Is there a chance that the establishment will actually hire anyone good from the open mic? In Chicago in the late '70's there was a bar that would have a Tuesday open mic. If the owner saw that you could do more than three songs well, she would hire you on a regular night. That upped the quality of the people who came to hang out. After that place closed, another one opened that initially ignored the local folk scene, then did an open mic where they didn't hire. People soon figured that out and the night fizzled. Another place had a great Monday night open mic that ran for three or so years. Eventually the owners agreed to have a Weekend night featuring the best of the open mic. They got several local luminaries to judge that concert and the act deemed the best got an opening act slot on another night. I didn't care for the competitive aspect of that, but the regular Monday's were great.