Midwest Open Review

S

satman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
To the pool players of the world. The Midwest open is coming to the end as I write this. My 2 friends and I just got back from the tourney and they feel the same way I do about this event. This is a great tourney at a fabulous resort. Although the rooms are a little pricey for this event, if you split the room cost 3 or 4 ways, it's not that bad. Bob and Eydie are trying to build a group of tourneys for the players and I feel they are headed in a positive direction. They put a lot of time and money into this event and were always available to handle any concerns from any of the players. A great big thank you for all your efforts.

I know they are concerned about this next part. The money added to the tournament. There were a few players going around the tournament talking trash about Bob and Eydie. They accused them of taking money out and not adding what was advertised. To these players, if you didn't like the tournament, try reading the whole flyer next time. The registration fee was listed on the ads. The added money was based on full fields. The payouts to the players were extended further down into the field than most players are used to. Thus causing a lower payout for the top players. The players complaining about the payouts should get all the facts before complaining. There is a huge expense to this type of tournament. In my opinion, Bob and Eydie did an excellent job with this event and should not let a few mal-contents destroy their plans to promote pool. They are great people with honest intentions and I know they realize there is no way to please everyone in the world. Those players who didn't like the tournament or the payouts, my advice to you is try running your own events with money out of your pocket and lets see what you can do. I'm sure you can just add 50 to 60,000 to any size field and pay for the room and the staff and the advertising.

Once again a big THANK YOU to Bob and Eydie for all their efforts. Grady will tell you, there is always someone trying to kill your dreams. Don't quit. We'll help all we can.. Sam
 
Sam,
Great showing.I wish I could have been there but couldnt get away from work.I see you have the high run at Airport for snooker too.Great job.
Tony
 
Sam,
Thanks for the interesting post. I havent yet made it to the Mid-West Open but people like you that stir the interest definitly make me want to check it out
 
My Take on Midwest Open

I returned with positive attitudes from the event. I thought the event was set up well. Two different playing areas, with two different atmospheres. I would like to thank Bob and Eydie for their support and the event.

1. I was able to meet with and play against some people from AZ and the CCB. Everyone was very nice, and some played pretty well. :)

2. In regards to the Action, it was everywhere. If you didnt find it, you probably didnt want it that much. If you were a One Pocket player, there was tons of action, and numerous players that continued to play the whole weekend. Even Cliff Joyner got into the action during one of the nights.

An advantage to this tourney was the availability to play on the 9' tables throughout the weekend. Only twice during the event (during the 9ball Pro event) were you not able to play due to all tables being scheduled for use.

3. The equipment was excellent. I love the Diamond tables, they look and play great. Heard many people make some comments regarding the tight pockets though. I didnt think they were bad, but I like it to hold a ball up if it doesnt hit the pocket properly. I think some people that play on bar tables were just used to Valley pockets. Another bonus was the amount of tables.

4. Access to the pros. It was very easy to be within a couple feet of the pros while they were playing a match or practicing. If you didnt mind standing, you could have watched any match/pro all weekend long just outside the sticks length away from a table. It was also available for premium seating which was above the tables. A disadvantage to this was the cost. I didnt mind having to pay $5.00 for a particular round, but the cost for the whole event (75.00) seemed high, and I think it showed in the amount of use of the premium seating. All the pros were available for signatures and most seemed willing to give them.

5. Setup of the arena. I like the main setup with the booths in the entrance, and surround the playing area. Some of the exhibitors made mention that they liked it as well compared to the previous year. I enjoyed the fact that it was non-smoking throughout the arena for 90 percent of the time (some got away with it during the late night hours when no one was around). It might be an inconvenience for the smokers, but as a spectator, it was a good thing. No burning eyes while being in the event center.

6. Items I picked up. I picked up a Turtle Tip Tapper. A new shaper and tapper that will not wear out. Guarenteed for life. It was worth a shot, and price lower than the Willard tools I have been using. I picked up a new J/B cue from the Fury booth. The Fury booth had their own table setup for demos, contests, and trick shots. Picked up a t-shirt from Rt9 booth along with a poster that will match my pool room. Purchased the 8-ball Bible from Sally from Inside English.

7. Someone mentioned that pricing was high. I think there might have been some confusion on the prices of the rooms. I was told 100.00 even with the pool player price, but I had friends that got their rooms for 69.00/rm. If that is the price, I cant see how people could complain about it.

