In my opinion the races required to unlock the prize tiers are too high. I need like 10 races to be eligible for tier 6 (rank 50+ or so). Basically, I have use all of my tickets twice a day to be even eligible for minimum rewards. Currently I feel I need to play all the time and it feels especially sick when you have a good hand and want to compete for top 10.
From what I understood the concept of the minimum races was introduced for several reasons - tackle low player number lobby prize inflation with finals, tackle late joining, tackle players in general receiving prizes they are not eligible for. Probably other reasons as well.
I get that if you lower the races required too much, the instrument becomes useless against latejojning ad the races can then be easily made.
I would love to see all the races counted towards unlocking tiers and not only the active ones. Why? In my opinion it does not matter if you actively race or are being raced against. Participation in the game is had and leader boards according to hand strength can be made. I dont see why I specifically need to race. Isn't it enough to be exposed to other players for long enough that they can race me as well? Say I play 5 races and go 5-0. People race against me 10 times and afterwards I'm 12-3 and I moved up the ladder. Why should this count less than if I actually raced all those races actively?
With the current system I do feel more engaged to play than before, that is right but I also feel forced to play all the time to even reap rewards. In my opinion you overdid it and one way to tackle this would be counting "passive" races as well as it "rewards" time of exposure to opponents.

