Cool thread. I am a teacher and am leaving the reservation next month to take care of some stuff in the Detroit area. Next year I plan to move somewhere again but in addition to pool, the area has to have decent bird hunting. Keep the suggestions coming. Hopefully there will be a few places that I can gleen from you guys that might have both things that I am looking for.
These discussions always suffer from the widely disparate views of what it means to be a good pool town. I'm going to give responses that pump Fargo a bit but also bring out a few things I think are important.
I've traveled around quite a lot, and here's a couple things I have noticed.
There are some places that have many top players, and maybe some good action, but for which the more "average" players are reluctant to match up with one another. I've seen some pretty decent (average plus) players claim they're not good enough to match up or play someone they don't know. There's a sense it's a jungle out there.... A place like this doesn't sound like a good pool place to be unless you're one of the tigers...
IMO, in a place that's "good for pool," there are many fair and fun opportunities for players at any level to be able to experience the fun regularly of matching up in a cheap game for which they have a chance.
So a relevant question, imo, is can a typical B player or C player find a fun cheap game on an average day for which they have a decent chance. That is, can you assume when you drive to the pool hall there will be somebody more-or-less like yourself to play?
Another thing I've seen, besides places with a dearth of tournaments, is places with many tiny $5 entry tournaments on a given night. The problem here is you either go to the one the
players go to [i.e., the one $6 entry tournament ;-) ] or you go to a tournament that takes all night with just a handful of people.
Much better, imo, is when there's a single "place to be," which might be a different place on different nights.
I've been to many weekly tournaments in many different places, and by far the best was--a decade ago--the Monday Night 9-ball Tournament at Airway Billiards in Dayton Ohio. So we've patterned our Monday night nine-ball tournament largely after that one. In the less-than-two years we've been open there have been 126 different players cash in, and over 20 different players win, our MNNT. It's had at least six entrants who have played in the US Open 9-ball tournament, and it typically has some beginner-level players in it. Last night, on one of the first truly nice nights for lawn-mowing, we had 24 players. It's been up to 49. It's $10 to enter. Anyone who enters plays for free for two hours before the tourny and all night afterward (i.e., after they are out). If you go two Mondays without cashing, we pay your entry the next Monday. Oh, and we put out a free pizza buffet. It's a rack-your-own race to 3/2. There's typically ring games and/or scotch doubles games or the like (and folks matching up). THAT's what I mean by a
"place to be." We are a relatively small population. I would think a larger metro area could have several such nights in different spots.
Oh, and the day before was our Sunday handicapped 8-ball tournament. Also 24 players this week. We add $100, and it's usually $150 and $100 for 1st and second. And we pay at least 25% of the field. And it's handicapped using our Fargo Ratings system, so this one can be and is won by players at all levels.
And leagues... Around here everybody (all the players) play in leagues. A league match tables about two hours, and every player plays 8 games of 8-ball. (Things go fast with four-player teams playing on two diamond tables that are 6+ feet apart from any other table). For any table run (getting out 1st time at the table) the player earns a "free hour" of pool to be used on another day. Oh, and on your league day, you play free all day and night. So come early and/or stay late. Oh, and if you happen to want to go to Vegas and play in ANY division, you'll get $300 to help cover your expenses, whoever you are and however you play (We just had 14 players return from Vegas).
And tournaments... Here's what we have going in the next SEVEN WEEKS
in ONE WEEK (from this weekend), we have a "570 and below" 8-ball tournament. The 570 is a Fargo rating. This is probably equivalent to an "8 and below" or maybe a "7 and below" tournament in AZ.
$1000 added, $40 entry, race to 4
Our similar tournament last year had 106 players
In FOUR WEEKS, we have our Summer Shootout (online registration at
http://www.zapevent.com/ListActivities.aspx?eventid=1367). This is a great tournament weekend.
$500 added 9-ball ($40 entry) and $2500 added 8-ball ($60 entry) --open to anybody. There was over $19,000 all told paid out during the Winter Shootout. [hint: I've you've been meaning to come see the place, sign up for these and just do it...]
In SEVEN WEEKS, we have THE QUADRANGLE. $1200 added, $40 entry. This is a different twist on a division tournament. Everyone around here has a Fargo Rating. Players at all levels will sign up for this tournament. Suppose 160 players sign up. The top 40 rated players are the top division. The next 40 are the second division, etc. So you don't know where you'll be until the start of the tournament. You could be at the top of a division, or you could be at the bottom. We give out a $50 gift card to those in the bubble spots--lowest rated player in their division.
Oh, and summer leagues start up next week. Each player plays 12 games (6 8-ball and 6 9-ball) on 3-player teams.
I know I know... It could be a tad warmer... But Fargo is not a bad place to be if you're a pool enthusiast.
