A Letter To Allen Hopkins

ForumGhost516 said:
I think we are definitely on the right track here. There have been some incredible ideas thrown our way and some that we have come up with on our own.

I agree with Kevin that right now the ideal thing to do is to see if Allen Hopkins may have some pearls of wisdom for us on this endeavor perhaps he will have a table or two available to us.
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I've talked to Allen before at a DCC about an event at Valley Forge. He was in favor of it. He did suggest that the main criteria for getting into the finals should be average rather than highest run.

Of course, at the Super Expo there is less time than at DCC, but players are better able to schedule their time.

A lot of good suggestions have been proposed here. If you don't mind, I'll call Allen and see if he is willing to host a 14.1 Challenge and what his requirements would be.
 
Mr. Jewett,

I would be honored if you stepped in and spoke with Mr Hopkins about the propossed ideas. I am sure that Charles would feel the same.

He as well as me and many others here in the 14.1 forum all share the same passion for the game, and would love to see it brought back closer to the Limelight.

Thanks So Much and keep us informed !
Steve Kurtz
 
Awesome

Bob Jewett said:
I've talked to Allen before at a DCC about an event at Valley Forge. He was in favor of it. He did suggest that the main criteria for getting into the finals should be average rather than highest run.

Of course, at the Super Expo there is less time than at DCC, but players are better able to schedule their time.

A lot of good suggestions have been proposed here. If you don't mind, I'll call Allen and see if he is willing to host a 14.1 Challenge and what his requirements would be.
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Mr. Jewett as always your expertise and help is always appreciated. I fully support any suggestions or ideas you may have and please know you have our full support when it comes to the actual event as well.

:):grin-square::grin::smile::cool:
 
14.1 Challenge

This idea is taking shape nicely.
Donated space by Hopkins would help, but I think it will need some seed money to attract the players.

Good Work, Charlie and Steve, getting the ball rolling.:thumbup:
 
dmgwalsh said:
This idea is taking shape nicely.
Donated space by Hopkins would help, but I think it will need some seed money to attract the players.

Good Work, Charlie and Steve, getting the ball rolling.:thumbup:
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This was all Steve Dennis he came to me the other day with this idea and I have just kind of been running with it with him bouncing ideas off of each other and what not.

Steve really does love the game and is a ferocious competitor on the table this is totally his brain child and im happy to help.

PS Your dvd is going out tomorrow first thing.
 
From what I can foresee the biggest thing we need to worry about now is a prize pool. If Allen Hopkins is willing to give us some space aside from costs all of the entry money can then go to a prize pool. I think if we have to rent a booth or two and get a table etc the prize pool would be significantly less. Hopefully Mr. Jewett can get Mr. Hopkins to come through and help us out a little.

I look forward to hearing more from everyone on this. Steve really did come up with a sick idea here. I know one of my favorite things from the World Straight Pool Championships was hanging out with Bill and Dennis. It would be great to meet more of you guys at SBE this year.

Charlie
 
I just talked to Allen, and he would like to see it happen. There are a couple of possibilities for sponsorship or free space, but he needs to talk it over with the potential sponsors.

If the sponsors don't materialize, he can provide enough space for one table (which is more than two 10x10 booths), for $2000, or enough space for two tables for $3000. He says that it costs about $300/table to bring in Diamond 4.5x9s, assuming that they have additional tables available.

Allen also mentioned that his August event might be a better time for a 14.1 challenge.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I just talked to Allen, and he would like to see it happen. There are a couple of possibilities for sponsorship or free space, but he needs to talk it over with the potential sponsors.

If the sponsors don't materialize, he can provide enough space for one table (which is more than two 10x10 booths), for $2000, or enough space for two tables for $3000. He says that it costs about $300/table to bring in Diamond 4.5x9s, assuming that they have additional tables available.

Allen also mentioned that his August event might be a better time for a 14.1 challenge.
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LADIES AND GENTLEMAN MR. BOB JEWETT DOES IT AGAIN.

Just to here that we are on the right track and the right people are getting involved right off the bat is incredible.

My hat is off to you Bob and I really hope it all works out.

Charlie
 
As for the format, here are some things to consider.

With a prelims and some kind of finals, there are three days for prelims (is Thursday a full day?) and a day for finals.

Each attempt takes about 6 minutes, on average. If you can keep the table(s) full for 8 hours a day, you could have about 80 tries per day per table. With two tables, that's a total of about 500 tries. (At DCC in 2009, there was a total of about 300 tries over 4 days on two tables, but there was a lot of idle time.) That's a rough estimate.

If you charge $20 for 5 tries, you end up with $2000 in entries. I think $20 is low enough to keep the tables full. I think you need to allow unlimited entries by one person.

You need a rule for scheduling the table. If there are several players present, does the first player take his 5 turns in a row? If you have the players take turns with one try at a time, I think you have a better chance to keep the tables full.

In the prelims, the players can schedule their own times, more or less. For the finals, if a player is also playing in the pro event that ends on Sunday, you may have a schedule conflict. You may want to have a couple of final matches on Saturday night. I think you have to schedule 2 hours per round if you are playing to 100 points. One one table that would be 14 hours, and on two tables, 8 hours. Maybe the tables in the Pro arena could be used for the finals, which could cut the total time required.

You need some way to keep the table and balls clean.

You need about 3 volunteers per table.
 
Bob, thanks once again for helping to support our great game.

Just some thoughts for the organizers. I think you will need to have the tables running the challenge as long as possible each day for the qualifiers. If the Expo is open say 11am to 1am then all those hours should be available to try and qualify. I think the final 8 player single elim should be scheduled (8 hours as Bob says on 2 tables) and if a player has a scheduled match in another event then all efforts should be made to accomodate that player to play his/her opening round final 8 match "before" the scheduled time. If the player(s) can't make the match before or at the scheduled time then the slot goes to the 9th place finisher etc..etc..

I have a few more thoughts and will chime in later today

Kevin Vidal
14and1.com
 
Bump, Bump, Bump!

Let's all make this happen!

Happy New Year!

14.1 "The Championship Game," knockabout player, but hardcore fan
Table: Ohlhausen Drake II
Most Frequently Played Cues:
William Haskins' East Coast Cues Butterfly (see avatar), Steve Klein, Adam A-6 with Predator 314 shaft, George Balabushka GB-22, HOF Lou Butera LB-3 and Irving Crane IC-3 replicas
 
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I know the concept was broached before, but is it practical to capture the final rounds on video and sell the DVDs? That could help defray some of the costs, especially if there are well-known players in the finals.
 
Yes, that is one of the ideas we have already discussed. i plan on bringing my HD Cam for the event.

Thanks
Steve
 
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