Half In

[Bruce Brakel]

Until Aurora, we were never getting much traction with pro trophy-only.  Not sure why Aurora was different.  So I started thinking about other reduced entry fee concepts that might increase participation in the pro divisions.  This is the idea I've been kicking around in my head recently.  It would be instead of offering trophy-only in pro divisions:

Half-In

The player who is half-in pays ½ the normal entry fee for the pro division he or she is playing.  If he or she cashes, he or she gets one-half what was to be paid to the spot.  The remainder is paid up.

Paying up Rules

If one half-in player cashes, his remainder is paid to the highest finishing full-in player.  If more than one half-in player cashes, their shares are paid largest share to highest finishing full-in player, next largest to next highest finishing full-in player.  If more half-in players should cash than full-in players, use the same procedure and then start at the top again.  If all cashing players are half-in, pay their halves down to the highest finishing full-in players.  If all players are half-in, pay them in full and reduce your friggin' entry fees next time! 

Half-in Procedure

The purse is based on total entry fees minus whatever you typically deduct plus your added cash.  Payout according to the number of players in the field counting half-ins as a [not sure here.  Half or full?  Need to run some scenarios] player. 

Bag the payout as normal but be sure to make each envelope easily split in two.  On the leader board card there needs to be a prominent place to write ½.  I would use a leader board card for one more round than you are playing, and write ½ large in the next to last cell.  If the half-in scenario shakes out really simple, you can do it on the fly, "Coming in third place getting $220, Brett Comincioli.  But wait!  Brett was half-in.  So we'll just take $110 out of Brett's baggie and hold it for our first place winner."  If it involves more than one half-in cashing player, or if there is any paying down because half-in wins, or if you are easily confused, sort it out before you start the awards.

Rationale

Half-in is intended to be used in lieu of trophy-only.  It has the same purpose as trophy-only, to bring in the players who are playing up, testing the waters, a little short of cash, recovering from an injury, etc.  I think it would have more drawing power than trophy-only because the reduced entry fee players still have an opportunity to cash.  It could be used in conjunction with the new Am Taking Prizes in Pro rule. 

This is easier to administer than the side bet or super-pool systems where the super-pool pays an extra amount and then plays for that and there are two payouts for one division. 

It offers a good comeuppance to the bitching pro:  Dude, if you win or finish high beating the half-in players you get a nice bonus.   They don't see that bonus with the trophy-only system; they tend to see it as money out of the pool.  This way the bonus from the reduced fee player is immediately visible. 

Half in also allows a TD to increase his entry fee and decrease it too.  For example, a $40 pro entry fee could be increased to $50 with a $25 half-in. 

[can't putt]

Not sure if it's entirely appropriate, but I would be totally embarrassed to play open (or even pro in age protected divisions).

[Bruce Brakel]

Almost half of our Open players at Aurora were trophy-only.  I have no idea what is up with that.  It has never happened before that we get more than a couple of Open TOs.  I assume it is because most TO players are making an economic choice and playing TO Advanced is a better choice for an am; staying home is a better choice for a pro.     I think Half-In would be a better economic choice for a Pro than TO.  Kind of like betting on the Sox, but not betting so much!    

[Dan Michler]

what if all Pros would prefer to play for less money and they all chose the Half In?  Then it would basically be back to a normal payout, but the entry for the tourney would have been cut in half?

[Bruce Brakel]

Yeah, in my rules I say them pay them full, and reduce your friggin' entry fees.  By pay them full, I mean pay them whatever the payouts were. 

A lot of TDs have experimented with two tiered entry fees.  They use a two-tiered entry fee for Masters at the Japan Open and a few other Open-only tournaments.  Two tiered entry fees always turn out to be a pain in the butt for the same reason the Advanced sidebet was a pain in the butt.  It is too much to keep track of. 

With a system like this, there is not that much to keep track of.  Three or four pros will play half-in.  One or two pros will actually cash.  Pay their unwanted half to first or first and second.  See the top dudes grin and say, "This is alright!" 

[Bruce Brakel]

These are the simple step-by-step instructions:

1) Prominently mark the leaderboard card of the half-in player with a "1/2" somewhere on the part you'll see later when you need it.

2) Calculate payouts treating a 1/2 in player as 1/2 of a player, rounding up if you have an odd number of them.

So, if you have 20 full ins and 11 half ins, use the payout for 26 players.

3) You should post payouts and be sure to indicate how many half-ins you had.  The pros will do the math.  You don't want them doing angry-bad math!   

4) Bag the payouts according to the chart.

5) When the scores are in you're going to need to adjust first for ties and then for half-ins. 

a)  When you get to a tie, add all the tied players' payouts together and divide by the number in the tie.  Duh.  Re-bag the ties.

b) Now adjust for half-ins.  The highest cashing half-in gets half what you figured in section 4 above.  His other half goes to the highest cashing full-in.  The next highest cashing half-in gets half what you figured in section 4 above.  His other half goes to the next highest cashing full-in.  Re-bag for half-ins.

Weird stuff that could actually happen with an $80 entry fee:  If more half-ins cash than full-ins, you follow 5b until every full-in has received one half-in bonus payment, and then you give the next one to the highest cashing full-in, and go down the list again.  If only one full-in cashes, he gets all the halves of the half-ins.  If no full-ins cash, do not divide half-in cash by two.  Pay them full.