Delaware Valley Poker Club

The Delaware Valley Poker Club is a friendly group of poker players who wish to compete against each other in low-stakes poker tournaments online and in-person. They will contribute to a "side pot" jackpot which will be rewarded to the best-performing Club player. That player will use that jackpot to buy into a large-stakes poker tournament, and the winnings (if any) will be distributed on a pro-rated basis to the entire Club.

Guys, give yourselves a round of applause, because we have nine gentlemen committed (so far) to make this happen:

Gregory Kohs (West Chester, PA) Trent Van Doren (Lebanon, NJ) Bob Zetusky (Newark, DE) Christian Van Doren (Lebanon-area, NJ) Mike Gargano (Philadelphia, PA) Sean Scalley (Blue Bell, PA) Al Gallo (Hockessin, DE) Bill Helms (Wilmington, DE) Jason Gallagher (Lebanon-area, NJ)

We encourage more poker-loving friends who may want to climb on. Regardless, if we each contribute $125 to the jackpot prize fund, we're going to have at least $1,000 for a big tournament buy-in.

Each participant will choose cafeteria-style from:

  * Three (3) out of six (6) scheduled online tournament options, which would include:

        - Three weeknight options

a 180-seat sit-n-go ($4.40), Wednesday January 9, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $4.40 tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 7:30 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 11:30 PM.

a 180-seat turbo sit-n-go ($12), Monday January 14, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $12 turbo tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 8:00 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 10:00 PM.

and a 1,000+-seat scheduled tourney ($1.10), Thursday February 21, 2008; Register in advance for the $1.10 multi-table no-limit scheduled tournament going off at 6:00 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 12 Midnight.

        - Three weekend options

a morning 180-seat sit-n-go ($4.40), Saturday February 2, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $4.40 tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 7:30 AM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 11:30 AM.

an evening 180-seat turbo sit-n-go ($12), Sunday January 13, 2008; Seat yourself in the first NEW 180-seat $12 turbo tournament that opens for sign-up AFTER 7:00 PM. Estimated completion for 1st place: 9:00 PM.

and a Sunday 3:30 PM probably 15,000+-seat $100,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament ($11), Sunday February 10, 2008. Register in advance. Estimated completion for 1st place: 11:30 PM.

  * Two (2) out of four (4) scheduled in-person tournament options, which would include:

An in-home tournament, at the Kohs home in West Chester, Thursday January 17, 2008. Estimated time: 7:30 - 11:00 PM.

A tournament in Atlantic City, NJ, at the Showboat casino, Tuesday March 5, 2008. Estimated time: 7:00 - 11:30 PM.

The Cabin Fever 2008 Tournament in Bushkill Falls (West "Minks Pond"), PA, Saturday February 16, 2008 (Presidents Day weekend). Estimated time: 7:30 - 11:00 PM.

An in-home tournament, at the Scalley home in Blue Bell, Sunday March 16, 2008. Estimated time: 5:00 - 8:30 PM.

We have planned for a mix-and-match of days and times, so that nobody will have trouble fulfilling the five (5) Series entries. Please indicate if more than one of these dates are impossible for you. Of course, anyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in more than just the mandatory minimum; the "extra entries" simply don't count toward the Jackpot Challenge. Just to make clear, there is no single tournament where all of us are required to be present. We will pick and choose. Some tourneys, maybe all of us will be there. Other tourneys might only see one or two of us. The Series will run from January through April 15, 2008 (Tax Day). That will leave the whole summer for our Beeg Weenah to go make us a fortune at a big tourney. (And, if everyone had fun, we'll be talking about the Autumn Circuit of the DVPC.)

Those on a tighter budget will be able to fulfill this Series with about $185 out-of-pocket. Those who opt for the pricier selections will expend about $290-$300. You keep what you win in each selected tournament, and everybody is contributing the same $125 to the Jackpot Challenge.

One last note -- I have a teleconference "bridge" set up, which we are free to use (non-office hours) during these tournaments, for the equivalent of multi-way calling. That should be fun.

We could assess DVPC Series rankings using a formula similar to Poker Stars' player points formula: Points = 10 * [sqrt(n)/sqrt(k)] * [1+log(b+0.25)] Where: n is the number of entrants k is the place of finish (k=1 for the first-place finisher, and so on) b is the buy-in amount in dollars (excluding administrative fee). Similarly, I propose that whatever money the Beeg Weenah may win in the hefty tournament, the process of declaring that income and taxation is that player's decision and responsibility. Tournament winnings up to two times (2x) the buy-in, he would be entitled to keep all of those winnings. The amount between two times and ten times buy-in (2x-10x) would be split 70-30 -- 70% to the Beeg Weenah, and the other 30% split evenly between all the other Series players. Anything over ten times buy-in (10x+) would be split 50-50 -- 50% to the Beeg Weenah, and the other 50% split evenly between all the other Series players.

This way, we ALL stand a chance of making back our stakes (and then some), while the Beeg Weenah will make much more than any of the rest of us, even with taxation considered. Gentlemen, is this really any different than trusting your money with a mutual fund manager? I say not.