Swanee Results

jay helfert said:
Mitch Ellerman beat Oscar Dominguez in the finals 11-8. It ended just after 2:30 AM this morning. Pretty tough to play a 192 player field in two days. We had 26 tables to play on. If I had 32 tables, I could handle 256 players.

The unheralded Mike Mitchell finished third. He is Fatboy's childhood buddy from Modesto. Eric always raves about how good Mike plays and I saw it first hand this weekend. He plays top speed pool and can play with anyone. One more "unknown" champion. If he ever shows up in your town and sneaks into a tournament, bet on him!

As for Mitch, the man (only 22) plays jam up pool. Along with Justin Bergman, Mike Dechaine and John Morra, they are the top young talent in North America today. All four of these guys can play with anyone anywhere. Even in the Philippines, they will have to bring out their big guns to deal with these young men.

Mitch just simply outclassed a very strong field from beginning to end. I was VERY impressed with his game. Big, powerful, dominating is how I would describe his play. He reminded me a lot of a young Dennis Hatch. Mitch will next be playing at the NCS tourney in Vegas this coming weekend and then back to Reno to defend his 2008 Eight Ball title.

The man is a serious player. I didn't ask him, but if he wanted a backer for ANY event, I would be glad to accommodate him. No one has to like it against Mitch. Oscar is only 23 himself and already a very talented player. I saw some deficiencies in his game though. He occasionally loses focus and misses a ball he shouldn't. This always seems to happen at critical points in his matches, while under pressure. If he can learn to deal better with pressure, he can become a champion just like his dad.

1. Mitch Ellerman $2,500
2. Oscar Dominguez 1,500
3. Mike Mitchell 1,000
4. Jose Parica 750 (certainly the best 60 year old player on the planet).
5-6. Sal Butera & Louie Ulrich 525
7-8. Max Eberle & Corey Harper 400
9-12. Ernesto Dominguez, Morro Paez, Curtis Johnson & Victor Castro 300
13-16. Justin Bergman, Rafael Martinez, Scott Frost & Ramin Baktari 200

As you can see, this was a very strong field. We paid down to 64th place.
Click to expand...

Jay, you essentially knock out a Reno Open sized tournament (and similiar quality field) in two days vs. the Reno 6 days. That is really quite a feat!

The wait times can be tremendously long, on the first day, but that's unavoidable.

It looked to me like the event went on without a hitch.

Great job to you, Bill, and Mark!

Thanks to Jeff Bey and Mark Griffin for continuing on with this tradition and tribute to the big guy - Jay Swanson. I did have the pleasure to have met and watched Swanee when I was a teen. I was privileged.

One last note: the core group that comes out to this event year-in and year-out are some of the finest people the billiards world has to offer! This event really could be pushed to another level!
 
Last edited:
It was an amazing event. Jay and crew really know what they are doing.
I'm not crazy about the pay-out though. I think it would be better if only 20% of the field made money. That way the pros would make more money and us fringe players would have to work that much harder for next year. If the pros are making more then there are going to be more people dedicating themselves to the sport which is better in the long run. Poker events only pay out 10%. I guess it's a fine line trying to pack the field and having pros play.
Thoughts??????
 
I agree with the payouts.

atthecat said:
It was an amazing event. Jay and crew really know what they are doing.
I'm not crazy about the pay-out though. I think it would be better if only 20% of the field made money. That way the pros would make more money and us fringe players would have to work that much harder for next year. If the pros are making more then there are going to be more people dedicating themselves to the sport which is better in the long run. Poker events only pay out 10%. I guess it's a fine line trying to pack the field and having pros play.
Thoughts??????
Click to expand...


I know that the idea with the payouts is to ensure a full field, but this year they had to turn away some REaLLY good players and that is sad.

The only thing that I dislike with the venue is the discrepancy between the difficulty in playing downstairs and upstairs.

I love the tables downstairs, but hesitate in concentration for even a harisbreadth and you're ging to miss.

upstairs is a joke with 5" plus pockets on the corners, I had one opponent hit an eight ball bad enough to touch the rail four inches up from the pocket and it still went.

I was sitting before each match down by Jay and just praying that the next free table would have a yellow sticker (indicating that it was downstairs).

