Tournaments.....dead money players

People spend many thousands of dollars to catch fish when it would be cheaper just to go to the store and buy some fish. They do it because they derive pleasure from it and it satisfies some sort of a need for them.

I suspect the same psychology is involved with people who play in tournaments without much of a chance of winning.
 
I've been the "banger" about 4 times in the Annual Pete Sinkler 14.1 event. 16 man field double elimination. Alot of the railbirds gave me a hard time about donating. I didn't care. I got to play in a tournament with Mike Sigel, Jim Rempe, Jack Calovito, Allen Hopkins, Don Polo, Andy Toth, Bob Maidhoff (who hit me with a 124) then I ran 28 and he said I had him worried.....yea right!:D I played Reading Rich who I actually beat, and wasn't supposed to, while all those other guys watched. I never have played so nervous, or scared, but I did my best, and ran 46 and out on him, and after the match all those guys would sit and tell me what I was doing wrong, how they like to play certain patterns....priceless. To get to play in a tournament with no less than 4 ex-world 14.1 champs was a highlight in my book. Even though I had no chance, they looked at me differently after that, like I had a little heart...

Then, going back to play anyone else after that was easy.....hell, I played and got beat by world beaters:D

Gerry
 
Tourney Filler Players

Skill level is't necessarily required for competitive drive. ;)

It's fun to follow a players improvement cause he's willing to play the heavy favorite big dogs - myself included.
 
I have paid my dues and been a donater for many years. I encourage women getting in their first regional tour tournament who are all scared of coming out. I remember what it was like...very intimidating! Now, all someone has to say is 'Tournament' and I am there, lol!

I am the only female player in the NW that enters just about every major open tournament in our region. It is what my husband and I share together. I love that he sweats my matches and encourages me and consoles me, and that I can do the same for him (from 1000 feet away, anyway. :rolleyes: )

I love the rush of competition, although sometimes I wonder why I actually pay money for the gut wrenching experiences! Having that experience under fire helps in pressure situations. I don't get nervous much anymore.

You don't get better unless you play players better than you, pure and simple. To mix it up and play great keeps us coming back. It gives you credentials. It gives you cheap lessons, not only how to play but how to win and lose. And it gives you more bang for the buck being able to play with champions.

I have gone 2 and out against women players who couldn't spell pool. And I have won small open weekly tourneys and even finished 5th in a huge open regional tournament. Who was watching me and was out by then? Raul Abenojar and Kris Iverson (both of whom I beat in races to 9), Dan Louie, my husband Mike Zimmerman, JD, and other good players. I lost to Tom "Soldier Boy" Mercure 9-7.

The point is, I don't get a lot of practice in - my tournaments ARE my practice. With a FT job that has supported my kids, 2 businesses, running tournaments or helping in pool-related events, and going to school at night for my Master's, I don't get in a lot of time at the table unless it is in a tournament. Maybe, if I could play umpteen hours every day, I could be a Monica Webb, our highest ranked US player (whom I have beaten twice in other tournaments).

Some people on here have suggested I give up my spot on the IPT. Next year, the cream of the crop is going to rise to the top, and I suspect ;) I won't be there. However, it is going to be a hell of a ride! My goal is to hang in there, not look too feeble, try and run a few racks, and have the time of my life and learn from the pros and my idols. Oh, and support my husband to stay in the top 100!
 
rackmsuckr said:
I have paid my dues and been a donater for many years. I encourage women getting in their first regional tour tournament who are all scared of coming out. I remember what it was like...very intimidating! Now, all someone has to say is 'Tournament' and I am there, lol!

I am the only female player in the NW that enters just about every major open tournament in our region. It is what my husband and I share together. I love that he sweats my matches and encourages me and consoles me, and that I can do the same for him (from 1000 feet away, anyway. :rolleyes: )

I love the rush of competition, although sometimes I wonder why I actually pay money for the gut wrenching experiences! Having that experience under fire helps in pressure situations. I don't get nervous much anymore.

You don't get better unless you play players better than you, pure and simple. To mix it up and play great keeps us coming back. It gives you credentials. It gives you cheap lessons, not only how to play but how to win and lose. And it gives you more bang for the buck being able to play with champions.

I have gone 2 and out against women players who couldn't spell pool. And I have won small open weekly tourneys and even finished 5th in a huge open regional tournament. Who was watching me and was out by then? Raul Abenojar and Kris Iverson (both of whom I beat in races to 9), Dan Louie, my husband Mike Zimmerman, JD, and other good players. I lost to Tom "Soldier Boy" Mercure 9-7.

The point is, I don't get a lot of practice in - my tournaments ARE my practice. With a FT job that has supported my kids, 2 businesses, running tournaments or helping in pool-related events, and going to school at night for my Master's, I don't get in a lot of time at the table unless it is in a tournament. Maybe, if I could play umpteen hours every day, I could be a Monica Webb, our highest ranked US player (whom I have beaten twice in other tournaments).

Some people on here have suggested I give up my spot on the IPT. Next year, the cream of the crop is going to rise to the top, and I suspect ;) I won't be there. However, it is going to be a hell of a ride! My goal is to hang in there, not look too feeble, try and run a few racks, and have the time of my life and learn from the pros and my idols. Oh, and support my husband to stay in the top 100!
Click to expand...


Nice post, Linda!
 
