I wasn't aware "smart business man" and "pool room owner" could be used in the same sentence.
No Pro Events in the West
- Thread starter Island Drive
- Start date
Whether people want to talk about it or not, Colorado's politics(attempting to keep Trump off the ballot) will have a huge impact on people traveling there. I was looking forward to going back to Denver just because and also the great American beer fest, now, I will never go to Colorado again because I vote with my $$$ as much as I can
VTEC John
Active member
Anybody who attended the twice-yearly Sands Regency tournaments back in the day would love to see them back. The energy was great, everybody had fun, the prices were good, the best players were there up close and personal--and all the years I attended, I never once heard anyone complain about Reno itself. Not an upscale town but not a "shithole" either: it was perfect for pool. It's worth observing that for many people, Vegas is one of the most vulgar, flash-and-trash, unappetizing places on the planet. For pool, give me Barbara Woodward and the Sands any day.
Then, where will you go if the Supreme court goes against your beliefs?
My beliefs? Lol
I don't know where you hang out in Vegas, but they have the best restaurants in the world, but if you're a baloney sandwich and hot dog guy(unless it's dirt dog - best hot dogs ever) I'm assuming you're not gonna pay $13+ for a hotdog, so maybe Reno is the spot for all you "cheap" people.
I'd rather have excellent food, drinks and hotel rather than motel 6 or worse and plain hotdogs
VTEC John
Active member
Las Vegas has the best restaurants in the world?! Someone alert the Guide Michelin! They didn't know.
Well, if all you're eating is plain hotdogs and the cheapest pizza you can find.....enjoy those PBRs and old Milwaukee's
Where are you going to find a higher concentration of great restaurants by the best chefs in the world???
And who might that be?
It was a great event. They don't always last forever. Jay H. should chime in because he ran them. One of THE best events of 80's-90's. IIRC the failing of the CamelProTour was the end of the Sands events. If they had a big event again players would go. Pros go to win $$, they don't give a shit about the surroundings or how many top chefs are in town. UD: i msg'd Jay and he said the promoter Gene Stary died. After that Jay ran the USBTC for 10yrs there.
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Very true, but there were a few.... Jim McDermott was a great example.
Scott Smith was a perfect example of both.
Scott was not quite that good in the food/beverage industry as Joe Campana, but yep, Joe has been Very successful in the Downtown market.
Dan Tull who owns Shooters in Olathe is a sharp businessman and great room operator.
After Gene Stary the promoter of the event passed away there was no one up there to fill his shoes. I did make a deal with Barbara to hold the U.S. Bar Table Championships there and we had a good ten year run with that. My event actually brought more people to the casino and that’s what they wanted.
SRO 1985. Cool stuff. Bunch of no-names. 
Check out the players list. Pretty strong. http://www.sfbilliards.com/accustats/V1_N10.pdf
Check out the players list. Pretty strong. http://www.sfbilliards.com/accustats/V1_N10.pdf
You better be a good businessman if you want to be a successful room owner. Been there, done that more than once!
Some very good players did not even make the money! There was no seeding of players and often the luck of the draw determined who got in the money. Top players could draw each other in the first round and often did.SRO 1985. Cool stuff. Bunch of no-names.
I staked Keith and Danny back then at various times. I put Danny in this one and 3K was a nice little score in those days. I think we got an extra 600 as a ‘saver’ that year too.
I directed maybe seven or eight of them in the 1990’s. I never played in the Main event but played the Second Chance tourney a couple of times. It was a low entry fee (less than 100) limited to 64 players. One year I made the top twelve and finished in the money for about 250. I had to get by Dave Piona, Danny Petralba and Roger Estelle to go that far. One of the highlights of my non existent pro career.
I know R. Estelle pretty good. He lived here in Tulsa a while. He lives in Vegas iirc. Still plays some.
Well, Colfax Billiards didn’t have a bar. But there were a few on Colfax.
. The building made way for another Walgreens I think.Something like 80% of USA people live on east coast (to the west side of Mississippi and including Texas) and on the Pacific Coast.
So, there is not a great enough population density to run big Tournaments.
Distances are far driving up costs.