Local Tournament PERSPECTIVE on PRO PLAYERS

JoeyA

JoeyA

Efren's Mini-Tourn BACKER
Silver Member
What is the consensus of opinion concerning allowing pro players in your local pool tournament?

Are they welcome or not?

At Buffalo Billiards in Metaire, LA, pro players are welcome on Tuesday Night at 8:00 PM, race to 1 handicapped (get the 8, play even or give the 8- single game DE) and Friday at 1:30 pm for one pocket handicapped tournament, race to two.

How about your area? Does your local room want pro players to attend your local tournament?
 
Haha...my local poolhall is a shithole that couldn't get a pro player to walk in the door. They did have Oscar D. coming in and robbing the tournament for awhile, but I think mostly the local guys appreciated the opportunity to try to beat him.

The tourney wasn't handicapped for anyone but him. I believe we played race to 3 double elimination and Oscar had to go to 5 or 6.

I don't think it's a bad thing to have pro's coming and playing local tourney's, but I don't really understand why they do it. It's pretty much just stealing from amatuers. You play for a living, we play for fun.
 
laserbrn said:
Haha...my local poolhall is a shithole that couldn't get a pro player to walk in the door. They did have Oscar D. coming in and robbing the tournament for awhile, but I think mostly the local guys appreciated the opportunity to try to beat him.

The tourney wasn't handicapped for anyone but him. I believe we played race to 3 double elimination and Oscar had to go to 5 or 6.

I don't think it's a bad thing to have pro's coming and playing local tourney's, but I don't really understand why they do it. It's pretty much just stealing from amatuers. You play for a living, we play for fun.
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Short races don't make for easy stealing no matter who you are.. just sayin.....
OZZIE-MAN is always welcome at Buffalo Billiards and he can practice for FREE, courtesy of JoeyA and the owner. :D
 
I'm staunchly in the let ANYONE play camp, and compel players to keep their mouths shut. I think complaining should be banned, not good play!! I think we as pool players need to work on our attitudes more than anything. Complaining about tournament entrants has just gotten SO old for me, considering the fact that there necessarily must be a favorite, or at least a group of favorites.
 
If Shane, Johnny, Corey, Earl, etc. played in a local tourney here....why would someone NOT play?! Local tourneys here are cheap. Heck, I'd pay more to play if one or all of them are there :cool: Would they be stealing? If by stealing you mean winning easily, yes, but I think I'd be stealing to get to play one of them for the price of a local tourney entry.

you already know who can usually beat you 7-5, or who you beat 7-5 when just locals are concerned. Upsetting a better player is cool, but playing someone that is TOP caliber, even if it means a BEAT DOWN "should" be worth the price of admission.
 
It is....as long as they don't show up every week. Your top tourney players might enjoy playing the guy with some weight, but most players are going to just stop showing up or stop participating. While most players would enjoy the opportunity to play against a TOP rated player, they'd also like to not enter a tournament with a forgone conclusion.
 
laserbrn said:
It is....as long as they don't show up every week. Your top tourney players might enjoy playing the guy with some weight, but most players are going to just stop showing up or stop participating. While most players would enjoy the opportunity to play against a TOP rated player, they'd also like to not enter a tournament with a forgone conclusion.
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I like and appreciate your point.
Pro Players should heed your advice.
Come visit anytime, clean our clock and say thank you and we will too, just as long as you haven't moved in permanently.

Yeah, I see your point. If the pro player came every week or his equally good pro playing partner played every week, it could get old after a while.

Anyway, nice point. Don't want the local players who hate getting a azzwhipping from the same guy to quit coming.
 
laserbrn said:
It is....as long as they don't show up every week. Your top tourney players might enjoy playing the guy with some weight, but most players are going to just stop showing up or stop participating. While most players would enjoy the opportunity to play against a TOP rated player, they'd also like to not enter a tournament with a forgone conclusion.
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if they show up EVERY single week, then so am I! I'm gonna get more out of the game against one of them than I am against Joe Blow that I've played a thousand times in all the local tourneys and leagues....just me
 
Pro Players

By Pro I assume you mean the player makes the Majority of their income from playing pool.

I don't have a problem with it. I have had several sets in tournaments that I dogged the flip and had the set ran out on me.But one thing I do dislike is when "A" level players show up to our local tournament and act like a$$es and berate low "B" and "C" level players.
 
opie308 said:
By Pro I assume you mean the player makes the Majority of their income from playing pool.

I don't have a problem with it. I have had several sets in tournaments that I dogged the flip and had the set ran out on me.But one thing I do dislike is when "A" level players show up to our local tournament and act like a$$es and berate low "B" and "C" level players.
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Point WELL TAKEN!

Jerks aren't welcome at any pool room I know of . Tolerated on occasion but certainly not welcomed. GOOD POINT!

heads-up "A" level players....
 
Two of the halls I frequent have different kinds of tourneys. There is the anyone can play, and then there are the ones for amateurs only. They have one every other month or so and I personally like these formats. It gives you a choice.
 
If there is a difference between professional and ameteur tournaments, then I would say Pros are not allowed into the ameteur tournaments.

If a pool hall has OPEN tournaments, IMO, Pros should be welcome.

I would say that it is up to the owner of the pool room. I would think that having a pro in the house or even playing the tournament would be a welcome entry.
 
JoeyA said:
What is the consensus of opinion concerning allowing pro players in your local pool tournament?

Are they welcome or not?

At Buffalo Billiards in Metaire, LA, pro players are welcome on Tuesday Night at 8:00 PM, race to 1 handicapped (get the 8, play even or give the 8- single game DE) and Friday at 1:30 pm for one pocket handicapped tournament, race to two.

How about your area? Does your local room want pro players to attend your local tournament?
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The only people who would be mad would be the person running over the tournament before the pros showed up . Happened at a small 8 ball tourny at a tavern i played in years ago. This guy was running over the tourny , a better player started showing up a winning a few times and the guy was wanting to start a fight with him . haha

If it is a 5 or 10 dollar tournament once a week and pros showed up then your eventually getting some cheap lessons . Hard to get longer races on week nights , but in the situation your talking a few more games would be nice , maybe 3/2 . I guess your talking 9 ball Joey , i'd prefer 10 ball against pros .
 
The idea that I can play against (and even beat) a pro COMPLETELY outweighs the idea that I might lose my 10 or 20 buck entry fee to tough competition. Anything can happen in a short race, an APA 5 can beat the pro one rack. It'll be worth the price of admission just for a chance to say "yeah, I knocked the pro out of the tournament" :P

If he wins like 5 weeks in a row and people stop showing up, then of course make an adjustment.
 
CreeDo said:
If he wins like 5 weeks in a row and people stop showing up, then of course make an adjustment.
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This is the part that I don't get....he is "supposed" to win.

I mean, if you only go to local tourneys to win 1st place, you aren't there to compete anyway (you are probably the one that thought they were "stealing", and now someone took your place - boo-hoo :rolleyes:). Let's say it was Earl that showed up every week at a local $10 entry tourney. Is it so bad to get 2nd or 3rd? You get to play Earl....and maybe push his buttons a little :p lol Why would everyone stop entering when it's such a good deal??

but, but, but, I can't beat that guy.....there was a time when you couldn't beat this or that guy too, and after playing him more and working hard, now you can. I can only see positives coming out of the situation I just described. :thumbup:
 
JoeyA said:
What is the consensus of opinion concerning allowing pro players in your local pool tournament?

Are they welcome or not?

At Buffalo Billiards in Metaire, LA, pro players are welcome on Tuesday Night at 8:00 PM, race to 1 handicapped (get the 8, play even or give the 8- single game DE) and Friday at 1:30 pm for one pocket handicapped tournament, race to two.

How about your area? Does your local room want pro players to attend your local tournament?
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In the area that I am from, there are no Pro's so we dont have to worry about that. But there are a few players that are favorites when it comes to tournaments and have dampened the participation in many tournaments.

My opinion is that if a pro, or lets just say any player that has the ability to win week after week continually goes to a tournament and wins, then it is bad for the tournament because players will sooner or later stop showing up.

But then there is another scenerio, now if all the higher ability player does is show up and win, then yes the lower ability players will stop coming. But, if that player is willing to help out the lower ability player by giving them pointers or is just very approachable and open about answering questions during the time he/she is at the tournament then I honestly feel that more players would be willing to continue to participate and it would actually draw more lower ability players to the tournament after they see there friends improving. That also will lighten up the "why am I paying $$ to play in this event if all I am is donating to he/she". Eventhough they know that there chances are slim, they will continue to come because they are gaining more knowledge than ever before for a small price.

I guess in all, I would say that the top players/Pro's that play in weekly tournaments and snap them off, have to understand that they need to do more than just participate within the tournament to keep the general players coming back, if not, they are killing the tournament in the long run.
 
As long as they pay and start on time they can play IMO. The things that made me mad about weekly events was favoritism towards the upper players and allowing them extra time for registration--i.e. letting them get in late etc.
 
Joey, this is a very loaded question IMHO......and a large part of it depends on the attitude and charisma of the pro.......somebody that is talented and likeable can take a few of your dollars and keep you asking for more.....a douchebag can send you right to the TD to complain :D

1. In a local bangers bar, they like tourneys on small bar tables where there might be a local favorite or two, but nobody plays above a B and anyone can win......these are usually races to 1, double elim.....they don't know the pros and will shoot somebody for trying to hustle their touney....

2. Handicapped tournies that actually has a TD that knows how to handicap.....since he knows how to handicap accurately, everyone is welcome because any player or any level can win on any given night.....

3. Handicapped tournies with TD's that don't know jack about handicapping (these are the majority) typically favor better players and it's more of a donation for the plebes......again, if a pro with charisma comes in, people will smile and donate....if he's a jerk, people will beyotch and complain....

4. Open tournies.....well, if you complain about a pro, you are an idiot.....it's open dummy :D

If it was a small donation in a weekly deal, I got zero issues donating to a pro that is fun to hang with......if it was a big monthly deal I practiced for, I might just get unhappy if someone shows up monthly to rob, especially if the entry is sizeable......lots of other factors too, you just never know....
 
We have many strong players in our weekly tourneys. I feel it is a blessing to play with them for $10 or $15 bucks, and as we all know paying attention is free.

IMHO experience breeds speed, and everyone that plays can only benefit from these "pros" playing. Just an example Jesse Bowman plays in our weekly 9-Ball, and is tough to fade. You just have to bear down and if you happen to win its just that much sweeter. If its handicapped effectively, as said before, anybody can win on any night.

We also have No Master tournaments, that cater to the B-C-D players, without the pressure of getting run over. For the players that want to get better and learn something, we can certainly accomodate them.
 
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