Would'nt This Help Pro Pool...........

jimmy-leggs said:

I just asked linda what the entry for the pro event in vegas was and thought it was $500,and I think most pro entries are around $500.So would'nt it make sense to raise this to $1,000 entry.This way all prize payouts are at least SOMETHING.To me it seams even the winner only wins $10,000-$15,000 on an average now-a-days,thats not that much for just about a weeks work.
To me for a pro to spend afew days in a tourny,go quite far and only win $1,000 with all his or her expenses is not alot.
Just a thought ,what do you guys think?

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I agree! Professional poker tpournaments are $5000 entry fees at least. The main event is $10,000! Their prize pools doesn't have any added money or sponsers to the prize pool. They build large turnouts due to nationwide even worldwide qualifers. Alot of us looks for someone else to add the money but its up to us to make it happen. I have staked players several times in major events and for one would not object to a higher entry fee. Last year I was with two players at the US OPEN. Both finished decent in the money and we barely covered our expenses. Thats pretty sad to me!!

Yes

jimmy-leggs said:

I just asked linda what the entry for the pro event in vegas was and thought it was $500,and I think most pro entries are around $500.So would'nt it make sense to raise this to $1,000 entry.This way all prize payouts are at least SOMETHING.To me it seams even the winner only wins $10,000-$15,000 on an average now-a-days,thats not that much for just about a weeks work.
To me for a pro to spend afew days in a tourny,go quite far and only win $1,000 with all his or her expenses is not alot.
Just a thought ,what do you guys think?

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I think this has merit as long as your goal of raising the payouts is achieved. The one consequence I see is that some of the players on the lower end of the "chance to win" group might not get in the tourney. But if the outcome is larger payouts I feel that this would be a good thing. Especially in the Major events!!

A good percentage of them now are having a hard time ponying up the entry fees. Double it and some of them might lose sponsorship. But there's always a stake horse I guess. Johnnyt

One way around the higher cost is qualifiers...if people are willing to pay $2000 for an IPT tourney that isn't ever going to happen then why not for one that is going to happen...

There are a lot of things they could try. But will anyone? I have a hunch Allen Hopkins is on the right track. Looks like he coppied most of it from the IPT, but with a smaller purse...which I agree with. Johnnyt

Instead of the prize payouts how about putting a collection agent on salary.

This way players do not have to worry about getting paid.

I think this is a neat idea. I have heard that the prize pool for major tournaments hasn't gone up substantially in the last 20+ years. Would anyone knowledgeable comment on whether the entry fee has gone up much?

Of course, for some people increasing the cost will be a huge issue, but for others it will be no issue at all. I'm sure Efren wouldn't be bothered by this, for example. But clearly someone like John Schmidt might make it to fewer tournaments.

Even though you might not find as many great American players going, I think you might still fill the field. For one thing, you might get more strong international players for whom it would now be worth the expense to come. $500 extra doesn't sound like much when you're already paying $1500 for a plane ticket and $500 for the hotel.

$2500 (ticket, hotel, entry) to win $10000 vs $3000 to win $20000.

Anyone who plays poker knows the second scenario is way preferable!

However, for an American, travel expenses are a smaller percentage. For the American, you might have
$200 travel, $500 hotel, $500/1000 entry.

$10000/$1200 vs. $20000/17000

Here the main cost is the entry fee, and the American player's odds aren't helped nearly as much as the Int'l players. Still, their overall odds are somewhat improved.

Also--and this is just idle speculation--you might get more wealthy people entering the tournament. You might get "pretty strong" players that want a chance to play with the pros. They might be encouraged by a smaller field (as a result of the top players not being able to afford it), where they might advance further. I think this is somewhat the case with the major poker tournaments. They get enough people "who can play a little" enough money that they think they have a chance.

kevin s said:

I agree! Professional poker tpournaments are $5000 entry fees at least. The main event is $10,000! Their prize pools doesn't have any added money or sponsers to the prize pool. They build large turnouts due to nationwide even worldwide qualifers. Alot of us looks for someone else to add the money but its up to us to make it happen. I have staked players several times in major events and for one would not object to a higher entry fee. Last year I was with two players at the US OPEN. Both finished decent in the money and we barely covered our expenses. Thats pretty sad to me!!

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Professional Poker makes this work because of the luck factor. Yes, you may spend $10,000 on an entry, but any joe can get lucky and win, so the tournament is fueled by amateurs. How many amateur men and women pool players do you know that would put up that kind of money to play in an event that they cannot win? Yes, the top players would and for the men, there may be a turn-out of a hundred players (though probably much lower), that cannot compare to the thousands that play in the poker events. For the women, I don't even think 30 women would play for any entry of more than a thousand.

Firecracker said:

Professional Poker makes this work because of the luck factor. Yes, you may spend $10,000 on an entry, but any joe can get lucky and win, so the tournament is fueled by amateurs. How many amateur men and women pool players do you know that would put up that kind of money to play in an event that they cannot win? Yes, the top players would and for the men, there may be a turn-out of a hundred players (though probably much lower), that cannot compare to the thousands that play in the poker events. For the women, I don't even think 30 women would play for any entry of more than a thousand.

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Professional poker works because of multiple Internet qualifiers. Most of the growth has came from them! IMHO. Imagine if you had every APA or BCA room running a qualifiers to send a local player to the US Open. Regardless of the luck factor there are hundreds of good players around the country that can go deep in a major tournament. I'm saying also at some point the ante has to be raised. The WPBA has got their act together. There isn't really one main tour for the men but rather a few small tours that seem to be competing against each other.