Yeah ty Hovis for the awesome job and special thanks to Tia :-)

Yes, a very big thank you to Tia. Doing a fantastic job.

Tia ROCKS !!!!! (soz caps).

Lmao she will get you guys, she has a whip and knows how to use it.

Once she said "get me a coffee hovis" I said you live in Belgium, She said "your problem, just make sure its hot" lol (only joking hun)

Just how many subs are you allowed to play? i think that 1 sub is a fair representative.

Hell, if a team is showing a lack of commitment from its players would it be fair to put 3 subs into a makeshift team to compete against a full team which is committed?

And while im at it, the autoboot rule, needs to be booted (or extended) for league games, totally unjust and totally uncalled for, if your getting bad hands you can do without the "sht ive folded 6 hands now i better get a hand soon, sht ive had to fold 9 hands now,i have no choice now", what a cruel thing to do and to happen. If you need to keep folding its not the players fault is it.............

The rules need more thinking and expanding.

some teams have players that can only play certain days and times, so subs are a good solution and are no problem at all if you ask me.

good point gaz although peter, the autoboot rule being booted for this type of play is a good idea also. i dont know if thats an option with the software though ?

The autoboot. I can see some sitting there, waiting for the magic hand, clicking on sit out and watching tv. Whats players opinions? (Allthough I don't know if software will allow it).

SUBSTITUTES: Good point and will apply now. 1 sub per team per match is maximum allowed. Will change rules to comply.

Hovis

The autoboot is unfair, again last night i was getting no hands and being forced to play when i didnt want to, no-one in there right mind would play the likes of 9-2, 4-8 etc etc........i will not bluff in a league tourni, like i see many others doing and then getting caught out.

And to be honest your comment clicking on sit out and watching tv is completely tosh, if people have given up there time to attend a match do you really think they would be watching tv.........no i dont think so either so your comment is an insult to those of us that give up valuable family time :(

I disagree - I think the autoboot is perfect as it is.

Oh dear peter! Your reply is an insult to me also friend. Read it again, I asked for others opinions.

That means I am listening to your views and will action according to your wishes.

Read mine again then......i gave my opinion.

And then i had a moan about your comment....clicking on sit out and watching tv i dont see how you are insulted when it was you who made the speculation, DO YOU really think that would happen......i think you should show more repsect to YOUR LEAGUE players....coming out with a comment like that :(

We are nearing round 10, surely things things should have already been observed and put right, there are other things that ive noticed but will leave you to work out or for others players to spot and bring to your attention

Someone having the audacity to not take a league match so seriously by averting their attention for a period on something other than their computer screen would seem as likely as someone taking a league match so seriously as to give up valuable family time in order to partake in it.

lol brownie so funny....not.

So are you saying the the league shouldnt be taken seriously?

'Sit out' is great for getting a cup of tea or cuddling the kids - or just going to the loo - but no doubt plenty folk would just sit out and fold like origami if the autoboot wasn't there?!

It would be a cute ploy to make the final 3 - but how annoying would that be?

Imagine if all ten of you were just waiting until the blinds were bigger until anyone played a hand? Scintilating stuff ... NOT!

If you're card-dead all you need to do is make a min bet every 10 hands ... no big deal ... then out of around 100 cards in a tourney - you will get hole cards to suit you at some point, then wham. If not, then you have to have angered the poker gods.

Lol Panda.Sitting out hasnt even been mentioned as its not in this equation mate, the equation = folding not sitting out.

A hypothetical for you,(and i know this has happened), you are down to half your chips, you are fairly progressed through the tourni say round 4, you havent won a hand and only played 4 hands, the cards havent been that hot anyway.The cards have gone even colder, you limit your hands to play just the blinds(if you can), your blind comes you still get no cards, and your blind gets raised, you have to fold, another chance gone and you are now being forced to play a hand, so what you going to do?

Peter m8 - you fold of course ... its a myth that you have to defend your blinds: I'm not spending extra chips on hole cards that I don't like.

Autoboot eliminates players for not playing enough hands - for me that's cool.

But hey, any 2 cards can win ... its just their chances might no be as high up on my pot odds link. So, if you think you've already been forced to spend chips on the big blind, then I can understand you betting.

If you have enough fold-equity you should maybe try bluffing too; you don't have to just wait for trips (or better) before you play. Quite often a pair of mighty ducks wins the pot.

I have heard that if you click the sitout button you will be booted a lot quicker than if you fold manually but, either way, the chances are that you will fade away in the game.

I think playing every hand is not a great strategy but neither is folding like origami.

It's more fun not to take anything seriously. As far as the league goes, the two games I have attended involved me sacrificing watching Tottenham Hotspur in the pub - one involved me missing the climax of a game that ended 4-4 with Arsenal which I rather wish I'd caught. As far as the games I've missed go - one was because I was travelling to Birmingham (rather wish I'd stayed to play the match), one because I was taking my sisters to the funfair ( I saw this as a more valuable use of my time) and one because I was pissed as a fart in Shepherds Bush and forgot. I hope this gives you a fair idea about the level of seriousness I afford the league.

Just as **** happens to make people miss entire matches and cause a sub to replace them so **** happens to make people have to sit out ne'er to return (brussel sprout allergy, aurora borealis, shirts) and incur the autobot. The league and the way it's organised is always going to be a little ramshackle and wouldn't work at all if it wasn't for hovis, who seems to me the most well-meaning person on this site.

