I was asked about a new Million Dollar BJ Tournament about 6 months back with a match play format and $2,500 entry fee (monthly). I told them I though it was over priced for most players and thought it was a dead issue. Now I am hearing that the Las Vegas Hilton is going to start this match play event starting sometime around June 2007, at the $2,500 entry fee. Now I haven't got confirmation from the LVH, but I have heard from realible sources that it is a go. I'll try to find out more information and post detail when and if I confirm the rumors are true.
Two questions TX: 1. Will it be real money of the funny chips? 2. How long before Joep finds something wrong with it? :laugh:
Here are the rumors of this tournament 64 players Max 2,500 entry fee open to all players one vs one head to head matches Round 1 64 players down to 32 players Round 2 32 players down to 16 players Round 3 16 players down to 8 players Round 4 8 players down to 4 players Final Round 4 players plus 1 wild card for the Final table Winner gets 25,000 the other 4 players receive 2,500 and qualify to play for 1 Million dollars after the 12 monthly tournaments are held. So 5 qualifiers per month for 12 months = 60 players and then 4 wild cards from the players who played in any of the 12 monthly qualifiers to bring the Finals back to 64 Players. They will collect 160,000 per month for 12 months = 1,920,000 they will pay out 35,000 per month for 12 months = 420,000 That leaves 1.5 Million left When they pay the winner 1 Million There is 500,000 left There is some indication that all players making the final 64 will receive 2,500 when they show up in the 13th month that equals 160,000 leaving 340,000 . If the 340,000 is the casinos fee that equals approx 18 % vig. I sure hope that is not the case. 18% is a mighty big take especially since they will be sitting on this money for 1 year earning interest. Time will tell I spoke with the casino manager of the Hilton on Thursday about this tournament and he indicated to me that is was almost all set to go some final details were being worked out,I invited him on the radio show to formally announce it and he said he would love to do that.So we should all wait to see what the final version will look like before another firestorm breaks out. If its a good deal I will say so if its a deal that benefits the casino i will point that out also. Joep
I don't see it being successful... Now they will get some players to pay $2,500, however most of they players will be their comped VIP players I believe. A big problem is there just isn't enough players willing to pay $2,500 for a BJ tournament and even fewer willing to do it every month. Then you take away 5 players who qualify each month and that total gets even lower. They may pull it off if they allow players to qualify more then once and then they can sell their extra seat (just like in the WSOB) and also put in a re-buy to help fill up any empty seats. Bottonline is they need to fill it up to make it successful, that was part of what killed the Million Dollar BJ tournament at the LV Hilton, 80 - 96 players per month out of 200 spots was horrible and they didn't offer re-buys to help compensate for the lost money. Also a BIG concern of mine would be HOW they payout the prize money? Would it be Cash, Check, or Chips? And if so would it be guaranteeded? I wouldn't want to win and them change and give-a-way Promo chips. Don't get me wrong, I like the LV Hilton and have several friends who work there, but with the changes to machine games on there regular BJ and the Promotion chip problems they just had at their last tournament, I would feel uncomfortable putting out $2,500 entry without having some more questions answered and knowing the prize was guaranteed and how it was guaranteed.
I hope it'll be extremely successful Based on previous experience all I can tell is that Hilton runs decent honest tournaments and announces the format and all details way in advance. Despite all negativity and rumors at first, the event was held without any changes and considered to be successful. So instead of guessing let's just wait and see all the details. Based on that everybody can decide to participate or not. As to me I always prefer to play one event with bigger entry fee than make several trips and participate in smaller tournaments. There is a big group of players for whom this tournament will be really attractive and they'll be willing to try several times. One million dollar tournament was a flagman for all other BJ Tournaments and hopefully it'll bring a new breath to our BJ tournament community.
