Chicago Tournaments and Action...Where did it go?

[jbravo2984]

After a brief break from the pool world I've noticed the action and tournament frequencies in Northern IL have really fallen off the charts. From what I recall, and not that long ago I might add, it was difficult deciding on which weekly nine ball tourney to go to if you lived in CHitown or the suburbs. I can think of four or five halls that have closed in the last two to three years right off the top of my head alone. Not sure which ones are still open, still worth going to, obviously Chris's is still at the top of the list but what about The Chicago Billiard Cafe? or 63rd street billiards? where are all the players? where are all the tournaments? where's all the action? Chicagoland hosted a ton of Viking tour stops not that long ago, well until MJ bailed that is. There were and I repeat were a ton of strong chicago players out there. Are they still there? What the hell is going on? Mike Moran, Ike Runnels, Marco Marquez, Scott Cohen, Nick Lullo, Ernesto Contreras, Jeff Carter, Al Martin, Neil Jacobs, John Smith, Reynaldo Reyes, Jet, Eddie Balderas,Tommy Hernandez, Shannon Schroeder, Piggy Banks, Ponce Cruz, just to name a few and probably not even the best, where have you all gone? I suggest we get a good mothly tournament together that would feature and get all of chicago's best players together once a month or christ maybe even once a year! What the eff? Where have all the cowboys gone?!

 

[speedi]

Some of the players you mention have been playing in various leagues at both the Palace in Villa Park and the Pyramid Club in Addison. Both places have strong leagues (not sure about summer leagues). 63rd has closed its doors, all Green Rooms have closed their doors, Oak Park Billiards has closed. It's a rough time for pool halls because of the popularity of poker and the ridiculous Illinois law banning smoking.

One of the problems with the tournaments is that with only a few entrants you would spend 5 or 6 hours and win little money. Some tournaments would end at 12:30-1:30 am. Also, the handicaps were lopsided in many cases. I know of one 9-ball tournament where a race was 13-3. In 9-ball you can often slop in 3 nine balls as a below average player and beat a 13. The better players will stop coming to these kind of tournaments. The lousy players love them, of course.

Also, there is a popular fall and winter tournament in Beloit that advertises itself as "no masters". However, there are several national 8-ball champions that play in these. What is the definition of "master"? If you play at a master level (and we all know who these people are) you should not be allowed to play in a "no master" tournament, pure and simple.

Despite the problems with Chicago area tournaments, I still like to play in them and wish there were more, particularly in the summer months when not much else is happening in pool. Why don't you talk to a local pool hall owner and get a tournament going?

 

[3SeasonsOFpool]

HEY HEY HEY.. Most of the Players are here... Matter of fact Shannon Schroeder is my hubby and he and I just came upstairs from Playin in our basement!! I agree somewhat about MJ, but I truelly feel that he was not the cause for the Tournament DEATH in these parts. MAINLY I blame the WindyCityOpen Folks.. You know them right?? Well Pool Players have given up on paying everyone elses bills, lol they are having a hard time paying there own! Ya know!

I have My own theory for why pool is so unsuccesfull in the chicagoland area. Wanna Hear it?? Here it goes..

I feel that there has been way to much competition between pool halls for players, did you know that when I used to work for inside english I did the research for how many poolhalls there were in the Chicagoland area and I found 97... YES 97!! All within chicago and upto 50mi's outside of. NOW THATS CRAZY.. and thats not even including the countless BARS with tables, Thats JUST POOL HALLS!! since then a lot have closed but there is still a TON! Now think about this...
The Quad Cities.. Home of some of the greatest names in pool came from there and there was 2.. yes ONLY 2 pool halls.. the players ALL were forced to play eachother.
Now, if you grow up only playing B and C players are you ever going to become an A player?? Probably NOT!!
There is a TON of young talent in the Chicagoland area, sadly most of them will never reach there fullest potential simply because they do not reach out and travel to other locations. There are too many options! If this was the "good ol days" there would be Chris', Harolds, GreenRoom, Oscars and maybe one or two more.. and all The players would group together and Battle to be the Best! Now they only battle to be the best in THEIR local hall... Then they wonder why they can't compete when they do go to a tournament elswhere. I don't know if there is any hope, but I have tried to do my part...
Last year I offered a tour that was 100% payback... 0$ Table time, and had average 16 players show up.. IN THE FINALS, there was over 100 people qualified and I added $2400 and got 24 players, Granted the people that DID come LOVED it, but why the shy numbers?? Doesn't make any sence. What more could you ask for?
Any way I am somewhat happy that I decided to hang it up... I have a lot more time to play now, and am happy.
Shannon and I still travel all over to play, and are always hoping for events close to home, so let me know if you hear anything!!
Thanks for letting me vent! lol,
Jacqui

