So, like Las Vegas, the house always wins. And if you were at a
tournament, John, with a prize list that went down to 20th place, would
you feel good about the organizer pocketing extra cash because of 1/2
point byes not afforded to others when you finished in 11th place? I'll
have to look for tournaments where I can take 1/2 point byes for 3/4 of
the rounds.

A house player wouldn't pay an entry fee or be eligible for prizes. He is
simply someone available who the td can use to avoid giving byes (or to play
someone who received a forfeit). It is commonly handled in one of two ways
for tournament purposes: 1) If the house player is a reasonable opponent,
then the game is often included in the section and the result counts for the
paid player; 2) If the house player is not a reasonable opponent (either too
high or too low rated), then the game is commonly moved to a separate
section of extra games and the paid player gets a bye. A variant of this is
when there are byes in two adjacent sections: The player in the lower
section is given a bye and plays as a house player in the higher section.

- Tom Martinak