Everybody knew that Grand Prix Vegas was going to be unprecedented in size and scope. We’ve been working with the best judges and organizers in the world on things we could try to keep everything running smoothly. One of the things that came out of these discussions was an idea on how to make 8-player on-demand events run predictably and smoothly. I made the decision to try it out and it didn’t work.

We chose to run with the new process because it offered three important benefits:

• Reduce wait times because events would start at predictable times.

• Streamline reporting results and receiving prizes by using result slips.

• Remove the hassle of finding your opponent by using posted pairings.

This didn’t work because the registration process didn’t have the polish it needed. Furthermore, so many players showed up that the reporting software ended up being a bottleneck as well.

For the rest of the weekend, we will be moving to a process similar to the way last-chance trials are handled. We’ve moved to an entirely paper-based process using brackets. On-demand events will launch as soon as we have enough players to fill a 32-player bracket, and we’ll run each bracket as four separate 8-player tables. If wait times grow, we will pare the brackets down to 16 or 8 players as necessary.

We know that moving to an entirely paper-based process will remove the bottlenecks that created an unacceptable play experience yesterday. I’m sorry we screwed this up, but we’re doing everything we can to make the on-demand experience excellent for the rest of the weekend.

-Jon Saso

President u0026amp; CEO, ChannelFireball.com