WSOP League Structure/Payout Ideas

[pfapfap]

So our group is gearing up for a 10-tournament series to send some of us to the WSOP for as many $1500 NLHE seats as we can. We have 30-40 of us who rotate in and out, and I suspect more will want to play as this goes on, so I'm setting it up so that playing in only a few tourneys still gets you a piece of the pie. It'll be a big pile of contracts, but it's for the greater good (the greater good).

We'll play 10 $100 buyin tournaments (probably 20-30 people each), you get to count your top 8 to the points (allowing one missed tournament and one really bad performance). $50 of the pool is for the week's prize (50/30/20), $50 to the WSOP fund.

My one trusted source says that 40% is somewhat standard for those who get their entry backed, so those who win the seats will keep 40% of whatever they cash.

7% of total cashes will go to the house to be used transparently for improvements for the game as a whole (tables, chairs, cards, rent on a bigger space, etc), as I'll be working fewer hours and spending a lot of time running this.

As to the rest, players will have shares based the following formula where 'x' is number of tournaments played: x * ( 1 + x/10 ) ... and if you play all 10, you get 3x, or 30 shares.

From some estimates on how I think it'll pan out, I think we'll be able to send 6 people. If we cash for $100k total, each share will be about $50, to give a sense of how it translates. Someone who played all 10 but didn't get sent would be paid $1500.


This is the first time I'm doing this, and I have some contracts someone supplied me from another group's league, and we have good lawyers among us, so we'll get it all set up and written down ahead of time.

I think the structure will attract those who don't feel they have a shot at a seat but still want a share in a possible jackpot. This will be especially important half-way through, as word spreads and more want to play. It will also allow those who realize they have no shot to sit out later tournaments without being forced to pony up for the entire league. I think if we did a set player list, many of our weaker players wouldn't participate, exactly the opposite of what we want.


Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? We'll be starting this in January, one tournament every two or three weeks.

[cabiness42]

To keep the math easy, let's assume you get 30 players for each of your 10 $100 tournaments. That gives you $30K, half of which you are paying out and the other half of which you are using to buy $1,500 WSOP entries. That would be 10 entries. Now, I'm assuming that each of the 10 players going to the WSOP still gets shares in the winnings of the other 9, so you are paying out 290 shares on 53% of the winnings, so each share is worth 0.18275% of the total winnings. For a player to break even (get their $100 back), the total winnings would have to be = $54,719.56.

Now, I don't know how good your group is, but you'd have to more than triple your money at the WSOP to make this a sound investment for anyone who doesn't have a serious chance at getting one of the seats.

[pfapfap]

Well, I hope your goal when entering any tournament is to more than triple your money. We obviously don't have a great shot of getting a big cash, but the possibility is certainly there. We have a bracelet-winner from last year who plays in our group occasionally. This isn't a sound investment, this is a chance at a lottery and a way to bring our group closer together as we reach towards a common goal.

There are some issues with your math, tho'. This isn't a 1:1 tourney:share relationship. It's also not $100 back per game, it's $50, as $50 is to the weekly tournament prize pool.

Let's use your same $30k but with a different distribution:

15 play all 10, that's $7500 and 450 shares.
10 play 8 for $4000 and 144.
15 play 5 for $3750 and 112.5.
10 play 1 for $500 and 11.

So that gives us ten seats and some change and 717.5 shares.

Someone who enters five tournaments has paid $250 for 7.5 shares and needs each share to be worth $33. That's a cash of 45k. But for someone who plays 8 of them, that same return gets 20% profit, and someone who plays all 10 gets double back.

Not really all that different in total concept from your distribution, but gives a clearer picture.

Keep in mind that those who are playing in all of the tournaments are likely also doing well, which means they're hopefully at least breaking even with their total entries as they go. At the very least, offsetting costs.

[Lottery Larry]

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7% of total cashes will go to the house to be used transparently for improvements for the game as a whole (tables, chairs, cards, rent on a bigger space, etc), as I'll be working fewer hours and spending a lot of time running this.

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Be careful about this one- are you opening a WSOP-horse business?

[pfapfap]

Yeah, I'll definitely be sure the majority is okay with it. I'd not really want to dip below 5%, though. Maybe put a cap on total $.

Something someone just emailed me is what if he just wants to pay $1000 and not play any of them. I think in order to claim the 10-tourney share bonus you need to show up (I'll likely have to miss some myself), but I'm wondering if it's a problem if I allow people to just buy-in and miss a tournament or two. Any thoughts?

[rminusq]

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As to the rest, players will have shares based the following formula where 'x' is number of tournaments played: x * ( 1 + x/10 ) ... and if you play all 10, you get 3x, or 30 shares.


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Sounds complicated, though you have legitimate reasons (more tourneys played -> more than linear increase in number of shares). However, 10 tourneys played seems to equal 10*(1+10/10) = 20 shares.

[Chee7718]

How are you doing your points / deciding who wins the seats?

I saw that you count your top 8 finishes for "points", but I didn't see what your point system was.

[Lottery Larry]

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Yeah, I'll definitely be sure the majority is okay with it. I'd not really want to dip below 5%, though. Maybe put a cap on total $.

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I wasn't thinking about your group, I was thinking about your local police force.

[ QUOTE ]
Something someone just emailed me is what if he just wants to pay $1000 and not play any of them. I think in order to claim the 10-tourney share bonus you need to show up (I'll likely have to miss some myself), but I'm wondering if it's a problem if I allow people to just buy-in and miss a tournament or two. Any thoughts?

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So, he wants to pay full price and not play in any tourneys, but get a piece of any winnings in the WSOP?

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and you're having a problem with this WHY, exactly? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]