Value of PartyPoker New STEPS tournament

[RobSIegel]

if a player can make it to step 5 before spending, say $500, then I have a hard time imagining they will be such a big underdog in the final tourney that they would be actually -EV. The blind structure doesn't really allow the sharks that much of an advantage, does it?

Now I don't know how many $12 buyins it will take me on average to hit step 5. Maybe it will cost $500, or $800 or even more than $1000. At some point you aren't getting a discount, and your discount has to be big enough to overcome any edge the 200+15ers have on you.