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BGonline.org Forums
A chess tournament -- entry fees and prizes
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: A chess tournament -- entry fees and prizes (Art Grater)
Date: Sunday, 23 June 2013, at 11:42 a.m.
We are starting to get more and more definitive proof of who is good, and how good, compared to others, as more and more of live matches are recorded, streamed, and analyzed. We pretty much know who is likely to play under 2 PR from time to time, and 3 PR and so on, and maybe even develop a reasonable average PR rating for players. I think in 2 or 3 more years that information will be compiled and available.
When that happens, I think we will also be able to prove what most of us are pretty sure is true: that the better players have a huge equity advantage over worse players. That someone who enters to Open Division who plays at 3 PR is getting a lot more bang for their buck than someone with a 6PR average.
Therefore, I agree with Art, that the top players are being treated very nicely by the backgammon community and rewarded very nicely relative to their return on investment.
If there were a way to measure Poker skills, I am sure the same is true there, and the same is true of every game of skill where the more highly-skilled compete against the lesser-skilled without a handicap.
Does anyone doubt that Mochy and Falafel and Neil and MCG and others who have posted low PR's are more likely to win? I think we already have enough data to prove that is true. Does anyone doubt that there are many players out there who do not enter the Masters because their odds of winning against the top players are too low? Is there anyone who doubts that many players who are forced to move up from Intermediate to Open tend to go to fewer tournaments after they move up because they know their odds of cashing is so very low?
I can't imagine that we need to do more for the top players. We need to do more for the rest of the players to get more people participating and to increase tournament attendance. We need to pay more places, lower entry fees, and provide more fun and educational reasons to travel to and attend an event than just trying to win money in the main competition.
As for the top players, multiple side pools and super-masters events and Giants events etc. will continue to attract them, and if we increase the total attendance by attracting more players, that will also increase their equity in the main even EVEN IF we pay more places (because the total pool is larger and because even the best players come in 4th or 8th quite often).
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