Galveston BIG MONEY TOURNAMENT

lanolin and sheepskin buffer

JoeyA said:
Jennie,
Do you know anyone who might be interested in coming to this tournament?

I will be there whether I'm doing either commentary, playing OR BOTH! :D

Unfortunately, I will have to invest some of my funds in staking Efren for all of the mini-tournaments each night of this extravaganza and am saving money right and left for this occasion. I made that committment to the KING and will not disappoint him even if I have to send the money via courier. :thumbup:

I am now beginning to wonder how I will be able to make the whole tournament.

Let's see:
For each day, I will wake up, shower and shave and eat a great breakfast buffet, then off to the tables to watch, play or do commentary. That will take the majority of the day so I will carry lots of energy bars from Whole Foods with me. At night, I will be sweating Efren's mini-tournaments and playing in some of those too and it will probably go on to the wee hours of the morning. If I throw in a few hours of gambling and sweating some of the gambling matches, I may not have to sleep at all. I can just shower, shave and eat breakfast all over again day after day. :dance:

Just last night I was able to squirrel away a couple of hundred due to some ver nice young WSOP contributors who were in town at Harrah's Casino and looking to get away from those lucky cards and good card players.

Some of the players who win these disciplines in Galveston, TX will be adding some serious dough to their bank accounts.

It's looking better all of the time. I really like the report about money in escrow and Scott Smith as tournament director. Scott does a pretty remarkable job wherever he goes.

I am going to suggest to Scott that he use Liberty Spikes for his hair instead of the usual staid spikes that he is know for. He has plenty of time to grow his hair longer for the Liberty Spikes. If he gets a few color tips from Samm Diep, he can make a really grand entrance. :D

If Jay had made the cut, I would have suggested some polishing cream to make him shine even more. :)

JoeyA
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Joey,

Borrow a little Lanolin and a genuine wool bonnet for a buffer and we can have Jay glowing!

Perhaps you and I should be the style and fashion consultants for the event! :D :D :D

Hu
 
Wandering around the tournament room yesterday, at the BCAPL, I noticed that the promoters had a booth, with some posters about this event. I'll try to stop there and get some information to post here.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Bigtruck said:
I just found out last night from Ken, the head BCA ref, that he was hired along with Scott "the shot" Smith to run the tournament. Scott Smith is of course the TD for the US Open and many other major events. He also said that the deal on the tables was made with Diamond AND there was prize money in escrow!!

Ray
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CrisDeLaGarza said:
The guys planning the World Classic have been working closely with InsidePool Magazine to plan some promotions of this event. This week at the BCAPL Nationals Samm Diep got a chance to interview some of the main planners of this event. Check out this link for more info. They are the first 2 videos listed:
http://www.insidepoolmag.com/pool-billiards-videos.html
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Very informative, thanx cris (aka- 8 ball champ)

Seriousely though this event is In our own backyard and
If we don't band together to support it then we're no better
Than the double steer artist.

Where All the real texans at?
 
TXsouthpaw said:
Very informative, thanx cris (aka- 8 ball champ)

Seriousely though this event is In our own backyard and
If we don't band together to support it then we're no better
Than the double steer artist.

Where All the real texans at?
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P.S
I'll b there for the whole 9 days
 
Very interesting interviews and well done by Ms. Diep!

79 vendor booths available, but many were sold this past week. So vendors better book it ahead of time. The event begins September 11th and ending September 20th.

Rooms on site at Moody's cost $148 per night, a little high for some, but that is a negotiated rate. The venue site has a zoo and other cool attractions geared towards families.

There are hotels in the area for $49 to $99 per night. Also, teams can get condos for $99 a night that sleep up to six comfortably.

Best of all, guaranteed first-place winner gets $50,000, whether brackets fill up or not. They are seeding 32 players based on the current BCA points list.

