First, the World Championships. The World Championship event itself is
single-elimination, matches starting at 17pts and progressing to 25 in
the finals. The entry fee is about $750 and it is open to anyone with
the cash. There are side events, lower flights, and both a first and second
consolation.
Second, a brief outline of how a typical real-life tournament works. The main event usually starts on the second day. There will typically be three flights – open, intermediate, and beginner. Typical entry fees for the open are $300 (or a bit more or a bit less) for open, half that for intermediate, half of that for beginner. Formats vary but often it is single or double-elimination with various types of consolations. The prize pool is typically 85% of the entry fees in the higher flights and 80% in the lower.
There are often side pools for those who want more action. For example, you might pay $250 to enter the open and then an optional $100 side pool. The one or two players who enter the side pool who do the best among those in the side pool get the money; side pools almost always have a 100% return.
Sometimes there is also a Calcutta. In a Calcutta, the entrants are auctioned off to buyers. The owner(s) of the high finishers get the appropriate share of the auction pool. A player usually has the right to buy up to 50% of himself back from whomever bought him in the auction. Sometimes the auction will not be held until the field is down to a certain size. Weaker players are often sold as a field or packaged with high seeds. For example, if I entered such a tournament, since I would not get a worthwhile bid by myself, I would probably be sold together with maybe 4 or 5 other players of modest ability, or packaged as a “throw-in” with a high seed.
Various forms of hedging are not uncommon. For example, suppose you own a somewhat long-shot, whom you bought for $250. Suppose the prize pool is $3000 for first, $1000 for second, $500 each for third/fourth. Your “horse” is in the quarterfinals. If he wins you will get at least $500, maybe more. If he were of exactly average ability for the final 8, your expected return is $625. Someone offers you $250 for half of your stake. You might take it, since now you cannot lose and can still win. Likewise, suppose you are PLAYING in the quarterfinals. It would not be uncommon for you and your opponent to agree that the winner will pay the loser $250 of their prize. Hedging does lead to some unfortunate situations. For example, in the recent Vegas tournament, a weaker player was leading a stronger player in the quarterfinals. The two players agreed that the stronger would advance, and that the weaker player would own 62.5% of any prizes won by the one who would continue to play. This caused a major comotion.
As to other events – there is usually a “jackpot” event, which usually starts before the main tournament. Often there will be two divisions, and the entry fees are usually higher than the main event. There is often a doubles tournament, and a novelty event of some sort like Nackgammon (a different starting position, 15 checkers but each player starts with 4 checkers back) or Hypergammon (each player starts with 3 checkers, one each on the 22, 23, and 24 points).
Another common event is the Blitz. Let me give a typical format. Periodically the director will announce “Blitz section forming.” The first 8 players to sign up play. There might be a $25 entry fee, usually they are 5-points single elimination. The winner might get $100. Toward the end of the tournament, the winners of all the blitz events meet again in a single-elimination bracket. Of the $200 from each qualifier, the tournament might take $30 for expenses, $100 to the qualifier winner, the remaining $70 goes to the prize pool, often winner-take-all. Ideally the finals is an even power of two. Notice of course that it is possible to win more than one blitz qualifier and thus have more than one entry in the finals.
There is usually a Last Chance event on the final day. This is usually free, funded from entries from the other events, and involves everyone not playing in the finals of one of the main events.
Finally, there will sometimes be either a warm-up or a post-tournament tournament. These are most common when the tournament is run by a club; they will often have the regular weekly or monthly club tournament either before or after the main tournament.
Oh, and one other thing. There probably will not be a World Cup in 2000. This is distinct from the World Cup Challenge which was just held in Istanbul.
Any comments or disagreements? Post them to my forum.
