Advice on a weekly tournament please!!

1

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The owner of the pool hall I play at has started a nice tournament on Saturdays. The first couple were kind of slow, but yesterday it really took off and the place was packed and had about 16 players (good for this area). The owner does not mind adding money to the tournament. It is a 15 dollar entry fee with only 3 dollars going to the green fee. Sounds like a sweet tournament right? Now that you know the pluses, I'll give you the minuses. The tournament is handicapped (still ok) however, he has it set up to where you race to your handicapp. This presents the problem, we have a wide range of players from 4's to 11 is the max. So, the tournament drags on really late with all the races to 9, 10 or 11and it is also double elimination. A few of the older guys were complaining about it lasting til almost midnite and it started at 3 pm. I really didn't mind, but I hate to see it not make it simply because of the long races. I think the owner's logic is the longer they stayy in there the better for him, but, if it continues to go this late then I think it might collapse completely, which is terrible for him and business. So, I suggested reducing the races of the higher handicaps, and not sure if they plan on trying that. Something on the lines of if any 8-11 skill level players match up, simply reduce them to a race to 7 or 8 max in some fashion. Any insight here? I would like to give him some reasonable suggestions because this is really something I think will go good. But, starting a weekly tourney at 3pm and ending at midnite just isn't what some of the players are willing to do. Thanks again.

P.S. Should I post this in another area?
 
handicap with balls for top players, max your races to 5 and adjust from that... so for instance the Call 8, Wild 8, Call 7, etc. etc.
 
3PM seems like a rather late start. Start 3 hours earlier and you're done at 9 instead of midnight. Couple that with shortening the races and it should make the finish time way more manageable. The plus for the owner is he gets some tables back for Saturday night traffic as well as cash games played after the tournament ends.
 
It's About The $$

Generally speaking, it's all about the owner trying to make a buck. You can't blame him/her for that; however, if people stop coming ............!

We had that very same problem and sat down with the owner. He understood our position and we understood his. Our solution was that the owner charged $3.50 more then the usual green fee and served "all you can eat tacos/spaghetti" beginning an hour and a half before starting time and ending at starting time. Calcutta/meeting was held while eating to save time. His food and drink sells went up and the races were shortened. The latter of which saved labor costs -- he really liked that!

More people started showing up--both players and spectators. Many nights there were more on-lookers then shooters who, after taking advantage of the "All You Can Eat", stayed to watch the matches all the while drinking more sud$. The rule was, the players paid the extra $3.50 whether they ate or not -- this really helped ensure people showed up on time.

It was a win-win situation. He started incorporating food into the titles of each tournament. Monday: Spaghetti 8-Ball -- Tuesday: Taco 9-Ball and so on.

Unfortunately, he sold his bar to a non-pool player who did not see the value in this and before long there were no more tournaments. He is really struggling to make ends meet and will most likely go under soon -- sad really :(

Hope this helps.
 
cmbwsu said:
Generally speaking, it's all about the owner trying to make a buck. You can't blame him/her for that; however, if people stop coming ............!

We had that very same problem and sat down with the owner. He understood our position and we understood his. Our solution was that the owner charged $3.50 more then the usual green fee and served "all you can eat tacos/spaghetti" beginning an hour and a half before starting time and ending at starting time. Calcutta/meeting was held while eating to save time. His food and drink sells went up and the races were shortened. The latter of which saved labor costs -- he really liked that!

More people started showing up--both players and spectators. Many nights there were more on-lookers then shooters who, after taking advantage of the "All You Can Eat", stayed to watch the matches all the while drinking more sud$. The rule was, the players paid the extra $3.50 whether they ate or not -- this really helped ensure people showed up on time.

It was a win-win situation. He started incorporating food into the titles of each tournament. Monday: Spaghetti 8-Ball -- Tuesday: Taco 9-Ball and so on.

Unfortunately, he sold his bar to a non-pool player who did not see the value in this and before long there were no more tournaments. He is really struggling to make ends meet and will most likely go under soon -- sad really :(

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea. I'm not sure if they would be willing to try this, but if so I think it would really go over. I also agree the owners have to make money, but I don't agree with intentionally dragging it out in order to do so. Eventually, like you said, there will be nothing at all if guys are sitting around til 12pm, I could only imagine if he got 20-30 players. I like the extra green fee, and the shorter race theory myself. I'm going to give him some of these suggestions on here. Thanks a lot folks.
 
1on1pooltournys said:
This is a great idea. I'm not sure if they would be willing to try this, but if so I think it would really go over. I also agree the owners have to make money, but I don't agree with intentionally dragging it out in order to do so. Eventually, like you said, there will be nothing at all if guys are sitting around til 12pm, I could only imagine if he got 20-30 players. I like the extra green fee, and the shorter race theory myself. I'm going to give him some of these suggestions on here. Thanks a lot folks.
Click to expand...

Appreciate knowing the outcome. Cheers!
 
As far as shortening the races, fun players will not participate if the better player does not have to spot them as much. I might suggest playing all races to a short enough number (like 4 or 5) and add games whenever a player plays anyone lower than them.

