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TAM 8 Poker Tournament

Horatius

NWO Kitty Wrangler
Horatius
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
29,691
Has anyone looked into arranging a poker tournament for this year? Is anyone interested in one?
 
I'm interested. Missed it at the last TAM I was at because of flight delays.
 
Poker?! I barely know her!!

Badoom ching!!

Thank you very much. Please try the lamb.
 
Horatius said:
Well, is winning beer from Hokulele considered "Fun"? Then, yes.
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You are so going down Kitty-Boy!

Any opinions on when to have it? It was Thursday last year, just after the opening reception. We also have to work around the bowling event, though. We could also try for Friday, starting at about 6:30 or so.
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I think mr. ottle organized this the past two years, but I didn't see his name on the roll-call list, so I have no idea if he will even be there. Unless you would like to volunteer to set this up, I am willing to step up. I will be in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, and should be able to call or stop by the South Point to talk to whoever manages the Poker room. Since they have done this before, it should be fairly easy.

Whoever does this, we will need to get an idea of a rough head count and a preferred date/time. Last year we did it just before the bowling session (which starts at 9:00) on Thursday. Friday night generally has stuff going on, but if people are willing to skip stuff, we can do it then. IIRC, the year before last we did it Thursday afternoon (and you were the first out :D). So, let's look at three possible times:

Thursday afternoon before the reception
Thursday evening after the reception
Friday evening (6:30 ish)

Anyone who is interested, please indicate so here and choose one of those time slots. Also, since this is a fund-raiser for the JREF, does anyone know if we can get it on the official schedule so non-forumites will know to sign up?
 
Hokulele said:
You are so going down Kitty-Boy!
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In your dreams, Pineapple Girl!

I think mr. ottle organized this the past two years, but I didn't see his name on the roll-call list, so I have no idea if he will even be there. Unless you would like to volunteer to set this up, I am willing to step up. I will be in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, and should be able to call or stop by the South Point to talk to whoever manages the Poker room. Since they have done this before, it should be fairly easy.
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Well, I was going to volunteer, but if you'll be there anyways, it would probably be easier to do in person rather than over the phone.


So, let's look at three possible times:

Thursday afternoon before the reception
Thursday evening after the reception
Friday evening (6:30 ish)

Anyone who is interested, please indicate so here and choose one of those time slots. Also, since this is a fund-raiser for the JREF, does anyone know if we can get it on the official schedule so non-forumites will know to sign up?
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I could live with any of these times, I think.
 
I'll be at TAM, but have no time to set this up this year. So thanks for taking it over :)

Some suggestions:

The guy who runs the SP Poker Room was extremely cool and easy to work with last year. As long as there's not some other event going on, they will be happy to work us in.

I forget what their cut of the buy-in is, though. Something like $15 each, I believe. That's why we ended up with a $50 buy-in -- trying to find the sweet spot between affordability and making enough money to make it worth the time.

Also, because I was mixed up in some fool extemporaneous wedding planning last year, I missed the tourney myself. Because of that, not everyone knew that half the winnings went to the JREF, so the guy who won the tourney kept all of his cut. I never found out who it was (he wasn't a forum member, apparently). The #2 guy donated all his to the JREF, and I think #3 did the 50/50 split. But I suggest making sure *everyone* knows the plan. Maybe you can work that out ahead of time with the poker room guy.

Setting it up takes about 5-10 minutes on the phone. It might be worth a call even ahead of visiting there, then make a quick stop in to verify everything. Estimate about 30 people, then revise between now and when you go.

Last year, the head poker guy (I think his name is Joe) tracked me down after the tourney to tell me all the dealers enjoyed working with us. He said we were well-behaved, funny, and generous with the tips, and they'd be happy to work with us again. So maybe remind him that we did this last year in case he remembers - that was probably 700 tournaments ago :)

I drank something just yesterday out of the bounty I took off Horatius two years ago. :)
 
Oh, I'd still like to play, though :) I'm probably arriving on Thursday, not sure yet of the time. Friday or later on Thursday would be my preference.

Horatius got too far in the tourney last year when I wasn't there.
 
I'm partial to Thursday myself. But if it's on Friday I'll still be there.
 
mr. ottle said:
I'll be at TAM, but have no time to set this up this year. So thanks for taking it over :)

Some suggestions:
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Thanks, that helps a lot. How did you publicize the event? Did the JREF put some sort of "official" notice anywhere, or was it just announced at the opening reception? I would like to make sure we have enough tables reserved, but not too many.

So far, it is looking like Thursday evening works for most people. The reception is scheduled to end at 7:00, so let's say poker starts at 7:30?

