I must say the 'Cabal' meeting we had the other week went very, very well. Maybe too well.
By the end of the evening, which came much earlier than I expected - everyone was mentally absolutely drained from analyzing hands. Playing a mock tournament and then talking in depth about every hand we play is far more tiring than just regular the regular pokerz.
I think it was very worthwhile, as everyone had something to contribute - and everyone wants to do it again soon. The couple of guys who couldn't make it are also eager to do the next one so they can get in on the goodness.
Tangentially related to this, I ran into two of the guys a week later at a party - one of which made it to the lab and the other who didn't. Somehow the conversation got around to the World Series of Poker Main Event and how much we would all like to play in it.
For years I have pondered how to make it happen for my home game, that is - run a satellite or series of satellites so someone can win entry into the greatest poker tournament on the planet.
A couple of obstacles to this - first and foremost, the price. 10K is nothing to sneeze at and an amount that most of us, even those of us who could afford it (I count myself blessed that I can) wouldn't feel comfortable putting down ten dimes for a poker tournament just on principle alone. Dividing up the expense via' a satellite will help a lot, but most are reluctant to part with a thousand bucks or so in one or a few tournaments, and that's likely how much it would cost each player.
The other obstacle, and in some ways it's more difficult to deal with than the money, is the time commitment. Who wants to put in at work for a week of vacation only to bust out on day one or two of the event. Then what do you do? Stay in Vegas and play poker for the rest of the week, all the while being bummed out that you just busted out of the Main? Not an easy situation.
But I must admit, the two fellows I was talking with were rather pumped up about the prospect of one of us going. The good thing about how we do it at my game, is that when someone wins a satellite, they keep 60% of the money that they win but they then have to share the remaining cash with the rest of us satellite participants. It really fosters a compassionate and supportive atmosphere during the satellite, and well beyond into the WSOP itself.
I can't imagine how exciting it would be for one of us to go to the Main Event on behalf of my little game in Burbank.
So I just sent an email to gauge interest in the Cabal - if I get half a dozen or so people who say they are pumped about the prospect - then I'll send them all the particulars of how it will work, which I confess I'm still working out in my head, even as I type this.
Here's are a few different ways we might do it -
1) Make it entirely points based.
From Jan 2017 through March 2018 we play 8 tournaments.
Points are awarded to every participant for every tournament they play, with more points going to higher finishers as well as more points awarded if there are more players in a particular tournament.
At the end, the points leader goes to the big dance.
You must play in a minimum of 5 tournaments to qualify to go and to get a share of any winnings.
PROS: Simple and fair.
CONS: Players can be mathematically eliminated before all the tournaments are completed.
One option would be to only count the points in players top tournaments, say only points from the highest 5 tournaments would count. This would hopefully encourage those who bomb out on the first few events to keep playing.
2) Make it points based but also give a back door for those who bomb out early to catch up.
From Jan 2017 through March 2018 we play 8 tournaments.
Points are awarded to every participant for every tournament they play, with more points going to higher finishers as well as more points awarded if there are more players in a particular tournament.
At the end, the 8 top point leaders goes to our championship satellite, and the winner of that goes to the big dance.
You must play in a minimum of 5 tournaments to qualify for the championship and to get a share of any winnings.
After the 8 tournaments are finished - we have a free roll tournament where everyone who played 5 or more of the 8 tournaments can play for free. The top finisher gets the remaining seat. We could also make the championship ten handed, and give the top two finishers of the free roll the remaining seats.
Everyone who plays 5 of the original tournaments qualifies for a share if the seat winner cashes.
PROS: Gives people who bomb out and have no chance of qualifying with points to stay in the running.
CONS: Puts a bit more emphasis on variance - as someone who sucks during the regular run of tournaments might get hit by the deck in the free roll and potentially the championship.
I think for this option we would count the points for all 8 events, to give incentive for people to keep playing if they still have a chance to qualify for the championship.
Another option we could add to this system - the starting chip counts for the free roll could be based on participation in the original series of 8 tournaments. I don't like the idea of making the free roll starting stack based on results, because it defeats the whole purpose of giving people a chance who bomb out in the initial run of tournaments.
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There are countless of variations based off of these two systems - but I think both of these general ideas have merit.
A third option which I don't think will work is to simply make the whole thing a TOC system - where if you win a tournament you qualify for a championship seat.
This is a bad idea because as soon as you lock up a seat you have no incentive to keep playing. Even if we said you had to play 5 tournaments to qualify, someone who locked up their seat early would have no incentive to play their best in the remaining tournaments, which would undoubtedly skew the results.
Inevitably, someone will bring up the idea that there should be a portion of each satellite tournament's prize pool set aside to be awarded as a prize right then and there. I am not opposed to giving the top finisher his money back and perhaps 2nd place half of their money back or something similar. Beyond that, the entry fee required will simply get too large or we will have to play too many tournaments and that will be too much of a time commitment for most of us.
I think $200 is the maximum threshold for most of the garage players, myself included, and if the price point is that high, I don't think it can be more than 6 to 8 tournaments total over a year and 3 months.
There's a lot to think about here. I hope Cabal members who read this will be active in giving me feedback as to how they want to do this, that is - if they want to do it at all.
