What does everyone think about GB9 running a Calcutta auction at our events? We would love to hear your thoughts.
For those unsure of how a Calcutta is or how is works here is a quite a good explanation that I found:
Sometimes they also call it a “Player Auction” which occurs before the tournament begins. Money collected in the bidding is paid out to the owner of the player(s) they bought before the tournament began. Sometimes in a tournament with 32 players, the Calcutta will pay out the top 4 spots. The cash in the bidding pot might be split up as follows: 1st place 40%, 2nd place 30%, 3rd place 15%.
Sometimes players feeling confident will purchase themselves in the Calcutta so they have a chance to win a nice side pot if they finish high enough in the tournament. Most often, it is a spectator or other player that buys someone in the Calcutta. Many times, some friends will form a small “corporation” and pool their money to buy several players to they have a few chances to get one of their players into the Calcutta money payout.
With very, very few exceptions, the player ALWAYS has the option to seek out their “Owner” and purchase half of themselves back. The winning bidder must accept half their bid in cash from the player and then each party owns half and are each entitled to half the Calcutta prize money if the player finishes in a payout slot.
The auction begins before the tournament. The list of players is printed out for all players and spectators in the pool room to examine the list and evaluate who they think might have the best chance to do well in the tournament. This whole Calcutta procedure must happen just after registrations for the tournament is cut off but before the draw is done and the matches are posted on the tournament bracket. This would give Calcutta participants an unfair advantage and cause a huge bottleneck if people tried to see which of the top players might have the easiest path to the finals.
The auction works down the field. The auctioneer says “Next player for sale is Mike Fieldhammer, player and instructor from Minneapolis. Where’s Mike? Raise your hand please, Mike. There he is! Mike, do you have $50 on yourself? Yes! Okay, do I hear $100 for Mike Fieldhammer?” And so on until every player in the field is sold.
Sometimes in a smaller Calcutta, some of the less talented players won’t get any buyers and the player might not want to purchase himself either. In these cases, all unsold players go into a pool of players called “The Field.” At the end of the auction, “The Field” is then sold to the highest bidder. Say there are 5 players in “The Field”, the auctioneer will read off the players that are lumped together and bidding progresses as usual. Anyone who buys “The Field” cashes in if ANY of those players finish in the payout positions. Players in “The Field” have no option to purchase half themselves. They had their chance to buy all of themselves during regular bidding and it isn’t fair to the owner of “The Field” because it would be impossible to figure an equitable payment for a fraction of the winning bid.
The Calcutta can be an exciting way for spectators and players to get in on the action at a pool tournament. It can be a great way to increase drama, viewership of the final few matches, and to increase the prize monies paid out on the day. Many people enjoy using their knowledge of how each player competes to get a leg up on other bidders. It is much like bettors at a racetrack handicapping the field and picking the horse they think has the best odds of winning the race. In fact, at Calcuttas players are often referred to as “Horses!”
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Andy Warden, GB9 - Authorised Pro9 forum advertiser/sponsor √
[ This message was edited by: cueman on 2014-08-19 17:16 ]
