Was I wrong to call out the tournament director

Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So I've been playing in a ton of local bar tourneys lately and the first thing I want to mention is that one of my biggest pet peeves is when the guy running the tournament is playing in the tournament and doesn't reveal what the payouts are going to be from the beginning.

The vast majority of the time I have to ask what the payouts will be and for how many places. Every tournament brackets should have the payouts written down imo. Do they not realize that it wouldn't be fair if they waited till they knew they took second place and then decided to pay large for second and small for third?

So here is the story that I thought was just ludicrous: The format is double slim race to two on the winner's side and race to one on the loser's. I make the finals through the loser's bracket in a tourney where I am the newbie and the director tells me that it's getting late (11:15) and the bar tender wants to go home so the first match will be a race to one and then the second match if I win the first game will be over if I lose the first game but I would have to beat my opponent twice to win the tourney.

He said it in a way that made it sound like it wasn't the normal way but it's really late so let's just end it as fast as possible. I called him out and told him I'd been playing tourneys for 15 years and never heard of such a thing.

Have I gone plum loco or was I right to call him out?
 
M

maha

from way back when
Silver Member
the % payouts should be posted before the tournament starts or right after. soon after that the dollar amounts should be stated for all to hear. that should be demanded of all tournaments every where.

the ending seemed fair but you have to realize bars close and sometimes you have to do what it takes to end a longer lasting tournament.
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I felt that if the first set was a race to one and he lost that would make us equals and I didn't see why he should only need to win one game in the next set and I would have to win two.

He agreed that to speed it up we would just play a race to one in both sets.
 
book collector

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Luxury said:
So I've been playing in a ton of local bar tourneys lately and the first thing I want to mention is that one of my biggest pet peeves is when the guy running the tournament is playing in the tournament and doesn't reveal what the payouts are going to be from the beginning.

The vast majority of the time I have to ask what the payouts will be and for how many places. Every tournament brackets should have the payouts written down imo. Do they not realize that it wouldn't be fair if they waited till they knew they took second place and then decided to pay large for second and small for third?

So here is the story that I thought was just ludicrous: The format is double slim race to two on the winner's side and race to one on the loser's. I make the finals through the loser's bracket in a tourney where I am the newbie and the director tells me that it's getting late (11:15) and the bar tender wants to go home so the first match will be a race to one and then the second match if I win the first game will be over if I lose the first game but I would have to beat my opponent twice to win the tourney.

He said it in a way that made it sound like it wasn't the normal way but it's really late so let's just end it as fast as possible. I called him out and told him I'd been playing tourneys for 15 years and never heard of such a thing.

Have I gone plum loco or was I right to call him out?
Click to expand...

You are not wrong , payouts and rules should be established before the tournament begins.
Otherwise something like you described happens more often than not.
 
PocketSpeed11

PocketSpeed11

AzB Long Member
Silver Member
Seems like you had every right to call him out to me. Having to beat your opponent twice in the second match seems unfair.
 
Cornerman

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Luxury said:
So I've been playing in a ton of local bar tourneys lately and the first thing I want to mention is that one of my biggest pet peeves is when the guy running the tournament is playing in the tournament and doesn't reveal what the payouts are going to be from the beginning.

The vast majority of the time I have to ask what the payouts will be and for how many places. Every tournament brackets should have the payouts written down imo. Do they not realize that it wouldn't be fair if they waited till they knew they took second place and then decided to pay large for second and small for third?

So here is the story that I thought was just ludicrous: The format is double slim race to two on the winner's side and race to one on the loser's. I make the finals through the loser's bracket in a tourney where I am the newbie and the director tells me that it's getting late (11:15) and the bar tender wants to go home so the first match will be a race to one and then the second match if I win the first game will be over if I lose the first game but I would have to beat my opponent twice to win the tourney.

He said it in a way that made it sound like it wasn't the normal way but it's really late so let's just end it as fast as possible. I called him out and told him I'd been playing tourneys for 15 years and never heard of such a thing.

Have I gone plum loco or was I right to call him out?
Click to expand...
This might not be what you want to hear... it's a bar tournament. We've all won a zillion. This is why splitting is favorable. It's late. Everyone else that didn't get in the money went home. Nobody cares. Going home is more important
Weigh it out

I get the particulars of why you're not happy, but it's a bar weekly tournament. It's not worth your anger or your questioning.

Freddie <~~~ glad to be there at the end
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cornerman said:
This might not be what you want to hear... it's a bar tournament. We've all won a zillion. This is why splitting is favorable. It's late. Everyone else that didn't get in the money went home. Nobody cares. Going home is more important
Weigh it out

I get the particulars of why you're not happy, but it's a bar weekly tournament. It's not worth your anger or your questioning.

Freddie <~~~ glad to be there at the end
Click to expand...



I suggested splitting and they acted like they had never heard of it.

The one other time I went to this tournament they let 24 people sign up but only had a 16 man bracket. It was the biggest cluster F I've ever seen. They have two tables and I didn't shoot my first match for 3 1/2 hours. As soon as eight people were eliminated, they started the tournament over on a new 16 man bracket so you got no credit for being undefeated.

I have no regrets going to the tournament both times. It's been amusing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Cornerman

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Luxury said:
I suggested splitting and they acted like they had never heard of it.

The one other time I went to this tournament they let 24 people sign up but only had a 16 man bracket. It was the biggest cluster F I've ever seen. They have two tables and I didn't shoot my first match for 3 1/2 hours. As soon as eight people were eliminated, they started the tournament over on a new 16 man bracket so you got no credit for being undefeated.