Essentially:
2 rank 4s: Race to 5
2 rank 9s: Race to 5
Rank 9 vs Rank 4: Race 10 to 5 or some similar mathematical figuring
 
iba7467 said:
As far as shortening the races, fun players will not participate if the better player does not have to spot them as much. I might suggest playing all races to a short enough number (like 4 or 5) and add games whenever a player plays anyone lower than them.

Essentially:
2 rank 4s: Race to 5
2 rank 9s: Race to 5
Rank 9 vs Rank 4: Race 10 to 5 or some similar mathematical figuring
Click to expand...

This is what I suggested. I think that when two high skill levels play one another, they should race to a number like 5,6,or 7 and adjust accordingly. Say a 10 plays a 9, then the race should be to 7 or 8 with the player ranked 9 getting 1 game. The longer races are fine for "run out" players. However, when they play weak players the races should be to the handicapp.
 
1on1pooltournys said:
This is a great idea. I'm not sure if they would be willing to try this, but if so I think it would really go over. I also agree the owners have to make money, but I don't agree with intentionally dragging it out in order to do so. Eventually, like you said, there will be nothing at all if guys are sitting around til 12pm, I could only imagine if he got 20-30 players. I like the extra green fee, and the shorter race theory myself. I'm going to give him some of these suggestions on here. Thanks a lot folks.
Click to expand...


Firstly, the tournament was never "intentionally" dragged out. This is the 2nd week that the tournament was played. Whether or not players will take to this tournament is still unknown at this point. Granted, it took a long time, however, players in this area will not play in a single elimination which would be the solution to the time issue with everyone getting to play to their handicapps. We can't make the players give up balls as a handicap, been tried and nobody would play in the tournament. Currently, with a $15 dollar entry fee, which $3 dollars goes out for green fees and the rest back to the players, room adds $50, we're not making a ton of money on this tournament. It's primarily for the players. If you can come up with a solution for the tournament, your suggestions will be welcome as always.
 
kath13 said:
Firstly, the tournament was never "intentionally" dragged out. This is the 2nd week that the tournament was played. Whether or not players will take to this tournament is still unknown at this point. Granted, it took a long time, however, players in this area will not play in a single elimination which would be the solution to the time issue with everyone getting to play to their handicapps. We can't make the players give up balls as a handicap, been tried and nobody would play in the tournament. Currently, with a $15 dollar entry fee, which $3 dollars goes out for green fees and the rest back to the players, room adds $50, we're not making a ton of money on this tournament. It's primarily for the players. If you can come up with a solution for the tournament, your suggestions will be welcome as always.
Click to expand...

I like it the way it is, hence last week's result. And as I stated, it is nice to pay 3 dollars play all that pool. I guess intentionally should not have been the word used, but one player decided against entering when he asked an approximation of the length of the tourney, "The longer, the better". I think the idea of reducing races amongst the higher skilled players may be the solution, say 8's and above. I think you should make food for me and make everybody else pay the "all you can eat" price as another poster said;)
 
1on1pooltournys said:
I like it the way it is, hence last week's result. And as I stated, it is nice to pay 3 dollars play all that pool. I guess intentionally should not have been the word used, but one player decided against entering when he asked an approximation of the length of the tourney, "The longer, the better". I think the idea of reducing races amongst the higher skilled players may be the solution, say 8's and above. I think you should make food for me and make everybody else pay the "all you can eat" price as another poster said;)
Click to expand...

We have tried every variation known to man with these tournaments, conclusion, who knows. Not everyone is going to be happy. Some won't play because they lost the previous week, some won't play because there is a good player signed up, some won't play because the moon isn't aligned in Saturn. Reducing the races for higher skilled players isn't the issue that can be done, maybe... But, I can guarantee you they will not agree if they are playing you. lol I would almost say that a race between 4's and a race between an 11 vs. 4 would take the same amount of time anyway.
 
kath13 said:
We have tried every variation known to man with these tournaments, conclusion, who knows. Not everyone is going to be happy. Some won't play because they lost the previous week, some won't play because there is a good player signed up, some won't play because the moon isn't aligned in Saturn. Reducing the races for higher skilled players isn't the issue that can be done, maybe... But, I can guarantee you they will not agree if they are playing you. lol I would almost say that a race between 4's and a race between an 11 vs. 4 would take the same amount of time anyway.
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Yes, I agree, most of my matches were over in no time. I won't be playing Saturday, and will not play at all if it is in the best interest for the tourney and its proprietors!
 
1on1pooltournys said:
Yes, I agree, most of my matches were over in no time. I won't be playing Saturday, and will not play at all if it is in the best interest for the tourney and its proprietors!
Click to expand...


It's not you, you are perfectly aware of what players in this area need in order to play in tournaments. Your handicap is appropiate as is theirs. It's a fair race and let the best man or woman win. It's not in the best interest of any tournament to not have high caliber players in it and nor should any player feel that it isn't fair when they lose after being given 6 or 7 games from better players.
 
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