Horatius, if you last longer than I do at the poker tournament (Ha! As if!), can you be responsible for shutting the event down, getting the winners paid, and collecting the JREF cut? If I get knocked out early, I will probably go upstairs to help Hutch with the bowling.
 
Hokulele said:
Horatius, if you last longer than I do at the poker tournament (Ha! As if!), can you be responsible for shutting the event down, getting the winners paid, and collecting the JREF cut? If I get knocked out early, I will probably go upstairs to help Hutch with the bowling.
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If?


Yeah, sure, I can cover that if when needed.


In previous years, we had a JREF donation that was over and above the tournament fee, which is how JREF got their cut. With the buy-in being $50 however, people might not be up for that, as it's already pretty expensive. However, a separate fee is easier to collect, as you can do it up front.

The catch is, the casino won't handle that part of the money. If you can find out what sort of buy-in they're willing to offer, we might consider this instead of expecting the winners to give up part of their winnings. It would also be easier to explain to people.
 
Horatius said:
In previous years, we had a JREF donation that was over and above the tournament fee, which is how JREF got their cut. With the buy-in being $50 however, people might not be up for that, as it's already pretty expensive. However, a separate fee is easier to collect, as you can do it up front.

The catch is, the casino won't handle that part of the money. If you can find out what sort of buy-in they're willing to offer, we might consider this instead of expecting the winners to give up part of their winnings. It would also be easier to explain to people.
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Yeah, I remember someone wandering around 2 years ago collecting money separately from the buy-in, but that was at a different casino (Flamingo?), so it may be different at the South Point. The nice thing about having the winners donate part (or all) of the pot is that it doesn't put any additional financial burden on the participants.

I will see if we can make that a bit more clear up front.

ETA: I will also look into a lower buy-in with a side donation collected separately.
 
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Hokulele said:
ETA: I will also look into a lower buy-in with a side donation collected separately.
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That's the catch. The Riv and the Flamingo were willing to offer us a lower buy-in, so it worked out the same. Maybe now that we've been at the South Point before, they'll be more accommodating? Really push that, "They liked us!" bit mr. ottle mentioned.
 
Horatius said:
That's the catch. The Riv and the Flamingo were willing to offer us a lower buy-in, so it worked out the same. Maybe now that we've been at the South Point before, they'll be more accommodating? Really push that, "They liked us!" bit mr. ottle mentioned.
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Re-reading mr. ottle's post, it looks like the casino raked in $15 per head. Maybe they will let us do a $40 buy-in and we can collect the extra $10 per person as a donation. If there are 30 participants, that would be $300 for the JREF, and there would still be a $750 pot to split amongst the winners. I will have to see if they mind me standing there with a bucket as people check in.
 
Hokulele said:
Thanks, that helps a lot. How did you publicize the event? Did the JREF put some sort of "official" notice anywhere, or was it just announced at the opening reception? I would like to make sure we have enough tables reserved, but not too many.
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I mainly just talked about it here. Got it added to one of the informal "other events" calendars, and then last year I nagged either Phil or Hal to mention it. I also had a signup sheet with all the details at the registration area.
 
Horatius said:
If?


Yeah, sure, I can cover that if when needed.


In previous years, we had a JREF donation that was over and above the tournament fee, which is how JREF got their cut. With the buy-in being $50 however, people might not be up for that, as it's already pretty expensive. However, a separate fee is easier to collect, as you can do it up front.

The catch is, the casino won't handle that part of the money. If you can find out what sort of buy-in they're willing to offer, we might consider this instead of expecting the winners to give up part of their winnings. It would also be easier to explain to people.
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As I recall, there was an issue with doing that two years ago at the Flamingo. The poker boss said it was against some rule, and I couldn't figure out a way to collect it all beforehand. We could do it when people signed up at registration, I guess, but I couldn't get a visible spot, didn't plan ahead with a big sign, and Linda wouldn't let me sit at the registration desk :)

I don't know if that really is a rule. Maybe my mistake was asking them. I only played in one before I inherited the organization from Antique Hunter.

In any case, splitting the pot was a lot easier to manage at the Flamingo. The only problem last year is that the rules weren't clear to everyone and I didn't have an assistant - so when I was caught in traffic with a dead cell phone, I couldn't get word out. :)
 
Hokulele said:
Yeah, I remember someone wandering around 2 years ago collecting money separately from the buy-in, but that was at a different casino (Flamingo?), so it may be different at the South Point. The nice thing about having the winners donate part (or all) of the pot is that it doesn't put any additional financial burden on the participants.
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It wasn't at the Flamingo, but there were people walking around at the Mirage collecting cash. Their poker room was the least cordoned off I have ever seen.

I don't know how long the tourney existed before then. I'm told that the Stardust simply didn't give a **** what anyone did, since they were closing.
 
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