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Has anyone ever attendend a tournament which had Cash as a prize vs. product or gift cards?

If so, what was the prize amount?

Would you rather have cash or product?

If you were considering driving to a tournament (>1hr) what amount would be enticing? ($200, $500... more?)

Thanks in advance.

The NOVA Invitational, held prior to the NOVA Open during our overall weekend this year, will have 2 x $1,000 cash prizes (one for the 5-0 best general, one for the highscoring 50%appearance, 50% battle best overall).

There are perils to think out in terms of the impact a large cash prize can have on attendees ... in general, sponsorships from local stores (RTT) or online retailers/etc. (at bigger GT's) is less cash than it's worth, in terms of the cost to donor - a company donating $1,000 in product may only be paying $250 to produce it (or far less, or more, but certainly not $1,000).

Either way, you want to be careful I think offering too much of a cash prize for competition in this hobby unless you can properly manage it. For purposes of the NOVA Invitational, we'll have referees manning each table set ... preventing cheaty movement, arguments over rules, etc., by proactively being the arbitrators. When you only have a handful of judges and cannot properly eyeball each game, you run a higher risk of those who cannot properly manage themselves while competing getting "into it" or cheating.

Basically, people who are not socially competent enough to compete at a game like Warhammer 40,000 without cheating or being a douchecanoe often see their behavior exacerbated when they are pursuing a greater prize, greater "bragging rights," or facing off against a tougher opponent. If you are going to put hard cash on the line, make sure you've thought about and addressed the pitfalls ahead of time.

My $.02

FOO'!

DINCHA KNOW MR. T TAKE DA CASH NOT GIVE IT OUT TO SUCKAS. CHECK YOSELF.

Also, while Mike is putting up cash for the winners....it is also an exclusive invitational list. If you're in the Invitational, you won a major event, and it is unlikely that you cheated to get there.

If something like 'Ard Boyz, which is open to anyone, had cash prizes....well, cheating is already rampant, probably almost as badly as all the people who don't know half the rules for the game they're playing.

It would get much...much worse.

I dunno... Cash prizes seems to infer some sort of fairness or something like a sporting event. I am not sure that 40k has a tight enough rule-base to justify cash prizes the way that online competitive gaming might.

But realistically there is no functional difference between product, store credit and cash. It is reasonably easy to liquidate your prizes to cash if you so desired. I guess logically there should be no difference in how everyone acts, but psychologically I guess there is a difference when someone takes home a pile full of plastic models VS a wallet full of cash and how the losers perceive it.

The thought of a cash prize 'ardboyz did make me shudder a bit. But I am not opposed to cash prizes as a general principal, but I am not for them either.

The tournaments I ran in the past are generally cashed based. Generally free or low buy in depending if there is additional prizes given (such as an army box), as well as free food (such as hot dogs and soda).

Prizes are one thing. People forget that tournaments are supposed to be fun as well.

If they are fun, why do they need such large prizes to convince people to go there?

I played in an RTT that had a $1000 first place price in Tampa Fl a few years ago.