Update on the Des Moines pool scene

Here's a question for you Iowa AZB players:

Should we have a 'King of Iowa AZB Mini Tournament' at the ISPA event?

I don't know if it would be recognized by AZ as thier format seems to be for a straight heads up challenge match, but this could be an unofficial mini tournament made up of all AZer's.

What do you think? It could be easily arranged...and I'm just the guy to get'er done too.

Maybe move this idea to the King of AZ forum but I thought I should start it here as most of us Iowa AZer's look here.

See ya in Davenport...Ken
 
Mike B. said:
Best statement from a tournament director this weekend: Telling my girlfriend's team (4 players) that they had to play their next match on 4 tables to speed things up.
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:killingme:

We got the same deal. But had to wait for other matches to finish to start the second round anyway as the rotation worked out. Can't imagine it makes more than 2 minutes difference overall.
 
SKUNKBOY said:
Here's a question for you Iowa AZB players:

Should we have a 'King of Iowa AZB Mini Tournament' at the ISPA event?

I don't know if it would be recognized by AZ as thier format seems to be for a straight heads up challenge match, but this could be an unofficial mini tournament made up of all AZer's.

What do you think? It could be easily arranged...and I'm just the guy to get'er done too.

Maybe move this idea to the King of AZ forum but I thought I should start it here as most of us Iowa AZer's look here.

See ya in Davenport...Ken
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I think that would be excellent. It would be a great starting point for the winner to be the "King of AZB" and then we start the "Heads up" play from there.

Get 'R Done Ken.
 
Mike B. said:
Best statement from a tournament director this weekend: Telling my girlfriend's team (4 players) that they had to play their next match on 4 tables to speed things up.
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LOL, that is hilarious. Good job state champ!

SKUNKBOY said:
I personally didn't think the IOMA was as bad as in past year...of course, maybe that's because I could go home between matches lol. I've always disliked the 'sit around and wait' for you next match because they don't use a time schedule. That's the biggest advantage to the ISPA tournament...you know when you're playing and if you can sneak off for a bite to eat or nap, you know you won't be forfieted out until the posted time.

As usual, the races were a joke. A race to 3 or 2 for a $45 entry fee State Championship Tournament stinks. Those races are fit for Saturday night local bar roon $10 entry tournaments...not a 'State Championship' Tournament. (BTW...ISPA races: not less that 5).

Oh well, it was in my back yard so I had to attend.

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, congratulations to MikeB in the Master 9 ball. That was a really good finals match between you and Craig. It finally boiled down to a mistake by Craig. What a great match by both players. Either one could have took it off. And how about that lag!!!!:eek:

Looking forward to seeing you all in Davenport. See if you all can fair as well there. It could happen.

L8R...Ken

BTW...they had about 20 more table this year that last.
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For my first Iowa state tourney experience I give the tourney a C rating. It would have been a D- but the team event was awesome. That felt like a brawl. I do think they should have let the final 6 teams finish it on Sunday though. I saw no reason why we should have to play another match at 10PM when we had been playing nonstop since 8AM. That was bogus. Our team went to the losers after second match. We were trying to eat mini pizzas and pretzels during matches to try to stay semi energized. We asked for a dinner break of an hour and got denied. That was brutal and by our last match we really were out of gas and just fighting to stay in it. We might have lost the next morning but they would have gotten a better fight even though we lost by 11 or 12 balls I believe.

SKUNKBOY said:
Here's a question for you Iowa AZB players:

Should we have a 'King of Iowa AZB Mini Tournament' at the ISPA event?

I don't know if it would be recognized by AZ as thier format seems to be for a straight heads up challenge match, but this could be an unofficial mini tournament made up of all AZer's.

What do you think? It could be easily arranged...and I'm just the guy to get'er done too.

Maybe move this idea to the King of AZ forum but I thought I should start it here as most of us Iowa AZer's look here.

See ya in Davenport...Ken
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Sure why not? That would be a cool mini tourney we could have fun with, I'll chip in $10 towards buying a WWF style championship belt for the winner haha!
 
SKUNKBOY said:
Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, congratulations to MikeB in the Master 9 ball. That was a really good finals match between you and Craig. It finally boiled down to a mistake by Craig. What a great match by both players. Either one could have took it off. And how about that lag!!!!:eek:
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Thanks Ken! I thought it was a great match too. Either one of us could have won, the way we were both playing, and the only way it could have been closer would be hill-hill the second set. Thank goodness we didn't have to lag again!

Thanks to everyone for the kind words this weekend!
 
SKUNKBOY said:
you know when you're playing and if you can sneak off for a bite to eat or nap, you know you won't be forfieted out until the posted time.

As usual, the races were a joke. A race to 3 or 2 for a $45 entry fee State Championship Tournament stinks. Those races are fit for Saturday night local bar roon $10 entry tournaments...not a 'State Championship' Tournament.

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, congratulations to MikeB in the Master 9 ball.

