HI Jay, Let me say that you and your crew did a great job at the open this year. One of the main things I heard about besides the racking was the time frame of getting paid. Quite a few people had to stay an extra night because of how the had the pay window set up. I would suggest having the money already put in envelops in a safe and pay them as they get put out of the tournament. Quite a few players were complaining about this and was over heard saying that they were not coming back if they have to go through that again. One more thing was how cold they had it in their all week. A few people left early because they said it was just to cold to sit and watch anymore. Just a few things I heard and thought I would share with you. Best of luck.
First of all - THANKS! - Ken, Bill and I plus our helpers Amber and Tim worked our asses off for seven days.
Most players got knocked out in evening matches, so they had to stay over anyway. Times were clearly posted on the tournament office door when pay outs would be made the following day. Only a couple of people had access to the office safe and I think it's a little unreasonable to think they should have to stop what they're doing to pay one person at a time. I can imagine what this would look like when paying all the players who finished 65th-96th or 49th-64th. That's a lot of running back and forth, opening the safe, filling out forms etc. I think paying IN CASH the next day is a very good arrangement and worked out quite well for all concerned. I didn't see any unhappy faces or hear any complaints while I was there.
A couple of guys asked me (late at night) about getting paid, and when I told them the times were posted on the tournament door for pay outs the next day, they said fine and left. A player could always opt to leave right away and he would have received his check in the mail instead. Once again, all the pay outs have been handled in a prompt and courteous manner this year. Just to clear the air on that point, 3rd through 96th were paid in cash immediately (the next day)! First and second are in the process of being paid in full, and in a very timely manner I might add. Corey has received most of his winnings and will get the rest next week. Darren is receiving four equal weekly payments and will be paid in full prior to the Mosconi Cup. I call this full disclosure, so there is nothing to hide. I also wanted to know how payments were being handled this year, so being me, I asked!
Even Matchroom usually takes anywhere from two weeks to a month to send players their money via wire transfer, so for the winner to get paid in full in one month is no big deal. That's customary. So now you know the whole story. There were 96 winners this year and not one is unhappy about it! That's the bottom line here.
P.S. I agree that it was a little too cold in the arena, with the thermostat set at 68 degrees every day. I got some cockamanny explanation about how the aircon system worked there but I'm not buying it. Next year, NO WAY is all I have to say about that! 70-72 degrees should work just fine.
