End of the US Open?

[jokrswylde]

My point is the prize for the "Main Event" had been $1M since 1991, but didn't go main stream until MoneyMaker won (2003) and more importantly there was a massive shortage of sports content with the hockey strike of 2004. So networks were scrambling to catch the public's eye with something. It was a bit of a perfect storm for poker. However since then it continued to grow exponentially for sometime.

Prize money had been substantial for quite some time before poker got popular.

Yes, and dont foget Moneymaker was primarily an online player, which added to his "everyman" persona. His win really accelerated the growth of PartyPoker.net and other online poker sites, which all taken together with the other factors mentioned, led to the unprecedented boom in hold'em poker.

Even though a relatively unknown may come through and win a big televised tourney every year or so, much like pool the same big names are more often than not the favorites at any tourney they enter( Ivey, Negreanu, matasow, hellmuth, saliba, owens, etc.)

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

Maybe add to that that the top 200 fargos will be in the lottery, the rest get a refund. Choose 125 in a lottery and have two weeks to pay the full amount. The rest are wait listed.

Matchroom has nothing to do with fargorate. It’s a separate entity. Some people don’t have fargorates. So this approach won’t really work very well.

 

[jay helfert]

Burlington, I played there, loved the ring game at the end of the hallway.
The promoters didn't payout.
Rempe got knocked out early, cashed out/they gave him a check.
I remember he cashed it at the gate, wasn't much.
The rest of the field I heard Zippo$.
So actually Rempe got paid top money, rest of em got stiffed.
Jay, was that the courtney/coffee promoter name I have stuck in my head running this event?

After that I drove to Beanies/DeValles room on the E. Coast.
The Gump and all of em were there.
It's where Carella busted St. Louie Louie..... but allowed him to Post up his gold jewelry & play one more set.
Louie ended up with all the cash after that.

I was the one who tipped off the police that the guy who promoted the event was going south with the money. They caught him at the airport just before he got on a plane to Vegas. He had all the entry fee money with him. They used that to pay off as many players as they could. I forget now who won, I thought it was Rempe and Richie Ambrose second. Rempe was smart and got his money right away (like $5,000). The rest of the top finishers only got partial payments.

Cool story about Louie and Carella. I would pick Mike C. over Louie back then, but Louie had no quit in him and he could wear you down. Miss my man Gump! One of my all time favorite people. I cried when we lost him. Louie too. He lit up the room anywhere he went. Louie had electricity.

My first time in Miami, Pancho steered me around. We made a little money together and then he set me up with Carella, supposedly a rich college kid. He charged me 200 and my "friend" Pancho just laughed about it.

 

[jay helfert]

if only there was a big prize money tournament on the horizon..

I believe matchroom has one scheduled now with a million dollar purse, 200K for first. That's a good start!

 

[skogstokig]

yes good but lets build it to getting that 200k or 100k to all the top ten finishes and maybe 20k or more to the top 5 or 10 % of entries.

it's a threefold increase since last year, so heading in the right direction. and matchroom usually pays deep

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

Do you know what one of the major problems is with the U.S. Open. When has an amateur ever won? if more amateurs placed higher that signed up, maybe they wouldn’t even be trying to go this route to start with.

I don’t follow the people that placed in the Open, but how often are amateurs even in the top 32 players? I can’t remember hearing of any. We need a better showing from the amateurs there. I don’t understand how more amateurs don’t hit their gear at the tournament and place higher.

Take a solid 700 as an example. On a good day he/she(maybe both) will play at a pro level. Pros are obviously better players all in all, but why don’t we see more amateurs up there? I mean a 750 is a favorite to beat a 700, but I’ve seen 600s tear up 650/675s all night in a tournament before. Without losing any of the matches in a straight race format. Haven’t you all seen the same? if it’s just the fact that they get an easier route to the top 32 than most players why aren’t they getting there? They only have to win 3/4 rounds, ands pros can play bad too.

 

[JPB2]

Do you know what one of the major problems is with the U.S. Open. When has an amateur ever won? if more amateurs placed higher that signed up, maybe they wouldn’t even be trying to go this route to start with.

I don’t follow the people that placed in the Open, but how often are amateurs even in the top 32 players? I can’t remember hearing of any. We need a better showing from the amateurs there. I don’t understand how more amateurs don’t hit their gear at the tournament and place higher.

Take a solid 700 as an example. On a good day he/she(maybe both) will play at a pro level. Pros are obviously better players all in all, but why don’t we see more amateurs up there? I mean a 750 is a favorite to beat a 700, but I’ve seen 600s tear up 650/675s all night in a tournament before. Without losing any of the matches in a straight race format. Haven’t you all seen the same? if it’s just the fact that they get an easier route to the top 32 than most players why aren’t they getting there? They only have to win 3/4 rounds, ands pros can play bad too.

Throwing golf out as an example as we sometimes do. Johnny Goodman in 1933? Thats the last am to win in golf. That’s not an indication amateurs are competitive. Yes, an am won on tour recently and turned pro. But Lawson Little, Jack Nicklaus, Harvey Ward, Ken Venturi, Phil Mickelson, and yes Tiger Woods for all they did as ams did not win the US Open as an am. Nicklaus came close in ‘60.

Problem of pro/am distinction in pool notwithstanding.

 

[lfigueroa]

Do you know what one of the major problems is with the U.S. Open. When has an amateur ever won? if more amateurs placed higher that signed up, maybe they wouldn’t even be trying to go this route to start with.

I don’t follow the people that placed in the Open, but how often are amateurs even in the top 32 players? I can’t remember hearing of any. We need a better showing from the amateurs there. I don’t understand how more amateurs don’t hit their gear at the tournament and place higher.

Take a solid 700 as an example. On a good day he/she(maybe both) will play at a pro level. Pros are obviously better players all in all, but why don’t we see more amateurs up there? I mean a 750 is a favorite to beat a 700, but I’ve seen 600s tear up 650/675s all night in a tournament before. Without losing any of the matches in a straight race format. Haven’t you all seen the same? if it’s just the fact that they get an easier route to the top 32 than most players why aren’t they getting there? They only have to win 3/4 rounds, ands pros can play bad too.

Not about winning it.

Lou Figueroa

 

[9BallKY]

Do you know what one of the major problems is with the U.S. Open. When has an amateur ever won? if more amateurs placed higher that signed up, maybe they wouldn’t even be trying to go this route to start with.

I don’t follow the people that placed in the Open, but how often are amateurs even in the top 32 players? I can’t remember hearing of any. We need a better showing from the amateurs there. I don’t understand how more amateurs don’t hit their gear at the tournament and place higher.

Take a solid 700 as an example. On a good day he/she(maybe both) will play at a pro level. Pros are obviously better players all in all, but why don’t we see more amateurs up there? I mean a 750 is a favorite to beat a 700, but I’ve seen 600s tear up 650/675s all night in a tournament before. Without losing any of the matches in a straight race format. Haven’t you all seen the same? if it’s just the fact that they get an easier route to the top 32 than most players why aren’t they getting there? They only have to win 3/4 rounds, ands pros can play bad too.

Because amateurs have to play their absolute best to beat the top tier players even one set. When you line those top tier players up back to back an amateur just can’t play over their head for a long period of time. Those 800+ players can control the whole set even if they aren’t playing their best. They can win with their B game.