Hey @glory7. Thanks for the response, and apologies for not getting back to you sooner. Hopefully it was worth the wait :P

Can I just start off by saying, can you please stop kicking my butt in these tournaments? Thanks! lol...

I don't usually share too many opinions about the game publicly, and when I do, I’m usually a lot more skewed towards the positive realm of commentary. After all, I do very much still believe that the positives far outweigh the negatives, especially when it comes to the gameplay itself.

I think I do come off a little angry in my comment, but that is born out of the frustration of seeing what could be a wonderful game for all, being shifted towards only catering towards the high end of player.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that there should be various levels to play in and that the prizemoney should reflect the different levels of play/initial outlay players have made. I also think that the best players in the game deserve to be sufficiently rewarded for their obvious skill and ability to constantly navigate a field of players to come out on top. That's what tournaments are all about, and the winners should always be rewarded the most.

However, I do think that they are making a huge mistake by not paying out more places in general. I know that sucks for the winners and for the players at the very top, but if the money ends up only going into the hands of a few, then the money will eventually dry up and it will become unsustainable. That will actually end up hurting the top players even more in the long run. How? Many players will start to feel they have no chance of placing in the money, let alone having a chance of winning, and will refuse to even enter after a while. If there are no players left to play with, then there are no tournaments and the game will die.

This is where the entry fees will end up compounding that effect and exponentially increase the chances of people either leaving the game entirely or 'go broke' trying. When people outlay a significant amount of money just to purchase the actual tools that allows them to even begin to compete in a game of skill such as this, then adding another barrier of entry such as entry fees on top of that, only shows to me personally that the model is either already failing, or will end up doing so. The tournament field sizes will be the judge of that. I can already see the player pool shrinking in general.

Another part of the problem is, that everyone is being encouraged or incentivised to level their cards to compete at the higher levels. This is leaving many of the lower levels with fewer and fewer players as time goes by.

I say all of this from previous experiences in the poker world. At a certain point in time, most of the money ended up in the hands of the few at the top (specifically online poker). The industry was forced into changing its payout structures and paying out to more places in the tournaments. This was a smart move, as people were able to play longer with their bankroll by placing in the money more often and getting a more consistent return, which in turn kept players in the game longer that would have otherwise gone broke a lot sooner and left the game entirely.

To me, the entire point of the crypto based blockchain is to provide a model and platform that can self-sustain either an entire community project that benefits many, as well as the ability to generate the prizepools themselves. Entry fees should not be required in this case.

That’s how I see things for the most part anyway….