Fast Focus
	Advances in technology and the growing popularity of contests help underwriters learn the contours of hole-in-one and other prize coverage.
	The Internet is home to more and more promotions each year, made possible by insurance to cover major prizes.
	Hole-in-one insurance is relatively new, originating in the 1970s.

Odd Ball

Odd Ball

By  Becky Squires

[Page 3 of 4]

· All provide free signage and “how-to’s” for running a tournament, although the quality and quantity varies.

· Finally, many, but not all, hole-in-one companies offer “prize restoration” in case more than one person aces the top-prize hole, which means that in the unlikely but always possible event that if multiple tournament participants ace the hole, they all win the top prize.

“Of the hole-in-one companies I know, most were not insurance-oriented before getting involved in the business,” says Burkert. “Some people are coming into the business now because technology has made it easier to figure out the odds. Others came from the accounting and travel industries, and others worked in marketing, usually golf,” he says.

Until the 1990s, hole-in-one companies mostly limited their coverage to tournament holes in one or to “one-shot” events (where million-dollar coverage is obviously a lot less expensive). But as more brokers became familiar with prize indemnification insurance and organizing companies grew more confident about getting the odds right, coverage exploded into a host of other areas, especially sports and games.

Corporate sponsors and sports teams themselves adore halftime contests on the field that challenge randomly selected fans to replicate the professionals’ prowess. A basketball fan can win prizes ranging from a Dodge truck to a million bucks by making four shots in 25 seconds: a lay up, free throw, three pointer and one from the half-court line. A contestant who successfully kicks a 45-, 50- or 55-yard field goal during halftime can walk away with enough money to put his feet up for good.

Naturally, the Internet is home to more and more promotions each year. “The Internet is especially good for companies that want to get people involved throughout the country but lack the physical locations customers could visit,” says Brad Henderson, sales manager at National Hole in One Association. “Many of our Internet offerings are based on the same mathematical concept as our other programs, but you change the interface on top for the Web so people can go for that hole in one virtually instead of physically,” he says. At NHIOA, Henderson says the type of promotion really depends on the event itself. “When people call us, they describe what they want to do and we talk them through everything and then develop the most exciting game we can for that event.”

Several companies now work internationally, and their offerings both online and off have become more imaginative. Hole-in-Won, for example, offers hot air balloon contests, giving people a chance to grab a ring from a 30-foot pole as the balloon swoops towards the ground, and Frisbee Golf, played just like a hole-in-one tournament but with a Frisbee and net instead of a ball and hole. SCA, whose founder and CEO is 11-time world bridge champion Robert D. Hamman, has worked with more than 300 gaming companies and tribal nations. The company, whose clients include Harrah’s, Trump Casino and Foxwoods Resort Casino, offers promotions that give players chances at giant cash prizes.

The most expensive prize offered to date was in 2006, when HCC’s American International underwrote and Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity reinsured a $100 million hand in the Noble Poker $100 Million Mega-Tournament. At the final table, the winning players could win the enormous jackpot for a royal flush of spades. Other prize-winning hands included $750,000 for a straight flush and $500,000 for four-of-a-kind kings.

Fortunately for the insurers, no one managed to win the $100 million or, indeed, any of the other prizes at the final hand. Surprising? Not when you consider that the odds of a royal straight flush without a suit being designated are roughly 650,000-to-1.

Squires is entertainment editor. Becky.Squires@LeadersEdgeMagazine.com

Hole In One Hit Parade

Odds of making one: In 2000, Golf Digest hired Dr. Francis Scheid, once Boston University’s math department chairman, to calculate the odds of making a hole in one. Scheid broke down the odds by player quality and came up with these numbers: