I understand that your friendship with Mark Cantrill has you believing you have an inside scoop on what transpired with this event but maybe you should take the time to verify what you have been told with all parties before making blanket statements. First of all Mark Cantrill worked for Str8 Shots when this event was planned. PERIOD. As for the dates being different, Mark never had different dates. You can verify this by talking with Nick directly. He also knew that it would be beneficial to the Nick Varner event and the Wyoming Open to have them back to back weekends.
Mark knew there was a possibility this event would conflict with Rum Runner. We ran into the same problem last year with these dates. He booked a Legends and Champions tour stop with us and Darren couldn’t come to the last stop because he was committed to the Rum Runner. We, not Mark, had to find another player to fill the slot so the event could go as planned and did so at our expense.
As for announcing the event; we sent hundreds of emails, it was shared on FB hundreds of times by many, many individuals in the industry. It was posted on our site and was supposed to be posted on AZ. I am not sure if it ever got on AZ because I was not posting on this site in early October; Mark was supposed to take care of posting things on the forum. When we became aware of conflicts we did our best to notify others. When Johnny Archer posted that he was moving his classic to March, we asked Mark to let him know the Nick Varner dates. You can verify this with Johnny.
Did you develop the promos for this event? How do you know what we have planned for TAR/Justin? Yes I let Justin know that there were other events when the same weekend as this event. My understanding was that Justin spoke to Mark about it to make sure it wouldn't be a conflict before getting back to me.
As for players being comped, Str8 Shots SPONSORED players are getting there expenses covered. So are the players we sponsor that are going to Rum Runner and the 2nd Big Tyme event. None of our sponsored players are being forced to come to this event. They were asked and those that are coming wanted too.
As for the money there has never been an issue with any of the winners at our events getting paid. The money is in the envelopes and there for players to verify before the tournament starts.
As for free advice wasn’t it you that pointed out to me that this was the best place to go for advice? Wasn’t it you that told us not to fault Mark for coming on here and getting advice about trying to do a match between Danny and John? Wasn’t it you that said there was a wealth of information to be gained by coming to these boards for advice about things happening in the industry?
In case anyone hasn't said it yet, thank you for creating more pool-shooting opportunities on American soil.
You may soon discover that the *majority* on this forum seem to believe that professional players are bums with no jobs, the scum of the earth, and should never been granted a crumb for their pool-playing capabilities. This thread is a good example of *YET AGAIN* another pro-player bashing thread. It happens quite frequently. In the American pool culture, pool is cruel to its own, whether you're a professional pool player or a tournament promoter or even a live-streamer offer a live pool match-up for free.
I am so pleased that you have decided to work in the American pool world. We could use more people just like you. There are indeed factions in this American pool world, and the loyalty of some are fickle and change as often as the weather.
My personal experience, when my other half, who used to compete in two, three, and four tournaments per month, with me handling the logistics, et cetera, is that we never accepted "free" entries, "free" lodging," or "free" money to attend an event. The reasons why are so we don't feel obligated to anyone and can enjoy the tournament to its fullest without dancing like a monkey for another. My other half would perform exhibitions, give lessons, and do things for tournament promoters for free, because that's how he rolls, and we like it like that. Nobody can thereafter claim he should have danced better because he was paid to do so. In other words, he danced to the beat of his own drum *and* on his own dime. :grin-square:
I hope you-all make your way to the East Coast sometime soon. We East Coast people would certainly welcome more pool happenings.
Looking forward to reading all about the Colorado tournament! :yes:
