Looking for advice - end of year league tournament

restorick2378 · Apr 10, 2018

Folks,

I'm in charge of running our end of year 8-ball tourney. Historically, we've had the tourney at the tavern of the team who won the league. In most years, we'd have between 18 and 24 players.

This year, we're already at 32 players and I still have 4 teams to respond. My guess is when all is said and done, we'll be close to 40.

Historically, we did race to 2, double elimination, with no shot clock. This year, even with 3 tables going, I'm concerned that we'll need to span the weekend to get it done.

I've proposed that we change our format to race to 3, single elimination until we get to top 8. From the quarters on, we revert back to race to 2, double elimination.

Would appreciate hearing from you folks on whether there might be some other options to consider. Some in the league have suggested a shot clock, but while the suggestion is popular, I'm not quite sure how to enforce it.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Rick

Poolhall60561 · Apr 10, 2018

Max teams 32, single elimination, race to 3. 1 minute shot clock.
This will still take a long time, 9 Ball would be faster.

restorick2378 · Apr 10, 2018

Poolhall60561 said:
Max teams 32, single elimination, race to 3. 1 minute shot clock.
This will still take a long time, 9 Ball would be faster.

Appreciate the feedback. While this is a competitive league, it's also social (not BCA), so I'm not inclined to have a lottery for a 32 person limit.

In case there's any confusion, this is a singles tourney, not team.

Thanks!

hang-the-9 · Apr 10, 2018

restorick2378 said:
Folks,

I'm in charge of running our end of year 8-ball tourney. Historically, we've had the tourney at the tavern of the team who won the league. In most years, we'd have between 18 and 24 players.

This year, we're already at 32 players and I still have 4 teams to respond. My guess is when all is said and done, we'll be close to 40.

Historically, we did race to 2, double elimination, with no shot clock. This year, even with 3 tables going, I'm concerned that we'll need to span the weekend to get it done.

I've proposed that we change our format to race to 3, single elimination until we get to top 8. From the quarters on, we revert back to race to 2, double elimination.

Would appreciate hearing from you folks on whether there might be some other options to consider. Some in the league have suggested a shot clock, but while the suggestion is popular, I'm not quite sure how to enforce it.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Rick

What I like in a time crunch is to do two first round as double elimination so all teams have two sets of play, then go to single with a re-draw of the two brackets. Or... move to a place with more tables due to the number of teams. Shot clock may not be needed, but tell people to keep yapping down to a minimum during games and smoke breaks only when you are waiting for a match. I would do race to two with that many teams and only 3 tables if you really can't move the tournament.

BRussell · Apr 10, 2018

Could you have brackets at different locations?

Honestly, it seems weird to me to have single elimination in the beginning and then double at the end. I'd see it more the other way around: Double elimination with a shorter race to get in the money, single in the final bracket, perhaps with a longer race.

hang-the-9 · Apr 10, 2018

restorick2378 said:
Appreciate the feedback. While this is a competitive league, it's also social (not BCA), so I'm not inclined to have a lottery for a 32 person limit.

In case there's any confusion, this is a singles tourney, not team.

Thanks!

So the league is a team league but this tournament is just a fun singles event or what is this thing for?

Is this a handicapped league? You can do this in many ways, setup two days of events, and divide players into groups of handicapps, day 1 lower bracket plays to final 4, then day 2 upper bracket plays to final 4, all even races. Then the 8 players from end of brackets play a new bracket together with a 3-2 handicap in races for the winner.

Good Sam · Apr 10, 2018

The best way to make up time during a tournament is for whoever is running the board to be on top of what is going on. They already know who is up next, so let the players know who's next, who's on deck etc.

ChrisinNC · Apr 10, 2018

restorick2378 said:
Folks,

I'm in charge of running our end of year 8-ball tourney. Historically, we've had the tourney at the tavern of the team who won the league. In most years, we'd have between 18 and 24 players.

This year, we're already at 32 players and I still have 4 teams to respond. My guess is when all is said and done, we'll be close to 40.

Historically, we did race to 2, double elimination, with no shot clock. This year, even with 3 tables going, I'm concerned that we'll need to span the weekend to get it done.

I've proposed that we change our format to race to 3, single elimination until we get to top 8. From the quarters on, we revert back to race to 2, double elimination.

