I recently played in a hadicapped 8 ball tournament at a local pool hall. Its a new tournament and so it does not have alot of players that play in it yet. So the owner has played in it the last couple of weeks. I think that thats ok but the thing is he shoots pretty good and he ranks himself probably lower than he should. Well last week he won the tournament and some of the players were pretty mad. I was just wondering what yall think. Should the owner play in his own tournament?
Owner wins his own tournament
- Thread starter billy's boy
- Start date
As someone who owned a pool room and held weekly handicapped events I always felt like I should rank myself at the highest level because then no one could complain if I did well. Also it was a personal challenge to myself.
I think that owners of rooms should play in and enjoy the tournaments they host. Don't forget that they are players too and probably don't get to enjoy the game as much as their customers do.
But they should avoid any taint of impropriety and take the worst of it in their own handicapped events.
I think that owners of rooms should play in and enjoy the tournaments they host. Don't forget that they are players too and probably don't get to enjoy the game as much as their customers do.
But they should avoid any taint of impropriety and take the worst of it in their own handicapped events.
not unless he handicaps himself correctly. i wouldnt judge by 1 or 2 weeks but if he finishes in the money most weeks i would say something.
i see no problem with it in a non handicapped tourney though.
This makes sense.
I play in my own handicapped tournaments. But our ratings/handicaps are cut & dry done by the computer. So people know there's no subjectivity.
As the room owner. you should always take the short end of the stick. If you occasionally do well, more power to you. You are having the tournaments for the players benefit.
its been my experience that if your playing at an actual pool hall and not a po dunk bar, MOST poolhall owners are quite the shooters and everybody that is going to come play these probably knows this from leagues or other tournaments so most of the time they wouldnt be able to get away with that. in this case where you say many of the players were pretty mad then he probably tried to get away with it and they werent happy and they should tell him that if hes not going to be fair about rankings then they wont play. this is why any and all tournament should go off of some kind of world wide recognized league handicap system whether its apa, bca, vnea, etc. If the players bring it up to him and he has gotten pretty good turn outs and is making money from drinks/food during the tournaments hes not going to want to lose that...and im not sure who said it above me but i agree with them that if they rank theirselves higher than maybe they should and give themselves a challenge it will only make them a better player. you can not grow from indifference, only adversity. its just like...do basketball players get better from shooting the SAME shot every time, do body builders get bigger by doing the SAME thing every time? you have to constantly challenge yourself to grow.
edited note...the very first place i ever started playing was in windsor colorado and they had a weekly bar box 8 ball tournament and the owner played every single week and it took him 14 years to win his own tournament but he always showed up to play and show his appreciation for good turn outs...i believe every owner who actually plays should be like this.
edited note...the very first place i ever started playing was in windsor colorado and they had a weekly bar box 8 ball tournament and the owner played every single week and it took him 14 years to win his own tournament but he always showed up to play and show his appreciation for good turn outs...i believe every owner who actually plays should be like this.
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This suggests the owner has played in his own tournament multiple times, he won just last week, and other players complained.
I played in many handicapped tournaments, almost on a weekly basis, and each time I hear someone complains something about someone being underrated. Many times the problems ain't on the rating system, inconsistency normally causes these complaints.
Before the northern Lounge in Arizona CLOSED it was no unique to find one of the owner playing in their own Tourny?
Right or Wrong I can not say?
I wouldn't be too concerned about it. He's probably shooting himself in the foot by winning. If he wins again i the near future, he might lose a few customers.
I think he should play in his own tourney. The handicap is always going to be an issue though. If a AZ rated 6 player goes through and wins a tourney people are going to say he or she should be rated a 7 or 8. The handicap is there to even the playing field so the6 should have a legit chance to win.
Now where a problem comes in and I have had this happen to me as I am sure many others have also, I played a 5 ranked player who ran 3 racks on me. Someone who is a 5 should not be able to run a single rack but hey sometimes the sun shines on everyone but not three in a row. So now if I complain, it looks like i am a bad loser. No win situation for the bar owner.
Now where a problem comes in and I have had this happen to me as I am sure many others have also, I played a 5 ranked player who ran 3 racks on me. Someone who is a 5 should not be able to run a single rack but hey sometimes the sun shines on everyone but not three in a row. So now if I complain, it looks like i am a bad loser. No win situation for the bar owner.
Hey TX, so you are saying he should not play in the tourney or he should dump it if it looks like he is gonna win? Actually thinking about it now someone else should be handicapping him.
His whole night should be focused on his business, in my opinion. Beating a bunch of customers in your tournament is only gonna make them come to AZB and post about how they feel. Personally, I wouldn't have played in the tournament if I were the owner. If I wanted to increase the pot, I'd just add money to it.
Sometimes I let my girlfriend win a game or two. It's an investment in the future.
Sometimes I let my girlfriend win a game or two. It's an investment in the future.
Yeah - Me Too
(I was typing while the above was getting posted)
Okay, so I'm about to host my first nine ball tournament at my place in a few weeks. Pool is just starting to pick up in this area. I've played on an APA team for the first 4 sessions in order to get the interest level of pool up in this area (upstate NY). There aren't a lot of "good" players in this league and I happen to be one of the better players (APA has me as a "6").
When I started asking people if they wanted to get into the tournament, the VERY FIRST QUESTION asked was, "Are you going to be playing?" Nothing about the entry fee, rules, time, date, etc.!
I've told them all "No, I'm not going to play." Except I want to...I love to play. If there's an empty spot to avoid any byes, I want to be in.
I think I came up with the solution after running it by a couple of the players: If I place, I get my own entry fee back, but the remainder of the purse goes into the "pot" for the next tournament...it gives me the incentive I need to play better because a bigger pot the next time will get more players interested. It also gives them incentive as they know I won't be pocketing any of the money!
(I was typing while the above was getting posted)
Okay, so I'm about to host my first nine ball tournament at my place in a few weeks. Pool is just starting to pick up in this area. I've played on an APA team for the first 4 sessions in order to get the interest level of pool up in this area (upstate NY). There aren't a lot of "good" players in this league and I happen to be one of the better players (APA has me as a "6").
When I started asking people if they wanted to get into the tournament, the VERY FIRST QUESTION asked was, "Are you going to be playing?" Nothing about the entry fee, rules, time, date, etc.!
I've told them all "No, I'm not going to play." Except I want to...I love to play. If there's an empty spot to avoid any byes, I want to be in.
I think I came up with the solution after running it by a couple of the players: If I place, I get my own entry fee back, but the remainder of the purse goes into the "pot" for the next tournament...it gives me the incentive I need to play better because a bigger pot the next time will get more players interested. It also gives them incentive as they know I won't be pocketing any of the money!
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