What would be great is to have the upstairs tables the same as downstairs, even if that meant rounding them off to 4.5" each instead of 4.25" downstairs and 5"+ upstairs.

Jaden
 
Jaden said:
I know that the idea with the payouts is to ensure a full field, but this year they had to turn away some REaLLY good players and that is sad.

The only thing that I dislike with the venue is the discrepancy between the difficulty in playing downstairs and upstairs.

I love the tables downstairs, but hesitate in concentration for even a harisbreadth and you're ging to miss.

upstairs is a joke with 5" plus pockets on the corners, I had one opponent hit an eight ball bad enough to touch the rail four inches up from the pocket and it still went.

I was sitting before each match down by Jay and just praying that the next free table would have a yellow sticker (indicating that it was downstairs).

What would be great is to have the upstairs tables the same as downstairs, even if that meant rounding them off to 4.5" each instead of 4.25" downstairs and 5"+ upstairs.

Jaden
Click to expand...
I totally agree with you about having to play on tables that are set up differently.

I find that the tables upstairs with the bigger pockets have a tendency to downgrade my game. With the pockets larger I feel that I do not have to pin point the object to the pocket. I start thinking that all I need to do is aim it in the general direction. This kind of play makes your game weak. It's like your cross hairs get out of focus. I like them tight like my women. Oops! Did I say that?
 
Not fair to compare to Reno

CrownCityCorey said:
Jay, you essentially knock out a Reno Open sized tournament (and similiar quality field) in two days vs. the Reno 6 days. That is really quite a feat!

The wait times can be tremendously long, on the first day, but that's unavoidable.

It looked to me like the event went on without a hitch.

Great job to you, Bill, and Mark!

Thanks to Jeff Bey and Mark Griffin for continuing on with this tradition and tribute to the big guy - Jay Swanson. I did have the pleasure to have met and watched Swanee when I was a teen. I was privileged.

One last note: the core group that comes out to this event year-in and year-out are some of the finest people the billiards world has to offer! This event really could be pushed to another level!
Click to expand...

Although I agree this tournament was probably run well and as fast as they could it is not fair to compare it to Reno.
First of all Reno is played on only 14 tables compared to 27. Second, the races are to 9 on both sides, not 8-7.
And lastly Reno adds $15,000 so they want to keep you around as long as possible. Makes sense doesn't it?
 
We talked to Jeff and he plans on having all the tables exactly the same as downstairs.

Great playing by Mitch and Im happy that he's a great person and very talented player. Its the punks I dont enjoy losing to. Losing to people like Mitch, Louis, Corey, thats ok... Until the next time we meet buddy ;)
 
atthecat said:
It was an amazing event. Jay and crew really know what they are doing.
I'm not crazy about the pay-out though. I think it would be better if only 20% of the field made money. That way the pros would make more money and us fringe players would have to work that much harder for next year. If the pros are making more then there are going to be more people dedicating themselves to the sport which is better in the long run. Poker events only pay out 10%. I guess it's a fine line trying to pack the field and having pros play.
Thoughts??????
Click to expand...

We debated paying 48 or 64 spots. That's either 25% or 33% of the field. The decision is ultimately Mark's to make, not mine. If we had paid sixteen less places, it would mean a little more money up top, maybe a $100 or so per top eight spots. That's all. Paying deeper gives more people a chance to say they cashed and that's a good thing too. Last in the money only got back $50, but opposed to getting nothing, fifty bucks looks pretty good. Hey, it pays for gas and food for two days. So sixteen more players got a little help with their nut.

I've got to use what we've got, thus using the eleven tables upstairs with 5" pockets. Without those tables, this tournament couldn't be held. In fact we lost one table because the light was out. We needed it too. One table over the course of two long days could make the difference in our final match going off before Midnite as opposed to 1 AM. I'd love to see ALL the tables be set up in a uniform way.
 
Last edited:
I will be there next year no matter what the tables are like upstairs! Great event.
Oscar, I know what you mean about punks! Half of my opponents were nice as could be and the other half were punks with attitudes. Even though you're in a heated competion doesn't mean you have to be nasty to the other person. I"m gonna go watch Oprah now......LOL

Oscar D wins 2010. 2032, it's all me baby!
 
Last edited:
jay helfert said:
4. Jose Parica 750 (certainly the best 60 year old player on the planet).
Click to expand...

