Okay, thanks fellows for saving me some time. About all I'll add now is that the casino games haven't changed one iota from the past several trips there. As I think I've stated before, I'm more inclined to "like" this tournament venue than many others do simply because of my close proximity to it. Many things that remain to be seen will determine whether players from farther away can justify going there in the future (as Sweet William makes clear). I honestly feel that the potential is there for this to again become the GREAT tourney "value" that it once was. That possibility probably hinges on whether or not this director is given any latitude and even more so on whether or not he's still the director by the time the next event rolls around. I for one, am hoping that he is because he's either committed to that happening or he's fooled me. Billy C
Mess a lot Billy: I think u picked up on what I saw. Or I saw what you saw. The effort was certainly there. They pulled the whole smagola in for the tourney. Good Dealers. Three Floor pipple. Tobias. All dedicated to the tourney. Now for whatever with pulling for dealertips without saying.(Except on the one rules board, kind of posted sometimes.) Room packages and $20 food comps, regular casino stchuff. Hey. A well run tourney with a reasonable payout to entry overcomes aLL ELSE. sHOW ME DA MONEY. iT WAS THERE. Local high roller favoritism was evident, but if your good... right. Format, I thought was reminiscent of some great tourneys from the past. Plenty of leg room for non brain dead players such as I. Interesting to me, the number of Iowa players, experienced from all the tournament opportunities across the state. Iowa has to be the great unknown tournament capital. Interesting too the far flung attendees. At least the tournament trail riders from Minn. Long and short, to me, with not a lot of recent experience, I thought it was a good venue with good return. Someone with high EV expectations may not think so, but return on investment was high. If they really ratch it up they could go way above 240 entries and generate a higher purse. The format is in place to accomodate 2 to 3 times more. To Jeffy or if someone else, it would be a risk to "gaurantee" the prize. Risk adverse as most sites are, a "based on entries" is safe and informative to attendees. Hilton took a bath with its gaurantee. That's why it'snot there anymore. Anyway look forward to end of summer retry. And I'll add my "way to go KEN," though he dont need my reinforcement with the stchuff he's already acommplished. Good, not great, fortune, all.
OK. I can't shut up! Surprised at the number of "gunners." Though to my knowledge none made final table. Some rules enforcement and clarification needs to be detailed. And so it goes.
Speaking just for myself....... Thanks for all of the after-the-fact posts, folks. Very interesting stuff. Meskwaki is not a good choice for me with all of the changes from past events. It is simply too expensive for the EV. 1,100 mile round-trip drive means $150 in gas alone, even in my tiny micro-car, plus roughly 18 hours on the road. $350 to enter includes $75/night charge (!!!) for rooms that barely make Motel 6 standards. Add in a couple of unpaid days off from work plus some miscellaneous expenses and I'm risking a fair chunk. Mostly horrendous video poker makes it highly difficult for me to give the side action that I ordinarily would give. Anyone who is likely in need of an airline ticket are in even worse shape. For those with a shorter trip and a vocation that allows for schedule shuffling to avoid losing workdays, this BJT may work. The tournament staff was always very good at running the BJT, a few glitches here and there but nothing really serious that I can remember. However, I've received some private communications that high-roller favoritism was in play at this one. For example, they were always very strict about enforcing the rule regarding staying seated at the table before the completion of the round - so strict that they DQ'ed a guy for standing up after the final hand but before the chip countdown. This time, they actually went after their favored locals who walked away right in the middle of the round, bringing them back and allowing them to pick up where they left off. Flagrant violation of the rule! Fully agree that the serious dearth of open BJT's made me strongly hesitate before posting. Certainly hope Meskwaki listens to their clientele and reconsiders some of the numerous negative changes they've made. In the past, I was one of the loudest proponents of this tournament as evidenced by the "Cheers and Jeers" posted on this site. They've made so many ugly changes that again touting this event to others is simply not an option - yet. We'll see.
