I believe it was IGP who put it all together.
While poker was not allowed then in the Bahamas they got
around it by the fact that it was a "private game" and it wasn't
being conducted in the casino proper.
It was a helluva good time: 7-card stud with, as I recall a $500
buy-in, and a "guarantee" that no professionals would be
playing. (How they determined THAT I'll never know!)
I finished 8th out of about 100 entries and got enough back to
pay for the trip. But the best best part was the ring games.
Everything was conducted during a long day, starting at about
9 AM, in a cocktail lounge off the casino. And, it appeared, they
were comfortable dealing anything anyone wanted to play -
outside of the main tournament.
I played, for the hell of it, in the only "wild card" game I can
remember playing anywhere ... any time. It was called
"POWER".
POWER is normal-rules 7-card stud with a neat twist: The
structure was $5-$10 but, on 6th street the high spade
(if any) dealt has "THE POWER".
He/she can decide whether to continue the game or void it,
leaving the (then) pot as the opening pot for the next hand.
FABULOUS pots developed.
Imagine starting a 7-card stud game, nominally $5-$10, with
perhaps $100 - $150 as an ANTE!
I'd make this a better story if I said I won a HUGE "Power"
hand, but my point is this:
Would it be possible to satisfy the folks at the Riviera that
ATLARGE II, since it is (essentially) a "private game" would
be outside the usual rules ... and could deal any game it
wanted to?
I mean .... it'd be a helluva lot better than carrying chairs to
Jerry's room to play on a bed!
One more thought ... re ATLARGE 78:
I propose you consider a small add-on to the registration fee
(perhaps $5-$10) which would pay for an ATLARGE "hospitality
suite" ... equipped with a poker table ... in which consenting
adults could do whatever they chose to do.
It could also serve as a true hospitality suite... where we could
all schmooze and tell poker lies.
All this, of course, comes from a guy who has never been to
an ATLARGE ... but who is really looking forward to ATLARGE II.
Bill Alan