I'm a super low-roller so this is just my perspective as a fan like you.

1. Don't know. They probably hoped for more.

2. 60 min per level isn't long for a serious live tournament. Festival main events are often 90 minute levels. I play nightly tournaments which have 15 minute levels after the break and they descend into a jam-fold fest with almost everyone on less than 10BBs. I don't know if others have done research on this but I would say 15 mins live when people are not allowed to tank is about the equivalent of 3 mins online. 60 mins probably like 12 mins then. I don't know how long it took but the final table stream is like 8 hours long I think. They finished the first day really early.

3. Yes.

4. If they thought they had an edge yes. If some whale was in a random hotel at which 8 other poker players were staying, and suddenly decided he wanted to play a 9 handed sng then the other 8 players wouldn't say no. These guys play heads-up if they think they have an edge.

5. Arieh was first out on the final day, so he was 5th altogether. I tend to think these guys have a lot of experience of different formats and with different stack sizes - but the 65-35 split is closest to the payouts in a 6-handed sit and go, so perhaps players most experienced in that format would have a slight edge in bubble play if the stack sizes were similar to what they are like online.

6. If you put $100000 on the table and play blackjack alone against the dealer then you are a high roller. Doesn't depend on the number of people doing the same. Apparently tournaments with only 9 entrants don't count for GPI though.

LOL I've never played a 100K event. I'm speaking from watching the One Drop, the Barcelona high roller, and the SHR SHR.

Scott argued that the payouts should be changed. He clearly had an impact. I was told that if registration is closed early, under seminole rules, they are allowed to modify the structure of the tournament. They decided to modify it to pay two spots. FWIW I think Scott had a completely legitimate argument, as did the rest of the players in the tournaments. I don't think its fair to him that we were told it would be two people, I don't think its fair to us that it was scheduled for three but then changed because of a floor's mistake. IMO in these situations you have to go with written rules as a standard for consistency. I don't disagree with what Scott did, I probably would have argued his position if I was in his position. He even admitted the next day he wouldn't have argued as hard had he been shorter.

The only thing that is certain is that SHR ****ed up. We all make mistakes. It is in everyone's best interest that they are successful and run tournaments like this in the future. It is also important that they provide quality customer service and show that they care about their players.

I was completely satisfied with the resolution. They made a mistake, acknowledged it, and compensated the players for it.

I think in the future they should have included all the players in a discussion about it, if there was going to be one, before going public about changing it. When we left we were under the impression there was no discussion. I also think that I should have gone to address the casino staff before going nuts on twitter. At the time I was drunk, not sure what to do, and had to play in 15 hours, so I just went HAM on twitter. It is not my wish to make SHR or anyone look bad, I prefer to promote poker in the best possible light. In the future I will try to handle things more professionally and privately.

Sorry for waiting so long to post this. Thanks for the SHR for running an otherwise great event.