Why not Atlantic City?

Jude Rosenstock

Jude Rosenstock

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just read an article about all the problems Atlantic City has to deal with now. Casinos are popping up everywhere causing destinations like Las Vegas to "reinvent" themselves as something more than just gambling.

With all the pool tournaments that happen in Las Vegas around this time, I have to wonder why events on such a level aren't done in the Atlantic City casinos. Please understand, I'm not saying they should move any of the league championships (ie., BCA) to the eastcoast or anything. I'm just wondering why Atlantic City isn't used to host more events. Wouldn't it be amazing to have the greatest pool tournament in the world twice a year?

I think the pool community has proven itself to be an asset to these casinos and if Atlantic City is set on its "reinvention", wouldn't it be in our interest to explore possible venues there for large-scale amateur events? I know as an eastcoaster, the northeast turn-out could be amazing. I think I'm probably missing some big problem here so if you think it's a horrible idea, please explain why.
 
Black-Balled

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jude Rosenstock said:
I just read an article about all the problems Atlantic City has to deal with now. Casinos are popping up everywhere causing destinations like Las Vegas to "reinvent" themselves as something more than just gambling.

With all the pool tournaments that happen in Las Vegas around this time, I have to wonder why events on such a level aren't done in the Atlantic City casinos. Please understand, I'm not saying they should move any of the league championships (ie., BCA) to the eastcoast or anything. I'm just wondering why Atlantic City isn't used to host more events. Wouldn't it be amazing to have the greatest pool tournament in the world twice a year?

I think the pool community has proven itself to be an asset to these casinos and if Atlantic City is set on its "reinvention", wouldn't it be in our interest to explore possible venues there for large-scale amateur events? I know as an eastcoaster, the northeast turn-out could be amazing. I think I'm probably missing some big problem here so if you think it's a horrible idea, please explain why.
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I was just there and pool was so un-findable, I had to ride my bike...into a 30mph headwind...for 3 hours. Coming back was awesome.

Agreed though: AC is a fine place to be having events.

That said, no airport and who knows what they are charging for space there. judging from my recent visit, they should be giving it away though.
 
Eric.

Eric.

Club a member
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randyg

randyg

www.randygpool.com
Silver Member
We actually had a major pool tournament in Atlantic City. I forget the name of the Hotel BUT:

After two days of play the management wanted us to quit because they could rent the room out for more cash. Good thing for contracts.

Crazy stuff.....randyg
 
Jude Rosenstock

Jude Rosenstock

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
randyg said:
We actually had a major pool tournament in Atlantic City. I forget the name of the Hotel BUT:

After two days of play the management wanted us to quit because they could rent the room out for more cash. Good thing for contracts.

Crazy stuff.....randyg
Click to expand...

Randy, was this a major pro event or amateur? I'm thinking on a scale similar to the BCA Nationals which typically attracts several thousand players. If this were a pro event, I would venture to say there were a hundred or so players and maybe twice as many spectators.
 
Maniac

Maniac

2manyQ's
Silver Member
Back in the early eighties I believe there was a major tournament there. If my mind serves me right I think Mizerak, "Fast Eddie" Felson, Grady Seasons, and some young gun named Vic, or Vince......something like that, played there ;)!!!

Maniac
 
Eric.

Eric.

Club a member
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The last major "pro" event I can think of might have been the "Last Call for 9 Ball" event. Actually, the last one was prolly the 10 ball tourney, at the Trump Marina. I think Danny Hewitt beat Jim Rempe in the finals.

Either way, it's been a while, and far & few in between.

FWIW, Trump Marina recently sold to Harrah's. Might be an opportunity for a Pool promotor, there.


Eric
 
Black-Balled

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Eric. said:
The last major "pro" event I can think of might have been the "Last Call for 9 Ball" event. Actually, the last one was prolly the 10 ball tourney, at the Trump Marina. I think Danny Hewitt beat Jim Rempe in the finals.
Either way, it's been a while, and far & few in between.

FWIW, Trump Marina recently sold to Harrah's. Might be an opportunity for a Pool promotor, there.


