How much time for 1-Pocket?

S

SKUNKBOY

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am trying to get 1-Pocket going here in my home town. I am starting with a tournament this month. I don't expect a large turnout...maybe 16 at most, probably more like 8. Basically locals for now...as I said, I'm trying to generate interest locally.

I have advertized a race to 2 or 3 depending on sign-up. I have access to 4-9' tables and I'm starting at 5PM on a Saturday. My questions is...in order to complete the tournament at a convinient time (say midnight), and allow a good game set, at what point (number of entries)should I limit the race to 2 rather than 3? And should I put a time limit on each set to ensure a timely finish (if so, how much time per set)?

I have ran many 8-ball and 9-ball tournaments but this will be my first 1-Pocket tournament so I am concerned about the play time. I don't want to discourage the players by having a super short race or by causing the tournament to run into the next day. I want the event to be a good experience so that the players will return and maybe get more interest form others. Eventually, I would like to get a 1-Pocket League going, but that's going to take a while.

I will post this question on the onepocket.org web site...as soon as I get my registration accepted there.

Thanks in advance for any help...maybe I'll see some of you in future tournaments if things pan out well.

L8R...Ken
 
I used to play in a One Pocket tournament where the format was single-elimination race to 1 with a buy-back option if you lost your first match. We played on about 4-6 tables. With just 10 players or so, this tournament would still take several hours. I've played in a One Pocket tournament where it was race to 2, double-elimination with 4 tables and it took about 7-8 hours.

If I were to run one on 4 tables, I might try a race to 2, single-elimination with a buy-back option like the DCC. This way, everyone gets at least two shots if they want to pay the extra money. If time were a big factor, I'd just do it single-elimination. For a race to 2, I might give them 2 hours per match, but even then it might last a while.
 
Thanks for the reply Samiel, I'll keep that in mind.

I forgot to mention that I was going to handicap this tournament. I thought I might use 8 as a standard and go up and down from there but I think I might use 8 as a high and grade everyone down from there. We have one professional player (retired) in town that would be the 8 and some of the A players would rate a 6. I doubt too many players will show up that would rate less than 4 so that will probably be my lower limit. Also, by handicapping this way, I think the games/matches will go faster too.

As I said, I want to generate interest in the game and if the matches take too long, people will lose interest. I plan to gradually increase the hanicaps to a realistic number, but that will take some time. Strategies need to be learned and confidence needs to be gained.

Any other advice would still be gladly accepted.

Thanks...Ken
 
Samiel said:
For a race to 2, I might give them 2 hours per match, but even then it might last a while.
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Holy crap :eek: , 2 hours for a race to 2????? No wonder I haven't played one pocket in a while ;)
 
I once played a guy 6 games of One Pocket in 4 hours. I'm not going to try that again anytime soon! :p

I was thinking 40 min. per game, which is how I came up with 2 hours... :p

In reality, most people finish their games much quicker.
 
A pool hall around me has a bi-weekly one pocket tourny. They usually get 20-30 players of all skill levels. Races to 3 on 10 9fts. It is also handicaped but they do it interestingly. They rank from 4-14 and you have to makes balls equal to your rank. It helps games go faster. So if a 4 plays a 4 its an even race to 4 balls (hope that makes sense).

If 2 players higher than an 8 play they adjust the game down. example if a 12 plays a 9 they would play 8-6. It really helps keep the games going.


They have buy backs for first round losses and It usually takes about 6 hours to finish.
 
I have never ran a 1-pocket tourney, or any tourney. However, I have seen many of them across the country. With one pocket, you almost need to have it monthly, or bi weekly as one poster said. The problem is it usually is going to take awhile and you don't want people getting burn out on it. Plus, it gives the poolroom customers plenty of notice and something for them to look forward to and practice up for, which means more table time for the business. One thing is for sure, I have never seen a 1-pocket tournament (on a local level) that was not handicapped. I think it is imperative to have it handicapped in order to get the turn out you want. As far as the time situation, even 9ball tournaments can sometime take several hours and drag out when they shouldn't depending on who is playing, the race, etc. In my town, I could only imagine some of the slow players playing in a one pocket tourney! LOL I would say a race to 3 on winners and race to 2 on losers. As long as it's a once a month thing, the players won't mind staying a few extra hours to grind it out. Hope this helps.
 
Ken: You might do better in a league format than tournament. I put together a handicapped 14.1 league at MTB last fall and it worked out great...the critical thing is to make it a "flexible" schedule where the two players set their own match time.

Since people have bought into the 14.1 league concept so well (which I thought would be a tough sell...instead people wanted me to start the second session of 14.1 ASAP!) I'm thinking about putting on a handicapped 1P league this summer (after the 14.1 wraps up).
 
I like the 1P tourneys

The last 1P tourney around here was hadicapped 4-8.One of the 8s,who is a phenomenal 1P pocket player became a 9 by winning it often,the director made him a 9 and he won it the next 2 weeks.

The matches went pretty fast but any one pocket game has the potential to last over an hour.
 
Samiel said:
I used to play in a One Pocket tournament where the format was single-elimination race to 1 with a buy-back option if you lost your first match. We played on about 4-6 tables. With just 10 players or so, this tournament would still take several hours. I've played in a One Pocket tournament where it was race to 2, double-elimination with 4 tables and it took about 7-8 hours.

If I were to run one on 4 tables, I might try a race to 2, single-elimination with a buy-back option like the DCC. This way, everyone gets at least two shots if they want to pay the extra money. If time were a big factor, I'd just do it single-elimination. For a race to 2, I might give them 2 hours per match, but even then it might last a while.
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how does they buy back race to 1 work??? do you have a chart to place the buy backs???

I like this concept I'd like a few more details on how you implement it...

thanks in advance..
 
I'd imagine it was a single elimination tournament played on a double elimination bracket. If the loser bought back, he went on the loser side. If he opted not to buy back, then a BYE would take the place of his name in the loser's side. That's only what I think. It may be wrong, but that the only way I could see this happening.
 
softshot said:
how does they buy back race to 1 work??? do you have a chart to place the buy backs???

I like this concept I'd like a few more details on how you implement it...

thanks in advance..
Click to expand...

I doubt they use a bracket. Each round is a re-draw like they do at DCC.:thumbup:
 
Thanks for all the good advice. I have something to sort through now and I think I have a better idea now than before...that's the way it's suppose to work.

Mosconiac...I think in my case, a tournament is the place to start as I am not sure how much interest there will be. A league might be too much of a committment for some right off the bat. As I mentioned, if the tournament is a success, I'll consider a league. Thanks for the reply though. You going to try a 14.1 tournament sometime? I'd like to try that. I always imagined playing in a round robin 14.1 tournament over a weekend like they used to do so long ago.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks...Ken
 
Just in general and not related to anyone specifically...noone should be allowed to go to four. Find a new hobby. But I do understand that you are trying to handle the obvious time constraints.
 
senor...I agree, I probably won't have any 4's show up. I'll only assign that handicap to someone who can't run 4 balls on an open table. Most of the players interested in this game will be solid players and I'll probably have mostly 6-7-8 handicaps, but I won't turn anyone away just because they can't shoot well.

L8R...Ken
 
softshot said:
how does they buy back race to 1 work??? do you have a chart to place the buy backs???

I like this concept I'd like a few more details on how you implement it...

thanks in advance..
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was a random draw coming back in, kind of like the DCC. It was only if you lost your first match (you couldn't buy back in if you lost your second match).
 
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