Here's an idea for a tournament that doesn't require any sanctioning body, and can be held anytime. I would call it the "Bad Luck 200."

20 entrants meet at a casino that has a $200 strike (or token, or whatever the #$%^& you want to call it). The first player, randomly selected, starts playing the strike machine and continues until a strike is won. A record is kept on how much money was played before the strike was won. That person immediately cashes out, and the next person in line starts. The 20 strikes are collected, and the person who spent the MOST money to win their first strike takes all 20 and is awarded the $200 strike with a small but noisy celebration at the cage.

Minor, but important additional rules: Win more than one on your last pull, and you keep all but the one that goes into the pot. If you like the one you won, you can exchange it for another one that can be used to redeem the $200. This would be important at the Plaza or any other place that would have rarer strikes in the hopper. So, it would be advisable to have a spare one or two in your pocket before you start.

I figure the whole thing would take less than 2 hours, and the entry fee would be (just like everything else in silver strikes) TOTALLY UNKNOWN until you play. You could lose with less than a buck spent, or lose $62 to another player who spent $63. I can imagine the excitement rising as each person tries to lose just a bit more than the leader, and the groans of someone lining up a winner just one or two pulls too soon.

Anyone else like the idea? I guess the only problem would be if security didn't like 40 or so people going crazy around a single machine, but I think the casinos would probably find the whole concept amusing.

P.S. Side-bets could be accepted on when the first jam or hopper fill would occur...