I did the July/2010 and January/2011 $20k events, with the next one scheduled for March 18-20 "March Mania". They keep tweaking the event, but usually for the good for us and them. Several players get their initial $50 entry comped. They run the tourney with five tables/six spots just East of the Tarzans Sports Lounge, isolated from the pit, and put up the ropes to keep back the observers/fans. They use large printed playing cards for the double deck dealt face-up. Twenty hands for the prelims, thirty for the final table. $500 bankroll, $10-500 bets. No DAS, split Aces once. You can usually save a spot with a $50 hit to a credit card talking to VIP services. In January I couldn't get them to answer the phone directly, so I walked-in. They have registration 4-6 pm Fridays where you get a choice of two sessions starting at 9am Saturday. When a session fills they open up the next time. You get a pre-printed card with Session/Time/Seat assignment. You get a rules sheet. To encourage Friday registration they have 5x$50 Free-play drawings (need not be present). It runs smoothly. So the button always starts at seat one, so you have a clue about the initial final hand positioning. They stay on time. One new rule that started last Summer is rule #9, ...everyone that participates in the second round or Rebuy round will be eligible for all Wildcard drawings. So the comped entries have to advance or rebuy (cash or chips only) to be a Wildcard. They guarantee the $20k with 120 warm bodies. In January they almost sold out, with 208 initial players for the 210 spots. In July they had less than 150 players. So you are guaranteed a rebuy, if needed. The initial rounds only one advances. In January there were 56 table winners for the 60 second round spots, so there were only four wildcards. In July, 20 wildcards were needed to fill out the 60 spots. Second round two advance per table, meaning ten wildcards for the 30 semi-final spots. Of course you need to be present for the wildcards and better speak right-up. You get about five seconds to make yourself known. A fairly new rule is they pay twenty players instead of just the final table, so the dealers get in sync after knocking out 10 semi-finalists. So there are five table winners and one wildcard for the final table. They also give away 2x$500 (must be present) before the final table (what 1pm Sunday). This is a fun and well run event.
GN-Laugh events These are pretty nice tournaments. Well run. I make a few of them, and recommend them to anyone who can get to them.
