Sponsoring a Pool Comp

[Captain Dan]

I live in Ballarat Australia, and have fallen in love with 9Ball .

My local pool hall put in a Brunswick table to test the waters, but the owners didn't do anything to promote the game. The problem is that UK 8Ball rules in our area, and with no incentive to the local players, they aren't willing to give 9Ball a go.

This has led me to travel every couple of weeks 90 minutes (one way) to Melbourne to play better players and improve my game.

So I've come to a decision, I'm going to sponsor a 9 Ball comp to get the interest started

I'm running a 10 week comp every Friday night for 16 players in a double elimination format. Entry is $5/player, half to money goes to the winner and runner up each week ($25 & $15), and the other half goes to a final Prize Pot($400 + $200 added by Me + a jump break cue for the winner).
Top 8 players each week receive points, and the top 8 point scorers at the end of the season play off for the main prize. Hopefully this gets the interest of some of the talented 8ballers in the area, and they give it a go.

I must confess there is a little self interest in my part to promoting the game. For a while I've been doing a little dealing in cues, and if 9 Ball takes off, there will be a whole new market to tap into

Soooo, am I crazy to do this? And does anyone have an ideas or suggestions to either improve on my competition, or to plan for the future, as this is only the start for me, as I hope to convince the pool hall owner to get another couple of tables, and start a real teams competition.

Daniel

 

[gesan]

sounds like a smart move to me - good luck with it!
as for self serving thats why mcdermott,predator,cuetec etc... sponor tournaments in the states

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Soooo, am I crazy to do this? And does anyone have an ideas or suggestions to either improve on my competition, or to plan for the future, as this is only the start for me, as I hope to convince the pool hall owner to get another couple of tables, and start a real teams competition.

Daniel

I don't think you're crazy. With only one table available, it will be an uphill battle to get people playing, though.

I assume that with 16 players on one table and double elimination, you are playing a single game of nine ball for each match. That would be a total of about 32 games.

I think a better format to keep the table busy would be to play pools of four players on as many nights of the week as possible. With only four present, each gets more time on the table. In three hours you should be able to do a four-player round-robin with races to three or four with about 30 games total. You can play the same groups on several weeks and then mix them up according to player flexibility.

Another format is a challenge ladder. The players could schedule their own games as available.

 

[Scott Lee]

Daniel...I just curious why you think this will/may create a new cue market. Cues are not specific to any pool game (no difference between playing 8-ball & 9-ball...for the cue used). For that matter, snooker players play pool with their snooker cues, and vice versa. I even know people, like me, who play snooker or 3-C with their pool cues ('cause I don't have a 3-C cue...yet!, and I've run a 122 break without a snooker cue!).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I must confess there is a little self interest in my part to promoting the game. For a while I've been doing a little dealing in cues, and if 9 Ball takes off, there will be a whole new market to tap into

Daniel

 

[Captain Dan]

Daniel...I just curious why you think this will/may create a new cue market. Cues are not specific to any pool game (no difference between playing 8-ball & 9-ball...for the cue used). For that matter, snooker players play pool with their snooker cues, and vice versa. I even know people, like me, who play snooker or 3-C with their pool cues ('cause I don't have a 3-C cue...yet!, and I've run a 122 break without a snooker cue!).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I'm not sure if you know of UK 8Ball, it's played with 2" balls on a 7' table with snooker cut tight pockets. Most players have cues with 8.5mm or less tips to get the most ball movement. These cues CAN't be used with 2.25" balls, as they are just too fragile in the tip and ferrule for long term use. I have seen some players use 10.5mm tipped snooker cues with 9Ball, but not many people have these cues in Ballarat, and most are of a high grade (Parris or Woolridge), and they wouldn't want to damage them.

As with most sports, it pays to play with what the majority think of as the "right stuff", so 13mm tips do seem to be the way to go (although I use a 11.75mm Z shaft ). Thanks for the comments,

Daniel

 

[Captain Dan]

QUOTE=Bob Jewett
.........
I assume that with 16 players on one table and double elimination, you are playing a single game of nine ball for each match. That would be a total of about 32 games.........QUOTE

I was aiming at best of 3, with the last game best of 5. I feel that with a 8pm start, play should finish before 1am. This is one of the reasons I picked a Friday, as many of the nightspots in town don't kick on until after 1, and most people don't have to work on Saturday.

Daniel

 

[jgpool]

Best of 3?

QUOTE=Bob Jewett
.........
I assume that with 16 players on one table and double elimination, you are playing a single game of nine ball for each match. That would be a total of about 32 games.........QUOTE

I was aiming at best of 3, with the last game best of 5. I feel that with a 8pm start, play should finish before 1am. This is one of the reasons I picked a Friday, as many of the nightspots in town don't kick on until after 1, and most people don't have to work on Saturday.

Daniel

Best of 3, single or double elim?

 

[Bob Jewett]

... I was aiming at best of 3, with the last game best of 5. I feel that with a 8pm start, play should finish before 1am. ...

That will average 2.5 games per match with 31 matches. or about 78 games. In my experience, games take about 4 minutes each with experienced tournament players (figure 45 minutes on average for a race to 6). That totals a little over 5 hours, so your calculations seem correct enough, barring fudgers.

If you are set on elimination, I would go to single with best of 5. I really don't like double elimination. The main advantage of double that I see is that it keeps more people in the bar longer.

 

[Scott Lee]

Daniel...I've seen it, but never played it (UK 8-ball). That makes more sense! Thanks for the education, and best of luck with your venture!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I'm not sure if you know of UK 8Ball, it's played with 2" balls on a 7' table with snooker cut tight pockets. Most players have cues with 8.5mm or less tips to get the most ball movement. These cues CAN't be used with 2.25" balls, as they are just too fragile in the tip and ferrule for long term use. I have seen some players use 10.5mm tipped snooker cues with 9Ball, but not many people have these cues in Ballarat, and most are of a high grade (Parris or Woolridge), and they wouldn't want to damage them.

As with most sports, it pays to play with what the majority think of as the "right stuff", so 13mm tips do seem to be the way to go (although I use a 11.75mm Z shaft ). Thanks for the comments,

Daniel

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Most players have cues with 8.5mm or less tips to get the most ball movement. These cues CAN't be used with 2.25" balls, as they are just too fragile in the tip and ferrule for long term use. I have seen some players use 10.5mm tipped snooker cues with 9Ball...

I've used a 10mm tip (with a 1/4-inch ferrule) for 9-ball for years with no problems.

pj
chgo