I've forgotten why I started writing and what the point I was intending to make was but I've written too much not to post now.

Peter surly this is were team tactics come into play and tournys ain't all about cards m8 it's about betting most of the time. In my team the higher staxs are always trying to donate to lower staxs but never enough to put them all in just incase cause knocking won of your team out only costs the team in the end but have seen it happen a few times. Cause the more players u have in at the end the more points u get which is all that counts

I never said that the autoboot shouldnt be there, i think it should be extrended for league games, purely for the fact that most players wont play a bluff, and i would rather go out last having won no hands than be caught as a bluffer in a league match.

Brownie
All you do is spam threads with what you view as funny or witty remarks...........lmfao

To quote hovis - WARNING. This is not a "Whooo I fancy this , I will join". This is a committal to supporting your team".
Maybe you should read and try to actually comprehend what this actually means.

I'm interested in your point that "most players won't play a bluff" and your conjecture that all I do is "spam threads with what I view as funny or witty remarks" as I'm fairly certain you have a dim idea of what most players tactics are and what my motives for posting are.

The league, as I'm sure hovis will concur, is a fun direction to take this site. Being that no money is exchanged I fail to see how anyone could take participation in the league as anything more than for something fun to do and as a way of fostering some kind of cyber-kindredness with other people sitting at a computer screen in whatever region of the planet. I've found the team-work strategies in league games to be the most rewarding aspect of playing in the league.

Hovis mate, I hope you did the right thing and got Tia her coffee.

I'm with blade on this 1. Our team also try donating to a player with a lower stack, the only problem is that sometimes the receiver of said donation is on the other team.

I understand teamplay very well.......as hovis very well knows, i am 1 of the most selfless persons when it comes to team play, i understand the ethics of teamplay fully.

If every team was made up of browntrouts then there would be no league. Brown trout keep your nose out because you have no right to post here, you are the most uncommitted player a team could ever have.... keep to your witty spamming.

I think you will find that hovis is even more concerned with lack of commital than i am. to the point that he has already suggested he will make major changes to the teams and their captains next season.

The players in the league need to take their responsibilities more seriously.

We sat at the table for ten miuntes last night while the bravehearts where still trying to literally throw a team together.Out of order in my opinion, we had a distinct advantage last night only to have it taken away from us....what is the point in organising a match, with 5 regulars, only to be messed around at the table and play a haphazard team that had no respect for chips.

Blade
I also agree with you, but what say can only be put into practise when the team has the chance to do so,and your team needs to be selfless rather than selfish....a hard thing to achieve when fellow teammates say that they are unaccostomed to folding winning hands...its like what the f. you supposed to do with attitudes like that.

Panda
If you're card-dead all you need to do is make a min bet every 10 hands ... no big deal ..........yes it is a big deal when into level 4 and beyond and/or your lowish on chips.

lmao swampy. Ok my fellow members, lets cool it down. We all have good and constructive points and I don't want to edit if I can help it. Some good points and some high feelings, which we will get in any forum.

Go to the new rule thread and put a comment there. Thanks guys.

peter

Your extolment of your own unimpeachable teamwork ethic is inarguable, and I never doubted you for a minute.

I'm really sorry if other commitments have got in the way of my commitment to the free poker league and please excuse me for exercising a right that I'm surely not entitled to. I have offered my resignation from the Hoof Hearts a couple of times before due to recent changes in my personal life but it seems they won't let me. However I'll do my best not to spoil your fun (ha) by ruling myself out for next season's league.

Yes, only useful sentiments are deemed feasable. Unless considered, kindly expressions rebound.

Captains: The new team is active for friendlies, this does not stop other teams from using those members as subs this season.

Hovis I think u need to change rules 3 and 4 as these are not really working well and also the 10 points for being banned or muzzled just seems to b a bit much m8 as there's only 39 points in a match and the max a team can win is 33 just thought I would give u something to look into changing or ajusting for next season thanks hovis

3. A member once registered and played a match for a team will not be able to play for another team throughout that registered season.

4. Teams can register up to 9 players to take into account non availability of players for any given match.

Blade, you're addressing these rules right?

I do agree rule 4 is not in effect right now. However, now that people know what the league is, how it works and what kind of commitment is needed, I think it's only fair to top the maximum number of team players at the start of the league at 9 or 10. In my opinion, you can't seriously call a group of 15 to 20 members a "team". Whenever you don't see one of your ten initial team members for over a month on this site, you can consider looking out for a permanent replacement (if the initial member shows up after a long time, he's welcome to play for the team again of course), but I don't think it would be such a good idea to invite more than 10 people on the initial team. To me, it kind of undermines the idea of team principle. It would also be harder to grow a team tie, and because of that, growing team commitment.

As for rule 3, thusfar only sssov and Anton have played on two different teams, and I think they both started out as subs. With a good team commitment, there's no reason to switch one team for another. I certainly wouldn't like to see the same players across the table every league match again and again: we've played Daniella, DIta and Suzan once and that's more than enough :-) If they could switch teams to meet us again, for me the league would lose some of its glory.

Good point mm all I'm trying to say is these rules ain't working as a few teams have more than 10 players and also tonyjo and tommo have also played for two teams I am just pointing these out to hovis so he can change them to benifit all for next season.

Good point, blade, and I'm glad you're pointing out the flaws of the rules :-)
They can only improve by constant feedback from the league members.