8. I didnt like the fact that on wed/thur night, they stopped serving from the bars in the playing areas at 11:30 or so. That didnt seem right. They stayed open till 2:00 the other two nights.

Overall I had a very good time at the Expo/Open. I definately would plan on returning, and may return for the Jan event. May post individual stories a bit later.
 
Sam,

I just read another post and realized who you were. LOL. I watched you play one of your banks matches against Brandon Ashcraft. You played really strong against him. I was very impressed with your play. It was no surprise to me that you went on to win the event. Congratulations.
 
Here are my thoughts about the event.
1) The tournaments were great.. I played in both the 8&9ball open and got my A$$ kicked lol.. won 1 match total. But I had fun. I thought the tournaments were well ran and there was mini tournaments thru out the event. There was also some late night action that was going on.
2) The expo part of it was dissappointing to me. The main thing that was lacking was the amount of custom cue dealers that attended. Alot of them that came to last year's event didnt return this year coz it was not profittable for them. This year there was only 2 custom cue dealers, Joe Salazar and Cue 'n' Things. I know for a fact that cue 'n' things wont return next year. Alot of them do well in the Hopkins show. Maybe its because the people of here are not into pool/cue collecting as people in the east coast.

But in terms of a pool player, that was a great event. Now on to the Windy City Open in January!!!
 
Hi Sam,

Was that you playing Dan Lavoie in the Banks? If so, I agree with the other guys here. You played some great pool. Are you going to the BCA event in Vegas in November? They also have a Bank Pool event. How about the DCC?
 
Thanks Perk, I was pretty happy with my match against Brandon. He's a great player and I've had the pleasure of playing him in 8 and 9-ball. Yes Cardiac, that match against Dan Lavoie was the finals if thats the one you seen. He played really well for someone who don't play banks. Shoots extremely well on the 9 footers also.
As far as the room rate goes, Wed. $69, Thurs Fri. Sat $99.
Even if you don't play the main events, you should go to this tournament. You don't find many places to watch the pro players for only $6 or $7 for a whole day. I know it was a short field for the pro event, but there was a lot of talent there. Gabe Owen, Marco Marquez, Earl Strickland, Corey Deuel, Shannon Daulton, Grady Mathews, Rodney Morris, Nick Varner, Cliff Joyner, Just to name the top ranked from the field. I saw some great one pocket and 9-ball matches for free. Sam
 
satman said:
Thanks Perk, I was pretty happy with my match against Brandon. He's a great player and I've had the pleasure of playing him in 8 and 9-ball. Sam
Click to expand...

Yeah we had heard of brandon but never seen him. We found out wed night at 4 in the morning. My frined played him race to 13 for 3 bills. My friend played great at 5-6 broke, the cue got kicked in on the break and next thing we know its 13-5. luckily it was late enough to get out that match. btw he didnt say his name was brandon. Man he can shoot. I only had a third so cheap lesson. Sam I didnt know that was you in the banks how did the guy you play first on sat play ya? (bigger guy with his pant hanging on for dear life) He tortured me, I had never seen anyone slow roll so many banks in my life. wished weda meet. theses always next time.
 
Congrats!!!!!

Hey Sam do you have any tapes of the matches? Id like to purchase some copies.
 
October brings the Midwest Billiard Expo/Open.

October 6th through 10th, 2004 begins 5 days of non stop pool and golf! ACTION ACTION ACTION!

The Chicagoland area once again brings the game , the players and the exhibitors. We have reformulated the venue with guaranteed $15,000.00+ ADDED (BCA Rules) and have added the following events:

8 Ball OPEN limited to 512
8 Ball Woman's limited to 128
9 Ball OPEN limited to 256
9 Ball Woman's limited to 128
9 Ball Banks Event TBA | OPEN TO Pro's Race to 3
Scotch Doubles
Ring Games
One Pocket | OPEN TO Pro's
Senior Division (Limited to 64)
Junior Event (Limited to 32)
Golf on Wednesday with the Pro(s) (Players TBA)
Pro Event
Mini Tournaments
APA Events
And much more!
All the events are AMATEUR venues EXCEPT The BANK and ONE POCKET EVENTS with BCA rules , (unless you play in the APA events and that is a different contact) you do not have to be a member of BCA you just have to know the rules. On our website you can download a copy of the BCA rules and the Pro list . If you are on the Pro List you cannot play


MAYBE IT'S JUST ME, BUT DOES THIS ADD ON THE ROMANO'S WEBSITE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT "BASED ON A FULL FIELD"

I GUESS YOU HAVE TO READ THE SMALL PRINT??? ON ANOTHER PAGE??
 
