Keeping The Million Dollar BJ Tourn.Alive

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Advancing from the table (in any round) has more skill involved then getting picked from a raffle bin.

 

Since feedback is asked for, I will weigh in on the side that wants to have the option to rebuy once. One rebuy is good for any number of reasons. I don't like the idea of having unlimited rebuys. I am pretty ambivilant about wildcards. I might look at them more favorably if I had ever heard my name at a wild card drawing.

 

Re-buy option

Joe I think I have a solution that everybody can live with concerning re-buys.
Offer one re-buy to every player in the tournament (guaranteed), Now if any others spots are left open for an additional round draw names (lottery so to say) to see you gets to buy the extra spots out of the players that wants them.

I still don't like extra re-buys, but at least this would be fair to all the players and not first come first serve basis for any additional open spots.

 

Why worry about a room everyone just stays at Joep's.

 

Monthly payouts and other questions?

Joe what are the monthly payouts going to be for the new tournament?
They have to be higher then the Hiltons since there are not rooms included or I would think.

Is all the prize money going to be guaranteed?
This question costed Tinker at the Hilton so I will not press the issue here,but have to ask.

What about the entry? Make it a $500 entry and $500 live money tournament and the re-buys the same. The casino would be reponsible for $1,000 per player and $500 per re-buy, all winnings is their profit. This could also keep the cost down for the players. This would also effect how players deal with the re-buys (could get very costly).

Note: $500 buy-in would be in each round through out the tournament.

 

Changes/No Changes

As of now there is no plans to change the betting format which is 100 min.bet and 2,500 max. bet. or the number of hands played.The 2 advance per round I believe is something that should not be changed. But all suggestions will be considered.As far as your suggestion to reduce the entry fee to $500 with a $500 live money buy in that would reduce the entry fee money by 50% causing the Final Table payout to be reduced.Remember the main goal in this tournament is to be one of the 16 people per month that will qualify to play for the BIG MONEY .The monthly payout as of now will most likely remain the same.To expect the monthly prizes to be increased because the rooms will not be included is short sighted.I am currently working on other perks that will be given to the players to make up for the omission of the free rooms.Food and other ammenties are being considered.Remember the Hilton gave us rooms and no food.The new host may give us food and no rooms either way both are needed does it really matter which one is received.The main goal here is to have a 2 Million Dollar Tournament alive and well in living in Las Vegas.Remember the prize money at the Hilton never changed even if they had 200 players per month.The 1 Million Dollar first prize will be GUARANTEED

 

I agree 100% with you on the rules.

As far as the $500 entry/$500 buy-in I was talking about a possible change "IF" the casino guaranteed the $1,000 per per and $500 re-buy amount giving them all the extra money earned on the buy-in's through out the tournament as their profit.

It would be their gamble, not ours and not effect the final prize pool.

As far as the extras I would rather have the food, the rooms are eazy to get. I agree with you on that as well.

I'll see you tomorrow, good job!

 

One Re-Buy

My plan has always been to offer 1 re-buy per player only. I believe that Rick's question has caused some confusion as to possible multi re-buys options.This was never in my plan.The rebuy rounds will most likely reduce the wild cards by 20.If the rebuys are not sold out then there will be the option to fill the spots with wild cards to get to 120 players for Round #2.Like I have always said let the players decide what they want.Feedback is good never think that your question or feedback will be frowned upon.If you want to keep it off the board private message me.We want to do this the right way from the beginning

 

Wild cards etc.

I'm not in favor of eliminating wild cards since (a) obviously the host casino needs to retain players' physical presence to create action, and (b) they give less experienced players an extra shot, thereby boosting thier attendance.

Two guaranteed rebuys would help some (like me) with "trip equity" but probably would discourage many (after a $2k loss) from showing reasonable action to the casino & also discourage less experienced players (too much $ in a single trip).

