Ambition to get better slowly decreasing - no tourneys available

[BRKNRUN]

I said this many years ago but it fell on deaf ears......IMO there should be more "open" events where everyone goes to the same race.....However....based on your (Fargo) rating determines your (incremental) entry fee.....As you get down to the Fargo ratings that have no chance....Let them play for FREE!!!.....

It gives the upper Fargo players a chance to play....Sure they are going to win the money most of the time......But now the lower level players get to be battle tested against a real (run out) opponent and develop a better game and it does not cost them a thing.....As they get better and start winning....their Fargo will go up and they will start paying an incrementally bigger entry fee.

Also....because I also think a deterrent to tournament entries is the amount of time sitting......PokerPool could be an option to solve that......basically similar to a poker tournament....5 per table....Alternate break...(the break is the button)...start with a $5 ante....a betting round prior to the break....(breaker gets last action)....betting round after the break.....players that stay in the pot play out the rack for the pot ring game style.

Starting chips amount allocated based on Fargo rating.....Combine tables as players run out of chips.....and/or players per table could be assigned by Fargo rating until the tables get combined down to finals......

No "sitting" unless you fold that rack and wait until the next rack to ante.

PokerPool is a slant to the currently popular chip tournaments that happen in AZ.....The problem with the chip tournament is outrunning the amount of chips a very low Fargo gets....The higher rated player must basically be in top form and not lose for very long strings of games so they can lap the field........hard to do at 9/10 ball with incoming player breaking....bigger the field the harder it is to do.

 

[mnorwood]

Here's where I play (Central Mississippi). The nearest Walmart is a 40 min drive and the closest town is at least 20 miles as the crow flies.
We have inhouse league 9-ball (~50 players) on Wednesday night and BCA league 8-ball ( 42 players) on Monday night. The winning team gets $15,000 to pay for their trip to Vegas in Feb. We are sending two teams this year! We also have tournaments every other Sat. The last one was Scotch Doubles Jack & Jill 9-ball at $50/team and we had 20 teams. The calcutta got up around $3,000. We have 3 players over 600 Fargo. Tomorrow we are playing 10 ball with $25 entry and will probably have similar turnout as the week before last. Most of the players drive at least 20 min some drive an hour one way every week. We have 1 - 9' Diamond (the action $$$ is here) and 10 bar boxes. The owner doesn't keep a penny of the entry fees but games are $1.50 per rack. If you are ever passing through MS stop in! If we can get this many people out to play in this rural area, anybody can.
View attachment 737696View attachment 737695

This is so cool to see!!! Years ago I streamed a snooker match between Jeremy Jones and a local snooker player and a guy from Mississippi reached out to me and told me there were several private rooms in his region where everybody played snooker. Southeast Louisiana is/was a hot spot for good players not sure now after the last big storm.

 

[Island Drive]

S. Louisiana, and moist/Most/anywhere in the south, the action was always Up, like the humidity.

Fats when he moved to Dowell IL, got his life lined up with N/S State Hwy 50.
Hwy 50 (before interstates were built) this 2 lane road ran from WI to S. IL, Bensingers/Chicago, Duquoin IL, Janscos/Horse Racing/Big Money on the horses in the south, it was the 40's - 50's the Wild west.

 

[Mensabum]

I share your pain.

However, if there are tables available somewhere you need to strap on you big girl panties and organize an event or it is not going to happen -- end of story.
Lou Figueroa
don't even talk about
1pocket tourneys, lol

Synonymous with watching paint dry Lou.
Just can't herd cats.

 

[Mensabum]

Have you guys been watching what's going on at Iron City in Birmingham AL? The pot is consistently over $100k. The last one got over $250k. I think tournament play is pretty strong in the southeast.

Give us some deets on that kind sir!!

 

[Mensabum]

Don't try and organize a US Open -- think quick and simple.

You put the word out online and/or with a couple of posters; limit the field by entries or entry fees for a one day event; and attach green fees ensuring they're high enough that you can hire/pay a local yokel to actually be the TD (so you can-play : -)

Lou Figueroa

Teachers tourneys are a good blueprint for consistency, simplicity and full event fields. We need to move that across the river now and revitalize that old hall you once graced w presence. One weds night league ain't getting it done. There's a dozen big tables. Perhaps I'll see if I can't rouse up some interest in an open event and see what the turn out will be like. Can't hurt. Lol. After Derby, of course.

 

[garczar]

There's more action, tournament/$$ play both, in the south/southeast than in any other region of the country.

 

[Mensabum]

Don't try and organize a US Open -- think quick and simple.

You put the word out online and/or with a couple of posters; limit the field by entries or entry fees for a one day event; and attach green fees ensuring they're high enough that you can hire/pay a local yokel to actually be the TD (so you can-play : -)

Lou Figueroa

Teachers tourneys are a good blueprint for consistency, simplicity and full event fields. We need to move that across the river now and revitalize that old hall you once graced w presence. One weds night league ain't getting it done. There's a dozen big tables. Perhaps I'll see if I can't rouse up some interest in an open event and see what the turn out will be like. Can't hurt. Lol. After Derby, of course.

Glad I live where I do. Eastern Canada. Not a bar box in sight. Only 9' tables and lots of them. Only complaint is they are mostly set up a little loose.