BTW...they had about 20 more table this year that last.
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That's the deal with any posted times, you can eat, sleep, leave. At least sit down. Judge yourself accordingly. After a long day, starting at 8 and playing till 2am with about 14 hours of wait time is silly. Then to play again, stinks.

I agree with the race. 3/2 is idiocy. and loser breaks is weird. Especially for a "State Championship".

20 more tables -- hmmm, and still can't handle the participation. Maybe starting 9 ball on Wednesday would help. Lengthen the race and make it another day. OR find a larger location.

I really didn't like the vendor space, or lack of vendors. I thought it was weird.

I DID LIKE the players lounge with the seating and tv's. VERY NICE addition. ISPA could take a page from that book. A place to veg out a bit, with some entertainment for those that aren't located in the adjoined hotel.

Big congrats to Mike B.. Nice job. :thumbup:
 
deadstroke7 said:
I DID LIKE the players lounge with the seating and tv's. VERY NICE addition. ISPA could take a page from that book. A place to veg out a bit, with some entertainment for those that aren't located in the adjoined hotel.
Up until last year, we did have a lounge...with big screen TV, couches, chairs, tables and video games. It was where the bracket boards were last year...second level. Nobody ever used it...so we did.

I think the reason no one used it is because of our scheduling. You really didn't have to stick around to wait for your name to be called so you could go to your room, or to one of the neighborhood bars that are nearby...or the riverboat just down the street...no real reason to hover around the brackets...you knew when you were scheduled and took advantage of the 'time off'.

I think your idea of a an additional day is the one that would work. They're just cramming too much into too short of time period. Oh well, enjoy Davenport...someday we'll be saying WELCOME TO THE ISPA IN DES MOINES...some day:thumbup:.

L8R...Ken
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IOMA is the WORST possible state tournament. I did love the setup where Masters players were upstairs. :) Crowne Plaza was nice all around. The wait around til you play shit is retarded. Multiple people i know just from dsm waited 3-6 hours for matches. Once again for any of you morons who would happen to be reading this. >>>>> THIS IS OUR STATE TOURNAMENT. Quit treating us all like animals, we get to do this ONE time a year. WE WOULD LIKE TO SLEEP, to have a chance to play our best. The tables i played on all played pretty well. Everyone i think had to adjust to the slower, nappy felt.
PS: loser break sucks.

Ken, we all know ISPA is better. But until you guys put in diamond tables, have a few 9ft's. Figure out how to get people's ranking right, with the new system(couple years,it will happen) ANNOUNCE finals matches and have seating for people to watch. ISPA will be just another state tournament we go to because thats whats here. MAKE it a tournament EVERYONE has to come to. BTW: The way you all run the brackets with times is perfect. Alternate break is great. Longer races are very nice. Payouts are already good, and they could be better. But why make the tournament just good enough? Make it great, i know you guys can. :)
PS: add an optional 10ball tournament for next year. Open field, play a race based on your rank (level1,open,master,elite....4/5/6/7 ? )

I went to the BCA midwest in MN a month ago and i'll tell you what. I will go back there every year and skip the IA tournaments if i have to. Their tables (diamonds) played damn near perfect. They brought out new balls for the finals. They used red circle cue balls. They ran stuff well, took care of problems right away. No playing til 3/4am and coming back at 8am. It was just a pleasure to play there.

OK. now that im done ranting.

CONGRATS to the DSM players. I watched as much as i could.(which wasn't as much as i would have liked) We had great finishes in singles and the team events. I think my team was the only one from dsm to have any controversy (sorry for that, it wasn't my fault)
 
Richardson said:
IOMA is the WORST possible state tournament. I did love the setup where Masters players were upstairs. :) Crowne Plaza was nice all around. The wait around til you play shit is retarded. Multiple people i know just from dsm waited 3-6 hours for matches. Once again for any of you morons who would happen to be reading this. >>>>> THIS IS OUR STATE TOURNAMENT. Quit treating us all like animals, we get to do this ONE time a year. WE WOULD LIKE TO SLEEP, to have a chance to play our best. The tables i played on all played pretty well. Everyone i think had to adjust to the slower, nappy felt.
PS: loser break sucks.

Ken, we all know ISPA is better. But until you guys put in diamond tables, have a few 9ft's. Figure out how to get people's ranking right, with the new system(couple years,it will happen) ANNOUNCE finals matches and have seating for people to watch. ISPA will be just another state tournament we go to because thats whats here. MAKE it a tournament EVERYONE has to come to. BTW: The way you all run the brackets with times is perfect. Alternate break is great. Longer races are very nice. Payouts are already good, and they could be better. But why make the tournament just good enough? Make it great, i know you guys can. :)
PS: add an optional 10ball tournament for next year. Open field, play a race based on your rank (level1,open,master,elite....4/5/6/7 ? )

I went to the BCA midwest in MN a month ago and i'll tell you what. I will go back there every year and skip the IA tournaments if i have to. Their tables (diamonds) played damn near perfect. They brought out new balls for the finals. They used red circle cue balls. They ran stuff well, took care of problems right away. No playing til 3/4am and coming back at 8am. It was just a pleasure to play there.

