PartyPoker Table Theme & Cards Mods with Paint.NET

You can edit some simple PartyPoker files with the free program Paint.NET v3.5.10 (download here: Paint.NET ) and take this basic PartyPoker Techno table theme from this:

To This:

What I did was edited the table layout to two tone grey, place a yellow rectangle across players that have folded, made the avatars solid black to read the tables easier, and colored all the aces yellow in the deck to make them easier to identify.

Here are the edited PartyPoker files and saved in their original directory:

avatar.PNG
avatar_disabled.PNG
Table_Carpet.JPEG

C:\Programs\PartyGaming\PartyPoker\Images\NewGameTable\Techno

cards.PNG

C:\Programs\PartyGaming\PartyPoker\Images\NewGameTable

Set the cards to actual size before editing the aces in Paint.NET v3.5.10 .

Paint.NET v3.5.10  is a very easy program to work with and you can customize the table theme to your liking. Here are additional images:

You can also do the same with the OpportunityAlerts1.jpeg file to alert you to premium cards, by turning your table felt red:

You can always reinstall PartyPoker software to restore your table themes to default if you run into problems.

Color Full Tilt Poker Notes / Holdem Manager / Poker Tracker

Full Tilt Poker Notes

"With Full Tilt Poker notes, you have to manually import them into the xml file with notepad. Full Tilt Poker software cannot be running during the import in order to have the players colors / notes changes take effect."

The following batch files can be used to color Full Tilt Poker Notes exactly the same as PokerStars Notes. The only difference is in the color batch file line that writes to the Full Tilt Poker XML file.

Each color batch file must be edited as in the following example.

"You must disable Real-time protection in Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE if enabled), or it will cripple the amount of time to complete the batch files sorting (MsMpEng.exe)."

Here is the modified PS-0-Note.bat file for Holdem Manager:

PS-0-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
 if /I %%b gtr "0.001" if /I %%b leq "0.1" echo ^<NOTE PlayerId= %%a ColourIx="0" Text="" /^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)


Notice that

echo ^<NOTE PlayerId= %%a ColourIx="0" Text="" /^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt

has been changed from

echo ^<note player= %%a label="0" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt

for the Full Tilt Poker Notes XML file.

Your Notes file is located in your installation directory where the Full Tilt Poker directory is located and the notes file is named after your player name (example: PHD_$_Thiefs.xml).

Full Tilt Poker has 14 different colors so you can edit the batch files to use colors from 0 - 13.

You can alter the size of the FTP Note Icons to any size:

 

• FTP application is not running 
• Backup / rename (original) file RankDiodes.PNG
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Full Tilt Poker\Graphics\NewTable\Common\Pod\RankDiodes.PNG
• Edit the file in Paint.net
• Select menu options: Image / Resize
• Choose option By Percentage
• Select a value greater or less than original
• Save file in same location 
• Start FTP to see the new sized FTP Note Icons

FTP With Larger Sized Notes

 

Color PokerStars Notes with HM2 Holdem Manager PT4

I can color my PokerStars notes in 5 minutes compared to 4 hours with Notecaddy (even while you are playing online).

These batch files can also be used in the original Holdem Manager & original Poker Tracker. Option to bypass my custom PT4 filters, and used with Poker Tracker 4 with minor modifications to the batch files (takes only about 10 minutes for the whole PT4 database).

There is no ZIP file to download. You can just copy / paste the following batch files posted into a notepad file and save / create your own Batch files.

"You must disable Real-time protection in Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE if enabled), or it will cripple the amount of time to complete the batch files sorting (MsMpEng.exe)."

Step 1 :

Create a report (Report.CSV) of all your players in the HM2 tourney database. Only select the player's name and VPIP stat as viewed in this image:

Step 2:

Run the batch file HM2-Color-PokerStars.bat (in the same directory as Report.CSV location) . Your directory will look like this after the batch file is run.

Step 3:

Follow older posts on how to import your HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt into your PokerStars Notes Import (even while you are playing online). Make sure the imported XML file is the same color codes as your original Pokerstars Notes XML file.

You are Finished ! Update your notes any time based on VPIP. The batch files can be edited to include more variables then the VPIP stat.

Batch Files:

 You can just copy / paste the following batch files posted into a notepad file and save / create your own Batch files.

