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Another fun way to bet at tournaments

Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Saturday, 24 January 2015, at 10:49 a.m.

Here’s a bet that Bob Koca and I did at the New York Tournament, and I’m willing to do the same bet again in San Antonio…because it’s fun!

Bob picked 8 players and I picked 8 players and whoever’s players won the most ABT points in that tournament wins the bet.

The way we picked is one of us goes first and picks one player, and then we each take turns picking 2 until we each have 8. The reason I won in New York is that I picked one of the “unseeded” players by the name of Frank Talbot, and he came in second. (It was silly that he wasn’t seeded, and if you saw some of the names of the seeded players, like a guy named Simborg, you would readily agree.)

In San Antonio, however, I am adding one rule change. It’s kind of “automatic” that whoever picks first will take Mochy, and then the next two are another couple of top giants and so forth. We all know who are among the very best and it would be a crap shoot who wins. But the betting will be a lot more interesting if neither of us can pick any of the top 16 players there! And we define the top 16 simply by taking the highest 16 players there on the giants list. That will make picking a lot more interesting. And instead of each of us picking 8 players, I think we had better each pick 10 players to have a better chance that one of our guys will actually cash.

Bob and I bet $200 in New York, and I don’t mind having a few of these bets at $100. So if you are going to be at the tournament and want to have a little side action, come see me. I guarantee you that if you look at the list of the non-top-16 players you will see several that are easily as good or better than some in the top 16 and you will see many who are clearly capable of cashing in this tournament. It will be interesting to see what people’s opinions are.

By the way, I have seen a wane in the Calcutta auction action in the past few years. I don’t know if its because of the economy, or because we don’t have some of the high rollers who used to push the bidding up so much, or because we don’t have John Brussel and Peter Kalba to ignite our spirits, but it may be that people are just bored with it. I think it might be time to invent some new ways to have some fun side action, like pari-mutuels, grouping players into larger groups and setting odds or bidding for larger bundles of players, doing Peoria-auctions where the bidder gets to make up his team, etc.

This is a very creative and knowledgeable group here…let’s throw some ideas out that would get people’s juices going so there is more action, fun, and interest.

Now, a message to a few of you jerks out there that only like to attack people who offer ideas instead of getting into an honest and fair debate about the idea:

Just because I have ideas and suggestions to find more ways to add more ways to gamble and make tournaments more exciting for those of us who like to gamble (isn’t that part of why we play?), doesn’t mean I am being two-faced when I also say we need to find ways to allow beginners and new players to get into the game for a very low cost and not have to gamble. One doesn’t rule out the other, and so long as these side bets and side pools and calcuttas and pari-mutuels are optional, no one is forced to participate. There are just a few people here who simply can’t wait to find a way to take personal shots at people and don’t know how to debate an issue or idea without putting someone down or criticizing someone who has an idea they don’t like or agree with. I use the term “jerks” instead of the term I don’t use in writing that refers to a body part.

Am I being too “sensitive” as those people respond when I call them out for arguing the person instead of the issue? Yes. I am sensitive, but not just because it is directed at me. I have known people like this in business and in all other areas of my life. They stifle creativity and communication and are ready to rip on anyone who comes up with new ideas or anything they disagree with. It’s the same kind of name-calling and demonizing that the Republicans and Democrats and Liberals and Conservatives have been doing which has had a terrible effect on our government and society. If you don’t believe the way I do you must be a racist, or you must not love our country (or if you come up with an idea to change or improve the rules or the game that must mean you don’t really love the game).

Every time I make a post here, or share an idea, I come back a day or two later to see which jerk decided to take a personal shot at me instead of just saying why he doesn’t like the idea. It gets old. And for some reason, I still open myself up to this…because I don’t know a better place than this forum to get ideas and discussions out there with a large number of the best leaders and thinkers in the game. Maybe I should look at the bright side…it also helps me identify who the jerks really are!

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