Notes from the Shoot Office: Purse Questions/Answers

Q: What is a "purse" or "option"?

A: A "purse" or "option" is another exciting way that a trapshooter can enjoy participating in the sport. For most trapshooting tournaments a "purse" or "option" is synonymous. A purse/option is an opportunity to buy into a pot of funds that will be awarded based on the performance of the shooters that have entered that purse. Unless specified, the pot of funds for the given purse is the total amount of funds paid into that purse. Unless specified, entry for a purse/option is not required.

Q: How does a purse/option work?

A: Each purse/option will have set of rules that governs the entry and payout of that purse. Unless specified, entry in a purse is not required and is open to all shooters. Most purse payout rules contain six components:

1. The number of events that the purse is paid over. Unless specified, a purse is only paid for the results of a single event.
2. The number of targets that the purse is paid over. Where it is not explicitly stated, the purse is paid over all the targets in a given event.
3. The amount of the pot that will be paid out. Unless specified the entire pot will be divided among the winners of the entrants.
4. The number of "classes" or "groups" that the purse is paid over.
5. The "method" of the payout. This will generally be indicated as "High Gun" or "Percentage System".
6. The way that "ties" will be handled. Unless specified and for most money related awards, ties are divided and not shot off.
7. Optionally, restrictions on the entry of a given purse need to be stated.

Q: When I shoot at different gun clubs, are purses/options always the same?

A: No. While purses/options are mostly standardized, clubs always have the option to define/redefine them as they choose. If you are not clear on how a purse will work at a given club/event/tournament, always ask the cashier before entering that purse/option.

Q: Are the SBTL purses/options the same at each tournament?

A: Since SBTL is a league, no matter what host club you are shooting at, the SBTL rules will govern the purse/options for our tournaments. If you are shooting at a non-SBTL tournament held by one of the host clubs, the options could be different. Please see the cashier for that club’s event and they will help you.

Q: What are the SBTL purses/options? How do they work?

A:The SBTL Singles and the Doubles Event purses are defined as 5 classes, paid as 60/40% Percentage System. The "5 classes" part means that all AA shooters are competing against each other and their purse entry fees makes up the pot for those contestants. A’s compete against other A’s, B’s against B’s, etc. The "60/40% Percentage System" means that the top two "scores" (irrespective of shooter) will split the pot. As an example, if there are 10 "B" shooters that have entered the purse @ $2.00 per entry, this creates a total pot of $20.00. If one "B" shooter shoots a 49 and 2 "B" shooters shoot a 48, then the shooter that shot 49 will get 60% of the "B" pot or $12.00 and the two shooters that shot 48 will split the remaining $8.00 or $4.00 each.

For the Handicap Event the shooter can choose from 5 different purses/options:

1. The "Lewis Option" is open to all shooters and is the best purse to play even for beginning shooters. A winning score in this option does not have to be high. It just has to be the right score. Once the event has been completed, the scores for all the Lewis entrants are listed in numerical order from the highest to the lowest. They are then divided into as many groups as there are classes. The SBTL uses 5 classes and pays 100% High Gun. This means if there were 60 entries @ $5.00 per entry and 5 classes, there would be approximately 12 scores in each class*. The highest score in each class would then be the winner and would earn $60.00. If more than one person shoots the same score, then they split the $60.00. *Please note that the Lewis has very specific rules related to how the classes are split when a score falls in two classes. Please see the shoot office if you would like a more detailed explanation.


2. The "Blind Draw Option" is open to all shooters. At the end of handicap, the computer automatically pairs shooters into ad hoc teams. The scores are combined to create a team score. The highest team score shares the pot. Where teams are tied, the pot is divided equally among the winners.


3. The "Perpetual Purse" and the "25’s Option" are open to all shooters. While these purses are different, playing one or both of these purses is kind of like the shooter saying that they think they can shoot at least one 25 in the Handicap event.
   
   The "Perpetual Purse" is a fixed pot purse defined by the SBTL. Generally it is $120.00. Simply put, if a shooter shoots one or more 25’s in the Handicap Event, they will share this purse. This purse is not paid based on the number of 25’s that are shot by the shooter, just the number of shooters that shoot one or more 25’s in Handicap. Ties divide.
   
   The "25’s Option" is a 50/30/20% Percentage System purse open to all shooters. This means that the shooter does NOT have to shoot a 25 to win this purse. The purse is first split by sub-event (meaning that the first 25 birds are paid separately from the second 25 birds). After this split, the top 3 SCORES (not shooters) are paid based on a 50/30/20% split. Example: For the first half of the 50 bird handicap, no shooters shoot 25, 3 shooters shoot 24, 1 shooter shoots 23, and 2 shooters shoot 22. The 3 shooters that shot 24 will share 50% of HALF the entrant fees (remember the pot is split by sub-event), the shooter that shot 23 will get 30% of half-the-pot and the 2 shooters that shot 22 will split 20% of half-the-pot.


4. The "Perfect 50’s Purse" is the only SBTL purse that has a restricted entry. To enter this purse, a shooter has to have shot at least 3 SBTL tournaments in the last two SBTL seasons. The "Perfect 50’s Purse" is another perpetual-style purse, in that the amount of the pot is guaranteed by the league. In this case, the entrance fees each month for this purse are cumulative until the purse pays out. To maintain a continuing pot, the purse is paid at 75% of the cumulative value of the pot. So if two shooters shoot a 50 in handicap, and the current cumulative value of the purse is $200.00, the shooters will split $150.00 ($200 * 75%) or $75.00 each. The remaining $50.00 will be used to start the pot for the next tournament.

Remember, one will win or lose a purse "by just one bird". Please keep this in mind and do not enter any purse or option that you cannot afford to lose.

Handicap Purses

Directions

For directions please click here.

Pre-squad List

For those shooters that are pre-squadded and have an email address on file with us, you will receive a Pre-Squad Reminder Email several days before each shoot. Please use this email to report an absence for that shoot.

If you have no email address on file, please call (408) 409-6103 or use this online form to pre-squad, to notify us of changes, or to report absences.

For the current pre-squad list, please click here.

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