Want to play in the WSOP Main Event?

[ErikM 0]

I'm writing to share this idea me and my brother came up with that was sort of inspired by DN's recent quest to win the Player of the Year Award. My brother and I and all of our friends are novice poker players that have never really played in any high stakes games but all have lofty aspirations of becoming high stakes pro players. All of us are always talking about how great it would be to play in the Main Event of the WSOP regardless of the fact that we would probably be huge underdogs to even make the money let alone win. Then again, who knows right? Anyway, we came up with this idea. Basically it consists of at least 10 people agreeing to the terms of this little "scheme" and actually participating in what would amount to a weekly poker session. We would play two $10.00 buy-in, sit-and-go type tournaments a week, and all of the money would be set aside in a lock box. We would record the outcome of each game and keep stats. We figured we would keep it simple 1st to bust out you get 1 point, 2nd to bust out you get 2 points, and so on.After 1 year (52 weeks) the person with the most points wins our little poker club Player of the Year Award and gets to play in the WSOP Main event.$10.00 X10 players X2 games per week X52 weeks =$10,400.00(That's assuming exactly 10 people play in all 104 games). Basically, the person with the most points gets the cash to use as the buy-in to the main event. On an individual basis it amounts to $20.00 a week and about 2-4 hours of your time a week (assuming we create a blind schedule that works accordingly).I thought it was a cool way for us broke wannabe pro players to not only come up with the cash to play in the big one, but also to prompt us to really focus on improving our game so that we can consistently place high. Anyway, I figured I would share that with you guys...Later

[dna4ever 2]

The theory is good, but the logistics would be a nightmare. You would have to get each person ( 1st, 2nd 3rd assuming just 10 played and 3 payed) every week to transfer their winnings to this 'lockbox'. Doing this twice a week and having everyone agree and understand would just be horriffic in my opinion.The point system alone would be a nightmare. All the major online pokersites, especially pokerstars is known for having fantastic satellites to all the WPT events, especially the WSOP Main Event.Anywhere from a $3 rebuy to $650 + $15 direct qualifiar can earn you a seat in the WSOP.Seem a little easier to utilize a system already in place like these, but best of luck if you decide to try something like that.

[ErikM 0]

Ohhh no... just to clarify.The intention was to do this in real life.So basically, I would host the weekly game on lets say Sunday. Everyone involved would come over and we would play two games. And we would keep the actual cash in a real life lockbox...Since it is in real life, keeping the stats would be easy enough, I would just need to build a spread sheet.I think the real challange would be to get ppl to participate regularly (especially if they are low in the standings after a couple months) and of course, not getting robbed.Basically, the concept is to take your weekly poker game and add a little twist...

[elkang 0]

My 2 cents...this format is would fail whenever a few people gained a significant lead. I can easily imagine the last months being fruitless and wastes of time for some as 3 players have almost unbeatable leads over the rest.A much better system involves skimming off money (10-20%) from the pot . This keeps the action going for the later tourneys.I can see how some friends get together for games for social and poker practice reasons, but can you really run a game like this? If so, good for you. My friends and I get together once a month if even that. Meanwhile, we play in poker rooms like 2-4 times a week.Also, I seriously think that sending someone to the main event is an unwise use of the money. Use the $10K for a Vegas vacation for all of you instead.

[ErikM 0]

true... i do agree that could happen, assuming any of us did indeed take a significant lead.Unfortunately though... Home games and internet are all we got here because poker rooms are illegal.And again... the goal would be to fulfill that pipe dream we all have of playing in the main event

[Duff_Man 0]

You would have $400 left over. What about the money needed for travelling and living expenses for your time in Vegas. Granted you can usaully fly to Vegas for a reasonable price but still. And I agree with elkang good luck getting anyone to contriute after they've been statistically knocked out of the prize.My 2.5 centsDuff

[ErikM 0]

Yeah, again... I do agree that would be a huge disadvantage to doing it, unless of course we all stayed tight in the standings.The 400.00 is for the additional buy in fee (if there is one).As far as getting to vegas... you would be on your own.

[the_stein 0]

I think it's a pretty good idea

[ErikM 0]

LOL... that doesn't surprise me. Judging by your pic I think we are on the same wave length... :-)

[murphyz 0]

The idea, to get you or one of your friends to be able to go, is good - if this is something you all wish to do - but as mentioned before, it's going to be hard for many people to keep pumping money into something they get nothing in return for. Perhaps you can bump the ante up a little and make it so that, after a year, you have enough in the pot for the single entry fee and a trip to Vegas + hotel fees for all of you. At least then you will all get something out of it, and you have a nice little group supporting you. If the 'losers' like they can all then make sure they have funds for a satellite tourney once they get there and perhaps they'll get lucky too.Mxx

[ErikM 0]

No THATS a great Idea...I could do $15.00 per game... which would yeild an extra 5,200.00So thats 520.00 each for airfare and some money left over (if we get cheap airline ticks).And that doesn't drastically increase the per game buy in either....Great Idea!