Poker Tracker creates an additional set of quotes for the VPIP variable for each player in the Report.csv file. Edit each PS-?-Note.bat file's quotes on the third line, for the variable %%b. The quotes are removed like this:

PS-0-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I %%b gtr "0.001" if /I %%b leq "0.1" echo ^<note player= %%a label="0" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)


The following  batch files contain the instructions for HM2.


Each Color batch file (0-6 label) is set as default that can be edited to your liking:

Color 0 = .01 - 10 %
Color 1 = 10 - 15 %
Color 2 = 15 - 20 %
Color 3 = 20 - 30 %
Color 4 = 30 - 40 %
Color 5 = 40 - 50 %
Color 6 = 50 - 99.9 %


This batch file (HM2-Color-PokerStars.bat) deletes previous batch executions, sorts bad player names, calls a batch file for each color label which appends all the color files into one for import.

The color batch files (PS-0-Note.bat) can all have their VPIP values edited by replacing the numbers in quotes to whatever you want. This is 10 - 15 % in PS-1-Note.bat (gtr "0.1" if /I "%%b" leq "0.15"). this can be edited to 15 - 25 % like this: (gtr "0.15" if /I "%%b" leq "0.25")

Make sure all color batch files are changed if the percentages are changed in the quotes, so that all percentages are covered.



Copy and paste the following batch files in notepad to create your own batch files (saved with same names). The batch file is expecting the txt files to be located on the c: drive, so edit the drive letter, copy to c: drive, or remove the drive letter, if needed:

HM2-Color-PokerStars.bat

Del HM2-BAD-Name-Players.txt
Del HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt
del HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
FINDSTR "< > \""" C:Report.csv>>HM2-BAD-Name-Players.txt
FINDSTR /V "< > \""" C:Report.csv>>HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt
call PS-0-Note.bat
call PS-1-Note.bat
call PS-2-Note.bat
call PS-3-Note.bat
call PS-4-Note.bat
call PS-5-Note.bat
call PS-6-Note.bat

PS-0-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.001" if /I "%%b" leq "0.1" echo ^<note player= %%a label="0" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

PS-1-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.1" if /I "%%b" leq "0.15" echo ^<note player= %%a label="1" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

PS-2-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.15" if /I "%%b" leq "0.2" echo ^<note player= %%a label="2" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

PS-3-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.2" if /I "%%b" leq "0.3" echo ^<note player= %%a label="3" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

PS-4-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.3" if /I "%%b" leq "0.4" echo ^<note player= %%a label="4" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

PS-5-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.4" if /I "%%b" leq "0.5" echo ^<note player= %%a label="5" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

PS-6-Note.bat

@ECHO OFF
for /f "tokens=1-2 delims=," %%a in (HM2-GOOD-Name-Players.txt) do (
if /I "%%b" gtr "0.5" if /I "%%b" leq "0.999" echo ^<note player= %%a label="6" ^>^</note^>>>HM2STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
)

Color Your PokerStars Notes While Playing Online

PokerStarsNotes.xml:


Updated the PokerStars utility file, (download here Color-Stars Notes-Online-2nd.zip), which requires only one batch file and one PT4 filter to color code all of your players in your database. The statistic is automatically included in the filter.


This file eliminates the need for the multiple batch files and PokerTracker filters in the previous post. The steps are greatly reduced, but the concept is the same.


You can color code players while you are playing against them, before / after sessions, or at breaks. It only takes a minute to update the players colors that you have played (or presently playing) against that day (other commercial products require that you be logged off Pokerstars).

Readme.txt file explains the purpose of each file and displays the lines of text in the filter and statistic, that gives you the ability to edit the VPIP settings for each color (see post below for color scheme).


I also use the PHD_&_Thiefs NOTE color BLUE to label all the players on the bubble or close to it, so I can follow their tables (Satellites & Tourneys).


The three PT4 filters are set up to color code your whole database (first time), within the last 7 days, or just played against "Today" (which is the fastest update). It took me over an hour to color 85K players the first time, but daily updates takes less then a minute.


Read the earlier post on how the color coding works, by only using batch files and PokerTracker filters


Step - 1:


If you can locate your PokerStars notes file (see post below), make a copy of it to another directory, and then open the file in Notepad++, you have just completed half the work involved.


Edit that Stars notes copy in Notepad++, by deleting all players names but one, or just creating a unique named player. Now Run Pokerstars and import your modified notes file (see post below) and search for the new player name you have just created.


