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shouuld there be more payouts in the ABT -- LONG Response
Posted By: Bill Riles In Response To: shouuld there be more payouts in the ABT (Barry Silliman)
Date: Thursday, 26 February 2015, at 5:23 p.m.
This is always an interesting topic. As usual, I have definite opinions.
An American player sent me a long e-mail last year including tables, etc. to 'support' his position that ABT tournaments should pay more places and have lower entry fees. He contended that by spreading the money around more and making it less expensive to play, attendance would increase.
Well, I found his logic flawed -- no, actually, in my opinion, it was wrong. The evidence absolutely does not support his contentions.
I noticed some trends in his tables. Within his tables, the tournaments with the smallest percentages of places paid were also the most successful and largest tournaments -- Michigan, Las Vegas, and San Antonio. The tournaments with the highest entry fees were the most successful -- Las Vegas and San Antonio; I don't recall the Michigan specifics in this regard, I'll have to check.
These facts, obviously, support my position and do not support his contentions. Players want a reasonable expectation, if they do well, to at least recover their expenses, and, if they make a final, to more than cover their expenses. In many ABT tournaments, particularly for players from out of town, this is simply not possible. To pay more places and to lower entry fees only makes this problem worse.
The smaller tournaments, with lesser entry fees and more places paid, just do not, and cannot, attract players nationally and, certainly, internationally.
There are many dynamics and demographics at play in the range of ABT tournaments. Many are primarily local/regional events and do not draw nationally or internationally -- and that is perhaps by design. Thus, with many players being local, w/o significant, if any, transportation expenses and, perhaps, w/o even hotel expenses, players may well be content with lower entry fees and more, smaller payouts.
Conversely, tournaments in Las Vegas and San Antonio, as examples, have a very large percentage of players travelling to the tournaments -- from all over the country and from around the globe. Again, players experiencing success at these tournaments expect to cover their expenses and to profit. Their expenses are higher, the payouts must be higher.
Similar business models, including entry fees and payout structures, do not address the wide range of ABT tournaments. Those tournaments with low entry fees and more/smaller payouts will remain, primarily, smaller regional and local events. Those tournaments with higher entry fees and larger payouts will be larger national/international events with the potential to grow even larger.
I've explained here in the forum before and to other interested parties who would listen, the mathematics of higher entry fees in the larger tournaments. As an example, assume an average ABT tournament with an average intermediate player travelling from across the country. The entry fee is $150. The total expenses (entry, air, hotel) may be $1,000 -- I'll make the numbers simple to ease the calculations while making my point. If the director raises the entry fee from $150 to $200 (thus increasing the player's total expenses from $1,000 to $1,050) look at the effect. For an increase of 5% in expenses the prize pool can be increased by 33% -- the leverage is substantial. Many more players can win prizes of substance. It makes the event more attractive to more players. However, some refuse to acknowledge this fact and only complain about the $50 higher entry fee.
Of course, there are many more factors which contribute to the success and growth of tournaments beyond entry fees and payouts. Location, venue, director/staff, ancillary activities, date, weather, format, size of field, strength of field, and many, many more. However, the fundamental economics are important -- I think too many overlook the basics.
I haven't gone back today and checked all of the specifics but a quick mental review gives me a count >20 for the number of players cashing recently in San Antonio with prizes >$1,500, with at least 14 of those >$2,000. I suspect Las Vegas and, perhaps, Michigan have similar numbers. Some of the smaller tournaments have few, if any, players receiving such. Obviously, it is a bit of the which came first, the chicken or the egg, phenomena. Did the tournaments get large because of the payouts or did the payouts get large because of the tournaments? Doubtlessly, there is dual influence. However, the simple fact remains, the tournaments are large with large payouts -- they have the potential to grow even larger, and they can draw nationally and internationally.
So, in summary, all ABT tournaments are far from alike. There is a place for all of them if we are to grow the game. We have local clubs and local tournaments; we have local/area ABT tournaments; we have regional ABT tournaments; and we have national/international ABT tournaments. What works for the larger tournaments may not work for the smaller, and may well not even be applicable -- and the converse is also true.
So, let's recognize that solutions are not universally applicable. That every tournament, regardless of size, deserves the support that any of us can give. That every director puts in a tremendous amount of work in staging an event -- essentially for the love of the game since I can assure you no one is making any money at it. Success for tournaments comes in all shapes and sizes. Let's cheer all of them. And for those that wish to grow and to change their position in the structure of tournaments, let's all help them to do so.
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