New tournament format?

S

scotty g.

Registered
I think the IPT was trying to create a buzz in the pool world like happened with poker. When a couple of unknowns won millions at the WSOP, thousands of poker players jumped on the bandwagon and made poker a huge moneymaker (pardon the pun).

The IPT needs to create a tournament format that gives players of all calibers a chance to win or atleast compete with the top players in the world. I know if I played any of the top players a race to 10 I would lose 90% of the time or more. There are thousands of league players and others that play good 8-ball but can't compete with the top players.

My idea, which hardcore pool enthusiasts may not like as much, but the casual player and non-player may tune in to watch is this:

One game of 8-ball single elimination. Every game is sudden death or like going all-in in poker. This way if I played Efren, he would still be the favorite, but I've got a chance to win. Right now we know the 20 or 30 players that are always going to take home the money but not with this format.

They can still give the top 100/150 players a free ride and let anyone else that has the $1000/2000 entry play in the tournament. Lose the first round go home empty handed-win and your guarenteed double the entry fee. If they could get 256 or 512 total entries and whittle it down to a televised 16 man tournament the pressure and suspense on every game would be riveting. Poker has been able to get thousands of players to put up $10,000 I would hope pool could find 500.

They need a bigger audience and anyone who has played a game of 8-ball could think they have a chance. MAYBE I'M CRAZY!!

scott
 
I don't think I would even bother to watch. It's almost like playing the US Masters Golf on a crazy golf course.

The whole reason the IPT has been so riveting to watch has been that the cream has floated to the top. I think that given time and the right amount of exposure the viewing figures would grow steadily.

People like to get to know players - they don't like a different face every time the sit down to watch, in my opinion. The main reason snooker became such a big televised game in the UK (and later in Asia) was probably largely down to the identifiable and loveable/hateable characters who played the game on TV. Top class pool has no shortage of charcters almost made for TV notoriety!! From the good (Immonen/Archer) to the bad (Earl/Sigel) to the ugly........(fill in your own answers here).

Maybe people would watch it, but I don't see why any pool fan would be interested other than to see who picked up the money and trophy.
 
BigMalUK said:
I don't think I would even bother to watch. It's almost like playing the US Masters Golf on a crazy golf course.

The whole reason the IPT has been so riveting to watch has been that the cream has floated to the top. I think that given time and the right amount of exposure the viewing figures would grow steadily.

People like to get to know players - they don't like a different face every time the sit down to watch, in my opinion. The main reason snooker became such a big televised game in the UK (and later in Asia) was probably largely down to the identifiable and loveable/hateable characters who played the game on TV. Top class pool has no shortage of charcters almost made for TV notoriety!! From the good (Immonen/Archer) to the bad (Earl/Sigel) to the ugly........(fill in your own answers here).

Maybe people would watch it, but I don't see why any pool fan would be interested other than to see who picked up the money and trophy.
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I wouldn't watch either. I like the way the tournament is now. My suggestion would be to try and get the 95% or more of non-pool watchers to watch. I think KT is trying to tap into a greater market than just pool fans. Pool has never gotten a huge tv viewership in its current style. This wouldn't better the game but just try and attract a larger audience.

scott
 
Nostroke said:
Screw the pool!. Let's just have a coin-flip tournament!!
Yeah Baby Im in!!
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More like a happy marriage between a coin flip and a race to 10. Skill will still play a part in the outcome.

scott
 
There is room for fun pool, in fact, the biggest event to be held at English pool ever was a fun tournament won by an unknown. We had a £50,000 to the winner one frame tournament in the UK this year. 15,000 entered it and the last 32 was televised for Sky.

I got beat two frames off the tele stages and I'm crap at pool so it shows how open it was!

Players at the final were put in a caged bar and drawn out randomly to play their one frame.

The 2007 event is going out live on Sky.

http://www.pubpoolchallenge.com
 
Professorpool,
That's very interesting. I played in a weekly tournament such as that 25 years ago when I first began playing. It leveled the field enough that they had many players compete. This concept may not work with the IPT but something needs to be done to attract more interest. Either I'm on to something or on something.

scott
 
Nostroke said:
Screw the pool!. Let's just have a coin-flip tournament!!
Yeah Baby Im in!!
Click to expand...

Nostroke,
Would the women be allowed to compete against the men??? I hope not, the damn men's matches would take FOREVER with all the wrangling about the rules, continuous sharking, and constant attempts at manipulating the coin unfairly. Maybe I'll just stick to watching 9-ball, where we all know the results of any given game are truly random.
 
pool is not like poker,you shouldnt have to gaff up a tourney to make people watch. The main diff between the two is that a total novice with some info can win a poker tourney, that would never happen in pool....ever
 
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