Tournament Payouts?

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After six months of running home tournaments, I have structure and pace how I like it, but I still struggle with payout system. We usually have 25-30 people (tho' we're getting more each time), and most will spend $60-$100 with rebuys and addons.

I'm of the opinion that the top few should get the lion's share of the prize pool, then a fast taper after that. Gotta be in it to win it. But a few people have expressed concern that it's too weighted and more should get paid. I worry that the more the top prize gets whittled, the fewer dollar signs will be in peoples' eyes, people won't be as ready to rebuy (we have unlimited for the first few rounds), and interest will wane.

Anyone out there have similar issues? What have you found works best? These are monthly tournaments (weekly cash games) and I like to have a bit of a "special" feel to them.

My last tourney paid (percentages) 38 / 29 / 19 / 9 / 5 for 29 players and a pool of a bit over $2k. (That's $790 / 610 / 400 / 190 / 100).

Or maybe I'm over thinking it and should tell people to STFU because it's my tourney. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]