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D&D Goes to Work Part II: Professional Game Masters
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<blockquote data-quote="Scotley" data-source="post: 7688011" data-attributes="member: 11520"><p>There is already a model for pay to game that goes back to perhaps the 1940's. I play duplicate bridge. As in the card game for those that don't know. This game was extremely popular mid-century and a huge infrastructure grew up around it. There are bridge clubs all over the country supported by the national American Contract Bridge League (visit <a href="http://www.ACBL.org" target="_blank">www.ACBL.org</a> if you are curious). These clubs typically have several games a week. There are 10-12 games a week at the local club here and they sponsor three special tournaments a year at local convention hotels. Of course most of the players are retirement age as the game peaked in popularity in the 50's. There are tournaments of varying size every week somewhere. Typically several each week around the country. The entry fee for a game lasting 3 hours or so is usually about $7 with a $50 annual membership at the local club and $36 annual membership to the national organization which includes a monthly magazine. Tournament games tend to be slightly longer and are in the 10 to 15 dollar a session range. The 'director' who arbitrates any rules questions and coordinates the movements of the cards and players around the room (Everybody plays each of the hands and sits opposite half the other players in the room over the course of the game) and arranges partnerships and even rides sometimes gets about half the entry fees and the club gets the rest. If you aren't a member of the club you have to pay and extra buck or two. The clubs pay fees to the national organization as well for the tournaments. Of course there is usually only one 'director' getting the take and games can be anywhere from 4 tables to maybe 20 (4 players at each table). I expect in some bigger cities they have multiple sections going at the same time. So the director can make a decent income. Often the owners or managers of the local clubs run the games and can actually make a living if a modest one. Typically they are retirees. There are folks at our local club who play 6+ games a week. The directors have to undergo training and are tested on rules knowledge and you can appeal decisions up the line. I had to get training and be tested before I could teach new players or direct games. I think you'd need a gamemaster with a certain level of certified competence to expect to get paid each week. Bridge is a surprisingly complex game with a long established set of expectations for players. </p><p></p><p>Of course bridge is losing numbers as players get older and die off. They do have educational efforts, but it is pretty hard to get kids to unplug and play cards with a room full of septuagenarians. Mostly they end up adding new retirees to the mix. I got involved back in the early nineties when I was in graduate school. I made a little money teaching new players. Running a weekly game for beginners and even as a paid player with partners who wanted to win tournaments and were willing to pay all my expenses to travel to tournament games. </p><p></p><p>I have long harbored this dream that when I manage to retire I'll be able to establish a like minded group of gamers into a local club who are also reaching retirement age and have the disposable income and spare time for something like this. I'd love to run a gaming club and run regular games for paying customers. The economic model of bridge isn't a direct match as you could not run games for 16+ players at a time. But I've got at least 15-20 years to figure it out. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scotley, post: 7688011, member: 11520"] There is already a model for pay to game that goes back to perhaps the 1940's. I play duplicate bridge. As in the card game for those that don't know. This game was extremely popular mid-century and a huge infrastructure grew up around it. There are bridge clubs all over the country supported by the national American Contract Bridge League (visit [url]www.ACBL.org[/url] if you are curious). These clubs typically have several games a week. There are 10-12 games a week at the local club here and they sponsor three special tournaments a year at local convention hotels. Of course most of the players are retirement age as the game peaked in popularity in the 50's. There are tournaments of varying size every week somewhere. Typically several each week around the country. The entry fee for a game lasting 3 hours or so is usually about $7 with a $50 annual membership at the local club and $36 annual membership to the national organization which includes a monthly magazine. Tournament games tend to be slightly longer and are in the 10 to 15 dollar a session range. The 'director' who arbitrates any rules questions and coordinates the movements of the cards and players around the room (Everybody plays each of the hands and sits opposite half the other players in the room over the course of the game) and arranges partnerships and even rides sometimes gets about half the entry fees and the club gets the rest. If you aren't a member of the club you have to pay and extra buck or two. The clubs pay fees to the national organization as well for the tournaments. Of course there is usually only one 'director' getting the take and games can be anywhere from 4 tables to maybe 20 (4 players at each table). I expect in some bigger cities they have multiple sections going at the same time. So the director can make a decent income. Often the owners or managers of the local clubs run the games and can actually make a living if a modest one. Typically they are retirees. There are folks at our local club who play 6+ games a week. The directors have to undergo training and are tested on rules knowledge and you can appeal decisions up the line. I had to get training and be tested before I could teach new players or direct games. I think you'd need a gamemaster with a certain level of certified competence to expect to get paid each week. Bridge is a surprisingly complex game with a long established set of expectations for players. Of course bridge is losing numbers as players get older and die off. They do have educational efforts, but it is pretty hard to get kids to unplug and play cards with a room full of septuagenarians. Mostly they end up adding new retirees to the mix. I got involved back in the early nineties when I was in graduate school. I made a little money teaching new players. Running a weekly game for beginners and even as a paid player with partners who wanted to win tournaments and were willing to pay all my expenses to travel to tournament games. I have long harbored this dream that when I manage to retire I'll be able to establish a like minded group of gamers into a local club who are also reaching retirement age and have the disposable income and spare time for something like this. I'd love to run a gaming club and run regular games for paying customers. The economic model of bridge isn't a direct match as you could not run games for 16+ players at a time. But I've got at least 15-20 years to figure it out. :) [/QUOTE]
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