fgk42
New Member
Well I guess it was bound to happen – it always seems like Mr. Murphy is right around the corner when you least expect him and his “Murphy’s Law” to appear.
With the cancellation of the BJT at the Imperial Palace in Vegas it begs the question – why?
Was it timing – Good Friday and Easter weekend?
Was it too small of a prize pool/tournament?
Was it poor promotion?
Was it good promotion but poor participation?
Was it due to the proliferation of online TBJ (i.e., Bet21.com)?
Was it due to having too many BJT scheduled (i.e., supply and demand)?
I guess this cancellation brings several questions to mind. As someone with very little experience with live BJT I have been told that the “Golden Era” for BJT was in the 1970’s but that the BJT vanished.
It is my personal observation that there seems to be more BJT opportunities available in the past few months and in the upcoming months.
However the vast majority of 100,000 and above prize funds are strictly invitational only events.
My question is WHY? Let me explain.
For the most recent WSOB they had super satellite events consisting of 2,500 and 1,000 entry fees. These satellites were sold out and the host (GSN) could have easily held additional high money satellites.
At a recent BJ event in Niagara Falls with a 1,000 entry they were sold out (168 entries) with no possibility of a rebuy.
The word is that a large crowd is expected at the Tunica Horseshoe for their 250,000 BJT with a 1,000 buy in.
Now for an average BJ player these amounts may seem high, for others used to playing at the WSOP they may simply scoff while others are in the middle.
What I find interesting is that while the IP BJT was cancelled there are several more big-time BJT being held in Las Vegas and other regions:
Caesars 50K
Flamingo Millionaire Maker
Gold Coast 30K
Orleans 20K
Treasure Island
And so the list goes on. However all of the above are invitational only! WHY?
I understand why a casino would want to provide incentives for their best players/customers and having free tourneys is a great way to bring people back (it works for me!) but why not open them up to everyone else also? The high rollers get the comped entries and the other players get a chance to play. The casinos recoup some of their costs and it is a win-win situation for everyone.
For example if you’re a casino holding a 100K BJT and you’re expecting 100-150 of your high rollers for the tourney great. Have 50 open seats available for 300 or 500 buy-in. At 300 you’re re-cooping 15,000 at 500 you’re re-cooping 25,000 (almost ¼ of the tournament cost). Now couple that with the rebuys that all players have to take and these tournaments become a lot more cost effective.
But why open yourself up to “outsiders” the tournament directors may say? Simple trying to attract new clients. Take me for example. I usually make 3-4 visits to Vegas and always stayed at the Venetian – heck I even got married there. Then I got invited to the Gold Nugget for a BJT and guess what – Hey I like it there! I went back in February and I plan on going back in May. I haven’t gone to the Venetian but have stayed downtown because of the treatment.
Another example will be with the Oklahoma BJT. As a person who goes to Atlantic City and the Bahamas and Vegas I would have never dreamed of going to Oklahoma. But through good word of mouth I plan on attending the BJT in May 2007. Will I like it? Who knows but I’m doing something different.
My point is this should these invitational BJT open their doors and allow some open fee participants? That’s my .25 cents – what’s yours?
With the cancellation of the BJT at the Imperial Palace in Vegas it begs the question – why?
Was it timing – Good Friday and Easter weekend?
Was it too small of a prize pool/tournament?
Was it poor promotion?
Was it good promotion but poor participation?
Was it due to the proliferation of online TBJ (i.e., Bet21.com)?
Was it due to having too many BJT scheduled (i.e., supply and demand)?
I guess this cancellation brings several questions to mind. As someone with very little experience with live BJT I have been told that the “Golden Era” for BJT was in the 1970’s but that the BJT vanished.
It is my personal observation that there seems to be more BJT opportunities available in the past few months and in the upcoming months.
However the vast majority of 100,000 and above prize funds are strictly invitational only events.
My question is WHY? Let me explain.
For the most recent WSOB they had super satellite events consisting of 2,500 and 1,000 entry fees. These satellites were sold out and the host (GSN) could have easily held additional high money satellites.
At a recent BJ event in Niagara Falls with a 1,000 entry they were sold out (168 entries) with no possibility of a rebuy.
The word is that a large crowd is expected at the Tunica Horseshoe for their 250,000 BJT with a 1,000 buy in.
Now for an average BJ player these amounts may seem high, for others used to playing at the WSOP they may simply scoff while others are in the middle.
What I find interesting is that while the IP BJT was cancelled there are several more big-time BJT being held in Las Vegas and other regions:
Caesars 50K
Flamingo Millionaire Maker
Gold Coast 30K
Orleans 20K
Treasure Island
And so the list goes on. However all of the above are invitational only! WHY?
I understand why a casino would want to provide incentives for their best players/customers and having free tourneys is a great way to bring people back (it works for me!) but why not open them up to everyone else also? The high rollers get the comped entries and the other players get a chance to play. The casinos recoup some of their costs and it is a win-win situation for everyone.
For example if you’re a casino holding a 100K BJT and you’re expecting 100-150 of your high rollers for the tourney great. Have 50 open seats available for 300 or 500 buy-in. At 300 you’re re-cooping 15,000 at 500 you’re re-cooping 25,000 (almost ¼ of the tournament cost). Now couple that with the rebuys that all players have to take and these tournaments become a lot more cost effective.
But why open yourself up to “outsiders” the tournament directors may say? Simple trying to attract new clients. Take me for example. I usually make 3-4 visits to Vegas and always stayed at the Venetian – heck I even got married there. Then I got invited to the Gold Nugget for a BJT and guess what – Hey I like it there! I went back in February and I plan on going back in May. I haven’t gone to the Venetian but have stayed downtown because of the treatment.
Another example will be with the Oklahoma BJT. As a person who goes to Atlantic City and the Bahamas and Vegas I would have never dreamed of going to Oklahoma. But through good word of mouth I plan on attending the BJT in May 2007. Will I like it? Who knows but I’m doing something different.
My point is this should these invitational BJT open their doors and allow some open fee participants? That’s my .25 cents – what’s yours?
Personally, I believe the reason for less open tournaments is the fact that the tournament players don't give the casinos the side action they want. So by holding invitationals, they draw the players that have either a good record of play or potentially will become loyal players. They weed out the dead beats with each successive invite. If I were on the other side of the fence it would make perfect sense to me.
