for almost the whole event. I have seen the whole table froze on more than one occasion. Which is great for stealing all their blinds. It's nice to walk away with every chip on the table once in a while.
Nothing really functions properly. the leader board is almost never accurate or up to date. so you never really know where your at, as far as how many players are left, and what your relative position is.
The customer support staff is quite obviously located in
india, and knows nothing about poker, or how the site actually functions. They are also obviously instructed to deflect from any blame themselves, and they answer every email with instructions on how to clear your browser, as if that's their only solution to every problem.
I won one of three bounty's in their Royal Flush Crew (RFC) Bounty Tournament once back in 2016, and never got paid. They claimed that they had no record of my win. I went round and round with the head office for like 5 months, sent them like 13 emails, and they just kept handing me off to someone different every time, until I just finally gave up.
I gave them my notification, and was just about to withdraw my VIP membership when I met a guy onsite who told me about a little known way of actually being able to play for free. And since then, I haven't had to pay a dime. And so, if it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't even be playing there anymore.
I have won like $40.00, and got paid for that, after several 6 week waiting periods. But winning one of those main event seats is like trying to win a
wsop bracelet, as far as the number of players, and the requisite run-good, is concerned.
As they say in the biz, the field is always favored. And the guy to beat is always someone that is just having an extraordinarily good run that day.
And contrary to what Mike Sexton says, it is an all-in fest a lot of the time, A real crapshoot. They never give you much of a stack to begin with, usually only like a 1000 or 1500 most of the time, and the rounds are only 6 minutes long. So it's not at all like real poker.
It's a well known fact that the lower limits are notorious for bad beats. And I often feel as if I am the most unluckiest guy in the whole world. The players on this site are the worst I've ever seen.
And even though it's supposed to be social gaming, nobody even pays attention to the chatbox. In 3 years I could count on one hand the number of people who have engaged in any conversation.
It's not like anyone really has a chance to converse anyway. The dealer chat wipes any comments away almost immediately. They announce every little thing to the point that anything you post just immediately disappears before anyone even has a chance to see it.
I used to think that I was at least getting some good practice in by playing everyday on this site, and on the PS play money site (where I have over 40 mil), but it's not anywhere near the same as the kind of higher level play that you find in a more professional environment.
The reasonable man hypothesis is definitely not in play here. These people will call you with anything. Hell, they don't ever seem to miss anyway. If there is any possible hand out there, they probably have it.
It is nonetheless, good practice for me tho'. The cards have never broken even for me. after 40 years in the industry, if there is one thing I have learned, it is that I can only play certain cards. I've been watching holdem flops since 1990, and there are certain cards that I never play, because I have never seen them come in for me, even after having mucked them.
They say that you should be defending your blinds with a wide range, but there's no way that I call with something that has never come in for me, no matter what kind of odds the pot is laying me. I only play cards that have a historical potential to be winners for me. And sometimes they change. And so by playing everyday I keep abreast of what works for me, and what doesn't.
All in all, the chance to win a seat into a major event is an opportunity worth taking. and the price is pretty minimal, in comparison. especially if you don't have a big
bankroll.
I've always been a low variance kind of player myself. I won 4 majors back in the day, with a half dozen other final table finishes. And I just knew I was gonna win every one of those, beforehand. You have to be on a heater in order to win tournaments, so knowing when you're running good is critical.
Bide your time, minimize your losses, and maximize your gains. You'll know when the time is right.
