How did real Gator Tourneys work?
Gators were run for a variety of team games, but were
most popular in Whist and Bridge Whist circles. They were
gambling events similar to Calcuttas. Gators
were run in a manner similar to the
Fireside Gator Tourney but with a bias towards gambling
rather than student participation.
- There were no limitations on player skill levels.
- The event started with the 16 best players available.
- Owners had to find (or serve as) the remaining 3 players. Hiring pros was considered de rigeur.
- Players had to pay an entry fee (usually equal to the price of 1 share).
- Players had to purchase 1 non-voting share in themselves. This gave them no say in line-up or seating choices--a point often made with considerable emphasis by the other owners!
- If defeated, players had to purchase 1 non-voting share in the team which beat (and thereby "inherited") them.
- If an owner's team were defeated the owner had the option of purchasing non-voting shares in the team which vanquished theirs. The number of
such "late" shares could not exceed the number of shares that the owner had invested in their original team.
- A percentage of the monies went to the organizer & winners. Typically:
- 10% to the organizers
- 20% to the owners of the winning team
- 5% to the owners of the team that lost in the Final
- 5% to the winning player
- 4% to the player defeated in the Final
- 3% to the player inherited last by the winning team
- 2% to the player inherited second by the winning team
- 1% to the player inherited first by the winning team
- Owners pocketed 50% of the money invested in any team that they defeated.
Monies from the players' entries (i.e. the "Players' Pool") were
usually disbursed in a manner such as:
- 10% to the organizers
- 50% divided by the members of the winning team, pro-rated by the number of boards played in the Final
- 40% divided by the members of the team that lost in the Final, pro-rated by the number of boards played there
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