Is there any money in holding weekly tournaments?

sharkeye9

sharkeye9

Registered
I was just wondering if there was any money in holding weekly tournaments, and what is the best way to do so. I'm not trying to make a fortune or anything, but I feel we need more tournaments around my area and I wouldn't mind making a few bucks along the way.

Any suggestions from those who run tournaments are greatly appreciated.

(Money is not the main priority here,just curious.)
 
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sharkeye9 said:
I was just wondering if there was any money in holding weekly tournaments, and what is the best way to do so. I'm not trying to make a fortune or anything, but I feel we need more tournaments around my area and I wouldn't mind making a few bucks along the way.

Any suggestions from those who run tournaments are greatly appreciated.

(Money is not the main priority here, just wanting to know the possibilities of a profit.)
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There can be financial gains from it. Snookers in Providence has the oldest running weekly tournament in NE which is obviously an acception to the rule or the norm but how they succeeded was thru consisitency. Every Wed no matter what everyone in NE knew snookers had the Wed night tournament.

How they benefitted was by generating a busier atmosphere (appearance matters) extra food & bev from players (not a lot though, we know pool players but their dinner menu was pretty good) extra table time from players after tournament and the place became the place for players to hang out even though other places in the area had same equipment and cheaper rates. The owners always paid someone $50-$100 to run the tournament which is pretty unheard of and they did NOT take any table time from the entries which is also rare.

If you do run one just say you're doing it for the game and show concistency by running the event at 1st no matter how many players show up. I wouldn't get caught up in handicapping it, Snookers has always been you either go to 4 or you go to 5 no matter who you are. 8 ball race to 2, 9 ball or 10 BALL races races to 3 no handicap work good.

In most cases Scott is right, NO. But if you do it right you can definitely be the better for it i the long run. Snookers started years ago with food, no booze, high rent and became very profitable by creating a busy atmosphere.
 
No?..........

That depends on alot of factors. Like how many players you have show up for your tournaments. If the house is willing to pay you for running it. There are many many more but there isn't alot of money, but there is some.
 
I figured that it is not very profitable in most cases, but in the case that you do get paid something; how does it work? The house could pay depending on the turn out or you could take a percentage of the calcutta. I'm sure there are many ways do get paid. Any examples of tried methods?
 
Oh man.. I thought the question was being posted from a room OWNER'S perspective, but now it looks like it might be a player that is asking..

IMHO, if you are a player running a weekly tournament, you better be doing it for the love of the game, because that is why MOST players will be running weekly tourneys.

And you better not ever let one of your fellow players find out you are making money off of running the tournament. They just might quit coming.

In today's environment, there is not enough money in the game to pay both the house AND some random player running the tourney. The players will resent your making money off of them. I know I would. If I knew a fellow player was making money off the tourney, I would volunteer to run it for free, and would try to recruit others to do so when I could not come, just so that money can go back into tournament winnings.

As a player, I am happy to pay a little green fee to the house, because they took a HUGE risk in opening a pool hall (or keeping one open) in today's business climate. But giving money to a fellow player for what? Doing a random draw? In case you hadn't noticed, once the names get put on the board, most tournaments can run themselves.

In my opinion, the ONLY people deserving to take a cut of the tourney winnings are the owners, because they really are taking a financial hit in even running a tournament, so we should show our appreciation for the chance to compete.

The only exception to this is giving the tourney director a free meal, and a drink or two. That's fair. Unless the tournament director is Smorgass Bored. Then, you might end up bankrupting the hall.

What??? I'm just SAYING.....:D :D :D

Please tell em you are a room owner. Please PLEASE tell me you are a room owner.

Russ
 
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Havent you heard, theres no money in pool period. Money wise youd probably be better of playing in em,
 
Russ Chewning said:
Oh man.. I thought the question was being posted from a room OWNER'S perspective, but now it looks like it might be a player that is asking..

IMHO, if you are a player running a weekly tournament, you better be doing it for the love of the game, because that is why MOST players will be running weekly tourneys.

And you better not ever let one of your fellow players find out you are making money off of running the tournament. They just might quit coming.

In today's environment, there is not enough money in the game to pay both the house AND some random player running the tourney. The players will resent your making money off of them. I know I would. If I knew a fellow player was making money off the tourney, I would volunteer to run it for free, and would try to recruit others to do so when I could not come, just so that money can go back into tournament winnings.

