Questions About The WSOP

[LesWormMurphy]

1) I know the minimum buy-in is $10,000 --but what's the maximum buy-in? Because I'm sure if Donald Trump put down a billion dollars, and pretty much be certain to win-- he'd do so. (Maybe not D.T., but you get the idea)

2) At some point in the 2004 WSOP, Greg Raymer had a bankroll of some $15 Million, yet the prize is only $5Million-- so what happens to that $10,000,000 of chip worth?

[pudley4]

1 - $10,000.

2 - The remaining 10M+ was divided up among the other top 225 players

I think you don't really understand tournaments...

[sin808]

1. I would assume it is fixed at 10k. I'm sure someone who has played in it, or knows more about tourney's can answer more properly (I'm not a tourney player).

2. They have no cash value, they are tournament chips.

[jedi]

WSOP is a tournament. The buy in is $10K and you get 10K in tournament chips. The payout is determined by when you bust out. Every person but one will bust out of the tournament, so in essence it is a "bad beat" that Greg took all of the chips, yet "only" won $5 million.

This is completely different from live games.
(And I just hope I didn't fall into a troll's trap just now)

[Dov]

There are 2 main types of poker games today. Tournament and Cash

In a cash game, players buy in for whatever they want with some limitations:

In limit games there is a minimum
In no limit games there is a minimum and some have a maximum

When you play a cash game, the value of the chips is exactly what is printed on them. In addition, you can reach into your pocket and buy more chips if you go bust. This new chip purchase has the same parameters as the original buy in. You may get up and leave the game whenever you feel like it, and you can keep what is in front of you. When you go to cash out, they will give you the amount of cash that is indicated by the value of the chips you are carrying. In a cash game, the limits do not change in the middle of the game. In a cash game, the casino makes money either through a rake (where they remove a certain amount from each pot) or a time charge (where players are charged for their seats every half hour).


In a tournament, everyone buys in, initially, for the same amount of money. Everyone also gets the same number of chips to start with. It doesn't matter how many chips players start with b/c everyone has the same # at the beginning. The way you make money in a tournament is by surviving longer than anyone else. People are paid prize money based on when they were eliminated, not how much they have in front of them. This is why tournaments are so different than cash games. Let's take a quick example:

10 people decide to play a tournament for $100 each. The casino decides to charge them each $10 to play. (This is the only money the casino will make. $10/person)

It costs each person $110 to enter the tournament.

Since we have 10 players, the prize pool is $100x10=$1000

This is the total amount of money that will be paid to the winners of the tournament.

The prize money will be further divided as follows:

1st Place 50% = $500
2nd Place 30% = $300
3rd Place 20% = $200

And of course the casino made $100.

Now let's say that there are only 2 players left and everyone started with $100 in tournament chips (T100). This means that there are a total of T1,000 in play. If one player has T999 and the other has T1, what are the chips worth?

Well, the most either of them can win is $500. The least is $300. Obviously the chip leader has a much better chance of coming in 1st place. We can simplify the values as follows:

Player 1 (Chip Leader)
T999=$500 = 500/999 = T1=$0.50

Player 2
T1=$300 = 300/1 = T1=$300

As you can see, the values of the chips change through the tournament, based on how many you have.

In addition, at preset times, the betting limits will increase throughout the tournament. This was done to force players to play marginal hands and stimulate action. Otherwise, everyone would just sit around and wait for the nuts to play.

I hope this helps you to understand the tournaments a little bit bettter. If not, just let me know where you're confused and I'll try again.

[Iceman]

[ QUOTE ]
1) I know the minimum buy-in is $10,000 --but what's the maximum buy-in? Because I'm sure if Donald Trump put down a billion dollars, and pretty much be certain to win-- he'd do so. (Maybe not D.T., but you get the idea)

[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone who enters starts with exactly $10,000, no more, no less, and can't buy more chips at any time.

[ QUOTE ]
2) At some point in the 2004 WSOP, Greg Raymer had a bankroll of some $15 Million, yet the prize is only $5Million-- so what happens to that $10,000,000 of chip worth?

[/ QUOTE ]

The total prize pool of $25 million is divided among the top 200 or so players, and despite having 100% of the $25 million in chips the winner only gets $5 million. People with no chips left who were eliminated 2nd through 200th get the extra $20 million by virtue of their finishing positions.

[PairTheBoard]

You are posting Drunk and should be banned from the Forum. Or at least given a PUI.

PairTheBoard

[Rocco17]

QUOTE "Otherwise, everyone would just sit around and wait for the nuts to play."


Dov, you gave the original poster a very thorough explanation which was obviously very nice of you but that line cracked me up. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Thanks for the laugh!

[Dov]

Glad you enjoyed it.

In rereading it, I guess there could be several interpretations of that line, all of them probably correct.