I have no regrets going to the tournament both times. It's been amusing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Keep it amusing, I played a tournament a few ago where the TD moved players around at his whim because he liked the matchup, even if it was a match in the third round of the losers bracket. He just moves the names around. It's a bar tourney, and it's amusing
 
couldnthinkof01

couldnthinkof01

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It is a bar tournament after all, but I think it is a joke. Playing weekly bar tournaments are what they are though, sorry about your luck. No huge loss and fun just to compete, I wouldnt get super upset
 
trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cornerman said:
Keep it amusing, I played a tournament a few ago where the TD moved players around at his whim because he liked the matchup, even if it was a match in the third round of the losers bracket. He just moves the names around. It's a bar tourney, and it's amusing
Click to expand...

I can promise you if you did that around here no one would show for another tournament. The players around respect the game and if it's a $10 or $100 they are in it to win and would never toerate non sense like that.
 
trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I always use my iPad to run a tournament but I write down the payouts as soon as it starts. I alway pay 1/4 of the field. 1st gets half the money .. last place gets the entry fee back and you go from there.
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Luxury said:
So I've been playing in a ton of local bar tourneys lately and the first thing I want to mention is that one of my biggest pet peeves is when the guy running the tournament is playing in the tournament and doesn't reveal what the payouts are going to be from the beginning.

The vast majority of the time I have to ask what the payouts will be and for how many places. Every tournament brackets should have the payouts written down imo. Do they not realize that it wouldn't be fair if they waited till they knew they took second place and then decided to pay large for second and small for third?

So here is the story that I thought was just ludicrous: The format is double slim race to two on the winner's side and race to one on the loser's. I make the finals through the loser's bracket in a tourney where I am the newbie and the director tells me that it's getting late (11:15) and the bar tender wants to go home so the first match will be a race to one and then the second match if I win the first game will be over if I lose the first game but I would have to beat my opponent twice to win the tourney.

He said it in a way that made it sound like it wasn't the normal way but it's really late so let's just end it as fast as possible. I called him out and told him I'd been playing tourneys for 15 years and never heard of such a thing.

Have I gone plum loco or was I right to call him out?
Click to expand...

The only thing that doesn't make sense here is that if they are in such a hurry, why wouldn't it be one game first and if you win then one more game to decide the tourney winner. Sounds like they did this to favor the other guy (a regular) over you. If so, this is nothing new. At least you got second and don't have to go back unless you like playing in slanted tourneys like this one.

I've been fading home court decisions in pool and poker all my life so get used to it. :thumbup:
 
S

Swighey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yep probably just bone-headed unintentional favouritism for the regular, local, friend, whatever. 11.15 can be late depending on where you are and changing the length of races at the deep end is fine as long as it's fair to all players still involved. Payouts should be confirmed at the very least when all of the players have played their first game and preferably before it starts.

It isn't difficult, or rather shouldn't be difficult, to run a pool tournament in a bar. But the reality is that it is for many people - they struggle with the notion of a good format and are often out of their depth. Cap it or don't cap it, confirm the payouts at the start, state that races can be adjusted (fairly) depending on time - but accept input from all remaining players before, unilaterally, making a decision. It's not rocket science but maybe it is.
 
gregcantrall

gregcantrall

Center Ball
Silver Member
I have seen some funny things over the years playing in little bar tournaments. Some were done with ill intent and some were done out of ignorance. The funniest ones were sometimes both.

Once upon a time.....

My wife and I were back in my home town, Douglas City, CA. Weekly we would travel over the hill to Hayfork for a little bar tournament. I was dominating the tournaments so each week they would change the game. One week they decided on 9 ball but had no clue what the rules should be. So it was a race to one with a scratch on the 9 being a loss and the 9 ball break being dead. No ball in hand or any of that stuff. Wouldn't you know, my first game I snapped the nine and scratched. No hope of winning an appeal as to being able to loose on a nine ball break but not being able to win with it. So off to the losers side I go. I still prevailed.

It was all for recreation and the bar always had a game feed on tournament day. It was a small logging town and work was seasonal, so the feed was pay what you could afford and grab a plate. We always put any winnings in the kettle for the feed. It was a fun time and we made some good friends even if I did beat up on the locals (playing pool).
 
L

Low500

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I read a satirical story once about a poker game. Good moral about local favoritism.
Man says he was playing in a low stakes game at a Moose Club. He had a full house and one of the members spreads what they called a "Red Tiger"......a nothing hand composed of three hearts and two diamonds. They all say...."You Lose..a Red Tiger wins here, it beats all hands".
The guy keeps playing. Eventually he too gets a "Red Tiger", stands all raises and triumphantly displays his winning hand.
"You Lose", they all say, "A Red Tiger is only good for once a night"
 
Last edited:
Icon of Sin

Icon of Sin

I can't fold, I need gold. I re-up and reload...
Silver Member
Cornerman said:
This might not be what you want to hear... it's a bar tournament. We've all won a zillion. This is why splitting is favorable. It's late. Everyone else that didn't get in the money went home. Nobody cares. Going home is more important
Weigh it out

I get the particulars of why you're not happy, but it's a bar weekly tournament. It's not worth your anger or your questioning.

Freddie <~~~ glad to be there at the end
Click to expand...

This. I split at the end of every late running bar tournament. I want to go home, opponent wants to go home, TD wants to go home, staff wants to go home.
 
Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Low500 said:
I read a satirical story once about a poker game. Good moral about local favoritism.
Man says he was playing in a low stakes game at a Moose Club. He had a full house and one of the members spreads what they called a "Red Tiger"......a nothing hand composed of three hearts and two diamonds. They all say...."You Lose..a Red Tiger wins here, it beats all hands".
The guy keeps playing. Eventually he too gets a "Red Tiger", stands all raises and triumphantly displays his winning hand.
"You Lose", they all say, "A Red Tiger is only good for once a night"
Click to expand...



Lol!!! Thanks for all the responses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top