Need some advice on what to do at my local hall

Positively Ralf

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Here's my dilemma. Local hall is a complete dump and they only have two league nights. One is an APA league and the other is a random league, from my understanding it's not affiliated with any governing body and it's more of a county wide league where it's just about being social.

The hall has about 18 nine footers with about 8 being "up kept" for the serious players, who all basically are money players. The overwhelming majority of these guys do not care for leagues and only ever really look for money matches when they are not practicing. I know some play in local tournaments and a lot of them hate handicapped events.

The guy who runs the hall told me that he has Tuesdays and Wednesdays opened for anyone to do anything. I would like to do something but have no idea how to go about it with this crowd.

Anyone care to shoot some ideas my way? I was thinking of a singles league night or even a ten ball express single elimination bracket tournament night.

Is consistency the key to doing this? I've known league operators who have been discouraged by the hall and the patrons and gave up.
 
IMO:
Are you looking to be the one doing the organizing, such as being a TD? If so, do a weekly or "Pop-Up" tournament. Stay away from the leagues. WAY more work and drama for you.

The Pop-Up style gives you freedom if you want to skip some weeks, and also freedom to change the format some weeks. For example, I do handicapped 9 ball 90% of the time, but have also done 2 open 9 ball events, and one open Banks event.

If it's a weeknight, do single elimination. Double takes way too long. If you must do double, do super short races, such as 3 winner's and 2 losers.

I don't recommend 10 ball. It's hard as hell to make a ball on the break on a 9', especially with a triangle rack. It's absolutely nothing like SVB's break on the local level, even with 600 speed players. The players are playing with 10 balls on the table after the break. Takes MUCH longer than 9 ball, where 1-2 balls often goes on the break, and 7-8 balls are left on the table.

I'd recommend magic racks too. It makes the game play go faster (less clusters, more chance to make a ball on the break), and the racking go faster. You'll have to bring your own, and take them home in a folder with you each event.

If no one is doing FargoRated tournaments in your area, that will be a good draw if you do it. Can be handicapped or open, but if its reported, people will want to come to see how they stack up.

Don't do any skill capped events. They punish anyone who gets good. If you have low participation because the same person keeps winning, then switch to a handicapped format, or a mix of the two.

You must promote it every single event. FB calendar event on your page. Invite all your FB friends, and tag the pool room. Plus, post it in the local FB tournament announcement groups in your area. Plus, flyers on clear plastic stands throughout the room.

After the event, you must do a short summery write up, and post it in all the FB places you originally announced it. This will keep people coming back, and attract new people. People like their names in the spotlight.

These are my experiences becoming a "pop-up" TD since December. I have 16 tournaments under my belt since Dec 1, and have had a fun time organizing and playing in them. It is a lot of work to put together. I do it for free, so I have a tournament to play in that suits the format I prefer.
 
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Positively Ralf said:
Here's my dilemma. Local hall is a complete dump and they only have two league nights. One is an APA league and the other is a random league, from my understanding it's not affiliated with any governing body and it's more of a county wide league where it's just about being social.

The hall has about 18 nine footers with about 8 being "up kept" for the serious players, who all basically are money players. The overwhelming majority of these guys do not care for leagues and only ever really look for money matches when they are not practicing. I know some play in local tournaments and a lot of them hate handicapped events.

The guy who runs the hall told me that he has Tuesdays and Wednesdays opened for anyone to do anything. I would like to do something but have no idea how to go about it with this crowd.

Anyone care to shoot some ideas my way? I was thinking of a singles league night or even a ten ball express single elimination bracket tournament night.

Is consistency the key to doing this? I've known league operators who have been discouraged by the hall and the patrons and gave up.
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Turnout and money is all that matters. It's a business.

If you start something, and people come, and it makes money for the hall, you're all good.

They already have leagues. If you intend to start something it is going to be work.

You want to play, play. You want to organize and run something? You won't be playing if it's going to be successful and sustainable.

What is it you want to do? I am unclear on that. It sounds like you don't like the leagues and tournaments they have going, and you don't like the gambling. So, you want to run something. It's going to be a lot of organization and promotion.

If you intend to run something, promotion will be key. Invest your time and effort in that. And if it isn't organized, it will fall apart.
 
You will not be able to run a tournament and compete in it at the same time. There is far more work involved keeping track of the games underway and completed, bracket advance, starting new matches promptly and answering questions. It is just a fact of pool life unless you conduct events with a single elimination field of 8, then 4, then 2 players & maybe then you can be a entrant. But the advice you’ve received is spot on, insightful & so informative it’s almost instructional about what to do.
 
I used to run a weekly handicapped 9 ball tournament. $10 to get in, 100% returned that night as prizes. If you do something like that, use Fargorate and the handicapping tables they provide. FR adjusts the ratings automatically.

The FR handicapping tables give some edge to the better player. I used 100% handicaps and that was OK with most of the players.