"You got that wrong, mister, I am."

Just kidding, of course, but I never miss the chance to quote from The Hustler.
 
Rich93 said:
"You got that wrong, mister, I am."

Just kidding, of course, but I never miss the chance to quote from The Hustler.
Click to expand...

Just for that I'm gonna beat you flat.
 
MexPoolPlyr said:
We talked to Jeff and he plans on having all the tables exactly the same as downstairs.

Great playing by Mitch and Im happy that he's a great person and very talented player. Its the punks I dont enjoy losing to. Losing to people like Mitch, Louis, Corey, thats ok... Until the next time we meet buddy ;)
Click to expand...

If you are going to call people punks - you need to list them as well.:thumbup:

Hope all is well Oscar.
 
atthecat said:
It was an amazing event. Jay and crew really know what they are doing.
I'm not crazy about the pay-out though. I think it would be better if only 20% of the field made money. That way the pros would make more money and us fringe players would have to work that much harder for next year. If the pros are making more then there are going to be more people dedicating themselves to the sport which is better in the long run. Poker events only pay out 10%. I guess it's a fine line trying to pack the field and having pros play.
Thoughts??????
Click to expand...
What is the entry fee to this tournament and is there any added money? Also, was there a Calcutta? That would help some of the better players have a chance to make some more dough.
 
dabarbr said:
I totally agree with you about having to play on tables that are set up differently.

I find that the tables upstairs with the bigger pockets have a tendency to downgrade my game. With the pockets larger I feel that I do not have to pin point the object to the pocket. I start thinking that all I need to do is aim it in the general direction. This kind of play makes your game weak. It's like your cross hairs get out of focus. I like them tight like my women. Oops! Did I say that?
Click to expand...

Dirty old man!! :rolleyes:

I love it!!! :thumbup:
 
MexPoolPlyr said:
We talked to Jeff and he plans on having all the tables exactly the same as downstairs.

Great playing by Mitch and Im happy that he's a great person and very talented player. Its the punks I dont enjoy losing to. Losing to people like Mitch, Louis, Corey, thats ok... Until the next time we meet buddy ;)
Click to expand...

I always assumed that Jeff had those tables upstairs for the Bangers. I wonder if he would lose business if all the tables had 4" pockets??

Don't get me wrong, I would love that as I also don't like the discrepency between the upstairs and downstairs tables.

BTW - CONGRATS OSCAR!!!!

Russ.....
 
Thanks for the results.. I really wish TDs wouldlist all the paid out spots for all the events. Sometimes we are just checking to see how a friend who might not finish near the top ended up.

I really wanted to play this year but was not able to. One of the reasons is that the room always seems very open towards the players and doesnt place all those attending as 2nd rate customers. Many events I have been to just seemed like the owners didnt want the event.

I would think going to 4inch pockets upstairs as well would be a bad biz move but Jeff would know better than I would. While 5 inch pockets are easier for pool players but bangers would be very frustrated on Ernesto's
normal pockets. Heck I get frustrated but hey maybe I am a banger :frown:

Its really time for pool to find some sponsors for events like this one. The owner throws in 4k and that amount at least should be matched somehow.
Its not like Hollywood Billiards is a seedy place. Perhaps some sort of trade could be made for a Biz to match the added money. Maybe on Sunday some of the Upstairs tables could be roped off for them for a short while with some type of food/beverage package.
Nice writeoff and small gathering for a company. More added $$ to the event with the room perhaps gaining more clients in the process.

Thanks to Jeff, Jay, The Marks and everyone else involved. 192 player event in two days !!
 
I think it's awesome Mitch won. He is a great guy and as awesome pool player. This is one of many. IMO.

BVal
 
BVal said:
I think it's awesome Mitch won. He is a great guy and as awesome pool player. This is one of many. IMO.

BVal
Click to expand...
You were one of the first posters to mention how strong Mitch plays. It was my first time seeing him and I must say, everything you said was true. The guy is the real deal.
 
8ballEinstein said:
You were one of the first posters to mention how strong Mitch plays. It was my first time seeing him and I must say, everything you said was true. The guy is the real deal.
Click to expand...
I am lucky enough to watch him quite often here in Phoenix. I like his style.

BVal
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top