All in all, this looks to be one fine pool extravaganza! :)

Website for event: http://www.theworldclassic.com
 
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I spoke with the promoters for about a 1/2 hour on Friday. They were adamant that the $200K in first place prize money was in escrow. They said they have already paid out over $100K to make this tournament work. They mentioned that they have 200 teams signed up already (:eek:). They SPECIFICALLY said that Scott Smith has NOT been hired as tournament direction. Ken Shules (sp.) will be the TD, with Bill Stock as his assistant.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

JoeyA said:
It's looking better all of the time. I really like the report about money in escrow and Scott Smith as tournament director. Scott does a pretty remarkable job wherever he goes.

JoeyA
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Scott Lee said:
I spoke with the promoters for about a 1/2 hour on Friday. They were adamant that the $200K in first place prize money was in escrow. They said they have already paid out over $100K to make this tournament work. They mentioned that they have 200 teams signed up already (:eek:). They SPECIFICALLY said that Scott Smith has NOT been hired as tournament direction. Ken Shules (sp.) will be the TD, with Bill Stock as his assistant.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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Thanks for the info! :)

I have not attended any tournaments in a few years. Who is Ken Shules (sp.)? Is he a tournament director? Is he associated with a pool organization? I just have not heard the name before. :o
 
JoeyA said:
www.theworldclassic.com


Some important questions about your tournament scheduled for September of this year in Galveston, TX:
1. How many places will be paid? (Will you pay 25% of the field?) How much will be paid to each spot? What percentages will be paid to the spots other than 1st place? You have specified how much money will be paid for all of the 1st places of each discipline. Is all of the money guaranteed regardless of the number of participants (if so, by whom)?
(Is any money currently held in escrow, if so, where and by whom)
(Has any money been spent already in preparation for this tournament, if so, how much and where?
The above questions may seem a bit personal and for that I apologize but players will be traveling hundreds and even many thousands of miles to come to this tournament and these personal questions are important to them. Having to secure airline tickets that cost over a thousand dollars is not something the International players want to do without some type of guarantee that the event is definitely taking place. Perhaps if a well-known trusted pool entity held a specific sum of money to be used for a specific purpose. This is just an example and please don't take this wrong. We/I am just grasping at straws hoping to give some confidence to the many players and stakehorses, WORLD-WIDE, who await the answers to some of these questions: Maybe for example, you place $50,000 in escrow with say, I don't know, maybe Simonis Billiard Cloth or say Brunswick Corporation and that money will be used as a guarantee that it will all be used for the payouts for the Ten Ball Championship top finishers.

While I'm at it you may want to consider posting the percentages that each top finisher will be awarded (no sums of money need to be stated because the number of participants is unknow) But if you were to say that you will be paying 25% of the field you could use standardized numbers such as : If you have 64 players, the top 16 players would be paid the following percentages
1st: 25%
2nd: 16
3rd: 12
4th: 9
5th-6th: 5%
7th-8th: 4%
9th-12th: 3
13-16th: 2%

For 128 players, you might pay the 32 top finishers in similar proportions. For some, this is important information.
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We have heard from Louie that they will pay 25% of the field. 3rd parties have stated that they have escrowed money to make sure the first prizes are the guaranteed amount. Who is the money escrowed with? I have not heard or read anything on this.

JoeyA said:
2. Is there any added money?
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Only if entries leave the first prizes short while paying 25% of the field. First places will be guaranteed with escrowed funds.

JoeyA said:
3. Are there any green fees? (It is currently understood that all entry fees will be paid back to participants so there may not be any green fees but this should be specified if it is so).
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100% of entries will be paid out. As far as green fees, I believe the tables will all be coin op Smart Tables.

JoeyA said:
4. What constitutes a Master or an Amateur? Does a person have to belong to a pool league? How is a team selected or made eligible? Can anyone form a team?(amateur or professional)
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This is a good question.