OK. now that im done ranting.

CONGRATS to the DSM players. I watched as much as i could.(which wasn't as much as i would have liked) We had great finishes in singles and the team events. I think my team was the only one from dsm to have any controversy (sorry for that, it wasn't my fault)
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Very honest there. I felt a lot like that myself. I don't think I got to watch anyone play unless they were playing near the station I was waiting at or playing nearby to where I was playing or just got done playing. I didn't see a single Master's singles match in either division. All I heard on the PA was Congratulations to whomever won each repective tourney. Once the tables broke in some, they played really well I think. A little rough to play a 9-Ball tourney on the tables while they were sliding and spongey though. Add that to a short race it was brutal.

Waiting on Davenport to see how that goes.
 
When we move to DM :o where we will have more room for expansion and get the entire state involved, we'll have a week long tournament. Then we'll think about some 9 footers for one pocket, ten ball and maybe a real pro event...the Cornfield County Classic (CCC). I'd like to see that happen.

I like the 'Open Event' that would be open to anyone with game handicapped match ups. I think that would work. Right now though, it would be hard to scheduel another event like that. Maybe we could incorporate that idea into our IOWA AZB mini. That might make it more acceptable to more players...just a thought.

L8R...Ken
 
A 1pkt event would BE AWESOME for a state event. :)
Yea, maybe use my 10 ball idea for a king of the hill az event.

Anyhow Ken, i know you're always working to improve. My ideas are meant to help some what! :)
 
Richardson said:
A 1pkt event would BE AWESOME for a state event. :)
Yea, maybe use my 10 ball idea for a king of the hill az event.

Anyhow Ken, i know you're always working to improve. My ideas are meant to help some what! :)
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I always value helpfull ideas. Keep them coming...the more I can flood the Board with, the better chances of getting some of them through:D.

L8R...Ken
 
I agree with alot of Jason's themes.

I do want to thank all the Operators who (volunteer?) give their time to run the IOMA tournament. It looked like the computer scoring was a good idea that didn't pan out quite like expected. I do like being able to talk with 'the' person in-charge of each board, but some answers were weird at best.

I do only get to do this once (or twice) a year, and it's getting to be something that is harder to free up time for. Hence, keeping me happy in the experience of it all, is keeping me coming back.

I will seriously reconsider the IOMA experience when evaluating tournaments for next year. To be honest, the reviews of the Midwest BCA (and having good playing Diamond tables -- catching a theme here anyone??) is something that sounds worthwhile, and I would easily forfiet IOMA to go to MN.

Look, there are a lot of players 'here for the beer', but there are also a lot of us that want to enjoy the experience while we are spending our discretionary money enjoying playing a sport we love. Bad tables, times, tournament operation, hotel, etc; just distracts from the experience and makes me wonder why I bother -- society offers plenty of alternatives for my dollars...

So let's get a tournament that makes me want to be there. Ken, we like your ideas man. You got the vision! Let's work it. DCC ain't gonna have nothing on us. SBE just got done and wasn't exactly anything to write home about according to the internet (I know, but still..).... ISPA could be the biggest thing since sliced bread.

FWIW, JMO.
 
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Richardson said:
Holy crap, am i missing something here ?

This Ken is the same Ken who played Troy and i in singles, and beat me in 9 ball ? You played with Cale on a Masters team ?
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I played Ken at the Pool Hall (Corner Pocket) on Wednesday.
 
Richardson said:
Holy crap, am i missing something here ?

This Ken is the same Ken who played Troy and i in singles, and beat me in 9 ball ? You played with Cale on a Masters team ?
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It's the same Ken who came and played in the Ten Ball tournament. The same Ken who moved my buddy Scott Hargens up to an Elite player without him winning anything!!! Gotta give him a hard time.
 
T-dog said:
I played Ken at the Pool Hall (Corner Pocket) on Wednesday.
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T-Dog we hit them good for about 15 hours on Saturday. A couple different rolls and we would have beat Cail's team too. By the way he rained 50's through that whole tournament so I don't feel so bad they scored a 140 points between 3 guys haha!
 
Richardson said:
Holy crap, am i missing something here ?

This Ken is the same Ken who played Troy and i in singles, and beat me in 9 ball ? You played with Cale on a Masters team ?
Click to expand...

No Jason, You're thinking of Kent Zirtsman, he's a good player too. I think you met me last year in Waterloo.

I met Troy at a tournament Wednesday night at the Corner Pocket in CR. We played each other and he lucked out...I mean beat me...out of the winners side.

I played in the Seniors event so I doubt you played against me(I did finish third in the 9-ball though).

Troy, it was good to meet you too. We'll definitely have to have that All Iowa AZB tournament now. Revenge is sweet!:D

L8R...Ken
 
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