Championship Belt Tournament

This is to explain the "championship belt" I mentioned in my bad beat post earlier. We have a regular weekly game at my mother-in-laws on Weds., $3 buy-in, around 12-13 people. Basically, it's a good excuse to get family and friends together, drink some beer and shoot the shit. It's a winner take all, but, unless the chip leader is a huge chip leader, the last two always split. Then we usually go to playing a change game. Anyway, 4 of us in the family have a birthday in April, and we had a little get together with the family last Sat. for everyone's birthday. My mother-in-law got me a toy wrestling championship belt, because I still am a little of a wrestling fan to this day. Just a little fun gift. I decided last night to bring the belt, and I offered it to whoever wins the tournament. They can take the belt home for the week, and they can make one decorative change to it, but they have to defend it the next week. If they don't defend it in two weeks, they forfeit the belt, and the next winner is champ. Jut something a little stupid, but man did it make a difference. People that are usually calling stations started making good laydowns, button raises were a lot more common.....all for a silly little plastic belt. I designated myself champ by default, so there had to be a winner, no split. If a split took place, the belt goes back with the previous champ. If anybody read my bad beat post from yesterday, you know that I won the tourney - $36 and the belt. If you have a regular little tourney like this, try incorporating something like the belt. Even though it's a little childish, it made a huge difference in the competition, and just made the game more fun.

We used to have a Belt just like that for our spades tournaments. We also made a medal of of Sothern Comfert beads for bowling. If any of us came in last for 2 games in a row they won the award

My friends and I have something like that for our fantasy baseball league. We have 10 teams and there's a $50 buy in. When we started 5 years ago, a member of the league made a huge trophy. It has a base and then 4 mini-bats at each corner holding up another base on top with a baseball drilled onto the very top. The winner of the league gets that trophy and we put an engraving of the team name and year on it each season. Then it gets passed on to the winner at the next year's draft.

I know it's not for poker but believe me people in this league are looking to win the trophy, even more then the money it seems like. It's more of a pride thing I think.

That's it exactly. My wife seems to be having a hard time with this. She thinks the whole idea is stupid. That's why I was wearing it on my shoulder when I walked in the door at home for lunch.

My friends and I once made a "WSOP bracelet" out of tin foil to go to the winner of our game. Needless to say, I now have won more bracelets than Phil Gordon.