JoeyA said:
5. What are the dates for each discipline/pool tournament?
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They are listed here http://www.theworldclassic.com/


JoeyA said:
6. Is there a Pro Event and an Amateur event? Are pros considered “Masters”?
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There is a pro event that 64 spots will be held for "top" level pros. Spots in the Pro event will be open beyond that. **this was addressed in the Louie video listed in mine and Cristina's post above.

JoeyA said:
7. Who is your tournament director? A tournament of this magnitude will take lots of experience.
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Ken Shules and Bill Stock. Both oversee the referee program for the BCA and work for Mark Griffin I believe. Ken did mention that Scott Smith would be involved but Scott Lee reported otherwise.

JoeyA said:
8. When will a press release be issued?
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Maybe they considered the Samm Diep interview their press releases???? Didn't seem like it to me.

JoeyA said:
9. There are many people on the Internet Forums who wish you the very best and they could help in spreading the word about your tournament.
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Absolutely. Many are cautious jumping on board blindly, because of previous bad experiences, but most of us are VERY optimistic and READY.


JoeyA said:
10. We hope that our comments will be of value to you and please feel free to contact us in the future.
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I think it would be a great idea for someone to flag questions here on the forum.

JoeyA said:
11. Will there be an affordable block of rooms at Moody Gardens ? What are the costs of the room? How many people per room allowed?
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Moody Gardens IS a 4 star facility. They did negotiate a block rate of 148 per night.

JoeyA said:
12. Are there alternative accomodations (hotels nearby, contact info) ?
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They also located several other less expensive options including condos that could be rented for $99 a night. The condos are said to accomodate up to 6 people comfortably.

JoeyA said:
13. What would the payouts be if there is a low turnout. Meaning that the total entries is say $10,000. Would the promoter add $40,000 to that and give it all to first place? (Or would the $50,000 be spread amongst the top 25% finishers.)
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In the video, Louie stated that the entries would be 100% paid back to 25% of the field. They would then use the money they have set aside(escrow?) to guarantee the 1st prizes

JoeyA said:
14. What about getting to the event? Most people would just fly to Houston Intercontinental Airport, but that is over 50 miles from Galveston! Hobby Airport is closer, but flights to Hobby may cost more. How much will it cost to get from either airport to the event at Moody Gardens?
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They did talk about having airport shuttles. I think Intercontinental is more like 70 miles away. Hobby would be the smartest place to fly into. Hobby IS a Southwest hub.

JoeyA said:
15. If the finals will be on Sunday. Does that mean that the finalists from the first events will be required to stay several days in an expensive hotel just to wait for the finals? If players are not aware of this before the event, they may just opt to take the lower position money and leave before the finals. This would hurt the event tremendously if television or live-streaming has been arranged. (JoeyA is available for Live-Streaming Commentary gig) :idea:
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This IS the plan. All finalist will play on "Super Sunday". The videos addressed this. They mentioned that they would stagger the events in case the same people were in the finals of the 10ball & the One Pocket etc. This is an interesting idea, however, to me, it seems to encourage spectators to just wait for "Super Sunday" instead of being there the entire event.

JoeyA said:
16. If a person enters one discipline, will they have a free pass to watch the other disciplines that they do not enter? (Or will they have to pay the nominal $15 charge for regular spectators?) If they do not have to pay the $15 daily spectator fee, it may help players make the decision to play in at least one discipline.
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This is a good question and one I have not heard anyone address. Many events also issue (1) guest pass to entrants. I wonder if they will doing that?

JoeyA said:
A thread on www.azbilliards.com (Main Forum) titled Galveston BIG MONEY TOURNAMENT) was started by JoeyA for the benefit of promoting this tournament and ALL OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS FORUM HOPE TO SEE YOUR TOURNAMENT SUCCEED.


Sincerely,
JoeyA

If members of this forum would like to have additional questions added here in my post, write them out clearly in a post of your own and I will edit my post as it makes sense to add additional NEEDED questions. Specify only one question to a paragraph and please be brief and concise with each question.

Thanks, JoeyA
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Amen Joey!!

