I'm going to be in Vegas for two weeks during the WSOP and want to play in some of the smaller tournaments offered all over town. I've never played in a survivor event and would like to try one.

I really like the idea of a survivor tourney, because I think that traditional prize distributions are ridiculously top-heavy. I know it's macho, makes for a big first prize to advertise, and is good TV, but really, outlast the vast majority of players and get what, 1.5x your money back? Absurd! Not to mention finishing fourth or fifth--which is a real accomplishment--and making 3x or 4x your original buy-in. Whoopie effin' doo.

So do you know which tournament series will have survivor events, or which have had them in the past?

In the past, WSOP has had satellites of various stakes that would meet your requirements. While not exactly "survivors," these pay out in $500 tournament lammers that are quite easy to sell to people who actually want to play the other events. These have also been some of the softest events I've seen.

The Venetian tend to offer regular survivor tournies as part of their schedule.

You will find this in the 9am Daily Mega at WSOP. It's a satellite "survivor structure" that will pay you 10x the buy-in in tournament chips which then you can sell to other players for cash.

I'm not conscious at 9 am. Though it may not be necessary if those games are as soft as people say they are.

In general, I've found satellites and such to be very easy to beat, especially if they immediately precede a tournament. People trying to get into an event they don't have the bankroll to enter otherwise.

The one thing that puts me off about this idea is the huge vig that the WSOP charges for their events. Is that smaller with these 9 am tourneys?

I assume that a $500 lammer could be easily sold for, say, $480?

Softer field? Yes
Higher Vig? Yes
Easy to sell $500 lammer for $480? Yes
Crappy Structure? Yes

The $180 mega morning satellite will have about $30 fees, with $1500 in lammer payouts to the top 10%. Such is the smaller the buy-in the higher the proportionate rake. And these satellites are structured to end quick, likely $5K starting stack with 10 min levels, to finish within 3 hours.

You pay for what you get, which will always trend to be less.

They rake more but only about 10 bucks more than a STT of the same size. Actually, they probably pay some cash too, for tipping, so it's probably only about 5 or 6 bucks extra.