Great WPT Prime Championship could be even better
Thoughts on the WPT Prime Championship:
1) overall, a great event and really well run by the staff at the Wynn and WPT, especially on day 1.
2) I think they need to tweak the payout structure. With so many day 1s, and therefore so many potential entries, I don’t think the payouts should be so top heavy. A top 4% finish needs to be more than 2.5x buy-in when I’m guessing the average person is at least in it for 2 bullets, and many players are in for far more. Even folks who finished near the top 100 only got like 6x for a three day event. That’s a lot of time invested for not much of a payoff. They could easily make this a 1MM to first place event and very few would complain.
3) The day two payouts were also extremely flat at the tail. A case can be made for or against this, but it causes logistical issues, in addition to making it so there was very little to play for with at least half, if not more, of the day 2 field.
I get that with such a huge day 2 field, they need to encourage bust-outs. So if the day 2 tail needs to be flat, they might as well make it super flat for the bottom 2/3 or so of the remaining field, and then have the rest play for meaningfully increasing amounts of money. If it were legal, I would propose making it so any player who made day 2 earned a substantial score… like $5000, for an event of this size. And then in day 2, there would be no prize increases till roughly 1/3 of day 2 field (or roughly 4% of the overall field) remained. Then payouts would increase.
4) regardless of how day 2 payouts are structured, I think it would help logistics a lot if the day 1 payout slips were handed out at the end of day 1. I understand why they currently wait… in order to calculate what the min payout will be based on the final field size. But they can pick a number based on the guarantee or their best estimates. And again, if they set first place to 1MM they will have plenty of wiggle room to both craft the final payouts and have a significant min-payout of their choosing.
Again, this was a great event. But it can be made even better. I trust they will continue to work on it, but overall, really well done by the Wynn and WPT.
7 Replies
I fully agree with the "Min-Cash" being $4,000+ as most people had more than 1 buy-in. I personally would prefer less of the field get paid so that those that do cash as least cover expenses as the Wynn room rates alone make a $4k cash required to cover costs.
Overall a well run event but they will struggle if the numbers go higher as there is a few big issues to deal with:
1. Impossible to get food as too many people looking for food at the same time. i had to leave the hotel 2 nights in a row to get something to eat as food orders in the poker room were taking 2hrs+
2. at the breaks trying to get into a toilet was impossible, again I was lucky as I could get back to my room, but terrible for players not staying in the Wynn.
3. The Smoke from smokers at the break would choke you at the break. not cool.
Otherwise I would look forward to going back in 2024
Not a technical glitch, I don’t think. Just too many payouts to process at the same time. And they had to do it at the tables because there were actual pay jumps, as small as they were. This is why getting rid of the pay jumps with so many people remaining would help logistically.
The only reason I can think of not to give people pay slips immediately at the end of day one is because the venue wants the amount to be based on the exact final
I fully agree with the "Min-Cash" being $4,000+ as most people had more than 1 buy-in. I personally would prefer less of the field get paid so that those that do cash as least cover expenses as the Wynn room rates alone make a $4k cash required to cover costs.
Overall a well run event but they will struggle if the numbers go higher as there is a few big issues to deal with:
1. Impossible to get food as too many people looking for food at the
I'll push back on this a little bit.
Re: the $4k thing, nobody is making you stay at the Wynn just because you are playing at the Wynn. Wynn is one of the most expensive casinos in town, but you can walk there pretty easily from a cheap venue like Harrah's or Flamingo. I stayed at Excalibur when I played the Prime. Wouldn't recommend that walk to anyone, but you can find a middle ground.
1. I was able to walk over to Resorts World on dinner break, eat there, and make it back on time.
2. I didn't find it impossible. My tactic was to cut back into the hallway leading towards the golf courses. Short lines. Minimal wait. Never had a problem. Took probably 6-7 minutes total.
When you play a big festival, it's generally a good tactic to scout out a couple bathrooms beyond the most immediate options. For example, at WSOP I either use the Paris bathroom near Mon Ami Gabi, the lower level Horseshoe bathroom near Johnny Rockets, or the bathrooms tucked in the event center (mother ship ballroom). Minimal lines. If you just walk out the doors to the first bathroom you see, that's where you'll encounter a mob. If you're willing to walk a few minutes, no problem.
3. I didn't really experience this, but I imagine it depends where you are. I find smoke at the Wynn to be a bigger issue near the main poker room than in the convention space where they held most of the WPT stuff.
I fully agree with the "Min-Cash" being $4,000+ as most people had more than 1 buy-in. I personally would prefer less of the field get paid so that those that do cash as least cover expenses as the Wynn room rates alone make a $4k cash required to cover costs.
Overall a well run event but they will struggle if the numbers go higher as there is a few big issues to deal with:
1. Impossible to get food as too many people looking for food at the
Neither the Wynn nor WPT are required to compensate people for staying at a really expensive hotel. The increased min cash should be put in place because it’s better for the poker ecosystem, not because of how much people spend on accommodations.
As for bathrooms, a reasonably healthy person can walk the entire circuit from the ballroom, out to the Wynn, and back through Encore, including a pit stop at one of the many bathrooms along the way, within 15 minutes. Compared to the WSOP, the bathroom situation at this event is a breeze.
As for the smoke, the issue is players clog the hallways just outside the convention area. I agree it’s a thing, but I’m not sure what can be done about it. It’s a casino. Smoking is allowed. Ideally there would be an exit to an outdoor area where people can smoke. But I’m not sure if the outdoor part is open this time of year, and whether it would require security to be present to make sure people didn’t go to the pool area. Really the main problem spot is the hallway between encore into the convention area by that small cafe. Maybe if they prevented people from milling around there it would help.
Neither the Wynn nor WPT are required to compensate people for staying at a really expensive hotel. The increased min cash should be put in place because it’s better for the poker ecosystem, not because of how much people spend on accommodations.
As for bathrooms, a reasonably healthy person can walk the entire circuit from the ballroom, out to the Wynn, and back through Encore, including a pit stop at one of the many bathrooms along the wa
Smoking is only allowed in the casino area. If there was smoking being done in the hallways to the convention area, that is a big NO-NO!
Smoking is only allowed in the casino area. If there was smoking being done in the hallways to the convention area, that is a big NO-NO!
It’s not the hallway to the convention area. It’s the space in front of the cafe which is between the casino and the convention hallway by the exit to the garage. That is where lots of people stand around smoking.
I have no idea if it’s technically a non-smoking area, but they obviously don’t enforce it if it is. And I think this is the problem area for those looking to avoid smoke since it’s a choke point (literally and figuratively) when so many people exit the convention area during breaks.
It’s not the hallway to the convention area. It’s the space in front of the cafe which is between the casino and the convention hallway by the exit to the garage. That is where lots of people stand around smoking.
I have no idea if it’s technically a non-smoking area, but they obviously don’t enforce it if it is. And I think this is the problem area for those looking to avoid smoke since it’s a choke point (literally and figuratively) when
That is clearly a non-smoking area. Only casino floor is open for smoking. Alert security or call the health district.