Step - 2:


Now that you are familiar with PokerStars notes, simply import the filters into PT4 from your directory holding the extracted files.


Run the filter report and export the report results into the same directory in text called ReportExport.txt. Make sure that ALL DATES is the selected option in the Date menu, when you run your reports, to tabulate their LIFETIME stats of Today's players.


Step - 3:


Run the Create-Stars-Color-Labels batch file and it will create a file called PT4-Color-Labels.txt from your report that you exported (ReportExport.txt).

The batch file is expecting the txt files to be located on the c: drive, so edit the drive letter, copy to c: drive, or remove the drive letter, if needed

Open the file PT4-Color-Labels.txt in Notepad++ and copy the contents into your duplicate PokerStarsnotes.xml, that you already have loaded in Notepad++ (see post below). Save the file and import it into Pokerstars notes Import option.


Step - 4:


You can update your color notes anytime, and as many times that you want. I leave the files loaded in Notepad++ and just answer yes when Notepad++ asks to reload them.


After I save the notes xml copy and import it, I then select the option of UNDO to remove the previous players names and just copy and save the new players over it (from PT4-Color-Labels.txt).


Finished:

Once you are comfortable importing and coloring, the option of coloring new players at your tables are done within a minute. You never have to manually color another player again (unless identifying bubble players), or log out of PokerStars to do it.



This is what your directory will look like after extracting the Color-Stars Notes-Online.zip file.

.

Brock University @ Full Tilt Poker

When I originally started playing poker,  it was at  Full Tilt Poker with the name Brock University.

Took me only a few weeks to understand the concept of poker. I played the freerolls until I finally cashed in, and started to play the micro cash games, satellites, and small entry tourneys, to grow my bankroll.


FTP Support - "Your sign up date is 6th February 2010"

10 days later I had my first cash through a freeroll:

Broke $100 - June 25 2010

Broke $500 - July 5 2010

Broke $1000  - July 30 2010

IN 2012 TOP  0.5 % WORLD RANKINGS (PHD_$_THIEFS @ POKERSTARS)

Color Code PokerStars Notes With PokerTracker 4

If you are familiar with PokerStars notes, notepad, and copying / renaming files, you may want to color your Stars notes using PT4 filters.

I can color 85,000 Tourney players in about 25 minutes, each color designated by PT4 filters:

- 19 minutes to create ALL Dates / PT4 players reports and export them in a text file
- 5 minutes for batch files to filter and label all the players
- 1 minute to import  new PokerStars notes into existing notes

"You must disable Real-time protection in Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE if enabled), or it will cripple the amount of time to complete the batch files sorting (MsMpEng.exe)."

The 7 Day PT4  Custom filter,  run anytime within the last 7 days, will allow you to update your PokerStars players notes in 11 minutes with recent play.

- 8 minutes to create Last 7 Days PT4 players reports and export them in a text file
- 2 minutes for batch files to filter and label all the players
- 1 minute to import new PokerStars notes into existing notes


The more recent post Color Your PokerStars Notes While Playing Online will simplify these following steps.


Steps to Color Your PokerStars Notes:

1 - Download Notepad ++ free application & TUEJUN19-PT4STARS.ZIP. Create a directory called PT4STARS in your documents, and a library (if Windows 7) called PT4STARSLIB (Include the directory PT4STARS). Copy & extract the Zip file into this directory.

2 - Create PT4 Reports, with any of the PT4 filters available, for each color label that you require

3 - Run batch files to filter, sort, and label each player's color in your PT4 reports

4 - Import your new color notes into your PokerStars Notes xml file.


PT4 - PokerStars Notes Color Scheme Example:

Using PT4 Reports, this is my VPIP Color scheme for Tourneys / SNG's:

As of now, there is no commercial support for Poker Tracker 4 and coloring Stars notes. You can actually use this with any product (PT3) that that will export a players report in a text file, for Stars colors (ideal for table selection).


PokerStars Notes Import Problems:

Took me a bit, but I finally located the characters in poker players names that were stopping my imports into PokerStars Notes xml files. It's PokerStars players names that contain any of the three  following characters:  (", <, >).

"Herz.dame <3"    "J<<<1212>>>J"    "yamy "o""

Out of 85K players, I have only 59 players that were flagged / filtered.

A Quote ( " ) at the beginning or end of the player's name (which causes a double quote in the XML file and causes import errors). The greater or less then symbols (<, >) are used by the xml files (create format errors). The batch files included separate players names with the bad characters.



