Allow me to vent my frustrations:
There was an expo here in Phoenix called "Big Boys and Their Toys" in which numerous exhibitors displayed their products (as the name would suggest, most were more typical of men's interests, such as cars, boats, motorcycles, and yes, pool equipment). A local tournament promoter here organized an event in which 10 players would play a round robin tournament with a $1000 first prize (not bad for a local gig with only 10 players).
Here is what I was told about the tournament:
The tournament will be played on 9-foot Olhousen tables. There will be two 5-man brackets. Within those brackets, everyone will play everyone 7 games total, and the guy with the best win record in his bracket will come back on Sunday to play in the finals.
When I arrived to play on Saturday, this is what was actually happening:
The tournament was being played on 8-foot Olhousen tables. There were two 5-man brackets, as expected, but now the top two guys from each bracket would be back on Sunday. Upon discovering we were playing on 8-footers, I wouldn't have minded just leaving because I was expecting to play on the 9 footers that I was told we were going to play on. However, this was a partially sponsored event, and I had a sponsor, so I felt an obligation to stay and play. To sum up Saturday, I finished with the best record in my bracket. The fact that two of us were now coming back Sunday didn't really bother me, but still, it was yet another change that was made on tournament day.
Sunday:
The 4 of us are supposed to play a round robin, with each player playing all players 9 games. The two players with the lowest number of wins get 3rd and 4th, while the two players with the highest number of wins are going to play one final round for first place (again, it's only a total of 9 games, so the finals is a race to 5). The way it ends up is, one player has 15 wins, me and another player have 14 wins, and another player has 11 wins. So, 4th place is determined, but now the two of us with 14 wins have to have a play-off to see who goes to the finals. Well, somewhere along the line, either just prior to, or during my match, the promoter changes the rules/format one final time, deciding that my match was only to determine 2nd and 3rd, and that the guy who was waiting to play one of us was now the winner! So, I end up winning my match, and now I'm thinking I'm going to play in the finals. Nope! I get second, and that is that. The promoter's reasoning was that we were running out of time. Well, after walking around the Expo for 20 minutes, I was about to leave when I saw that there were still matches going on in a scotch doubles tournament that was taking place at the same time, and the finals hadn't even started yet! So to sum up what happened, 1st place money ($1000 + a $350 case) was just GIVEN to one player, while I was handed 2nd place ($500) without even holding the finals.
Nice, eh?
There was an expo here in Phoenix called "Big Boys and Their Toys" in which numerous exhibitors displayed their products (as the name would suggest, most were more typical of men's interests, such as cars, boats, motorcycles, and yes, pool equipment). A local tournament promoter here organized an event in which 10 players would play a round robin tournament with a $1000 first prize (not bad for a local gig with only 10 players).
Here is what I was told about the tournament:
The tournament will be played on 9-foot Olhousen tables. There will be two 5-man brackets. Within those brackets, everyone will play everyone 7 games total, and the guy with the best win record in his bracket will come back on Sunday to play in the finals.
When I arrived to play on Saturday, this is what was actually happening:
The tournament was being played on 8-foot Olhousen tables. There were two 5-man brackets, as expected, but now the top two guys from each bracket would be back on Sunday. Upon discovering we were playing on 8-footers, I wouldn't have minded just leaving because I was expecting to play on the 9 footers that I was told we were going to play on. However, this was a partially sponsored event, and I had a sponsor, so I felt an obligation to stay and play. To sum up Saturday, I finished with the best record in my bracket. The fact that two of us were now coming back Sunday didn't really bother me, but still, it was yet another change that was made on tournament day.
Sunday:
The 4 of us are supposed to play a round robin, with each player playing all players 9 games. The two players with the lowest number of wins get 3rd and 4th, while the two players with the highest number of wins are going to play one final round for first place (again, it's only a total of 9 games, so the finals is a race to 5). The way it ends up is, one player has 15 wins, me and another player have 14 wins, and another player has 11 wins. So, 4th place is determined, but now the two of us with 14 wins have to have a play-off to see who goes to the finals. Well, somewhere along the line, either just prior to, or during my match, the promoter changes the rules/format one final time, deciding that my match was only to determine 2nd and 3rd, and that the guy who was waiting to play one of us was now the winner! So, I end up winning my match, and now I'm thinking I'm going to play in the finals. Nope! I get second, and that is that. The promoter's reasoning was that we were running out of time. Well, after walking around the Expo for 20 minutes, I was about to leave when I saw that there were still matches going on in a scotch doubles tournament that was taking place at the same time, and the finals hadn't even started yet! So to sum up what happened, 1st place money ($1000 + a $350 case) was just GIVEN to one player, while I was handed 2nd place ($500) without even holding the finals.
Nice, eh?
). Then they even went on to say that they were working on a rematch between me and the person that I was supposed to play in the finals! That's pretty damn funny considering this is the first that *I* have heard of it! Sorry to keep this thread going, but this just struck me as f***ing comical!