The International 9-Ball Open

[Poolplaya9]

While I understand your sentimental view of the u s open I disagree that pat should have used that name this year.

After the bermans kept avoiding pats inquiries about holding this years open and did not find out about the back room deal made with matchroom until matchroom announced it pat was left out in the cold .

That was very disrespectful of the bermans after pat had worked hard to keep the tournament going after Barry passed. After finding it there would not be an open this year pat worked hard to put this tournament together in basically a very short time.

After all that why should he continue to honor the owner/ owners of the open by using that name.. Pats tournament ....pats namesake which I hope continues for a long time.

I agree. I have been away from the forums for most of the year and wasn't aware of how that had gone down. That whole Behrman family (at least all those that have had involvement in the US Open) is sleazy and dishonest so their actions regarding this is just par for the course for them and I guess we shouldn't have expected any less.

 

[jay helfert]

It looks to me like it balances perfectly.

I count 113 players on the flowchart (despite frequent mentions of 112). I count 14 past US Open champions in that 113, and Pat had said they would receive free entry (with no contribution to the prize fund).

So 99 paying entries at $1,000 plus the $50,000 added = $149,000 purse.

They advertised a $178,000 purse with a full field of 128 players, which implies that the past champions received paid entries.

 

[AtLarge]

They advertised a $178,000 purse with a full field of 128 players, which implies that the past champions received paid entries.

Seems like you aren't remembering correctly, Jay.

Here is Pat Fleming's official announcement of the event from back in April: http://www.accu-stats.com/USIOpressrelease.pdf

Note this paragraph on page 2 of that announcement: "The $50,000 in added money insures that the event will be sanctioned by the WPA as a Tier 3 event awarding WPA points to the high finishers. The projected $162,000 in prize money will be deposited into a Bank of America account in Norfolk, VA. This Bank of America (walking distance) will gladly cash prize money checks provided proper identification is presented."

The $162,000 mentioned there assumed a full field of 128 and was calculated as $1,000 per paying entrant plus $50,000 in added money. The number of paying entrants estimated for this purpose was 112 = 128 minus 16 former US Open winners who would receive free entry and for whom no money would be added to the prize fund.

This topic was discussed in a thread started on April 9, and you participated in that thread: https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?473067&p=6130502#post6130502. Particularly note Post #12 by the Tournament Director.

[I haven't checked to see if someone mentioned a projected full-field purse of $178,000 at some time prior to April. If so, the April announcement would have superseded that.]

 

[jay helfert]

Pretty dismal, $1,050 difference between 7-8th and 32nd!

I think I see why the prize money was not publicized. The total purse is $149,000. 112 players at $1,000 each equals $112,000. Plus $50,000 added and the total purse should have been $162,000! Remember they advertised 50K added with a full field of 128 players for a total purse of $178,000. It appears that the past champions who supposedly got their entries paid did not contribute to the purse, thus there is $13,000 missing from the final payouts. I think it was a great tournament and I enjoyed the stream and the great pool, but I'm all for truth in advertising as well. Don't make promises you don't intend to keep.

Thank you Atlarge! Funny, I wrote this before reading your response above. I had just looked it up myself.

I stand corrected on this. Back in April this very issue was brought up on here when there was a discrepancy between the supposed $178,000 purse with 128 paid entries and the listed purse of $162,000. Pat Fleming responded that, although he was giving sixteen past champions a free entry, he would not be adding that money to the purse.

I do know that in many prior years, Barry actually did pay their entry fee, but not always. I had advised Barry on several occasions that he really didn't need to continue this practice and giving the reigning champion a free entry would be adequate. For the most part he didn't listen to me and went on doing this to his detriment.

I would now advise my friend Pat to consider the same policy, giving only Chang (the new champion) a free entry into next year's event. Filling the field with non paying players seems to be grossly unfair to those who had to pay $1,000 to get in. How would you like to be knocked out of the event by a player who got in for free? Better yet, include the $1,000 entry for the defending champion as part of the purse for the next International Open, and have that be a bonus for winning the tournament. That way, only one player (the defending champion) gets a free entry and it is not deducted from the prize money.

 

[Sofla]

Right now, the best kept secret in Pool is the prize money breakdown for this event. I know that the winner got 40K, second was 20K and third was 10K. I think fourth was 6K. Beyond that I have no idea what anyone won. I'm not sure why that information is nowhere to be found. You would think they would want to publicize it.

I saw the breakdown sheet, I think where the main chart was on the wall next to the Jacoby vending area, some time mid-tournament.

The sheet may have up only temporarily, and then taken down soon thereafter. I think it was up on Wednesday, maybe Thursday.

I don't think it was a secret from the players. I think I remember the last group payout was $2,250, but something close to that in any case.

 

[Hungarian]

I agree especially since there is only one past champion of Pat's new event. Why honor BB's US Open? If that's the case go ahead and honor all past champions from all past events. Hell, I won the Frank's Ice House weekly beer guzzle tourney once, can I get free entry?

I get it, in tradition and maintaining the honor of the US Open it's a nice gesture.
But let Match Room do the honors if they want to going forward..

Thank you Atlarge! Funny, I wrote this before reading your response above. I had just looked it up myself.

I stand corrected on this. Back in April this very issue was brought up on here when there was a discrepancy between the supposed $178,000 purse with 128 paid entries and the listed purse of $162,000. Pat Fleming responded that, although he was giving sixteen past champions a free entry, he would not be adding that money to the purse.

I do know that in many prior years, Barry actually did pay their entry fee, but not always. I had advised Barry on several occasions that he really didn't need to continue this practice and giving the reigning champion a free entry would be adequate. For the most part he didn't listen to me and went on doing this to his detriment.

I would now advise my friend Pat to consider the same policy, giving only Chang (the new champion) a free entry into next year's event. Filling the field with non paying players seems to be grossly unfair to those who had to pay $1,000 to get in. How would you like to be knocked out of the event by a player who got in for free? Better yet, include the $1,000 entry for the defending champion as part of the purse for the next International Open, and have that be a bonus for winning the tournament. That way, only one player (the defending champion) gets a free entry and it is not deducted from the prize money.

 

[Eric.]

I don't think it was a secret from the players. I think I remember the last group payout was $2,250, but something close to that in any case.

I saw that too. The payouts were written on the tourney chart, outside of the tourney entrance, near the Jacoby booth. 17th - 32 did list a payout of $2250.


Eric

 

[ImaPoolnut]

People asleep on the front row in the audience probably isn't what you want when you are trying to gain traction with the public for pool being an exciting and great sport. The sleeping people send the exact opposite message, "look how boring this sport is, I can't even stay awake even when I am on the front row only ten feet away!".

A good friend of mine was at a Make It Happen event at Sandcastle Billiards. He was sitting with his face towards the head spot side of the table and in plain view of the camera that records the entire event for Accu-Stats. He had a Hustlin tee-shirt on that had a picture of a silhouette of a female's body on the shirt and during a break he was asked to move out of cameras view obviously in an effort to not have any audience or viewers be offended by this "highly pornographic" silhouette. It was explained to him that a sponsor noticed the distasteful image while watching the ppv and called Pat to have him removed out the cameras perspective.

I love and have nothing but respect for Pat and everything he and his crew do to promote billiards in the best possible light, literally. However I couldn't help feeling like that was a bit of a stretch to have him removed from his preferred seat because of a white, cartoonish silhouette.

If you do that, you mind as well wake every nodder up between breaks and ask them to "appear interested" for the sake of the tv cameras.



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[pt109]

A good friend of mine was at a Make It Happen event at Sandcastle Billiards. He was sitting with his face towards the head spot side of the table and in plain view of the camera that records the entire event for Accu-Stats. He had a Hustlin tee-shirt on that had a picture of a silhouette of a female's body on the shirt and during a break he was asked to move out of cameras view obviously in an effort to not have any audience or viewers be offended by this "highly pornographic" silhouette. It was explained to him that a sponsor noticed the distasteful image while watching the ppv and called Pat to have him removed out the cameras perspective.