Joep's current plan is the one I like best so far. I also think a June starting would work. TX's point of adequate advertising is a good one, but June is already into vacation season & would be an unfortunate month to lose. This is the type of event that publications such as the Las Vegas Advisor love to write about, as well as other websites.

 

2+ Million tourn.

Rather than rush it. Get it right. Nail it down on details. Etch in stone re-buy opportunities. Get unaltered rules out. Format set up if it exceeds a certain number per month, or goes under a min. gaurantee. Specifics on house rules, tournament rules, final decisions on disputes. Gosh all the finer details, to keep the whiners,like me from complaining about a dispute.

Even details about registration and starting times, table assignments, on and on.

Prize money, noteriety to site and prestige to winner will mean nothing, if there are to0 many complaints about the operation.

The big cahoona seems in place, but the small details matter

 

Go for it!

Joep,
If you manage to get details right consider having it in May just after this year final in LV Hilton.
You could enroll most of the people that plan on staying in town to play Stardust. They would not be in need of room accommodations either (also, some other players could extend their stay in LVH).
Have registration on Saturday or Sunday until noon, and first round starting and finishing on Sunday, second round, semi and final on Monday.
I am for multi rebuys but people have to understand that it won’t be like Frontier (which doesn’t bother me either), it won’t be a simple grind because most spots will be taken (if we get the attendance) by players advancing in their first attempt, and there will be only a few spots available for a few lucky/unlucky to try the second rebuy.

S. Y.

 

LOL!!!!! Important small details + Buffets and free beer.

Hey Joep,
did you get all that?
Seriously, congrats on a super effort to keep the Million $ dream alive. Anything you suggest or come up with is ok by me.You know what you are doing and good luck!

 

Time Factor

As some know this was being worked on as early as Nov 2004 so that there would be enough time to pick up right where the Hilton left off.It can now be revealed that a host property was found and all things were in place as of December 2004.Things happen, and the property was sold to a new owner who would be taking over right in the middle of the new tournament.I felt that would leave us in the same sitution as the sale of the Hilton did with new owners having to accept the tournament.I didnt want to be looking for a new location next year again.I believe that in the best interest of all concerned that a casino and its owner's should want to have this tournament not have it put in their lap and then decide to cancel it after 1 year.So the idea to pick it up in May 2005 is a great idea but because of time restraints and now other tournaments having been scheduled around the same time along with the 100th anniversary of Las Vegas,its not looking like May will work.Players have already booked their airfares not knowing about this tournament so the chances of a small turn out for the first month loom.A June start seems to give all involved time to work out all that needs to be done on both ends of this deal.Players will have time to arrange travel plans and the host property will have time to prepare to host this in the best way possible.So please keep on sharing your thoughts and ideas all are welcome

Thanks,
JOEP

 

June?

Joe I want to get started as soon as possible for this new tournament same as you, but are you giving yourself enough time to get it done right? June will be here a lot faster then you think.

There is a lot of work to do in advertising a tournament. Lead time for advertising in a publication is around 6 weeks prior to the issue going to print then th eprinting and shipping time has to be added. If you advertised today you wouldn't be looking at getting printed advertisement in a national publication out to the public until probally the first of July.

Joe you know I am on your side, I just want to make sure you have no problems. The tournament will be run for a year anyway so don't rush it. If you can get it set for June that is great and I will be there with at least 50 others I can think of off the top of my head, but how many others? What about is following months?

Is the property going to support the tournament by advertising in national publications? At least advertise in the airline magizines and you will need brochures that can be passed out and mailed out when requested, (has the casino agree to these expences)?

One other possible problem, are their dealers trained for tournaments? Dealing and dealing tournaments are two differant things. You don't want players getting pissed off because of a dealers error.

We'll have lunch this week and I will give you a pile of possible problems to watch out for. Your doing a GREAT JOB and I support you 100%, I just want you to be aware that any problems that may and will come up and the players and casino will be complaning to you.

