Where I live we have a weekly 8-ball tournament that is set up so that everyone plays everyone else in the tournament. Depending on how many show up we play each other once or twice. It is based on a 10 point system, 1 point per ball, 3 for the 8. Plus it is handicapped based on the person's won loss record. Basically a 6 is someone who has a 551 to 649 won loss record. When two people play and have different handicaps the person with the lower handicap gets the difference added to his score. So if a 5 plays a 6 and the 5 loses but makes 5 balls he gets 5 for the balls plus one for his handicap. If the 5 beats the 6 he gets 10 for the game plus the 1 handicap for a score of 11. At the end the person with the highest total wins. If we get 24 players then we divide it in half and have two separate tournaments. It seems to be working out pretty good and keeps everyone there until the end. (Bar owners should like that) And people are constantly playing. No waiting 2 hours for your next match. Small groups with only 2 games are over in 2 hours, using 6 tables. Depending on number of players you can extend it to 3 or 4 games each. I see no reason why this system can't work in 9-ball too. It generates more interest because as you get closer to the end players know how many points they need to come in the money. Jake