I love and have nothing but respect for Pat and everything he and his crew do to promote billiards in the best possible light, literally. However I couldn't help feeling like that was a bit of a stretch to have him removed from his preferred seat because of a white, cartoonish silhouette.

If you do that, you mind as well wake every nodder up between breaks and ask them to "appear interested" for the sake of the tv cameras.



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So what would you do in Pat’s shoes?
I don’t think the request was unreasonable...just changing seats.
...maybe you got lots of sponsors in your line-up, but not everybody does.

 

[Positively Ralf]

Just give free entry to the person who won the previous years event. It's honestly a very simple way to go about it.

 

[Black-Balled]

Just give free entry to the person who won the previous years event. It's honestly a very simple way to go about it.

Everything is simple to one who knows little about it.

 

[sjm]

Just give free entry to the person who won the previous years event. It's honestly a very simple way to go about it.

Still one free entry too many for my taste.

 

[ImaPoolnut]

So what would you do in Pat’s shoes?
I don’t think the request was unreasonable...just changing seats.
...maybe you got lots of sponsors in your line-up, but not everybody does.

Well I guess my biggest issue is either the clean screen audience is all inclusive of the scrutiny or none at all.

IMO either you have a politically correct, non sleeping, no cell phone using audience or let the people who support the event by paying for a seat sit, wear and do whatever they want.


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[pt109]

Well I guess my biggest issue is either the clean screen audience is all inclusive of the scrutiny or none at all.

IMO either you have a politically correct, non sleeping, no cell phone using audience or let the people who support the event by paying for a seat sit, wear and do whatever they want.


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Snooker audiences are becoming more aware to dress like they’ll be on display...
....football shirts and such are being discouraged.
TV talk shows audiences are informed that they are basically part of the production...
...dress tastefully.

I tend to dress like a slob...but not in these circumstances.

Showing a bit of respect doesn’t cost a lot.

 

[skip100]

I also noticed the guy who was dead asleep. Bad look.

 

[Poolplaya9]

I'm expecting big things from Matchroom in Vegas. I've never seen them run a full scale tournament for pool so it will be intriguing to see how they do it. I expect digital scoreboards, players names and photos in lights, all the bells and whistles. If I see one player having to reach up and slide a plastic ball over a string I'll be let down.

Also a table of cash with a big security guard standing next to it would be a plus.

You may be interested in this article. It talks about some of the things they plan to do and changes they plan to make and while they don't give all the specifics it sounds like they have fairly big plans.
http://www.matchroompool.com/wp-content/uploads/Billiards-Digest-Sept-2018-MRP.pdf

 

[ImaPoolnut]

You may be interested in this article. It talks about some of the things they plan to do and changes they plan to make and while they don't give all the specifics it sounds like they have fairly big plans.
http://www.matchroompool.com/wp-content/uploads/Billiards-Digest-Sept-2018-MRP.pdf

Anyone ever attend a Mosconi Cup event? It's pretty rowdy, almost football fan rowdy. It gets even worse when the event is hosted abroad.

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[Bob Jewett]

Anyone ever attend a Mosconi Cup event? It's pretty rowdy, almost football fan rowdy. It gets even worse when the event is hosted abroad. ...

I've been to 11 of them including two at York Hall, which is about the size of a holding cell but with 500 people in it. Pretty exciting. And loud -- the ceiling seems to have been designed to reflect the noise back on the crowd. Sadly, or happily, it is too small for the current 2000+ spectators.

Some people seem to be outraged that fans could actually get excited about a pool tournament.

 

[ImaPoolnut]

I've been to 11 of them including two at York Hall, which is about the size of a holding cell but with 500 people in it. Pretty exciting. And loud -- the ceiling seems to have been designed to reflect the noise back on the crowd. Sadly, or happily, it is too small for the current 2000+ spectators.

Some people seem to be outraged that fans could actually get excited about a pool tournament.

Well I've attended European football (soccer) games before and honestly it was scary just how involved the fans get, I mean they're really into their sports, so it's probably just an extension of their loyalty that makes them so rowdy.

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