PokerTracker 4 Reports:

The exported PT4 Reports HAVE to be named in this format PT4-EXPORT-Label-0. Each color label 0-9 has a separate report in order for these batch files to work. I have provided batch support for up to 10 colors.

Here is an example of what your PT4 Filter Menu will look like:

PT4-EXPORT-Label-0 NIT = VPIP < 10 %

To create a PT4 report based on VPIP, you could designate label 0 as NIT with a VPIP of 0-10 %.

Add these Stats to your PT4 Report Filter to only display:
Player -  VPIP  -  Chips Won  -  Hands

The Expression Filter is edited for VPIP < =10 %.

You save the report, but name it PT4-EXPORT-Label-0 NIT = VPIP < 10 % (anything after the 0 to help you remember the report's intention). Report will automatically run.

Set the Date option to ALL Dates and run the report again (verify the stats). Duplicate this report.


PT4-EXPORT-Label-0

With the duplicated report, remove the stats:
VPIP - Chips Won - Hands

Sort the report with names alphabetical (troubleshooting potential).

This time you will save it only as PT4-EXPORT-Label-0. Copy the name PT4-EXPORT-Label-0 and select Export the report to your PT4STARS directory as (Paste) PT4-EXPORT-Label-0.txt.


You now have two PT4 Reports in your PT4 Filter List:

PT4-EXPORT-Label-0  NIT-VPIP < 10 %
PT4-EXPORT-Label-0


Check that both reports have the same number of players, where the second report (no stats) is used just to export the players names for the batch files.

You have to repeat this with each Label 0-9 (color) that you want to use. They will be automatically sorted in the PT4 menu list. Always copy and paste these names for filenames when exporting reports (after you have created your original ones), or you are doing something wrong.

The exception is if you have a set of filters for different games, like: HYPER, 6 Man, HU, or DON. Then you would have a directory for each game type and the filters would be named (if HYPERS):

HYPERS-PT4-EXPORT-Label-0  NIT-VPIP < 10 %
HYPERS-PT4-EXPORT-Label-0

When you export the PT4 filtered text file, you would drop the the game type and have a file name that was written for the batch files, but saved in it's own game type directory (PT4STARSHYPER).

PT4-EXPORT-Label-0


PT4-EXPORT-Label-===7=DAYS.PT4.RPT:

Kraada / WhiteRider (PokerTracker 4 support), have created a filter that allows you to display all the players you have played against in the last 7 days, with their lifetime stats (PT4 Forum Topic.).

You need to create one filter for each color, and the "7 days" can be changed to any number that you prefer by editing the "7" in the PT4 filters:

interval '7 days'

You still need to save it in  PT4-EXPORT-Label-0 format for the batch files.


Download: Notepad ++

Download here  Notepad ++ which will allow you to easily copy / past / save XML files. It is just like Notepad, but with more features.

I use the Macro recorder option to quickly simplify the copying / pasting process of player names within the batch files.


Download: TUEJUN19-PT4STARS.ZIP

Download here the TUEJUN19-PT4STARS.ZIP file and copy it to the PT4STARS directory, which include the batch files and two xml files.

This is your new directory PT4STARS with extracted files:

PT4STARS-Filter-AND-Write XML-Labels.bat:
REM *** This batch file uses the DOS FINDSTR command to remove all POKERSTARS players REM *** names that contain any of the three following characters:  ( ", <, >)
REM *** A Quote at the beginning or end of the player name (which causes a double quote
REM *** to the XML file and causes errors), and the greater or less then
REM *** symbols (which are used by the xml files and cause errors).
REM *** The (echo "-Label-1") is used as a  troubleshooting marker if any fail to appear in the final
REM *** PokerStars Notes file.
REM *** Bad player names are separated into one file with each color label included.
REM *** Here are some examples of bad names:  ""Lex"_expert" "$<Hada-Tum>$"


The GOOD players are written in each (PT4-Export-Label-4-Filtered-GOOD.txt) file for each color:

Label-0-Batch.bat
REM *** Each batch file (0-9) is run with the start command to allow simultaneous creation of
REM *** import files for each color label.
REM *** Each PT4 export file that has been filtered for valid player names (XML Friendly), will
REM *** then have the added xml code to designate it the proper color for PokerStars Notes.
REM *** They are then saved in a import file for that specific color label
REM *** (example: PT4STARS-Label-3-IMPORT.txt).
REM *** Each batch file is in this format:
for /f "tokens=*" %%a in (PT4-Export-Label-4-Filtered-GOOD.txt) do (
echo ^<note player= %%a label="4" ^>^</note^>>>PT4STARS-Label-4-IMPORT.txt
)

These are the same players as previous image except the XML color labels have been added:

Combine-ALL-PT4STARS-IMPORTS.bat
REM *** This batch file will take all the IMPORT files and combine into one file called
REM *** PT4STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt .


PT4Stars-READY-to-IMPORT.txt
REM *** Open the PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml in Notepad ++
REM *** Open PT4Stars-READY-to-IMPORT.txt in Notepad ++

PT4Stars-READY-to-IMPORT.txt in Notepad ++:

PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml

In Notepad++, you will Select All in the file PT4STARS-READY-to-IMPORT.txt and Copy / Paste it in PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml file

In the image below, you can paste the text at line 16 or overwrite line 15. The file is saved and then imported in PLAYERS NOTES option of IMPORT NOTES. The color scheme (line 15), MUST be identical throughout the file (for each player), as it indicates each variable field within the XML file. It's useful in detecting missing or bad lines in your file.

This is the PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml file imported in Notepad ++:

Do NOT overwrite the last line when copying / pasting which is </notes> since this ends the xml file.


 Notes.PHD_$_Thiefs.xml

Is the notes file that you can rename to your own notes xml file. It has 10 colors and is a duplicate  of the PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml file. You can also create your own notes settings by renaming your notes to old and logging into PokerStars without any notes.xml file. Pokerstars will create the default one for you after you ADD any player and exit Pokerstars. You can log back in and edit the colors & labels that you prefer. Copy and rename it PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml for the imports.


Backing Up Your Notes & Changing Notes Directory Location:

If you are not sure where your notes are, go into Stars menu option PLAYERS NOTES and a popup box will have FILE LOCATION Button. That is where your notes file is presently stored. Your file is named in this format: "notes.YOURPLAYERNAME.xml".

This is the PokerStars PLAYERS NOTES option:

Exit out of Pokerstars, and make backup copies of this file. Also rename the existing file to "Backupnotes.YOURPLAYERNAME.xml". You will now log back into Stars and go back into menu option PLAYERS NOTES and select the FILE LOCATION Button again, but this time select the newly created PT4STARS directory in your documents as the new location.

Exit out of Pokerstars, and you should see in the PT4STARS directory a new "notes.YOURPLAYERNAME.xml" file. Rename it as"Backupnotes.YOURPLAYERNAME.xml", and rename  "notes.PHD_$_Thiefs.xml" to "notes.YOURPLAYERNAME.xml". This xml file now has the 10 predefined colors and labels as displayed in the previous image


First Attempt to Color PokerStars Notes with PT4:

Only create one color report and for only a few players to test out your setup. You can run the batch files individually if you are not getting the expected results.

Here is a directory of what PT4STARS directory will look like after running the batch files:

Random:

You could create separate reports for Cash games by selecting the "export your saved reports for cash" option. You can create a separate library/directory for Cash, with a copy of all the batch files.

You can start creating your filters, running your batch files labels, and update your players notes towards the end of your last game / session, completed in 11 minutes.

If you have duplicate player's name in your import file, the last one in your list will have that color.

XML Imports through Stars PLAYERS NOTES option will only overwrite colors and append written notes to players that I tested. It was limited in testing, so backup and verify that your written notes are intact.

 PT4Stars-XML-IMPORT.xml MUST have been duplicated from your present
"notes.YOURPLAYERNAME.xml" file WITHOUT any modified / additional Colors / Label Name changes. If you changed you original notes.xml, then recreate the PT4Stars-XML-IMPORTxml file.

When you import a notes file, check the first and last player to see if they are all included . Also
the "-Label-0-9" players will be added for every color and should be in your notes.

Some batch files may  be expecting the txt files to be located on the c: drive, so edit the drive letter, copy to c: drive, or remove the drive letter, if needed.

My goal was to make something quick, easy, and WORKING !

Possible Solution for NFL 18 game Schedule

Professional sports is altered mainly because of:

• Superior athletes
• Sophisticated coaching tactics
• Need to generate additional league revenue

This New Proposed NFL Schedule & Playoff Format Will:

Replace the two extra proposed regular season games, with two weeks of wild card games, where every NFL team now advances to the postseason.