 

No Worries

I really didn't want this thread to become a what will you do if this happens ,how are you prepared if this occurs and so forth.The main purpose of this thread is to hear from the players what changes or suggestions they feel will help to make this 2 Million Dollar Tournament better than any other.Rick's pointing out problems that can happen at any tournament such as dealer error is not productive.Dealer errors are made all the time even at the Hilton.I know first hand as one cost me a seat in my first try in MD 2.It actually cost me 5,000 more than it should have as it took me 5 tries to get my seat.As far as advertising that will be the host hotel's marketing plan but I would assume if they are taking this on they will not run it into the ground.Did the Hilton ever advertise anywhere other than on property?.Other Park Place properties did nothing to get the word out.I have been working with Las Vegas Advisor owner Anthony Curtis who has been more than helpfull in this venture and has commited to getting the word out as soon as I say it's on.His site gets 15 Million Hits per month that is not a typo I said 15 MILLION HITS.If that does not help nothing will.I also have Global Player .com on board thanks to Kenny Smith who will run online tournaments to win seat in the monthly qualifiers.There are 2 more online sites that are in Beta testing mode that will be onbaord also in the near future.So the word will be out all over the world as the internet is so much stonger than many publications .There will also be 1 & 2 table tournaments run at the host properety where seats for the monthly qualifiers will be won with entry fees starting at $100 dollars.This alone will increase the monthly total as now players who would never spend 1 Thousand for a entry now can play for $100. When you add all the above to the core of 120-140 players that the Hilton draws every month it look like 150 players Avg. per month should be a walk in the park .This is something that I have been working on with the help of 3 to 4 people since the rumors started about the Hilton not going forward with it's tournament.You will never be able to prevent human error that will always occur.The major parts of this are in place the small details will work themselves in.Look how many hits this thread has gotten in 4 days over 780, people are aware and interested lets keep the flame burning don't try to put the fire out.............

Thanks,
JOEP

 

$2 Million BJ

I am a retired (fixed income), BJ tournament enthusiaist who lives 4 hrs. from Tunica. I have committed to invest $1000 to win $50,000 4 to 5 times a year. If I win I will have enough to play for 10 years. The $2 MM Vegas tournament will cost me $3000 with 1 rebuy. If I win I will not be able to spend it all! $3000 to win $2 MM, no brainer! Count me in.
I've been reading all of the posts and have formed the following opinions.

I agree with most of Rick's suggestions. But I tend to like wild cards. Maybe because of the excitement they generate!

I don't think unskilled players will enter anyway. If somebody like Joep got a wild card and won, would we say that he is not skillful. Luck is luck! Maybe like Rick suggests, use the wild cards for the right to rebuy a second time, maybe even for less than $500.
July or August would be best for me.

Thanks for your time and effort with this project to keep the "Tournament" alive.

tgun

 

vote for structured rebuys

A stuctured re-buy would do nothing but enhance the tournament.

I would like to see the structured rebuys instead of unlimited (1 or 2) Makes players rely a bit more on skill than money

 

E mail list

While visiting friends who were playing at the Hilton this weekend I started collecting every ones e-mail address.This will enable me to keep the players updated as new and additional information on the new 2 Million Dollar is obtained.If anyone would like to be on this e-mail notification that I missed or was not at the Hilton this weekend,private message me with your e-mail address and I will put you on that notify list.

Thanks,
JOEP

 

I'm back

Hi all sorry if my last MD post caused problems, that was not my intent. Joe is busting his butt on this project and I along with everyone else here need to help support his efforts.

Also several mis-understood me about "Wild Cards". I never meant to get rid of all the WC's only the first 20 (they are not needed going into the 2nd round). However WC's are needed for two things, (1) making the rounds work out with equal number of players per table, and (2) keeping players around for the casinos.

Joe was working getting all the players infomation this weekend and I have to add he had a Great looking ball cap on...LOL