If you're new to the forum, you've most likely seen a lot of discussion and threads about The Royal Cup, but have no idea what the hell it is all about. Well, this should make it a bit clearer.
What is The Royal Cup?
The Royal Cup of Poker was the brainchild of long time forumer
PokerDro from Guelph Ontario. He wanted to create an event that would bring poker players from all over Ontario together under one roof to play a tournament in a team format as a social event. It caught on very quickly, and the inaugural event was held in Milton. A total of 80+ players from all over southern Ontario came out and participated, and it was a great way to put faces to forum members as well as play a FULL day of poker with new and old friends. It was very competitive, very loud, and everyone had a great time (some more than others) and it was decided then to make the event a regular one.
What is the format for The Royal Cup?
Instead of playing as an individual against an entire field of players, this event has TEAMS that challenge other teams in many different variants of poker throughout the day. Each team consists of eight players, and each player gets to play four SNG type tournaments against players from other teams.
There are four rounds of games. The first round is Stud/Omaha High, second is Limit Holdem, then a No Limit Holdem round, and finally a Headsup round. Each player from each team will play each event (
in the Stud/Omaha round, you play either, not both). Each table will consist of eight players, each from a different team, in a SNG format game. Points are awarded to each player based on their bustout position in each game, first bustout getting the lowest number of points, and the table winner getting the highest. These points are accumulated for each team, and the team with the highest amount of points at the end of the day is crowned Champion.
How are teams selected?
Teams aren't selected, they're created by an individual or small group that are interested in participating. If you have a group of players you know and wish to make a team for this event, simply submit your team to the organizers. However, due to the constraints of the facility as well as time constraints, we can only accommodate a total of 10 teams maximum. First choice for participating teams goes to teams that have participated in the past, but there is usually a couple of openings available for new teams to sign up as well.
Players on a team?
As I mentioned earlier, each team consists of no more and no less than eight players. Each player should have a good understand of all games being played, and each team member will be playing either Stud or Omaha, so its a good idea to have someone on your team that can play these games. Its also important to note that
this event is a full day, and each player will be expect to play ALL the games, and no player substitutions are permitted, so make sure all your team members are available for the entire day.
I don't have a team, can I still play?
Yes, but you must submit your name on the Free Agent list that will be available prior to every event. This Free Agent list will be reviewed by the team captains that are having difficulty filling their teams or have last minute cancellations. You will be contacted via PM by a captain and invited to join their team. Cancellations can and have occurred literally at the last second, so it might be wise to check your PM's right up to the last hour on game day, just to be see if anyone is missing a player. Once, there were eight names on the Free Agent list, and they played AS a team on game day.
Where is this held?
The event is held in a secret (or not) location in Kitchener/Waterloo. Address and directions will be made available to all team captains in advance of the event, and its the captains' responsibility to ensure that their team will be there ON TIME. Its been the same location now since the second Royal Cup, so once you've been there, you'll know where it is. There was some discussion on having the winning team host the next event, but that has never happened to date. The facility that hosts this event has been great to us so far, and we will most likely always host it at the same location.
What's the time?
The start of the event is supposed to be around 10am, and it will be 10pm before all the games are finished, so be sure your team knows this. We try to start as early as possible due to the distance some teams have to drive to get home, as well as the rules of the facility hosting the event. We can't have this going any later than 10pm or so, therefore the start time is critical.
Game formats?
I'll try to find the thread and link it here that outlines the formats for all the individual games. Its structured to provide the most play in the allowed time for each game. Some will find it quite fast, but its been designed to finish by certain times on purpose, and allowing for lunch/dinner breaks as well.
RC VIII - April 24th 2010 What's the cost?
Each team pays $400 to play the entire day. That's $50 per team member for a FULL day of poker (a great deal). There will be other side games available as well that you can buyin too, like the 50/50 for the event MVP, as well as the High Hand Jackpots for each variant, but those are solely your choice to participate in. Of course, flips are your choice to play as well. Don't know what Flips are? You'll quickly find out.
What are the prizes?
Top three teams will split the total monies from team buyins 50/30/20. There is
NO rake, and
NO ONE is making a cent off this event personally by organizing or hosting it. Its totally voluntary. Of course, the prize money is nice, but the biggest award is having BRAGGING RIGHTS on the forum. That's what every team is after in the long run, to be known as THE BEST.
NO NUTS!!
Almost forgot this one. Some players have SEVERE nut allergies, so it was decided that NO snacks with any nut or nut oil product are permitted in the facility on event day.
That's pretty much about it I think. If I've forgotten anything, please post in this thread and one of us will answer the question for you.