How about THIS CONCEPT WHEN IT COMES TO BLACKJACK TOURNAMENTS: Limited tournament: 16 players each paying 5,000 a piece Divided into 2 brackets – like the sweet 16 in college basketball 30 hands with double deck Heads up playing with the winner in the brackets advancing. 3 rounds and the final table heads up Prize pool = 80,000 1st place - winner gets 40,000 2nd place get 25,000 3rd place gets 10,000 4th place get 5,000 With this type of format you just have the best players playing each other – the games go quick and it’s finished in a few hours! Heads up play, in my opinion, creates much more suspense and drama. In fact I believe that THIS type of tournament would make for great TV too!
All ready have them The high limit match play events are already around, problem is these are for the high rollers. They might as well just keep offering VIP events because only the few who can afford them will be able to play in them anyway. I have no problem with them being offered, either the match play you mentioned above or the VIP tournaments as long as the regular green chip bettors are offered some type of events to play in as well. Until we get an affordable tournaments for everybody (high rollers and green chipers) we will never be able to rank the players in a fair way. I do not except that a player is better or should be ranked higher then anyone else just because they can afford to play in a higher price entry fee event. Just my opinion anyway.
Rick you really need to do some research before you speak.The recent Barona event with a $ 250 entry fee which I must remind you is cheaper than your event, with no where close to the amount of money taken out for juice as your event.This was an event that was eligible for the All In player ranking system. So how much lower must the entry fees be to be fair to all players and are you going to lower your entry fees and juice that you are taking out at your events at a pretty high rate ? if I may say so. Joep
Rick please note that all the tournaments that were held in Tulsa this past February by Eric Woods at the Cherokee Casino were sanctioned by All IN Magazine and there by eligible for player ranking points. You yourself have referred to Eric tournaments as affordable and for the majority of players looking for lost cost entry fees.You have even sanctioned them. You always seem to use facts that help your cause and disregard facts that prove you opinion or for that matter your stated facts as not true. Now you know full well that the ALL IN Magazine player ranking system is designed to actually reward the players playing the lower buy in events as the denominator used to calculate the points is higher for the lower buy-ins as opposed to the larger entry fees. So a player at a $250 or $ 500 entry fee event would earn more points that a player in a 2,500 event. A good example is Tammy H (Sweetteabird) on Bet 21 prior to the Jan Barona event she had not played in any event that would have earned her points,but by finishing in 2nd place she shot up to 6th place overall in the ranking system a true test that its format rewards all players no matter what level buy-ins they are playing in. The following people played a key role in developing this ranking system and their names and credibility and knowledge of the game and blackjack tournaments are well documented The Players that help develop the ALL IN Magazine Player Ranking System are Anthony Curtis Kenny Smith Kenny Einiger Blair Rodman Joe Pane Your opinion is one thing but when you are fully aware of the facts and you disregard them to justify your skewed opinion its just not being fair to all the players. Or do you now have a problem with All In Magazine along with your problems with UBT and Bet 21 and UB. What gives Rick? I thought you always had the player in mind.Your words say something different that that. Joep
good idea fgk, your idea is great since does not require a lots of players and at the same time involve more skill vs regular format. The only improvement is that we need to play more rounds with each other to avoid co-incidences.
LV Hilton - New Million Dollar Tournament Well I talked to one of the LV Hilton personel today who told me a little more about the new Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament they were starting up this June (date still unknown). First of all it will not be a match play One on One format, for the monthly events anyway. The format will be regular elimination format, I'm not sure how many advance from each round or even how many rounds they will have. The entry will be $2,500 and they are not sure if they will offer re-buys yet and if so for how much. The number of players will be limited to only 75 players each month, with only the top 4 players qualifying for the finals each month = 48 players, Plus I am assuming 16 wild cards so the brackets will be filled with a full 64 players. The prize money for the monthly events are: 1st = $25,000 + seat in the finals 2nd = $ 2,500 + seat in the finals 3rd = $ 2,500 + seat in the finals 4th = $ 2,500 + seat in the finals 5th = $ 2,500 "no seat" As far as the Finals prize money all I was told is a Million for 1st place. The format for the finals will be a One on One single elimination format.
