Also Missed Out on a Free Trip

I played in a $50 Freezeout hosted by the guys who run The United Room yesterday afternoon. The top three finishers received trips and buy-ins to WSOP Curcuit Events, 4th place won a trip to Orlando and 5th place won a TV. As soon as I arrived, I realized the $50 buy-in was really $80. $50 bought you 3000 in chips. The additional $30 got you another 5000 in chips. Because of a small turnout it was decided that it would be a re-buy tournament as well for the first 90 minutes. After that, I guess they still hadn't raised the money that they wanted, so they decided there would be an add-on as well. They also decided not to give away the Orlando trip or the TV. I didn't rebuy or add on and I didn't win anything, busting out in 11th when my AQ lost to 66, in what I was told was not a race (a story for another time). I offer a couple of suggestions for people who run tournaments. Run the tournament as you advertise it. If you need to make contingencies based on the number of entrants, make that clear on your advertisements and website. Also, while I trust guys who run illegal card rooms as much as the next guy, I don't think chips should be left out on tables to easily be swiped by anyone. Also, allowing your friends to go get their own rebuy chips is a little fishy as well. As you can tell, I left the tournament questioning the credibility of the event. I will say that the tournament allowed for a lot of good play for the first couple of hours and it appeared that every deck had 52 cards.