| |
BGonline.org Forums
Camden auction
Posted By: Roland Scheicher
Date: Tuesday, 27 September 2022, at 7:33 a.m.
At the UK Open there was a Camden auction tournament. Since I was not familiar with this kind of auction, I did a Google search and I found the following (see: https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/9736299 ):
>> A Camden Auction is an auction used in backgammon clubs whereby the price of a seat for participants in a tournament is auctioned up to the highest price that all are comfortable paying. The money paid for the seats by the players constitutes the prize money. The tournament itself is run as a single elimination (knockout tournament) with the prize money being awarded as a jackpot to the outright winner.
A more formal name for a Camden Auction is an "Entry Fee Auction Tournament". The colloquial name comes from the fact that these tournaments were first used in British backgammon at the Backgammon in Camden club, which is a part of the Backgammon in London organisation.
The format was devised by British tournament director Mike Main, who goes by the online handle MikeMadMonk, with the purpose of ensuring that as many people as possible get to play for money at a level that they can afford. With a sufficient pool of players it's possible to get two or three such entry fee auction tournaments going. The players who drop out of the Camden Auctions are often offered a place in a less costly tournament at, for example, the auctioned tournament's entry level or the price at which the first bidder dropped out. <<
Mr Peter Bennet from the UKBGF - thank you very much for your help! - provided me with further information on the question how to conduct a Camden auction:
>> Bidding is live, starting at an amount which 8 or more players are happy to pay as their entry fee, for example £100. The auctioneer (TD) calls out increasing amounts going up in increments of, say, £10 until enough players drop out to bring the number of entrants down to 8 (assuming this is to be an 8 player competition). Players can do this by shouting "I'm out", or raising a hand, or both (or whatever convention is adopted). If several players drop out at the same figure, which would result in fewer than 8 remaining, either the TD decides who dropped out first, or the players agree amongst themselves who will drop out.
As the online article states, it was Mike Main who first used this system in his backgammon events for a number of years in the 2000's. It was regularly adopted at his event in Camden, London, hence the name. Typically the prize money split was 70/30 to the winner/finalist rather than WTA. <<
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.