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BGonline.org Forums
One division only?
Posted By: Steve Mellen In Response To: One division only? (MFIC)
Date: Wednesday, 26 January 2011, at 10:22 p.m.
I think the WSOP provides an instructive data point. In last year's main event, which drew a whopping 7319 players, they paid 747 places, almost exactly 10% of the field. They could surely get away with paying 500 or 1000 or however many places without materially impacting the popularity of the event, but they choose to go with 10% as the magic number.
The bottom group of cashers - roughly 150 people, or 2% of the field - got approximately double their entry in prize money. Again, this seems like a fair floor to set. Getting your entry fee back isn't very cheering when you've paid a ton of money in travel and hotel expenses. (Then again, I note that one of Phil's favorite lines is "I have to break even, I need the money.")
I have one anecdote to offer about the perils of paying too many places. One year in Las Vegas (I believe this may have been the event where you and I first met), Howard made the error of deciding that the Calcutta would pay exactly as many places as the prize schedule itself. I finished in 3rd-4th place in the Intermediate Consolation, which was worth a couple hundred bucks or so. And because of Howard's Calcutta format, I was also entitled to get paid the value of the 20% of myself or whatever I owned from buying back.
I went up to the prize table to collect. Howard quickly ran through the calculations and showed me that my share of the Calcutta pool was... $9.75. With a smile, he handed me a $10 bill and said, "You can keep the change." Ah, the glory of being a high roller in Vegas.
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