Eric
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That was the last event I heard of there as well.

I recently stayed @ Trump Marina and they are redoing it, trying to bring in up to Y2k standards. The Don was not keeping on top of the decor!
 
cuesmith

cuesmith

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!
Silver Member
Jude Rosenstock said:
I just read an article about all the problems Atlantic City has to deal with now. Casinos are popping up everywhere causing destinations like Las Vegas to "reinvent" themselves as something more than just gambling.

With all the pool tournaments that happen in Las Vegas around this time, I have to wonder why events on such a level aren't done in the Atlantic City casinos. Please understand, I'm not saying they should move any of the league championships (ie., BCA) to the eastcoast or anything. I'm just wondering why Atlantic City isn't used to host more events. Wouldn't it be amazing to have the greatest pool tournament in the world twice a year?

I think the pool community has proven itself to be an asset to these casinos and if Atlantic City is set on its "reinvention", wouldn't it be in our interest to explore possible venues there for large-scale amateur events? I know as an eastcoaster, the northeast turn-out could be amazing. I think I'm probably missing some big problem here so if you think it's a horrible idea, please explain why.
Click to expand...

Actually I attended a couple of tournaments in AC back in the mid to late 80's that were great! I liked it much better than Vegas for a tournament! There weren't as many "comps" as the old Vegas had but there aren't in Vegas anymore either. The room rates at the tournaments were super back then! I'd travel to Atlantic City before Vegas any day!
 
Jude Rosenstock

Jude Rosenstock

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Eric. said:
The last major "pro" event I can think of might have been the "Last Call for 9 Ball" event. Actually, the last one was prolly the 10 ball tourney, at the Trump Marina. I think Danny Hewitt beat Jim Rempe in the finals.

Either way, it's been a while, and far & few in between.

FWIW, Trump Marina recently sold to Harrah's. Might be an opportunity for a Pool promotor, there.


Eric
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A pro event isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking more like the BCA Vegas event where there are events for women & men amateurs and teams and, like the BCA, have a pro event as part of the show. Something that would attract a few thousand people. Having just a pro event would only draw a few hundred people and possibly not make a dent in a casino's overall revenue.
 
Eric.

Eric.

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Jude Rosenstock said:
A pro event isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking more like the BCA Vegas event where there are events for women & men amateurs and teams and, like the BCA, have a pro event as part of the show. Something that would attract a few thousand people. Having just a pro event would only draw a few hundred people and possibly not make a dent in a casino's overall revenue.
Click to expand...

A few local leagues and promoters (local APA, TAP league, Allen Hopkins) have flirted with the idea, but...nuthin.

The last league that considered it was the TAP league. I don't know the details, but it nvr materialized.

A huge amateur event would be the ticket. Afterall, it is a numbers game for the casinos; the more potential gamblers, the better.

Maybe this can be a call to all the league operator and promotors that frequent AZB. Have you considered Atl City for an event? Why? Why not?


Eric
 
cleary

cleary

Honestly, I'm a liar.
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From what I've been told (no idea how much truth there is to this), pool (at least professionally) wore out its welcome in the 80s in Atlantic City. From what I understand, what went down in the movie "the Color of Money" pretty much actually happened. Players dumping and taking off the house odds.
 
Jude Rosenstock

Jude Rosenstock

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Eric. said:
A few local leagues and promoters (local APA, TAP league, Allen Hopkins) have flirted with the idea, but...nuthin.

The last league that considered it was the TAP league. I don't know the details, but it nvr materialized.

A huge amateur event would be the ticket. Afterall, it is a numbers game for the casinos; the more potential gamblers, the better.

Maybe this can be a call to all the league operator and promotors that frequent AZB. Have you considered Atl City for an event? Why? Why not?


Eric
Click to expand...

I hope so. I don't want to wait a year to go back to Las Vegas to play in the BCA Championships again. It would be awesome if there was something in the middle and I believe I'm not alone in my thoughts. Given the overwhelming success of the Vegas events, there should be enough demand to support something similar around the midway point (November to January).
 