Schedule most teams to play 17-18 games total (including playoffs), with a handful of teams playing up to 19-20 games (including playoffs).

Feature divisional rivalries for the first two weeks of wild card games, ensuring maximum fan interest.

Promote a divisional winner and it's wild card companion, to create a sweet 16 of playoff teams.

Seed each conference by total wins and total points, for home field advantage. This ensures league integrity during the closing weeks of the season.

Add TV and gate revenue for 6 weeks of playoffs (31 total playoff games), compared to the present 4 weeks (11 total playoff games).

Reduce preseason games to a total of two.

With these changes, the NFL's regular season starts two weeks earlier, and the delay of the Super Bowl by only one week.



TV Networks:
The ever-expanding popularity of the NFL, has allowed the league to negotiate billion dollar contracts with television networks.

What would 2 NFL wild card weekends be worth, in which all 16 games were televised in separate time slots (12:00 - 3:30 - 7:00 - 10:00), on 2 Saturdays and 2 Sundays (each coast)?


NFL Player Acceptance:
NFL players are not against playing more then 16 games a season unless the games actually mean something.

Last decade tom Brady has played 9 postseasons with a total of 19 playoff games.

A NFL 17-20 game schedule has been the norm for elite QB's like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. The issue is not an 18 game schedule, but the notion that players are willing to risk their health for games that mean something (playoffs).


NFL Coaches Acceptance:
NFL coaches will now be rewarded appropriately for the hard work in scouting, preparation, game-planning, and success during the regular season.

Home field advantage and the much sought-after playoff byes, will significantly impact divisional matchups.


NFL Owner Acceptance:
Owners can generate more revenue without diluting the quality of the NFL product, which a regular 18 game season would do.

NFL Players who are lost early in the season due to injury, can re-energize the franchise with a late season surge. Merchandise and tickets sales would stay consistent all season long, at the very least


NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:
The Playoff format reinforces the importance of winning every regular season game, and scoring as many points possible. An ideal competitive situation desired by the NFL commissioner.

The Wild Card playoffs can create new future stars that the league can expose and market, over the following off season. Add in the possibility of playoff upsets during these two wild card weeks, and now the league has a "Cinderella" team that gains national attention / following.


Fan Acceptance:
Why would any winning team's fan base object, to having the leagues bottom tier teams playing in wild card games? The odds would be stacked against the wild card teams to succeed, while giving their favorite team a much needed playoff bye.

Sports fans have had to overcome / accept free agency, wild card playoffs, and salary caps for the health of the their game / rising players income. The idea of an all-inclusive playoff format would follow the same reluctance, and then eventual acceptance. How the NFL markets this concept, will impact the speed of implementation and acceptance.

Two less preseason games for season ticket holders?  Enough said!


Additional Improvements to the New NFL Format:

The option to modify bye weeks and training camps dates, would benefit the league overall.

Bye weeks would be awarded in sequence by total Division Win records, to properly award tougher divisions with later bye weeks:

• Bye weeks from week 6 - 13
• One Division Bye / per week
• Weakest division starting at week 6 and so on...

Update: Most Bye weeks can be geared towards teams involved in Thursday Night Games, so teams will have 10 days beforehand to prepare properly / rest.

NFL training camps can use  joint practices (Patriots & Saints example), to enhance player evaluation. The joint practices and / or two a day practices, can allow the NFL players union the option in negotiations, a latter training camp starting date.

What about the NHL, NBA, and MLB?

MLB broke tradition and introduced wild card teams to increase revenue.

The NHL added overtime and shootouts to help increase popularity.

NBA has been constantly tinkering with their playoff seeding to promote league integrity.

The NFL is ideally suited to become the first all-inclusive playoff league, of the four major professional sports. The NFL's one game a week schedule, and the endless thirst in popularity by the public and TV networks, makes the wild card weekends an easy sell.

If the NFL succeeds in fan acceptance and revenue growth, it would be a "when" and not a "if" for the other major sports leagues to follow suit.


18 Game Schedule or Wild Card Games?

An 18 game schedule for every team in the NFL will result in:

• More meaningless games at season's end
• Star players being rested for the playoffs
• Majority of playoff matchups already decided well in advance

The 18 game schedule will reduce the preseason games by two, but make most of the season ending games as an extended exhibition of unimportance.