Played in a 8 ball tournament on the weekend. 63 players. Started 11am. I placed 3rd and lost at midnight. Final was done about 1am. Long day, but lots of pool played. First was $745 ... I took home $300 for 3rd/4th.

Thankfully pool is alive and well in my region.

That's it. I'm moving to McKenzie country!!

 

[The_JV]

Fair enough, I didn't realize you wanted capped ones just HIGHER caps, I thought you were more looking for open/ handicapped where higher ranks could actually play still. There's not a ton of under 700 or under 680 style ones though definitely. Where are you located approximately?

Funny that I complained about this when I did. It seems within the last week several events have been listed with caps in the range to kept the semi-pro and advanced shortstops away.

Most notably the 16 man, $1k entry in London, w/ a 700cap. My pockets aren't that deep, so I'll have to see if I can cash well enough this weekend to cover the expense.

 

[garczar]

Rooms with 9' are pool rooms. Rooms that are just 7' are just that.

Good luck making ANY $$ in a room with 9ft's only. Look at Shooter's in Olathe, 26 bb's and about nine 9ft's. Dan knows where the money is and that's the small tables.

 

[The_JV]

Good luck making ANY $$ in a room with 9ft's only. Look at Shooter's in Olathe, 26 bb's and about nine 9ft's. Dan knows where the money is and that's the small tables.

Regional thing... 80% 9fts in my area. Pool rooms generally packed after work hours

 

[George the Greek]

Glad I live where I do. Eastern Canada. Not a bar box in sight. Only 9' tables and lots of them. Only complaint is they are mostly set up a little loose.

Played in a 8 ball tournament on the weekend. 63 players. Started 11am. I placed 3rd and lost at midnight. Final was done about 1am. Long day, but lots of pool played. First was $745 ... I took home $300 for 3rd/4th.

Thankfully pool is alive and well in my region.

It's nice to see the turnouts in NS. The previous week 103 players and 63 last weekend and over 20 women playing at the other Dooley's. The Predator tour is great for the NS pool scene.

 

[BlueRaider]

Regional thing... 80% 9fts in my area. Pool rooms generally packed after work hours

CBC East in Chattanooga is a mixture of 8' and 9' tables. I've noticed the regulars gravitate towards the 8' tables. The other rooms in the area are all 7'ers with a couple of 9' Diamonds for the one pocket players. It's the last bastion of big table play in the area, but it seems pretty evident that most people want nothing to do with 9' tables around here.

 

[SEB]

Well if you can't get the 650-750 established then the problem of it being a no man's land is moot. Generally ratings without min robustness are not recognized by TDs

First... fargo is not a handicapping system. The 'equalizer' is a handicapping system. Fargo is a rating system that can be used to handicap. Big difference.

Second... Being a 650-750 player is not the fault of fargo. Even though finding events to compete in within that range is difficult. However this is simply a product of supply/demand. There are seas of >650 players so clearly room owners will cater to them. To do otherwise is a bad service model.

There aren’t “seas” of 650+ players.

Actually, there’s only about 1700 of them in the entire country. That amounts to about 35 guys in each state.

 

[The_JV]

There aren’t “seas” of 650+ players.

Actually, there’s only about 1700 of them in the entire country. That amounts to about 35 guys in each state.

lol... whoops... A typo on my part that was meant to be a " < " not a greater than...

I'm edit my post accordingly

 

[The_JV]

It's nice to see the turnouts in NS. The previous week 103 players and 63 last weekend and over 20 women playing at the other Dooley's. The Predator tour is great for the NS pool scene.

Not sure if it's the same Predator tour, but the Quebec version appears to be top notch. That region handles competitive pool far more professionally then Ontario. Unfortunately the bulk of events are beyond 6-8hrs worth of driving for me. That's a ton of driving to go out/out...lol

 

[Jimmorrison]

There aren’t “seas” of 650+ players.

Actually, there’s only about 1700 of them in the entire country. That amounts to about 35 guys in each state.

Wow, if that number is accurate, it really puts a few things in perspective.

 

[George the Greek]

Not sure if it's the same Predator tour, but the Quebec version appears to be top notch. That region handles competitive pool far more professionally then Ontario. Unfortunately the bulk of events are beyond 6-8hrs worth of driving for me. That's a ton of driving to go out/out...lol

I believe it's the same tour and they're ranking events. Once I get my strength back( health issue) I'll be playing in these. I'm 30-45 min to the closer venues..

 

[The_JV]

Actually, there’s only about 1700 of them in the entire country. That amounts to about 35 guys in each state.

Which country...? The States...? ...and how were you able to determine that 1700 number...? I'd love to run the numbers in Ontario.

Speaking of Ontario... I only have access to the top 100 for the nation and it stops at about 675. Of those 29 are in Ontario.

 

[DeadStick]

Good luck making ANY $$ in a room with 9ft's only. Look at Shooter's in Olathe, 26 bb's and about nine 9ft's. Dan knows where the money is and that's the small tables.

Skinny Bobs in Austin has 18 Diamond 9-footers, two 3-cushion 10’ Gabriels, and zero BBs, and they’re doing very well. Busy leagues, busy tournaments.

They used to have a room next door with around 12 Diamond BBs, back when all their 9s were GCs, but they ripped out the wall and got rid of them and the GCs so they could fit 18 Diamond 9s in.