So just a few things I want to say about this event.
The setup is beautiful with top notch tables, balls switched out for every matches, great spacing and lights, plenty of refs, and Tim doing yeoman's work staging the event via DigitalPool with scoring viewable at every table. Pat, in his welcome speech at the players meeting, made it clear he wanted everyone to have a good time and it was my experience there was nothing but exemplary camaraderie on display by every single player I encountered. And certainly it was great to see old friends again and make new ones.
Personally, I love going to events like this because they take you out of your element and the comfortable, familiar surrounds of your home room and the shots and moves you can easily anticipate from your local crew. At an event like this you're not only going to see superior play but you're also going to see new shots, strategies, and playing mechanics. And the thing is that everybody (that's you reading this) needs to be taken out of their comfort zone, experience the game from a fresh perceptive, AND, if you're paying attention, learn plenty of new stuff and gain insights into your own play. I worked on my PSR for three hours today based upon what I saw and wanted to incorporate into my game and think it's going to be a big (read huge) plus for my game. You have been warned, lol.
There was a dress code for this event which amounted to: collared shirt, dress pants, and dark shoes. Anytime you were in the tournament playing area you had to be dressed that way if you wanted to get on a table. And my opinion is that it was a very good thing because every time you got in an elevator or just walked around the property with your case slung over your shoulder all the golfers would notice and ask about the tournament and no one looked like they had just gotten off an oil rig. Everyone looked good and it kinda made you proud to be a pool player, which in my experience, is kind of an unusual thing, lol.
There were maybe a dozen vendors, a cue mechanic, an action room, a room for the bar table events, and a couple of ladies offering massages. Jeanette Lee was doing some evening exhibitions and selling stuff.
So now the other side of this coin. My main issue with this event is that you play one, single, solitary match a day until the field is reduced to the last dozen or so combatants. That's tough to fade particularly when there are *plenty* of tables with half of them going unused during tournament hours. I suppose the good news is that it's not so tough to just walk in any old time and get a table to practice on. After hours it was $10 an hour table rental. I imagine that kind of scheduling has something to do with keeping bodies in the hotel as part of the deal but one match a day is really, really rough.
One other thing about the one pocket event. At this tournament they implemented a three hour cap on matches. Meaning that when the big hand hit 12 and the little hand hit whatever number was three hours after your 2, 5 or 8 start time, the guy with the most balls won. I only saw it happen once and it was so totally wrong. One guy gets off to a 2-0 lead and the other guy battles back to tie at 2-2. One guy breaks and there is like 15 minutes left on the clock. A lot of guys are watching. They each make one ball and then the clock hits its mark and one guy scores, with 12 balls left on the table, and the ref calls the match. I have zero doubt there wasn't a player in the room that wouldn't have been happy to delay the start of their match, or move to another table, just to let those two guys finish slugging it out. I know they advertised the rule up front but to see it implemented with these two guys shooting at their holes in timely fashion was so wrong.
The property is a Marriott Renaissance and so even with an event promo code you're going to pay just over $160 for the room. (I'm not sure if they were doing it for everyone but I got comped the $12 a day parking fee.) My room, while clean, could have definitely used an update with a peeling bathroom ceiling, a marginally effective HVAC, and a tub so narrow it was like trying to shower in a canoe. The staff was unfailingly pleasant and friendly and over the course of four days Dustin and I got to know the bartenders pretty well. But the drinks are not cheap. Food was available at the bar/restaurant with everything from wings, flatbreads, a jumbo pretzel that lived up to its name, burgers, and some fish and meat entrees. Out in the parking lot there was a sports bar type place call Caddyshack with some basic bar type food. Other than that you had to drive off the property (there was a shuttle into St. Augustine) which was -- not kidding -- a mile and a quarter drive past golf courses and various other properties. Then it was another 20 minutes towards St. Augustine or Jacksonville to get a good meal at a place like Caps or the Outback Crab Shack. Depending on the time of day it’s almost an hour to Jacksonville International.
So, that's it. I finished tied for 12th and in the money. On the balance it was good experience for me. Next stop: Railyard in Louisville next month :- )
Lou Figueroa
