$100 Bar Box Grand Rapids, Mi July 18-20

So if you get a t-shirt for winning a race to 2 on a challenge table, you should get a whole warm-up suit for beating a Ritchie or Jason in the tournament! :thumbup:

But seriously, it's good to see something happening on the west side of the state again. Even if it has to be on bar boxes. It's been pretty slow around here for many moons.

So more power to you!!!
 
MJB said:
So if you get a t-shirt for winning a race to 2 on a challenge table, you should get a whole warm-up suit for beating a Ritchie or Jason in the tournament! :thumbup:

But seriously, it's good to see something happening on the west side of the state again. Even if it has to be on bar boxes. It's been pretty slow around here for many moons.

So more power to you!!!
Click to expand...

LOL about the warm-up suit!

Just to clear something up about the idea of it being bar boxes. These Diamond 7 foot tables are not your ordinary bar box. These may be the toughest 7 foot you've ever played on.

The pocket opening is a bit over 4 1/2" but with the extra deep shelf you have to shoot the ball in the hole.


100_1363 (Medium).jpg



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100_1368 (Medium).jpg
 
sde said:
LOL about the warm-up suit!

Just to clear something up about the idea of it being bar boxes. These Diamond 7 foot tables are not your ordinary bar box. These may be the toughest 7 foot you've ever played on.

The pocket opening is a bit over 4 1/2" but with the extra deep shelf you have to shoot the ball in the hole.


View attachment 71865



View attachment 71866



View attachment 71867
Click to expand...


I think I just threw up in my mouth, just a little bit after looking at those pockets.

I really wanted to come down for this but unfortunatly will be unable to attend.
 
MJB said:
It's been pretty slow around here for many moons.
Click to expand...


I dont think I remember what color my cue is tbh, I havent touched it since March. Too much other stuff going on in the summer, and no place to play around my area even if I could. But I am hopin to get out there Friday just to get out, will see what the wife says.
 
Hey Rita,

How many people do you expect to turn out for this mid July tournament?

I also want you to know that I my self have no problem playing top players

like kirkwood, but how many B players do you think will turn out for an

open tournament like this one? That is the majority of the players out there. Don't

get me wrong, I know there are alot of A and AA players around but the

way gas prices are, how many are going to travel from all over the state?

I myself will travel, and will be there on Friday. I just think it will be hard

to get very many B players to come out and drop $100 dollars on enty.

I myself think its a really good thing for michigan and don't want you to

be insulted by my questions. I have just seen good players chase away

some of the lesser players at other tournaments. Even though the only

way you get better is by playing people that are better than you.

I also don't live in GR so maybe there will be enough people for a full field.

But I have played quite a few players from GR and Holland and there are

some real good players down there.:D
 
We should get close to if not more than a 32 player field based on the calls and committments I'm getting but you never know.

I realize that there are far more b players out there and at some point I will run some of those tourneys as weel but, for now, there are some pretty good players that are banned from some tournaments and aren't good enough for pros.

They also don't travel much because they have familes and jobs to deal with.

This tour is really designed to bring more higher money tournaments to this area and once it catches on I can start getting into other areas and levels of players.

The good A and double A players really don't have many tournaments so I wanted to create something for them.

With better players come more spectators which means more dollars for host and hopefully more attention to the game and possible sponsorship of the tour.

Its just a start and I'm very open to hearing questions and ideas.......I really just want this to work out so we can have more places to play and win better money.

Thanks for the questions and you can count on other tournaments coming for different skill levels.

We are even working on 3 man tournaments and team tournaments if we can get a big enough following.
Thanks again
 
wellcome rita

miplayerstour said:
Yippee I have been activated!! Thanks Neil and Steve!! This is a new tour and regardless of what has failed in the past I feel confident with the right support and all my efforts along with others that want to make this tour work that I can be a success. Its success or failure truly lies in the hands of the players. If they support the tour by showing up and playing and putting on a good show it will survive.
All of the tournaments are open to anyone of any level! I knew there would be some folks hesitant at spending $100 to play against jason or richie or a pro if one should attend so, that's why the mini is only $30. Anyone can play against good players for a reasonable price and as neil said, anyone can win in a tournament!!
I hope we get a good showing not only from players but spectators as well!
I've gotten nothing but support from neil and steve and some other local people......I hope this is a small sampling of what is to come!
Thanks again steve and neil..........let me know if you have suggestions or ideas that will help to make this grow and be around a long time!!!
See you at the break room tournament!!
Click to expand...
i think you'll have fun around here. (i've seen you texting.)

i also would like to wish you all the success in the world with this, and i will see you friday.

although i'll most likely get knocked out by one of those damn kids i taught i'll still have fun.

