We have this in North Carolina, too (see
World Tavern Poker).
It's basically set up like a bowling or dart league, where you get points for finishing in the top 20 of any given tournament and at the end of a six-week "season", the top players play in tavern and city-wide tournaments for prizes (i.e. trip to Las Vegas, chip sets, tables, etc..).
The play is probably a lot more loose than a regular buy-in tourney, but you'd be suprised at how competetive the folks are.
One big benefit is that you can meet a lot of poker players and find a lot of home games that you may not have known about before.