Would appreciate hearing from you folks on whether there might be some other options to consider. Some in the league have suggested a shot clock, but while the suggestion is popular, I'm not quite sure how to enforce it.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Rick

Very simply, with 40 players, you need to find a room / bar to host this that has alot more than 3 pool tables!

restorick2378 · Apr 11, 2018

BRussell said:
Could you have brackets at different locations?

Honestly, it seems weird to me to have single elimination in the beginning and then double at the end. I'd see it more the other way around: Double elimination with a shorter race to get in the money, single in the final bracket, perhaps with a longer race.

Unfortunately, we can't have multiple venues. We use the same date as our league awards/payout lunch/dinner and cocktails.

Thanks for the feedback!

restorick2378 · Apr 11, 2018

hang-the-9 said:
So the league is a team league but this tournament is just a fun singles event or what is this thing for?

Is this a handicapped league? You can do this in many ways, setup two days of events, and divide players into groups of handicapps, day 1 lower bracket plays to final 4, then day 2 upper bracket plays to final 4, all even races. Then the 8 players from end of brackets play a new bracket together with a 3-2 handicap in races for the winner.

Not handicapped. We're not sanctioned. End of year tourney has always been a singles thing, as not everyone wants to hang out. It's almost spring time here in WI, and if there's a hint of sun and 40 degrees, guys are outside doing stuff.

We could possibly break up brackets based on where the individuals finished in the points, with top 8 playing each other, then next, etc. Multiple days won't be popular tho...

restorick2378 · Apr 11, 2018

ChrisinNC said:
Very simply, with 40 players, you need to find a room / bar to host this that has alot more than 3 pool tables!

Wish we could - this is the hand we're dealt. I've been running the league for the past few years and this is the first time we've had this kind of turnout.

Our goal is to repay the winning tavern by hosting the event there. In the past, we've been able to do so easily with 3 tables, and sometimes, just 2.

That said, this will be on the agenda for the league meeting next year, as we've already had interest from 3 more teams...

restorick2378 · Apr 11, 2018

Good Sam said:
The best way to make up time during a tournament is for whoever is running the board to be on top of what is going on. They already know who is up next, so let the players know who's next, who's on deck etc.

Besides drinking beer, that's my job for the day... ;-)

hang-the-9 · Apr 11, 2018

restorick2378 said:
Wish we could - this is the hand we're dealt. I've been running the league for the past few years and this is the first time we've had this kind of turnout.

Our goal is to repay the winning tavern by hosting the event there. In the past, we've been able to do so easily with 3 tables, and sometimes, just 2.

That said, this will be on the agenda for the league meeting next year, as we've already had interest from 3 more teams...

So, say 32 players at the low end, 3 tables, you need 11-12 sets of play to get past first round on 3 tables. Doing a race to 2,even at a good pace for normal players, is about 15 minutes. So that is about a two hour time between first match starting and the last match in the first round starting.

If you want this over in a day, you need single elimination and some patient players.

Or do doubles, that way, half the rounds and half the wait for players to play. It may be fun for them to play with their normal opponents also if they get teamed up. I think I would enjoy being a partner with some of the players I face on other league teams.

stevenw00d · Apr 11, 2018

hang-the-9 said:
Or do doubles, that way, half the rounds and half the wait for players to play. It may be fun for them to play with their normal opponents also if they get teamed up. I think I would enjoy being a partner with some of the players I face on other league teams.

I like this idea.
I get that tradition has been singles, but this is a twist, just like having 40 people show up. If you have any kind of ranking/stats for the season, split the group based on win/loss and select one partner from each group. I know in our leagues, I talk a little to opponents, but not a whole lot, so being partnered with someone else would force everyone to mingle a bit more.

restorick2378 · Apr 12, 2018

hang-the-9 said:
So, say 32 players at the low end, 3 tables, you need 11-12 sets of play to get past first round on 3 tables. Doing a race to 2,even at a good pace for normal players, is about 15 minutes. So that is about a two hour time between first match starting and the last match in the first round starting.

If you want this over in a day, you need single elimination and some patient players.

Or do doubles, that way, half the rounds and half the wait for players to play. It may be fun for them to play with their normal opponents also if they get teamed up. I think I would enjoy being a partner with some of the players I face on other league teams.

Interesting thought with doubles. Definitely will pitch this and see how it flies.

Possible bright side - the venue may be able to get one more table. They have the room. If we can get 4, most of the issues are addressed.

Thanks to you and everyone for the feedback - this really is a good problem to have as it shows the league is getting stronger and more popular.

Thanks!
Rick

Looking for advice - end of year league tournament

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