| |
BGonline.org Forums
Factors for Tournament Attendance (2)
Posted By: Stick
Date: Sunday, 4 October 2009, at 4:26 p.m.
While there already exists another thread from which I'll be borrowing much of my material from, begun by Adam, I wanted to start a new thread because things get pushed down so quickly of late and I'm not online enough to keep track of them. Here's a sort of comprehensive list of things that may influence my or otheres reasoning for attending or not attending any event. Always welcome additions. In no specific order:
- Location, location, location. This refers to the proximity of an event to one's own home thus facilitating the travel and also cutting down on expenses and also to the city/environment itself. As testified to recently by Bill R. the Colorado ABT event is magnificent to attend especially if you have time beforehand or post tourney you can spend in or around the city. There's the mountains, college town, beautiful paysage, etc... There are other touristy cities like Vegas, Chicago, New York, etc..that have their own draw. It also helps when you have a whore in said city, like my Chicago whores or my main Cali pimp that makes it worth going.
- Added money. This is the ripe definition of 'foreign concept' for most Americans. It's too bad that we can't scrap together something in the US to help support the tournaments and make them +EV (or at least not as -EV) for everyone. It's quite a feeling to attend European tournaments and I have to check 'where is the added money allocated?'
- The TD/staff. There are TDs that I like more than others, I mean that both socially and how the tournament is run. Ideally, they have both qualities, but worst case scenario they only run a solid tournament. I can excuse ppl for not getting along with me like they should, hard to believe since I'm such a charmer, but the bottom line is the tournament should be well run.
- The tournament format. For me personally it's not a big deal, I show up and try to win, but I will admit there are some formats (Swiss eg) that I prefer to others. Some lay more of an importance on this, things like double elimination may matter.
- Clocked. This will be a larger factor in my personal choices to attend future events while some think this is a non issue or won't lose any sleep over it one way or another. As stated before I believe if we get everything clocked, the mechanics running smoother, more things finished by a certain time, there will be time for side events, speed events, more entertaining events.
- Entry fees/rake. To each his own. Some prefer higher entry fees while others prefer lower possibly allowing more entrants. I think nearly all players prefer as little rake as possible :) Ideally I think middle to high entry fees would be preferred by all if and only if it was possible to run satellites or qualifiers before the tournament.
- Side events. To date I have only paid attention to one thing I'd consider a true 'side event'. While technically some may consider doubles or masters events as side events, when I think side event I think quickies, smaller jackpots, variations of standard backgammon. The event I made sure to attend had Nackgammon as a side event, 5 point matches. Very interesting to say the least, I made the finals and would make an effort to attend other events where Nackgammon was an event preferably other than dmp play.
- The standings race. For most reading these forums that means the ABT race but in Europe there are other lists that keep track of who is doing well. At the end of any given year though you'll see a couple virgin faces showing up in Vegas or Cali because they have a shot at being king for a year.
- Seasonal conditions. I have to admit escaping to Vegas and then to California in November/December is appealing to me as someone who lives in Ohio. The more shitty Ohio weather I can cut out on the better. Even though Pittsburgh is heavily attended and I love the tournament itself, it blows total ass that it takes place at the worst possible time of the year for Pittsburgh. I don't know how many ppl this may keep from attending.
- Conflicts with other tournaments. This doesn't even mean the same weekend or the weekend before or after. Sometimes it's too much backgammon no matter how you slice it and you have to draw the line somewhere or burn yourself out. For most also having a job, family, etc... will keep them from tossing from tourney after tourney if they are crammed too close together.
- The expected attendance. If I expect the numbers will be brutally low (under 24 though under 32 is still rough) then I'm unlikely to attend. This affects my personal EV among other things. It's one reason I have yet to attend 1000 Islands even though I'm told by those who do attend that it's a gorgeous venue and a good time.
- The venue itself. For example in Vegas I loathe the Riviera. It's a shit hole and at the crap end of the strip. I wish it was in a nicer hotel and I'd expect the rates to be comparable. That being said, the playing room itself is perfect at the top of the Riv and it's close to the Peppermill which is in itself a huge plus. I don't care for tournaments where the tourney space is small, cramped to begin with, it dampens the atmosphere.
- More location. I'd have included this in the first location, location, location, but I had rambled enough. The proximity of the event venue (hotel or casino) to local restaurants. I'm sure other things being accessible weighs in on some people's decisions, like those tennis players who try to escape a morning or two are happy to find that courts are just around the corner.
- The price of the hotel. Even though it's not a major inconvenience price wise it's still tough to swallow the highest rate per night on the entire tour. This more or less forces me to stay with a roommate whereas I like having the option of staying by myself. If it's like $90/night it's doable, if it's along the lines of $140/night I can't justify it.
- Free wifi? This and many other oddities could be listed under the *amenities* section (breakfast included?) but it's one thing in particular I check for because if it's not free that's another $10-$13 a day tagged on to the overall price.
A lot of things considering can be put under the umbrella of one of these main sections. Other examples are amount of travel needed to reach the tournament destination from the airport. I think it was the NY tourney where I had to travel easily 45 minutes on annoying public transport to get where I was going. Attendance is a factor not only because of the raw number of participants, but the more ppl that attend the more bg addicts I get to see. Etc...etc...etc... I'll happily add more major factors used in the decision making process if anyone has additions.
Stick
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.