In my experience, it was possible to play as the TD. With the ratings and handicaps available to all, the players figured out pretty quickly how to set up their own matches. "Hey, Bob, me and Fred are playing 3 to 5 on table 7. OK?"

You need to know the rules. That's hard. You need to work from a written set, not what you remember that your Uncle Zeke told you 20 years ago. You may have to make calls.
 
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Positively Ralf said:
Here's my dilemma. Local hall is a complete dump and they only have two league nights. One is an APA league and the other is a random league, from my understanding it's not affiliated with any governing body and it's more of a county wide league where it's just about being social.

The hall has about 18 nine footers with about 8 being "up kept" for the serious players, who all basically are money players. The overwhelming majority of these guys do not care for leagues and only ever really look for money matches when they are not practicing. I know some play in local tournaments and a lot of them hate handicapped events.

The guy who runs the hall told me that he has Tuesdays and Wednesdays opened for anyone to do anything. I would like to do something but have no idea how to go about it with this crowd.

Anyone care to shoot some ideas my way? I was thinking of a singles league night or even a ten ball express single elimination bracket tournament night.

Is consistency the key to doing this? I've known league operators who have been discouraged by the hall and the patrons and gave up.
Click to expand...


Is guy who runs runs place owner or manager?

If not owner, does owner care?
 
If I understand you correctly, your pool room is close enough that you speak of it as “local.” It has eighteen tables, and they are all 9’. The manager looks after eight of the tables so they are fit for serious play. There is a set of serious players who have a little sport in them.

What in the world is your problem!?
 
Hey, “Positively Ralph,”

Go back and check your place out and make sure it hasn’t disappeared into the Irish mist.

Your pool room is “a real dump.” One of the poolrooms where I learned to play had a limited number of chairs. But at one end there was a pile of disused tires with a heavy canvas spread over it which you could manipulate into an improvised bleachers. I would weep tears of joy if I could hang out in that room again! Players whose names came up in “Billiard News” played there.

Of course I could go after 5PM tonight to MY local poolroom—I would have to park up the street in a grocery store lot because there is such limited parking at the actual poolroom and hope I don’t get towed—and play on one of the fifteen 7’ tables, a few of which are Diamonds and not Valleys. And perhaps I should go soon because the newspaper says that the city is going to tear down the building in the next couple of months to provide parking for an as yet unfinanced convention center.

Or I could drive an hour and a half to a city with a poolroom which changed owners two years ago. The new owner got rid of half the 9’ diamonds and replaced them with 7’s so he could concentrate on league play and not cater to the sporting life’s who used to occupy the place afternoon and night. They are mostly gone now.

“Positively Ralph,” remember Lear ranting on the heath in Shakespeare: “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is an ungrateful child!”
 
Bavafongoul said:
You will not be able to run a tournament and compete in it at the same time. There is far more work involved keeping track of the games underway and completed, bracket advance, starting new matches promptly and answering questions. It is just a fact of pool life unless you conduct events with a single elimination field of 8, then 4, then 2 players & maybe then you can be a entrant. But the advice you’ve received is spot on, insightful & so informative it’s almost instructional about what to do.
Click to expand...
unless its up to 32 players and more, i can and have played in tournaments ive ran
its not super easy but doable if you know what your doing

past that, its best to sit out
i did make a major mistake at near 40 players which was regrettable but not the end of the world, and a learning experience
 
I'm not quite sure of the OP's original intention here, given:
  1. Is he trying to get more players?
  2. More quality players?
  3. More league players?
  4. More tournament players?
  5. Better maintained tables so it brings in more players besides the up kept 8 of 18?
New APA league 8 ball will work best for #1. A free pool night (or two) on a normally off night will work for #1 and maybe #2, especially if there is other sources of income for the hall. New BCA league would work for #3. For #4 and #5, the pop-up tournaments is a good idea, I just played in a short rack 8 ball tournament that goes very fast, especially if the races are short and single elimination.
 
Bavafongoul said:
You will not be able to run a tournament and compete in it at the same time. There is far more work involved keeping track of the games underway and completed, bracket advance, starting new matches promptly and answering questions. It is just a fact of pool life unless you conduct events with a single elimination field of 8, then 4, then 2 players & maybe then you can be an entrant. But the advice you’ve received is spot on, insightful & so informative it’s almost instructional about what to do.
Click to expand...
I have and have won the tournament more than once. It’s motivation not to lose or you’ll be sitting watching all day l😂
 
Keeping the attention of pool players competing in a tournament can sometimes be akin to herding cats.
Just when you think you have everyone’s attention with announcements about match outcomes and new
table assignments for players next match, you can’t locate players for the next match or else keep getting
pestered with the same questions that you just explained using a microphone or the pool hall PA system.
It can become an exercise in frustration with a big tournament field with double elimination…..it gets crazy.
 
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