No it doesn't say based on full field in this ad. But every other ad I saw about this event did. We're all sorry you were disappointed with the money or the event or whatever. Most of us enjoyed the tournament and realize that these people are doing something to try and promote pool. Every one on this board knows what you are saying about the added money from your earlier posts, so why do you keep posting this? Sam
 
satman said:
Every one on this board knows what you are saying about the added money from your earlier posts, so why do you keep posting this?
Click to expand...

Hi Sam,

As I posted elsewhere at AZ, I think some people are trying to embarrass the event on behalf of other billiards sanctioning groups. They might not have approved it, but there are too many repeat posts for a simple complaint. Its so sad! Like you, I appreciated another great event to play in. I've played for 45 years and never played in a perfect tournament. Something always challenges the organizers!
 
I just hope people will support this effort to get something going in the Midwest. This was only the 2nd year for this even and it is an ambitious undertaking to say the least. I was there every day this year and as was mentioned somewhere above this was a great event to attend either as a player or a spectator.

I didn't play. My 3 daughters and 6 grandkids all live within 10 min of Pheasant Run and I had birthday parties and soccer games etc to attend while I was there.

It was very cool to be able to stand within a few feet of the pros! I hope to play next year and I'll be there either way.....THAT'S FOR SURE.

WE HAVE TO SUPPORT THE NEW VENTURE. :)
 
I give the MidWest Expo a THUMBS UP for this years event! Sam did great, CONGRATS!!
There could have been more vendors, I agree. However, the vendors need to realize what type of customers are available at the event. The cues displayed were outrageously priced, except for Jacoby Custom Cues and Dominiak Custom Cues. (not mentioned in an earlier post) Rt9 Designs had a superb display booth, KUDOS to Rt9 Team! Jacoby Cue Repair was banging the entire event, they had tip repairs, shaft cleaning and other repair jobs lined up all the time. I have to give Jacoby Custom Cues a solid hand shake. They are very friendly, easy to talk to and very, very good people to work with. I highly recommend them and their cues to anyone looking for a quality company.
Bob and Eydie....GREAT JOB!

Zim
 
Hi Zim,

One vendor you didn't mention was NICK VARNER!!! It was soooo nice to see Nick there. I saw him last at the DCC. He looked great. Had some nice looking inexpensive cues. Great conversation. He is a champion of champions! The folks from Dominiak Cues are about 35 miles from my house. Great workmanship, reasonable prices and nice people! Hope you work out a deal with them.
 
I've been an Authorized Dominiak dealer for over a year now. Aaron and his fiance' are both great people. I shot a few games with Aaron and we talked most of the weekend. They just came out with a new designed cue and have a couple more in the works. Aaron is going to make me a one-of-a-kind Dominiak cue, retailing $1k-$1.5k. Of course it's primarily ebony and curly maple! Nick is definatly a Champion! Dynamite personality, great guy to converse with and very, very positive endorser of our sport!

Zim
 
Zims Rack said:
There could have been more vendors, I agree. However, the vendors need to realize what type of customers are available at the event. The cues displayed were outrageously priced, except for Jacoby Custom Cues and Dominiak Custom Cues.
Click to expand...

Zim,
Not all the custom cues were outrageouly priced. Prices of certain cues from the top cue makers in the country has always been high. You cannot compare Jacoby & Dominiak cues to Ginacue, SouthWest, Bill Schick.. Its apples and oranges. I thought the Schicks that were in the Cues 'n' Things booth were way underpriced knowing how much Bill charges to have a cue made these days. Bill Schick charges $3500 for a plain 4 point 4 veneer cue with no inlays with a 3 year wait. The Schicks that were at the expo were all between 3k - 4k and load with ivory inlays, ivory joints and some had scrimshaw work on it. That was a good deal.. If only I had the money, I would have bought them all :D
-Erik
 
I agree totally! However, I wasn't comparing Jacoby and Dominiak to Schick, Ginacue, etc. I was just stating that, IMO, that price range is going to see very minimal attention at a venue such as the MidWest Expo. Yet, the vendor(s) complain that "no one's buying anything here, I'm not coming next year!" What do you expect when the cheapest cue you're selling is around $1,000.

Zim
 
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