There is a local tournament this weekend, 501 Calcutta. I am not sure what a Calcutta is. Can someone enlighten me?

Thanks!

found this The term "Calcutta" describes a type of auction-pool wagering that can be applied to golf and many other sporting events. In golf, a Calcutta is most common at a tournament featuring 4-person teams, but a Calcutta can be held in conjunction with any type of golf tournament.
In a Calcutta, golfers bid, auction style, on the golfer or team who they think will win the tournament (you can bid on yourself or your own team, too). All the money raised through the "auction" goes into the pot. At the end of the tournament, those who "won" the team that then won the tournament get a pre-determined payout from the auction pool.

The precise rules of a Calcutta can vary from place to place; many tournament organizers employ software programs that apply odds and determine win-place-show amounts. Perhaps the simplest and most common Calcutta payout is 70 percent of the pool to the "owner" of the winning tournament team, 30 percent to the "owner" of the second-place tournament team.

Among other variations is one that allows a golfer to buy back half of himself or his team from the winning bidder. For example, your team is "won" in the auction by Team X; if this rule is in effect, you can pay half of Team X's winning bid back to Team X in order to buy back half a stake in your own team. If your team then wins the tournament, your team and Team X split the Calcutta payout.

change golf to darts

Thank you.

Down here, there is a bar that hosts a blind draw calcutta tournament every month. First, the teams are drawn. Then a list of the teams is printed out and distributed to people wishing to bid on the teams. Then the auction bidding begins.

If there are multiple bidders with deep pockets, the winning bid to select the first team can be as much as $400-$600. I've seen times when the first team is bought for over $1000. Obviously, once a team is purchased, they are removed from the pool of available teams.

It is standard practice for the chosen dart team to have the 'option' to purchase 50% of their stake from the person who bought them. This is done before play begins.

I've seen times where one or both players decline the option to buy themselves back from the bidder who bought them. If you're the bidder that bought them, this will give you a bad vibe.

I have never seen a situation where the bidder refused to offer the option to the players. If you're the bidder that bought them, this is a dumb decision. You don't want to demotivate the players.

The grey area comes in when players themselves purchase other teams. What do you do if you were drawn against one of the teams that you bought? You can see how this can create an interesting dilemma.

We usually run a Calcutta one our bigger events. Essentially it's a side pot of betting on the outcome of the tournament. I usually make my money on a cheap team I get for $5 that sneaks into a 3rd place money and pays me $100 plus.