As a player, I am happy to pay a little green fee to the house, because they took a HUGE risk in opening a pool hall (or keeping one open) in today's business climate. But giving money to a fellow player for what? Doing a random draw? In case you hadn't noticed, once the names get put on the board, most tournaments can run themselves.

In my opinion, the ONLY people deserving to take a cut of the tourney winnings are the owners, because they really are taking a financial hit in even running a tournament, so we should show our appreciation for the chance to compete.

The only exception to this is giving the tourney director a free meal, and a drink or two. That's fair. Unless the tournament director is Smorgass Bored. Then, you might end up bankrupting the hall.

What??? I'm just SAYING.....:D :D :D

Please tell em you are a room owner. Please PLEASE tell me you are a room owner.

Russ
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I am a player and I was basically just wondering how it all worked. I have a career and don't really need to make money off of running a tournament. I was more curious as to if tournament holders were paid or not. I love the game and understand you're point completely Russ and definitely would'nt be opposed to running a tournament just to do it. Sorry if my post came off the wrong way.
 
In my area any tournament that actually drew out money from the tournament entries would not be successful in the slightest. Most tournaments here pay out 100% or even add money to the tournament.

The only way to make money in running tournaments in this city is to own the tournament location and therefore make the money on the drink and food sales while the tournament runs.

I personally would not play in an event that cut money out of the entries, anything with "green fees" and the like bug me because the money in this sport is useless enough as it is. Running an event is not that hard, most tournaments I play in half of the time you are writing in the results of your last match yourself and the tournament almost self runs anyhow. If you are there playing in the event anyhow then writing down the winner, working out the payouts, and holding the cash is not exactly "work".
 
I've never known anyone who runs a weekly tournament to make money directly as a result of running it.

If a room is running it themselves, sure they're likely making money (quarters, food & beverage, etc).

In my experience, usually if a player is running a tournament in a given room, the room does something for that player - a free beer or two, or a meal, that sort of thing.

And of course there's the whole "TD plays in the tournament as well" bit to consider.
 
Celtic said:
In my area any tournament that actually drew out money from the tournament entries would not be successful in the slightest. Most tournaments here pay out 100% or even add money to the tournament.

The only way to make money in running tournaments in this city is to own the tournament location and therefore make the money on the drink and food sales while the tournament runs.

I personally would not play in an event that cut money out of the entries, anything with "green fees" and the like bug me because the money in this sport is useless enough as it is. Running an event is not that hard, most tournaments I play in half of the time you are writing in the results of your last match yourself and the tournament almost self runs anyhow. If you are there playing in the event anyhow then writing down the winner, working out the payouts, and holding the cash is not exactly "work".
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I definitely understand and now that I think about it, that would be pretty selfish to try to make money that way. I would want money added or 100% payout if I were to play in a tournament. I apologize for even inquiring about the possibiltly of a profit.
 
Weekly or monthly tournaments, in and of themselves, are not held to make money. Tournaments like these are held more to generate interest in the game and the venue it's held in. A local owner tried holding tournaments with the idea of making money from them and found out it ain't cool to withhold entry fee money so the house can make a profit. Or, at least, I hope he did. That's one reason the players no longer frequent the place, that, and because the owner knows next to nothing about pool.
 
Regardless of who runs the tournament, if the players are happy and keep showing up to play the room should be gaining a profit. It is a lot better than no players and no business.

We started a Tuesday nite tournament. Tuesdays were traditionally a DEAD nite for pool. So, now we are averaging 26-30 players on Tuesday nite and have had as many as 38 players. Plus the 'retail' crowd is picking up.

This is a really big improvement over the last few year's Tuesday nights money.

A good tournament, good TD, good format, good equipment and good food cold beer will do wonders for a room.
 
the tourny is used as a way to build loyal clientel. sell more drinks,food etc.
you can also use it as a way to do more programs, like create a league or membership for pool time .like monthly dues.
 
We didn't have weekly tournaments in pool rooms here in San Francisco until I started them in 1991 after running tavern tournaments for a few years. They are still running. In my opinion, a good handicap system will retain a consistent player base. The lower-rated players should cash once in a while, and handicap can do that. I collect two bucks per player for my fee and maintain the database. I use Bob Jewett's formula (National Pool League) for handicapping, and it's been running in three cities for more than a decade. It's easy, it involves no score keeping, and there is nothing secret about the way it runs. I've returned over $47,000 to the players since I began operating in 1991. So obviously, I recommend a trusted handicap system for your weekly tournaments.
 
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