I have noticed several people on this thread get a little edgy about questions being asked. Questions are good people!! Everyone in pool wants this event to be a success. Will it be "perfect"? Probably not, but most of us are extremely excited about this event and will continue to help keep it in the spotlight.

Ray
 
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If it comes off, I'll be there start to finish.
I hope that it comes together and has a great success so that we have something else to pilgrimage to!
I'm even debating on getting a booth to help boost things a bit...:wink:
Regardless, I bet it's going to be alot of fun!
 
INSIDE POOL MAGAZINE is the NUTZ!

CrisDeLaGarza said:
The guys planning the World Classic have been working closely with InsidePool Magazine to plan some promotions of this event. This week at the BCAPL Nationals Samm Diep got a chance to interview some of the main planners of this event. Check out this link for more info. They are the first 2 videos listed:
http://www.insidepoolmag.com/pool-billiards-videos.html
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Inside Pool Magazine is on the JOB! Great Interview Samm!

It looks like this tournament is coming to pass. Bobby Rone and Louie Vickio have put their names and word on record for everyone to see. I think the interviews show that they mean business.

I think BigTruck alluded that the tables would be coin operated. I think I will ask BigTruck or call Bobby or Louie to confirm this and additional details.

I listened to some additional interviews, one of them by our own CrisDeLaGarza with Darren Appleton and I could almost swear that a miracle has ocurred. I was listening to Darren and I could understand virtually everything he said. :D Way to go Dynamite! :wink:

But back to the Galveston Tournament: Efren, get ready, your mini-one tournament backer is going to be flush with cash and will be making sure you get plenty of rest and are well fed and will be steering your many fans to give you plenty of breathing room. :) :joyful: :dance:

On a more serious note, this tournament is VERY PRACTICAL and VERY POSSIBLE. The fact that the tournament promoters are willing to stick their necks out in guaranteeing such large purses for the professional disciplines regardless of whether the field fills up or not is one of the reasons that I think this tournament will happen.

These two people Bobby Rone and Louie Vickio seem to be very practical and down to earth people without a need to have their egos stroked and their business plan seems solid. I think this tournament is a go! I plan to be there in a few different ways:
COMMENTATOR
ONE POCKET player
BACKER (:winknudge: )
SPECTATOR.

The tournament is 9 days long but it is only five working days. (I'll have to look at the dates more closely to confirm this but at the moment that is what I'm thinking.) I can get away for that and if I have to I can have my son hook up some communications with my computer at home to take care of my company's business while I am there. My friend Richie may be able to help out with some stand-by airline tickets if I get in a jam and have to return home on short notice.

WOW! I think I am getting excited about going. :)

It would be nice to get additional information about this tournament and I will be providing some IMPORTANT NEWS the first week of June for those who are interested.

If I obtain some additional information I will be passing it along. Hope you will do the same and please have references about where your information comes from and I'll do the same.

Thanks to everyone who is participating in this thread especially INSIDE POOL MAGAZINE.

JoeyA
 
I noticed someone asked "who is considered a masters player". Because they are allowing ALL players, they are working with all of the league systems to get determinations on what is a master in each league. If a player does not belong to a league, the tournament staff will determine their rank.

As more information is coming out, I think this is going to be a great event. One of the people involved in this works for a major media outlet in Houston so I am optimistic about the exposure the event will get in the local media and I'm confident about their ability to generate sponsorship outside the industry.

The Houston area is a great location for their first event because so many major companies have offices there. Houston houses many major energy/oil companies like Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, etc.
 
JAM said:
Thanks for the info! :)

I have not attended any tournaments in a few years. Who is Ken Shules (sp.)? Is he a tournament director? Is he associated with a pool organization? I just have not heard the name before. :o
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His name is Ken Shuman and he is a very capable TD. I also spoke briefly with one of the reps from Galveston. I asked very pointed questions about the prize money and got somewhat curious answers, including that money was being taken out of the entry fees for various charities and other expenses. How much was unclear. I hope this event succeeds and get better each year, but I plan to take a wait and see approach in year one.
 
