Poker News: Who'll Start the Bidding

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Who'll Start the Bidding

On Thursday afternoon during the Party Poker Million V cruise, there was a Calcutta auction. This was a new experience for us. Even though it was initially confusing, the concept is really quite simple. In general, a Calcutta is an open auction held in conjunction with a contest with multiple entrants. Once the field has been reduced, it is a way for people to bet on who will win the event. Originating in Calcutta, India, and first recorded by the British, Calcutta auctions have become popular in backgammon, golf and basketball pools and can often be found around major poker tournaments.

In this instance, the field of the Party Poker Million Championship had been reduced to only 28 players from the original 523 entrants. A printed sheet of the remaining tournament players with their chip counts, listed from highest to lowest, was handed out to each prospective bidder. The list also told where the player lived and whether the player was an online qualifier or a direct cash buy-in. The bidding started with the lowest chip count players from the bottom of the list. Since nine of these players were very short-stacked, they were grouped into sets of three and auctioned in bulk.

Once all the bidding was completed, the funds were totaled. The person who bought the player that eventually won the tournament would receive 50% of the Calcutta pool at the end of the tournament, second would receive 30%, and third 20%. It was interesting that the players who had paid their own tournament entry fee tended to receive higher bids.

We bought an unknown, online qualifier from Midwest USA for $500. He had less than an average chip stack. It was fun meeting him and his family, and then rooting along with them. For a few hours, it looked like we were going to share in some winnings as he gained the chip lead. Unfortunately, however, he ran into some bad luck. He cashed, but we didn't.

When we asked him about his experience during the cruise and the Party Poker Million tournament, he said, "I had the time of my life. My wife and I run a family business and work six and seven days a week. This was the first opportunity we have had to get away in years. To top that, I promised my wife that if I cashed, we would use the money to go on another cruise to the Bahamas and buy her a diamond ring . . . something she has never had but certainly deserves. I cashed enough to make this happen"

His wife was simply glowing as he walked out of the tournament area. As they hugged, she told him how very proud she was of him. I doubt she could have been prouder if he had won the whole thing!

2006 Copyright Gaming & Media Consultants, LLC.
Written by Jennifer Newell.
Printed with permission from American Poker Player Magazine.

posted by Poker Player at Who'll Start the Bidding

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