How many people were entered?
59 entries, 24 rebuys. (If I'm remembering the numbers Eric announced correctly.)
Did it have escalating min bets?
Yep, and that fixed the "all-nighter" problem. In the first round, max bet was $500, but every 6 hands, the min went up: 10,20,50,100,200. It stayed at 200 until the round was done with only 2 players left. Initial bankrolls were $700 ($500 + $200 optional dealer-toke reward). Later rounds started with higher min and max bets, and escalated every six hands. For example, round 2 started with 200/1500 limits, and escalated to 600/1500.
How was the format received?
Some players like it, some players don't. Still, I think most enjoyed it. I had an interesting time in the quarter-finals. I was like a bad penny. Three times I was down to practically nothing ($15, $15, and $5), and I rebounded each time into the $2000 or so range. The fourth time when I got down to $5, I finally lost as the dealer to end my table and send Richard T and Stan R into the semi-finals.
It used an interesting tactic in this event. I would go almost all-in whenever I had chips, but hold back a precious few. If I lost, I would surrender every hand until I was the banker. Then, if I get lucky, I can win all the (large) minimum bets around the table, even though I'm only risking a few red chips. It worked three times out of four.