M.C.
 
J.Goosman said:
Hey Rita,

How many people do you expect to turn out for this mid July tournament?

I also want you to know that I my self have no problem playing top players

like kirkwood, but how many B players do you think will turn out for an

open tournament like this one? That is the majority of the players out there. Don't

get me wrong, I know there are alot of A and AA players around but the

way gas prices are, how many are going to travel from all over the state?

I myself will travel, and will be there on Friday. I just think it will be hard

to get very many B players to come out and drop $100 dollars on enty.

I myself think its a really good thing for michigan and don't want you to

be insulted by my questions. I have just seen good players chase away

some of the lesser players at other tournaments. Even though the only

way you get better is by playing people that are better than you.

I also don't live in GR so maybe there will be enough people for a full field.

But I have played quite a few players from GR and Holland and there are

some real good players down there.:D
Click to expand...

$100 is a little steep to drop on a bar box tournament that's probably going to draw some top players if they smell added money. Back in the day when there were some Viking Tour stops in SW MI and north IN, it was all good because the B players didn't have to drop a wad of cash and got to play a wide range of skill levels.
 
J.Goosman said:
how many B players do you think will turn out for an
open tournament like this one? That is the majority of the players out there.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing there wasn't alot of B players there. And the biggest reason I believe would be the $100 entry fee.

miplayerstour said:
If they support the tour by showing up and playing and putting on a good show it will survive.
Click to expand...
miplayerstour said:
I knew there would be some folks hesitant at spending $100 to play against jason or richie or a pro if one should attend
Click to expand...
If who supports the tour? I believe if you want support for the tour you need to make the entry fee low enough so it brings in the majority of pool players. Which of course is the C & B Players.

The Garage in Jackson does about 4 events a year. I've never seen less then 68 players there. What's the entry fee? Easy for all, $30. These tournaments still draw all the best players. And they only add $250.

Here's another tournament that did great for a $35 entry...
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=47404&highlight=rack+attack
These events drew 50+ players for EACH event and ALL the top players were there.

We are all curious as to the results and turnout. And please say Hi to the Little Big Man, Houston.
 
Neil,

Hey how many guys showed up this weekend????

who ended up winning????

And yes those diamonds are NICE!!!! I think I shoot my best game on Diamond tables.

The tables at Q-stick are just stupid fast! they make Diamonds, look slow.
 
I believe it was 48 for the mini, jason k took 1st & houston r got second.

seems like I heard there was 18 for the main event.
 
that fat fukker Houston took 2nd,,,, damn, some people must be layin down to let him take 2nd. so 48 guys showed for the mini friday nite? thats a pretty good showing.

Ok, that makes me laugh, you get 48 people for a 30$ tourny, but 18 for a 100$????????
 
StormHotRod300 said:
Neil,

Hey how many guys showed up this weekend????

who ended up winning????

And yes those diamonds are NICE!!!! I think I shoot my best game on Diamond tables.

The tables at Q-stick are just stupid fast! they make Diamonds, look slow.
Click to expand...

rlw was correct on the number of players.

In the main tournament:
1st Richie Richeson
2nd Shane Winters
3rd Adam Smith

Rita will post a complete report, later.
http://www.freewebs.com/miplayerstour/mptblog.htm

I took a few hundred photos that I'll be sorting through, so look for those in the very near future.

Steve
 
Last edited:
steve,,,,

Oh i thought jason, and houston took 1/2 in the main tourny. i just misread the previous post.

did jason even play the main tourny?
 
StormHotRod300 said:
steve,,,,

Oh i thought jason, and houston took 1/2 in the main tourny. i just misread the previous post.

did jason even play the main tourny?
Click to expand...
Yes Jason played in the main tourney, finished 5/6th. Bart put a 5 pack down to beat Jason on the hill and Richie beat him to put him out!

Congrats to Richie. He played real good to win, beating Shane twice in the finals.


