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For those about to rock (long)

Posted By: Stick
Date: Thursday, 11 June 2009, at 10:27 p.m.

In Response To: Participation in ABT events..Apr-June 08 vs this year. (neilkaz)

We salute you (for MCG)

Chiva's new event, the US Open

I decided not to go for a handful of small reasons that added up to a 'no' for me personally.

  • Driving time from where I was at is 7 hours and I prefer driving to flying if possible. I will and have driven this far for a backgammon tournament, but that assumes all other things are equal.


  • The price of the hotel. I believe it was tied for the highest on the entire ABT tour.


  • The squiggely entry fee/rake structure. I won't rehash this but it's another contributing factor as to why I didn't atttend. I think it was clearly(?) the highest raked tournament I would be attending regardless of how or where the people ended up staying/coming from.


  • The 'US Open' moniker. Say what you will but to me this is gimmick #2 of the tourney. Does the US Open, if started, have to have a first year? Of course. I'm not sure what could have been done but perhaps guaranteed a number of players show before labeling it such. Get in touch with the big name players, get them to commit. There's a running joke between myself and a couple other backgammon friends who I won't out because they might care, lucky for me I don't. We figure we're going to run a tournament in 2010 and call it the Milky Way Galaxy Cup and all will flock.


  • DC is DC, not Vegas, not LA, not Chicago, not Madison (Boulder). These cities have something else to offer me, whether it be the ppl there or the surrounding environment that I enjoy.


  • Burnout. I love backgammon but basically back to back to back to back tourneys is a bit much even for someone having my liberal schedule. I like to have time to digest and maybe even study this stupid game. There was Chicago which I atttended, then I knew I was coming out to LA with Michigan being immediately after that. On top of that I may head to Europe 2 seconds after Michigan for MC/WSOB and if not that it may have been the WSOP. I don't think there's such a thing as 'too many ABT events' in general but for me personally there certainly is.

I don't know Chiva but everything I've heard about him has been good feedback. I hope he is able to continue the US Open and it succeeds but with all the contributing things above there was no way I attending this year.

Richard: Neil's integrity is beyond reproach in my book and there are no ulterior motives there in my opinion.

I figured you knew Neil well after all these years...obviously not. It's clear to me I was duped out of not attending so he could temporarily maintain his scant lead in the ABT race. That cunning bastard.

Richard: However, I wish that in general more of the backgammon community would stop looking at tournaments in terms of Return On Investment and start looking at it as Entertainment / R&R / vacation to do something you love which in most things in life has a cost.

You look at the tournaments how you want and I'll do the same. Depending what you do for a living it may be more important to you than someone else. For example, if you're a degenerate professional gambler for a living and haven't worked in years one thing you do is pay attention where you may be able to make some cash and cut down on your spending. As listed above, there are many many things to consider before attending an event, each individual has his or her own personal checklist.

I go to Cleveland because it's 'local', I go to Vegas because it's Vegas. The Riviera may be a piece of shit but I don't have to pay for a room, our playing room for the tournament is phenomenal, the Peppermill is just around the corner, and if I feel like making money otherwise it's there for me. I come to LA sometimes because the flights are cheap and Sax lets me crash at his place. Michigan is also a short drive and big payouts. It's not all about the benjamins, has to be a good tournament too, but it's largely about the $$$ for me.

Ray: also agreed 100% with Richard when he stated that he could not fathom how someone who would pay 300-500 for airfare to LA, rent a car, pay 300-400 for a room and stuff, YET... would feel cheated if they had a 20% higher entry fee at a home event they could drive to!

Fathom I paid ~$200 roundtrip for my plane ticket to LA, got picked up at the airport, staying with Steve at no cost, can eat at his house instead of 'out' all the time if I want, and there are casinos galore with fish to fry here, water becoming less murky? If I go to DC I drive by myself ~7hrs, that's two full tanks and me driving 14 hours, the hotel cost which if split I think it would have been roughly $300. (more if my roommate doesn't get there a day early like I always do when I have to drive so far) The rake is high so clearly my ROI is crippled.

Ray: So many backgammon players are freeloaders and bums it is disgusting to me. Maybe they ought to examine the reason they play? Does backgammon exist to make you money? Perhaps players ought to look at the bright side, and ask NOT what backgammon can do for them....

Not sure where I fit into the freeloader or bum category but I don't play bg to piss away money at every corner. Backgammon does exist to make me money when possible. The game is fun and interesting but if you remove the cash from the equation, there is no game.

Ray: ASK, what YOU can do for backgammon.

I think me and bg are square for the moment.

Bill: Will East Coast players next year follow the lead of West Coasters Fogerlund, Glass, Sax, and Russell this year? I hope so

It depends. It's fascinating to me how many little parts are omitted from stories, whether intentional or otherwise, which is why I take every story I wasn't part of with a large grain of salt even after I hear both sides of the story and a third parties account of the situation. Why did the west coast players come to the US Open? One thing that got them to come was the title, they wanted to be US Open champion. Another reason is that a few of them hadn't been to DC before and took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. So don't think these ppl were being completely altruistic towards backgammon. There's nothing wrong with the reasons they went, their choice, but I don't want to hear shit next year when I don't attend the US Open when it's held in Springfield, XX.

Chiva: Chiva WILL run a next edition of the "US Masters & Open" in 2010, aiming at the West Coast. Chiva is determined to establish this event

I think 'Chiva' has been watching too much Seinfeld

I feel like there was more I wanted to say reading this thread yesterday at the airport but having just woke up I'm at a loss.

Stick

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