No more Big Apple?

[Chris_Lynch]

Well, it seems as though Master's may have killed their own tournament. With all that I'm hearing it is unlikely that they will be able to pull off another event as the fans aren't going to go unless it is on Priceline.com and they can name their own door fee. The players are also unlikely to go as the payouts seemed pretty dismal for a $15K added event. I would've liked to have played but I'm certainly glad that I didn't bother to go watch. I can claim the entry fee on my tax return but not the door fee!

Who thinks that there will be another one next year?

I hope that another room in the metro NY area decides to start hosting big events. I don't see it happening at Amsterdam anytime soon but I sure hope some other room steps up.

 

[JAM]

I tend to not agree, Chris, for a variety of reasons, but I truly do understand the frustration of the spectators having to cough up monies at the gate, varying from day to day. This should have been posted ahead of time and not changed willy nilly (IMO).

In New York City, a 4-day event is very expensive for a pool player, whether it's held at Masters, Amsterdam, or another venue.

In my experience of attending events on the East Coast, it doesn't matter whether it's a 1-day regional tour event or an 8-day U.S. Open. The expenses related to participating, ESPECIALLY for the pool player, are high.

No offense to the New York City residents of this forum, but I don't think hosting a pool event in the Big Apple is attractive for a pool player, unless you live there. If you are not a local, one could incur 5 or 6 days of lodging for a 4-day event coming from out of town or overseas. If you add up the entry fee, air fare and/or gas and tolls, food, and lodging expense, the expenditures in NYC are much HIGHER than other venue sites.

Tony Crosby came in fourth place in the Big Apple, pocketing $1,500. Coming from Florida, do you think he broke even? Maybe so, if he ate at McDonald's every single day and shared a hotel room with a comrade. Otherwise, he may be one of the few fortunate ones -- the top four money winners of the Big Apple -- to have broke even.

To blame the owner of Masters or Jose the TD is ridiculous. This is the sad state of affairs related to pool in the United States, a nightmare that is getting worse.

I admire the spirit of New York City and enjoy the restaurants, shopping, and other amenities, but it is not an ideal location to host a pool tournament.

JMHO, FWIW!

JAM

 

[Chris_Lynch]

I am not blaming the TD's at all. Please don't misunderstand. There have been many problems with tournaments that you would think the payouts would be high and they end up being very small. That always hurts.

I do think that the lack of one independent promoter has hurt the tournament, though. Alexandra did a good job promoting the event the last 2 years and it takes that kind of effort to keep a tournament going. With the room owner changing the gate fees to taking out undisclosed amount from the entry fees for the room makes it tough to have a successful, ongoing tournament. That is what I would like to see.

I do agree with the majority of your post, though. It can be very expensive to go to an event in NYC but Queens is not really that bad. The room rate that someone quoted was $119 a night and I have had to pay that at other events, including the US Open. The Atlanta open last year was very expensive for me. I had to fly to Atlanta, rent a car, drive to Athens, GA and the promoter didn't have rooms set aside yet and everything in Athens was booked (homecoming weekend). I stayed a half hour away from the tournament. I spent $1500 on travel/hotel and won $200 in the tournament. Every player knows that you're not going to get rich with prize money. Doesn't happen (with a few major exceptions). It's expensive to go to tournaments period.

Basically, I just hope that there will be some tournaments around the NYC area that the professional level players can play in since there isn't much around here. The local tour (Tri-State Tour) has 3 events a year that I can play in. Tough to stay sharp. Any rooms in NY/NJ looking to host some events?