Much discussion, over various threads, on benefits to Casinos for holding tourneys. Holding tourneys for their VIP's. Getting side action, pay to play, ya'll have read em. Just trying to recall, however, if any of the discussions included the live money tourneys, that were popular at Starbust and Frontier. May have been others, but those are the only two I know of,(with large top ended payouts.) Seems to me, a live money tourney, such as the "bust" and Front. address what everyone seems to feel is the hold back for the casinos holding an event. Eg. Stardust live money: $350 entry(early) $375 after cut off date. $150 rebuys as available. Included room,banquet, private buffetts, champagne celebration, etc. Top heavy prize based on number of entries, but sometimes "They" gauranteed. Player brought $600 in live chips to the table. Top two from first two to three rounds advanced. But had to start each round with $600. (and if advanced the same $600 live money to play.) Now out of 40 some tables in first round, only five to seven had way above the $600 starting stake for the advancers. Most other tables were below. and though it's obvious. The lost money went to the casino. Player kept the winnings, but still had to have $600 for next round. Winning a table with $150 was good, but cost the player another 450 for the next round. two hundred to two forty players is a lot of action for the house. Over four or five rounds, and yes I know the total players are reduced after round two. Seemed to me the Front. really enjoyed staging those and let all play. That's where I first saw some of the noted people on this site. Now I don't have exact or accurate, or even want to try to extract the action to the house in these live events. But observation "says" they did quite alright. And while the better players are going to do what they have to do, less experienced players feel the "pressure" of the live money. Long and short, instead of worrying about the house covering expenses on entry fees only, or rate play to play, the live money format, seemed to benefit them. I know Tex's assessment of casino management, but just curious why one or two couldn't be sold, or shown the benefit to them. One side note: In a Stardust live money tourney, a young aggressive fellow, did extremely well in the early rounds, betting big and blowing away the tables. His exuberance carried him away to celebrate too much with his buddies the evening before the semis. So that when it came time to play in the semi final round the dude didn't have the $600 to sit down. No one would loan him the money and the Western Union Money gram came 15 minutes too late. Top two