 

[dogginda9]

Hard to say where the blame lies..........

But I'm sure it is a lot of factors, not just one.
The economy I would assume is the biggest factor. I for one don't have the extra dough to throw around carelessly. I have to pick and choose which tourneys to go to. With the cost of gas and the traffic around Chicago it is brutal sometimes just to get around. Also, the lack of bar table events in the burbs hurts to. On weeknights it just isn't like the old days anymore. I for one can't play a lick anymore on a big table so I am somewhat limited to bar table events. This fall and winter I hope to get to the Carom Room events as often as possible. They are about the best thing going on these days.
As for other reasons, maybe smoking and poker have had a negative effect. Maybe there is some sort of generational lull going on right now and another pool boom will come along. It's hard to say with any certainty. About the only thing I can say for sure is that in my humble opinion, Mike Janis and the Windy City folks didn't kill pool in Chicago. Most of their events were pretty well attended and very much enjoyed. At least by the players that I have talked to. I would think that if someone could build a better mousetrap, people would come back out to play.:smile: JMO

 

[jbravo2984]

But I'm sure it is a lot of factors, not just one.
The economy I would assume is the biggest factor. I for one don't have the extra dough to throw around carelessly. I have to pick and choose which tourneys to go to. With the cost of gas and the traffic around Chicago it is brutal sometimes just to get around. Also, the lack of bar table events in the burbs hurts to. On weeknights it just isn't like the old days anymore. I for one can't play a lick anymore on a big table so I am somewhat limited to bar table events. This fall and winter I hope to get to the Carom Room events as often as possible. They are about the best thing going on these days.
As for other reasons, maybe smoking and poker have had a negative effect. Maybe there is some sort of generational lull going on right now and another pool boom will come along. It's hard to say with any certainty. About the only thing I can say for sure is that in my humble opinion, Mike Janis and the Windy City folks didn't kill pool in Chicago. Most of their events were pretty well attended and very much enjoyed. At least by the players that I have talked to. I would think that if someone could build a better mousetrap, people would come back out to play.:smile: JMO

well put sir!

 

[fsarfino]

Damn I'm sorry to hear this. I'm thinking about moving back to the burbs and I was looking forward to getting out and playing at some new places.

Since we only have 3 options up here in rockford.

 

[jbravo2984]

pm sent to the above poster

 

[Worst_7_ever]

HEY HEY HEY.. Most of the Players are here... Matter of fact Shannon Schroeder is my hubby and he and I just came upstairs from Playin in our basement!! I agree somewhat about MJ, but I truelly feel that he was not the cause for the Tournament DEATH in these parts. MAINLY I blame the WindyCityOpen Folks.. You know them right?? Well Pool Players have given up on paying everyone elses bills, lol they are having a hard time paying there own! Ya know!

I have My own theory for why pool is so unsuccesfull in the chicagoland area. Wanna Hear it?? Here it goes..

