Matchroom looking for players for the U.S. Open
- Thread starter jay helfert
- Start date
Welcome to AZ :grin-square:
Could we possibly have ANY more drama on this? One poster said "2 strikes against MR". Pleeeeeeeeeease. This should have been taken care of a week ago but its not going to seriously affect the proceedings. We need to let them get this event under their belt and learn from it. Relax people. If you're dead-set on hating it don't watch it.
Welcome to American pool! Players never want to give up their money in ADVANCE for entry fees.
The only two tournaments I know of that fill well in advance is Mike Zuglan $25,000 added Joss Tour Turning Stone event and that one in Western North Carolina, Smokey Mountain something (forget the name). Both of these events fill up way in advance with a waiting list.
I hope this year's Matchrorom U.S. Open is a huge success. I mean HUGE. And I hope all those players that did not come with the entry fee regret it.
The only two tournaments I know of that fill well in advance is Mike Zuglan $25,000 added Joss Tour Turning Stone event and that one in Western North Carolina, Smokey Mountain something (forget the name). Both of these events fill up way in advance with a waiting list.
I hope this year's Matchrorom U.S. Open is a huge success. I mean HUGE. And I hope all those players that did not come with the entry fee regret it.
Every promoter at one time or another has made the mistake of putting a player's name in the draw who calls and say they are coming, or "on the way." Then they don't show up and you have to forfeit their matches. That is why we long ago adopted the policy of "you must pay your entry in advance" to be included in the draw. Then there are considerations (like a late match time) that can be given to a player who will be a late arrival.
I don't think Matchroom has ever put on a large field Pool tournament before and they will learn from this experience. I'm sorry now that I didn't share this fact of life with Luke in our phone calls a few months back. At that time we were more concerned about how to play down from 256 players to sixteen in three days.
As for me, I want to thank Matchroom and Barry Hearn in advance for taking on the U.S. Open and moving Pool forward in this country. As someone who worked on many previous U.S. Opens, this is a positive step for our sport in this country. The problems and growing pains Matchroom are experiencing with this first event are minor compared to some of the things that happened in previous versions of this event. We all know about the bad checks and late payments to participants. I don't think we'll see any of this kind of stuff any more, now that Matchroom is involved.
I don't think Matchroom has ever put on a large field Pool tournament before and they will learn from this experience. I'm sorry now that I didn't share this fact of life with Luke in our phone calls a few months back. At that time we were more concerned about how to play down from 256 players to sixteen in three days.
As for me, I want to thank Matchroom and Barry Hearn in advance for taking on the U.S. Open and moving Pool forward in this country. As someone who worked on many previous U.S. Opens, this is a positive step for our sport in this country. The problems and growing pains Matchroom are experiencing with this first event are minor compared to some of the things that happened in previous versions of this event. We all know about the bad checks and late payments to participants. I don't think we'll see any of this kind of stuff any more, now that Matchroom is involved.
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I do feel bad for the players who wanted to play but were put on a waiting list because the tournament was "full." That will definitely leave a bad taste in their mouth and might cause them to bypass playing next year.
As for the current event, it is still stock full of the greatest players on the planet and should be a very exciting U.S. Open. The good news is that even if the field is only 240 or 250 players the purse will still be 300K. A slightly shorter field will also mean fewer matches to be played to get down to 16 final players. It definitely would have been much easier to play this event with 128 players but demand to get in was higher than expected and they decided to open up the field. How players names got on the entry list without them even knowing is also baffling for me. But I'm giving Matchroom the benefit of the doubt this first time and chalking it up to experience. I know one thing. I'd rather have a Matchroom produced U.S. Open than none at all!
Does this player have a name?
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I agree, Jay.
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Shit. It is pool.
Whoever has the money makes the rules and it will always be so.
And you question how anyone could ever do business with Matchroom? Let me t
Repeat that: you question how anyone could ever do business with Matchroom?
NOBODY has put more cash and sweat into world-scale events.
Whoever has the money makes the rules and it will always be so.
And you question how anyone could ever do business with Matchroom? Let me t
Repeat that: you question how anyone could ever do business with Matchroom?
NOBODY has put more cash and sweat into world-scale events.
Looks like strike two for Matchroom. Hope they don't strike out, it was promising having them come to bat.
It's not even strike one. Yes, this was a mistake, but I believe that Matchroom is still about to deliver a very high quality pool product, one that will raise the bar for event production in the United States.
In truth, it is near certain that at least one more mistake will be made by Matchroom before this week is out, because they've taken on such an enormous challenge.
I do feel compassion for those denied a spot who were, mistakenly, advised that 256 had committed to the event already, because they are missing out on a special opportunity to be part of something big.
... but let's not lose sight of what really matters here. The best production company of pool in the world has taken on America's most prestigious event. A misstep or two along the way in year one won't reduce my enthusiasm for this potentially banner moment in American pool history.
In his BCA Hall of Fame speech in 2013, Barry Hearn spoke of his frustration regarding how pro pool is received in America, making it clear that it reduced his appetite for producing pool events in America.
Anyone with the means and know-how to put on a 256 player event in America without a glitch, please step forward and do so. Even the magnificent Derby City Classic, my favorite event on the American pool calendar, which has fields even larger, has its logistical nightmares, and it's in its 20th year. In fact, 2019 was the second year in a row that a) the nine ball final finished after 3:00 in the morning with little fanfare, and b) the last few straight pool matches were not played at all because of scheduling issues. Even they make mistakes, but, on the whole, most of us appreciate everything Diamond Billiards does at and for that event.
We must recognize that whining will set the wrong tone here. We need to support Matchroom in every possible way and that means we will have to be patient with them. Year one of any new big field event is a learning process.
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People in this thread are saying that Matchroom signed players up to play in the US Open without their knowledge, and without any intention to ever play. That is so crazy, that either: 1. It’s not true or only half true, or 2. Matchroom has Vivian Villarreal-level tournament management skills. I know which one I believe. My guess is that Matchroom wanted to give players the benefit of the doubt, and so didn’t require payment in advance, and that came back to bite them. But maybe there’s another reason too, like they counted entries from qualifiers, or past winners, or some other type of automatic entry.
Sounds like the waiting list wasn't very big 
Just to be clear, I am not hating on Matchroom, just trying to make light of the recent issues that I've read about. In fact, the production is fantastic as I watched some of the 1st match on facebook and the equipment looks fair. But the reason I mentioned 2 strikes (since I was making a baseball reference) was 2 publicized slight issues:
1) after stating the tourney is capped at 128 w/total purse of $300K, they opened it up to 256 w/total purse of $300K (some raised an eyebrow to this);
2) then this thread that mentioned that they were asking for last minute replacements from the wait list because entry fee was not paid before the draw and it is reported here that names were added to the list that were not planning on playing. But they drew the brackets ahead of time anyway.
I am still excited that Matchroom came to the plate and expect great things from them in the future. And, I can't wait to watch this US Open and see who wins!
Dave
Road-bumps not strikes. Give 'em a chance. MR always looks down the road. Their track record speaks volumes. Did you know that due to MR that the pro dart players make up to a half-mil a year? If pro pool is gonna make it MR is its LAST chance.
Most on the forum did not agree with this assertion, believing no such guarantee was made by Matchroom based on a field of 128. If you have documentary evidence that this guarantee was made, please provide it.
this being the biggest pool forum at least in america. matchroom should at least post their reply or apology or the correct information. then that shows credibility.
nothing works better than communicating with the public over minor disputes before they grow into major unfounded ones.
nothing works better than communicating with the public over minor disputes before they grow into major unfounded ones.