Steve
 
damn thats gotta be a first!!!!!!!

I cant remember the last time i heard of Jason not finishing in the top3 of a open tournament in Michigan.

But Bart does play " very good " as does Richie.

GRRRR all this talk of tournament play, makes me wanna grab my cue and play some! lol i doubt i could make two balls in a row! i havent even touched my cue since March i think! softball takes up all my time once the snow melts.
 
MPT Blog

From the MPT Blog.
http://www.freewebs.com/miplayerstour/mptblog.htm
Jason Kirkwood 7 vs Bart Goode 0.....Bart lost the flip and never got to the table. Kirkwood showed great talent and ran the set out to leave Goode wondering how he lost the coin flip! As word spread throughout the Break Room, the table was surrounded by onlookers wondering if Goode would get to shoot at all. After shaking hands, Goode asked the crowd how he could lose but never miss a ball!
Click to expand...

Results and scores are up for the Friday mini.

Steve
 
It turned out to be a good opening tournament for the tour. Although, I do agree that $100 is too steep to get very many players. And I was dissapointed at the lack of players from nearby cities.

Rita did a good job of running it overall. There were a few kinks that fit into the learning curve. But, she did what she could.

For those interested, in the mini, I totally blew my first match. Which I didn't even start until a little after 10 p.m. I got there about 4:30, and was a little tired. I pulled it together after that and fought my way through the losers bracket until I ran into Adam Smith. I missed two opportunities- a miss and a bad safe. And then later missed a kick with the score 4-1. He broke and ran out, and then snapped it in for the win.We got done at 3 a.m. A little late for me.

In the main event, I won my first match against Thorton 9-4. I had a bye the first round. By next match would put me in the money. I drew Shane Winters and had him down 6-1 when everything went to crap. He won the next game from my dry break by making the 1-9. Then next game he makes the 3-9, then the 2-9. That made it 6-4. He came up dry, and I made the out 7-4 me. I came up dry and was left with a jump on the 5. I made it and scratched. 7-5. He broke and ran out 7-6. He broke dry and I missed the 1-9. He ran out 7-7. He makes another short game on the 9, 8-7 him. He broke and made 3 balls. Then 6 easy stop shots for the win. Sometimes 9-ball really sucks.

I had some personal problems come up that really took me off focus. And I ended up forfeiting my match against Houston 1/2 through it.
 
MPT break room event

Hey everyone, we did have a few kinks but very minor and I have to say for it being our first event and getting sooooo many entries into the mini it was way better than expected. I was very happy to see "C and D" players come out to support to tour and play in the mini. We have had some folks try the main event as well just to support the tour and try their hand against some of the best.

We had some truly great matches and believe it or not, having that many pool players in one room resulted in no fights, arguments or sharking all weekend long Iwas more surprised than thrilled I think!

The main event we had 18 entries one of which was Mike Massey that was very exiciting. Amanda Smith also came out to support the tour efforts to get more tournaments going in the state.

I have had a few people state that the entry might be too high to attract some lower level skilled players but to be honest, the main event is run to attract higher skill levels so the matches are more exciting to watch....who doesnt want to want Bart put a 5 pack on jason or jason run the set out on bart?

The mini tournament is designed to attract all level of players and eventually we will run B-C tournaments but are starting with higher levels. The most I will reduce the entry will be to $75 and that will be based on majority vote by the players that attend the tour stops.

This is a tour deigned for players so their opnions matter and there will be some items sent to vote on the website, others will not. The entry fee will remain at $100 until the results of a vote is returned to reduce it to $75. Most players in attendance wanted it to be increased to make the pot larger.

The other item I will have players vote on will be if we keep the race the same on the winners and losers side. Some wanted to reduce the race on the losers side by 2 in the mini and main. I want the players to decide. but a race to 5 in bar tables playing 9 ball is pretty short but we shall see how the players vote.

It was a really long weekend and I am starting work on the next event next month! I have to get more sponsorship and get the website tweaked and add photos and videos not to mention starting 2 other companies. When can I sleep?

Thanks everyone especially to Steve who took pictures and video to be nice and to Tim and Doug who refereed for me just to help out! Also my daughter Amanda runs a mean board! :)

I look forward to the next stop! Ive already gotten a ton of emails asking about the dates so we shall see.
 
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