As a NFL fan, if I have the option of a diluted 18 regular season schedule or an extended wild card playoff, then I would prefer this new NFL format. The integrity and competitiveness of the NFL schedule remains intact throughout the regular season.


The Future is Now?
The pivotal question is whether this format could be supported today by the NFL fanbase? If every team could make the wild card playoffs, would NFL stadiums sell out this January?

Would TV networks pay exorbitant fees to cover these wild card games?
I think we already know the answer to these questions.

Years ago, Wild Card Teams / Best of Five / Free Agents, were unheard of in major professional sports leagues. Today, the thought of an all-inclusive league playoff system, is still a far fetched notion.

Or is it?

Projecting New NFL Schedule & Format:

Based on NFL Final 2010 Season Standings / Home Team Winning Each Playoff Game:

Training Camp Opens July 25th

________________________

Preseason Game 1: Sat Aug 7

  Preseason Game 2: Sat Aug 14

Week 1 Opening Game: Thur Aug 26

Week 17 Last Regular Season Game: Sun Dec 26th

 Wild Card Week 1: Sat Jan 1st
Wild Card Week 2: Sat Jan 8st

Conference Quarterfinals: Sat Jan 15th

Conference Semifinals: Sat Jan 22nd

Conference Finals: Sat Jan 29th
________________________

Super Bowl Sun Feb 13th

Sat Jan 1st Wild Card Week 1 (32 Teams left):

AFC East - Bills @ Dolphins (Jets ,Patriots Bye)
AFC North - Bengals @ Browns (Ravens , Steelers Bye)
AFC South - Titans @ Texans (Jags, Colts Bye)
AFC West - Broncos @ Raiders (Chargers, Chiefs Bye)
NFC East - Redskins @ Cowboys (Giants, Eagles Bye)
NFC North- Vikings @ Lions (Packers, Bears Bye)
NFC South - Panthers @ Bucs (Saints, Falcons Bye)
NFC West - Cardinals @ 49ers  (Rams, Seahawks Bye)

Imagine every NFL team is playoff bound for the New Year's holiday weekend kickoff.

Divisional games are easier to market with intense rivalries. Consider how much more interest the last place Vikings game would have received, with a well rested Brett Favre in a wild card game?


Sat Jan 8th Wild Card Week 2 (24 teams left):

All the second seeded teams earned a bye and are now hosting week one Wild Card Divisional winners.

AFC East - Dolphins @ Jets ( Patriots Bye)
AFC North -  Browns @ Ravens ( Steelers Bye)
AFC South - Texans @ Jags ( Colts Bye)
AFC West - Raiders @ Chargers ( Chiefs Bye)
NFC East -  Cowboys @ Giants ( Eagles Bye)
NFC North-  Lions @ Packers (Bears Bye)
NFC South -  Bucs @ Saints ( Falcons Bye)
NFC West -  49ers @ Rams (Seahawks Bye)

Sat Jan 15th Conference Quarterfinals (16 teams left):

Each conference will now have 8 teams remaining that are now seeded by Wins and Points scored.

Divisional winners with poor regular season records, are not rewarded with a home playoff date. The Chiefs, Colts, and Seahawks would have all opened on the road in this format.

AFC
Jags @ Patriots
Chargers @ Steelers
Chiefs @ Ravens
Colts @ Jets

NFC
Seahawks @ Falcons
Bucs @ Saints
Packers @ Bears
Giants @ Eagles

Sat Jan 22nd Conference Semifinals (8 Teams left):

AFC
Jets @ Patriots
Ravens @ Steelers

NFC
Eagles @ Falcons
Bears @ Saints

Sat Jan 29th Conference Finals (4 teams left):

AFC
Steelers @ Patriots

NFC
Saints @ Falcons

Sun Feb 13th Super Bowl (Final 2 Teams)

____________________________________________

The Super bowl ends one week later, and the season started two weeks earlier.

Falcons @ Patriots

Every team has played a minimum of 17 games, and the Divisional Winners have played 17 - 20 games; identical 20 games as previous Super Bowl Champions (if they played in the Super Bowl).

The NFL Season is Now Officially Over!

The NFL fan base, who spent their hard earned money on tickets and merchandise during the season, can at least enjoy the taste of playoff football; carried to the off-season with optimism and excitement.

What's wrong with that?