Corporate Tournament - Need Help

[NJchick]

I'm in the process of coordinating a corporate poker tournament for approx 100 conference attendees at a resort in Arizona next month. Some of the topics for discussion on my next conference call include the following. Any advice appreciated

1. Logistics of single, 100 person tourney IE blinds necessary to get tourney done in 2 to 2.5 hours.

2. Estimated costs of dealers, minimum number of chips required, mike for tourney director, etc, etc.

3. Legal issues that we might encounter.I don't believe there will a buy in (kind of like a casino night charity) prizes will be awarded by our sponsors vs. $$$.

I believe we are also looking into getting a *named* pro to attend but that's yet to be determined. I hear Phil Hellmuth's asking price is now $25K per night. I have some pretty heavy duty sponsors who can shell out the money for something like this. We got Jay Leno to entertain one of the other nights as well.

Thanks.

NJC

[adanthar]

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1. Logistics of single, 100 person tourney IE blinds necessary to get tourney done in 2 to 2.5 hours.

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I don't know much about the others (although you should consult an AZ attorney about the legal issues) but 100 people are not gonna be done playing a poker tournament in 2 and a half hours no matter what you do unless you give them all laptops and set the tourney up on Stars.

You literally can't hold a B&M tourney with 100 people that fast unless the blinds go up every 5 minutes and you start with 10 BB. It'd be either a nightmare or a lottery.

[Sam T.]

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I hear Phil Hellmuth's asking price is now $25K per night.

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Are the players there so they can have fun, or so someone can belittle them? (Just kidding. I'm sure he is extremely gracious when he's playing for fun.)

I don't know if he does this sort of thing, but Fossilman is probably a bigger hero to this crowd, and we know he won't mock your clients.

[KJS]

Maybe a double shootout, with the first section lasting 1.5 hours and the second part 1 hour? Seems less than ideal but doable, and if you are giving prizes then you could spread them out among the winners of the first tables and the winners of the second.

In case NJGirl is unfamiliar:

Double shootout = 10 individual one-table tournaments with the the winners of those 10 playing a second tourney amongst themselves.

KJS

[NJchick]

I am familiar with the double shootout structure..but that is an interesting option - something deffinately to consider. Thanks for that.

[Percula]

There are a couple of local pros in the area, Glenn Huges, Tom Keller (Tom splits his time between here and LV)for example.

A double shootout would likely be the fastest and likely more fun for the group too. You could run 10 tables of 10 assuming you have the room.

[NJchick]

I doubt he would be berating anyone when he's getting paid. Kind of like an tennis exhibition. I doubt McEnroe ever whined when he's getting tens of thousands of dollars just for showing up.


Most people recognize the name *branding* of a Phill Hellmuth I suppose.

Still I am looking at players who might be heading out to the LA Poker Classic or might be finished with the WPO in Tunica. Since it is in AZ, I can fly someone in from Las Vegas or California pretty easily.

[Chief911]

NJChick,

Run a double shootout. Any other tournament style you try to do is going to be a joke for any of the players who know how to play, because it'll be a crapshoot as the blinds will go up so fast.

10 Tables of 10 people each, would be mucho fun.

To add some entertainment, dont have the pro start at one of the tables, he starts at the final table, so you are guarenteed a big finish.

Have a "Bounty" on the pro of a major prize, so whoever busts him gets a nice prize.

If I wanted to get a good pro who would have fun with the people, I'd go straight for Daniel Negreanu. He loves to yack it up at the table, and have fun. Keller would be fun as well.

Good luck.

Nick

[NJchick]

Thank you Chief for the input.

Will let you know.

NJC