Does anyone know how the qualifiers have been going, and do you think the prize pool for the Final event on Sep 29 will be as expected?
My "educated guess" is that the prize pool will be close to the expected $60,000. Most of the seats will be filled by satellite winners and only a relatively few will be available for a buy-in directly into the Final Event. I haven't heard how full the satellites have been. Maybe someone can jump in with that information.
Not well attended The last few tournaments haven't been well attended. Sure improves your chances for the $500 prize but it doesn't look good for the full 50K. One tournament had 18 players in it. We still played for the $500 and a seat in the 50K event. The tournament has been moved to the poker room in the back of the boat so the visibility of the tournament to the casual gambler is limited. Then you have on and off road construction on the road to the boat so this event has not been well attended. I have also noticed that there has been several multiple winners so I would think Caesar's would have several seats for sale.
I just updated the CALENDER for this event which is being held on 9/29/07. They say they can accommodate 315 players. I broadly estimate the satellites will provide 100 to 150 players so, contrary to what I said earlier, there is plenty of room for those wanting to purchase a seat for $500. Their literature pushing the final event says nothing about the prize pool being dependent upon the number of players so I am assuming the $60,000 prize pool is guaranteed. Incredibly top heavy - 1st pays $50,000 but 2nd only pays 10% of first and 6th receives $500 . Also, if you pay $500 to enter, you are automatically in a negative equity situation. Paying the $300 re-buy is even questionable but you have to wait to see the participation before EV can be worked out. If you won a satellite then you're OK. It's too bad the payout schedule is so top heavy and the EV is so poor. More tournaments of this size are needed in the Mid-West but this is not the way it can happen.