Jude Rosenstock

Jude Rosenstock

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
cleary said:
From what I've been told (no idea how much truth there is to this), pool (at least professionally) wore out its welcome in the 80s in Atlantic City. From what I understand, what went down in the movie "the Color of Money" pretty much actually happened. Players dumping and taking off the house odds.
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Not saying this isn't true but if this is the case, I would be flabbergasted. I guess the most important questions are, are the Vegas amateur events a success from the casino's perspective? From the BCA's perspective? If we have a proven and successful track record in Vegas, I can't see how Atlantic City wouldn't already be aware of it.
 
cuesmith

cuesmith

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!
Silver Member
cleary said:
From what I've been told (no idea how much truth there is to this), pool (at least professionally) wore out its welcome in the 80s in Atlantic City. From what I understand, what went down in the movie "the Color of Money" pretty much actually happened. Players dumping and taking off the house odds.
Click to expand...

I think you're thinking of the Challenge of Champions" that took place in Vegas. That's when the Casino booked the tournament matches and were "taken off" by some of the players. Vegas knew they'd been had and never booked pool again after that. It was the year that Mike Lebron won and was a big "long shot" in the event.
 
Eric.

Eric.

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Silver Member
cleary said:
From what I've been told (no idea how much truth there is to this), pool (at least professionally) wore out its welcome in the 80s in Atlantic City. From what I understand, what went down in the movie "the Color of Money" pretty much actually happened. Players dumping and taking off the house odds.
Click to expand...

You got the story wrong.

The story was that the Vegas odds makers soured on Pool due to the dumping and fixing of matches during the Challenge of Champions that Spanish Mike Lebron won. Vegas nvr make a line on Pool again.

AC hosted a pro tourney as recently as within the last 7-8 years or so.

*edit- Sherm beat me to it


Eric
 
Last edited:
cleary

cleary

Honestly, I'm a liar.
Silver Member
cuesmith said:
I think you're thinking of the Challenge of Champions" that took place in Vegas. That's when the Casino booked the tournament matches and were "taken off" by some of the players. Vegas knew they'd been had and never booked pool again after that. It was the year that Mike Lebron won and was a big "long shot" in the event.
Click to expand...

That sounds about what I heard, only I heard it was AC... But makes sense.
 
Eric.

Eric.

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Jude Rosenstock said:
I hope so. I don't want to wait a year to go back to Las Vegas to play in the BCA Championships again. It would be awesome if there was something in the middle and I believe I'm not alone in my thoughts. Given the overwhelming success of the Vegas events, there should be enough demand to support something similar around the midway point (November to January).
Click to expand...

It's a very viable idea, at this time.

AC is hurting, economically. I'm sure they will listen to anything, right now. IF the event would be scheduled from, say, Sun to Friday morning, then it might look even more attractive. AC is mostly a Fri and Sat only town. Most of the casinos business is done on Fri and Sat alone. If someone had an event on Sun to Thurs/Fri morning, then you could get favorable hotel rates. Also, having the event anywhere between June to September would be ideal, weather-wise, in NJ. I'm thinking July or September might be the best months.


Eric
 
I

itsfroze

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Super Billiards Expo?

Jude Rosenstock said:
A pro event isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking more like the BCA Vegas event where there are events for women & men amateurs and teams and, like the BCA, have a pro event as part of the show. Something that would attract a few thousand people. Having just a pro event would only draw a few hundred people and possibly not make a dent in a casino's overall revenue.
Click to expand...

I think one of the reasons that there isn't a big amateur event for men and women plus a pro event on the side is that you already have the Super Billiards Expo in Penn.
 
Jude Rosenstock

Jude Rosenstock

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
itsfroze said:
I think one of the reasons that there isn't a big amateur event for men and women plus a pro event on the side is that you already have the Super Billiards Expo in Penn.
Click to expand...

SBE is a great event but I wouldn't consider it worthy of dismissing Atlantic City for the rest of the year. I think, if any organization were to consider AC as a host, it would have to respect SBE's place in the calendar which still leaves quite a bit of room to work with. You could have an event in November and people will still be amped by the time March rolls around.
 
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