I just read the rules on the
Mass Lottery site, and it's not a real Hold 'Em tournament. Plus, there are instant prizes in the scratch game, in addition to the chance to enter the "tournament".
The way the tourney works is pure chance; there's no betting at all. The 560 players are divided into 80 tables of seven, and each player gets two hole cards. Then a flop, turn, and river are "dealt" (they're actually pre-determined). At each table, the player making the best hand will advance to round 2, while the 420 eliminated get $2000 each. The 80 winners are divided up into 16 tables of 5, and the same procedure is used to determine the round 3 players, while those eliminated in round 2 get $10,000 each. The final 16 are divided into 4 tables of 4 players, etc.; those eliminated in round 3 get $50,000 each. Then the remaining 4 players "play" the Championship round (same procedure), where the winner gets $10,000,000 and the 3 runners-up get $1,000,000.
-Mike