[Thathmew 0]

My friends and I run a league like this and love it, although it's a smaller goal. Our league lasts about six months. We play poker once or twice a week or so and at the end of a session we a play a freezeout, sometimes two. The entry is 5 (or 10) + 1. The one goes in to a kitty that at the end of the six month period we use to buy a player in to a preliminary event (500-1000) at the World Poker Finals or the New England Poker Classic. Any profits are split 50/50 between the representative and the rest of the league. Anyone is welcome to play and if they don't want to be a part of the league they don't throw in the extra buck.We play a pretty fast format, twenty hands for the first level and ten hands per level after that. We start with 12 to 20 in chips, and .50- .50 blinds. We pay out 1st and second and third if there's enough. .5- .5, .5- 1, 1-2, 1.5-3, 2-4, 3-6, 4-8, 6-12. It works out to about 45 or an hour, more if there's lots of players, but it's very similar to a single table satellite format.This is the point structure and payouts (we double it all when we play for $10 stakes, including playing 20 hands a round)Players 1st Money 1st Points 2nd Money 2nd Points 3rd Money 3rd Points Max Limit4 $15.00 0 $5.00 0 $0.00 0 2-45 $17.50 20 $7.50 10 $0.00 0 2-46 $20.00 24 $10.00 12 $0.00 0 3-67 $22.50 28 $12.50 14 $0.00 7 3-68 $25.00 32 $15.00 16 $0.00 8 4-89 $25.00 36 $15.00 18 $5.00 9 4-810 $27.50 40 $17.50 20 $5.00 10 4-811 $30.00 44 $20.00 22 $5.00 11 6-1212 $32.50 48 $22.50 24 $5.00 12 6-12The trick is to keep it fair for those who don't play every tourney, yet add some value to playing more tourneys. So standings are determined with this formula:Average points + (Total points/200)So if you've played 10 games and have 72 points your score is 7.56.For your score to count you have to play in at least 1/3 of the games.I maintain the league and it's really not hard, I use a simple database and spreadsheet to track it all, takes about five minutes at the end of a session. Happy to share either if anyone's interested.cheers,-mat

[fflcdndctx 0]

Hey I like your thinking but i would suggest holding a tournament once a month say for 100 which would go into your lock box. That wuld give you a thousand a month and 12000 for the year. This way it would not be so time consuming(doing it twice a week). I agree from some of the other post that you will need to work on the points reward so as to keep the interest of all to the end or as close as posible. Good Luck and if it happens keep us in the loopMarc

[ErikM 0]

better yet mat... how do I join your league?

[MDBLakers 0]

I like your idea. But to keep the interest up for the other players who are mathematically eliminated as the year goes on I would suggest doing this.The person in 1st plays in the WSOP Main Event and he/she gets 75% the money if that person places in the money. The rest of the 9 players would be broken down like this.2nd 5%3rd 4%4th 4%5th 3%6th 3%7th 2%8th 2%9th 1%10th 1%So say that person won last years prize which was $5 million.He would get $3.75 million and 2nd would get $250,000 all the way down to 10th place which would get $50,000. It's like having backers in a way.

[ErikM 0]

wow thats another great idea...Thanks for your thoughts.

[IBETUWIN 0]

even if this plan did work and the winner got 10 400 for it all he still be short a bit as the actual buy in for the main event is $10,000 + $800 so the winner would be out $400 for the entry alone plus the airfare and hotel, but thats just my two cents

[murphyz 0]

lots of stuff with numbers and blah...So say that person won last years prize which was $5 million.He would get $3.75 million and 2nd would get $250,000 all the way down to 10th place which would get $50,000. It's like having backers in a way.

Contracts needed here. You'll be amazed how quickly a friendship could break up when you ask someone to give away $1.25m.Mxx

[Thathmew 0]

The percentages we pay out are actually based on the number of games you've played. I.e. if you put $50 into the $500 pool, then you'll get 1/20 of the profits (half goes to the winner). We've usually had enough that 2nd place has gotten a discounted entry into an event as well. We've had 3 seasons and one money by the winner which covered everything up to that point -- although barely. <grin>

[mark33f 0]

I think that would be a good idea, but considering that 5,000 people are expected to play in next years main event, I think you would be throwing the money away (not saying that no one should play in it). But a satelitte seems a little more reasonable. It seems the Main Event is becoming a lot more about luck...consider what Phil Hellmuth said: "imagine 2600 players in a room flipping coins, 1300 flip heads and move one . . . eventually three will flip heads ten times in a row. Good luck trying to beat the guy that has ten coin flips in a row go his way!"

[88Fingers 0]

Here is another suggestion I just quickly thought of (so I apologize in advance for no money amounts and if there are any 'holes' in it):Every time you enter a tourney - you get a ballot into Draw #1. This is good for a draw, at the end of the tournies, where 1 winner gets 'X' percentage of the buy ins (small but significant 5-10%). This will encourage people to still play if they are low in the points area.The other percentage goes to cover one entry into the WSOP + prizes for each tourney.Have the tournies structured so that the top 'X' winners get some cash (again to encourage lower points players to keep playing) and points. These points determine who is Player #1 in a heads-up match for the buy-in.Everytime someone enters a tourney the get a ballot into draw #2. At the end of all the tourneys, you draw a name from the entrants into Draw #2. This person plays Player #1 in a heads up match for the buy-in.It gives both the winners of the tournies and the non-winners a reason to keep playing. It also encourages competition and a little fun too!It would be complex to set up but "It's so crazy, it just might work!". What does everyone think?

[jimdmcevoy 0]

My idea to keep people wanting to play, is have it the exact way you do, but at the end of the year have a 'main event' where everyone's starting stack is proportional to how many points they accumulated throughout the year.One could even argue that the point leader is the one who least wants to play towards the end of the year.

[ramblin67RS 0]

If you have any chance in the WSOP main event, you should be able to earn a seat by spending the $1040 (probally less) to enter Satellite Tournaments.Good Luck..