Galveston UPDATE May 18, 2009

A couple of things that I had read and checked on needed to be clarified.

I spoke to Bobby Rone this morning and he was very direct and clear on the following points.

1. NO MONEY WILL BE TAKEN FROM ENTRY FEES for charities or expenses!
All entry fees will be paid back to the players.

Galveston has been hit extremely hard by last year's hurricane and they are still recovering from it and more God knows they need all the help they can get. There will be more details about the charities that this tournament will be helping in the future but it won't come out of any entry fees which will all be paid back to the players. That being said, Moody Gardens is an EXTRAVAGANT and a FOUR STAR HOTEL. This venue is designed for the family and I think a lot of participants will be bringing their families to this event.

2. There will be tournaments on both the 7 foot tables and 9 foot tables. The 7 foot tables (amateur tournaments) will be coin operated. The 9 foot tables (professional tournaments) will not be coin operated and will not have a green fee.

There are some GREAT surprises in store for tournament partcipants but more on that later.


The final touch is being applied to many of the details of this tournament and will be forth coming.

If anyone wants to make some small wagers about whether this tournament is going to happen or not, you may PM me for those details. I'm betting that it will happen and it will be JUST THE START of many good things to come. There are plans and preparations being discussed to have other such venues for next year.

3. There will be Live Streaming for this event with multiple cameras on different tables. Those details are being ironed out. It is even possible that the finals may be filmed in HD Quality for Television re-broadcasting (not live).

I plan to play in the one pocket tournament and possibly the ten ball tournament as well. Since I do not belong to a league team at the moment I will not be playing in any of the amateur events although that is where I belong. LOL. I could possibly play on an amateur team and would probably be labeled as a Master Player OF WHICH, ONLY ONE MASTER IS ALLOWED ON EACH TEAM. People who attempt to circumvent the fair dinkum policies of the amateur event will find themselves in a serious pickle of a problem when their team is found to be using deceptive practices like having more than one Master Player on a team. The promoters of the tournament are going all out to make sure that this is an amateur event and a professional event and that the two are separate, distinct and FAIR. They will not be tolerating any funny business.

The event is being housed at the Moody Gardens. I can't wait to see those $400,000.00 chandeliers. :)

Anway, I thought you all might like to hear the good news and clarifications above and hope to see many of you there.

There will be a CAP of a maximum of 256 participants for the events if I got that correctly. I know that the one pocket and the ten ball will be limited to 256 players. Some of the extras that are soon to be announced will make it more attractive for lesser players like myself to compete against the pros. I don't want to get into any details on this but the pros will be seeded and that is a good thing for me. :D Besides the fact that I enjoy getting my butt kicked by the pros, there will be some other motiviations for me and others like myself.

There are lots of details still being worked out and the Bobby Rone and Louie Vickio (who I have not spoke with) carry themselves in a very positive manner and if I am any judge of character (and I think I am), I believe they not only have the business savvy to make this happen but to make this a successful event for pool and the community they are hosting this tournament.

Galveston, Texas needs our support.

Pool needs the shot in the arm that this tournament will provide.

The promoters need our help and support and I am committed to helping them to succeed in any way that I can.

JoeyA
 
Joey,

Just wanna make sure I got this part right...

The amateur events will be played on 7-foot, coin operated tables?

A personal thank you to both you and Ray, very informative posts...
 
I play in a league but there is no rankings. How would they rank me ? I want to go to this tournament but it is a long trip to have a problem there. Joey thanks for your info, and I will be watching for more thanks,adam
 
Big Perm said:
Joey,

Just wanna make sure I got this part right...

The amateur events will be played on 7-foot, coin operated tables?

A personal thank you to both you and Ray, very informative posts...
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Yes! That is correct! Diamond Tables if I am not mistaken.
JoeyA
 
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