I feel that there has been way to much competition between pool halls for players, did you know that when I used to work for inside english I did the research for how many poolhalls there were in the Chicagoland area and I found 97... YES 97!! All within chicago and upto 50mi's outside of. NOW THATS CRAZY.. and thats not even including the countless BARS with tables, Thats JUST POOL HALLS!! since then a lot have closed but there is still a TON! Now think about this...
The Quad Cities.. Home of some of the greatest names in pool came from there and there was 2.. yes ONLY 2 pool halls.. the players ALL were forced to play eachother.
Now, if you grow up only playing B and C players are you ever going to become an A player?? Probably NOT!!
There is a TON of young talent in the Chicagoland area, sadly most of them will never reach there fullest potential simply because they do not reach out and travel to other locations. There are too many options! If this was the "good ol days" there would be Chris', Harolds, GreenRoom, Oscars and maybe one or two more.. and all The players would group together and Battle to be the Best! Now they only battle to be the best in THEIR local hall... Then they wonder why they can't compete when they do go to a tournament elswhere. I don't know if there is any hope, but I have tried to do my part...
Last year I offered a tour that was 100% payback... 0$ Table time, and had average 16 players show up.. IN THE FINALS, there was over 100 people qualified and I added $2400 and got 24 players, Granted the people that DID come LOVED it, but why the shy numbers?? Doesn't make any sence. What more could you ask for?
Any way I am somewhat happy that I decided to hang it up... I have a lot more time to play now, and am happy.
Shannon and I still travel all over to play, and are always hoping for events close to home, so let me know if you hear anything!!
Thanks for letting me vent! lol,
Jacqui

I remember seeing the flyers for your turnys back then Jacqui...I just couldnt attend because of work and family obligations....sorry to hear you had such a bad turnout. I do agree that there are, or were, waaaay to many halls. Then again, I, like Sarge, cannot play a lick on the bigboys anymore. I wish there were more bar box turnys out there. I have a friend in St Louis who plays in many leagues and turnys, and they are all barbox places...in that i mean the halls are more barbox full then 9 footers. Teachers to be more exact.

 

[Bugz]

I’m wondering about the demographic difference between now and the mid to late 80’s/90’s? Are there just as many talented 20-30 year olds as then. I’d think that this age bracket would be the heartbeat, sort of that 50/50 married but 0 kids type people. If there is a big difference could that and the economy be the cause of the lull we are in?

 

[Eydie Romano]

HEY HEY HEY.. Most of the Players are here... Matter of fact Shannon Schroeder is my hubby and he and I just came upstairs from Playin in our basement!! I agree somewhat about MJ, but I truelly feel that he was not the cause for the Tournament DEATH in these parts. MAINLY I blame the WindyCityOpen Folks.. You know them right?? Well Pool Players have given up on paying everyone elses bills, lol they are having a hard time paying there own! Ya know!

Ms. Jacqui, I got a couple of calls at the time this was posted regarding this uneducated insulting thread about "folk's at" The Windy City Open. I elected at the time not to respond to your lack of valid information. But, now it is time that I responded to you. Chick, you gotta lot of nerve, and you know exactly what I am referring to.

It's unfortunate that some players have spoiled the broth for the decent, respectable people who attended and truly appreciated the work we did.

A lot of people busted their asses for little or no money to make it a great event for you and everyone else. In addition to Bob and myself, John Stich, Daytona Joe Calnan, Susie Levinberg, Duane Tuula, Rob and Mary Guzzo and Spider Mike just to name a few, worked for the 7 years that it was promoted, and months before the event to try to make it a great time. I am sorry that it didn't meet your standards, and it is unfortunate of your lack appreciation.

Due to a sudden heart attack at 50 years old, we lost our main guy, and dear friend Daytona Joe, 2 months prior to the last event. This completely devastated all on our team, and was a HUGE loss for not only the WCO but to AZB forums as well. Joe made big contribution to AZB and has been dearly missed since his passing.

In addition, and needless to say, having the pool tables broken into, then there was that "issue" about the stolen Cognoscenti, (I'm sure you remember that, it was posted all over the forums for months ), snowstorms hotel attrition, hidden costs and the list goes on didn't help much.

One of these days, maybe you'll bring an event like that back to the Chicagoland area, and the shoe will be on the other foot. I can only wish you well with that.

In closing, I am entitled to defend myself and the people listed above from your invalid, mean spirited accusation. I'm not going to banter back and forth with you and make this an on going dispute. It's now dead to me.