Linda,

The only reason someone could possibly want you to drop out of the IPT is because of jealousy. The fact is you are living alot of people's dream. Who wouldn't want to get a tour card? So let the haters hate. You've got more important things to do than care about what the knuckleheads say. Best of luck in July and beyond.
 
TX Poolnut said:
Linda,

The only reason someone could possibly want you to drop out of the IPT is because of jealousy. The fact is you are living alot of people's dream. Who wouldn't want to get a tour card? So let the haters hate. You've got more important things to do than care about what the knuckleheads say. Best of luck in July and beyond.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words and best wishes, Todd. That means a lot. :)

Linda
 
Dead money? It's worth every nickle

I have paid up to $500 to play in pro tournaments. I didn't think I was going to win one, but I thought (correctly) that I might beat some good players along the way and compete in the game that I love. I knew I was never going to beat five or six of them in a row and win the tournament, but I played my game against them and over the years have sent a few to the losers side or out of the tournament, and cashed in more than a few times. For me it is about competing against the best and doing the best that I can. I still do it, but it is pretty much limited to one pocket now. I don't think I could have reached the level of play that I did without the desire to play with the best, and if guys like me didn't play in tournaments, the prize money would even be worse than it has been. I'm happy for the players still out there mixing it up with all the tournaments available to them and the increase in prize money, especially the IPT, which looks like it will get some money to players that deserve it. John Henderson
 
I apologize if the term Dead Money has offended anybody. it was not meant to do so. ...........mike
 
cueball1950 said:
I apologize if the term Dead Money has offended anybody. it was not meant to do so. ...........mike
Click to expand...
If someone complained to you I suggest you send their screen name to Dave so he can check to see if it's shorty using another alias.... Please tell me you didn't get a PM from someone complaining???


Hello people, this is the real world. If you don't like it or can't handle it don't leave the house and whatever you do, do not get on the computer.

I am so disgusted by "sensitive" people insisting that the rest of the world cater to them.... If anyone was offended by the title of this thread, my advice to you is "F" off. This is exactly what my reply would've been had this been my thread & someone sent me a PM telling me they found it offensive. :rolleyes:
 
Timberly said:
If someone complained to you I suggest you send their screen name to Dave so he can check to see if it's shorty using another alias.... Please tell me you didn't get a PM from someone complaining???


Hello people, this is the real world. If you don't like it or can't handle it don't leave the house and whatever you do, do not get on the computer.

I am so disgusted by "sensitive" people insisting that the rest of the world cater to them.... If anyone was offended by the title of this thread, my advice to you is "F" off. This is exactly what my reply would've been had this been my thread & someone sent me a PM telling me they found it offensive. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...



Timberly........I'll have you know, i find you very offensive. i think you owe me an apology. You can deliver it to me in person at the next PP event.

just don't take as long to apolgize as it did for my last tourney opponent to shoot...i might fall asleep again.........:p
 
Last edited:
Ya know that if everytime someone seen a Flyer or post for a pool tournament and thought to themselves " hey i am not good enough, or dont play well enough " Thats alot of people who are not going to even try to play in these tournaments that happen all around the world.

And yes at one time in everyones pool Life they have probably been considered Dead Money by all the top players. But everyone hasta start somewhere.

I think these days its tougher to figure out who is dead money, because, i personally have seen guys in general, who you'd say, oh man he has no chance at winning a match or whatever it maybe.

But give him a couple good rolls, 9ball snaps, and his opponent bad rolls n stuff, and he wins the match by showing his Moxy.

I think there are very few sports in general where Joe Public can drop his 50-200$ and show up and play with the pros.

I did it for 18months doing Professional Bowlers Association Regional Tournaments. And after a couple tournaments I was just like a regular, and even cashed a couple times. But the experience its self made me a better player.

dave
 
StormHotRod300 said:
.

I think there are very few sports in general where Joe Public can drop his 50-200$ and show up and play with the pros.

I did it for 18months doing Professional Bowlers Association Regional Tournaments. And after a couple tournaments I was just like a regular, and even cashed a couple times. But the experience its self made me a better player.

dave
Click to expand...

That's cool Dave!... I had my "junior" regional tour card just when I was coming out of high school. I lived in Pa., and would hit the events in PA, NJ, NY. Nothing like thinking you can roll the ball a little in your home alley, and having to play a block with Johnny Patraglia, or Mark Roth, or one of those killers. Good experience though, but somehow different than pool. I never remember getting nervous bowling. Maybe because I was a cocky 18 year old kid.!:D

Gerry
 
You've got to have the guts to play as "dead money" if you have pro aspirations.

2004 BCA Champion Tony Robles has told me about when he was "dead money" in his earliest days playing in the now legendary weekly 9-ball tournament at West End Billiards in Elizabeth, NJ in the mid-1980's. But, he adds that playing in that event with guys like Steve Mizerak, Ray Martin, Allen Hopkins, Jack Colavita and other world beaters of the day helped his game a lot.

No guts, no glory.
 
DelaWho??? said:
I'm Playing my first tournament on Wednesday......You'd call me a banger an APA SL3 so a C- player at best ....The tournament is the Pro - AM Charity event at the SBE. My goal is not to embarass myself and to get a taste of tounament play......
Click to expand...
I'm sorry to say, you will not be getting a true "taste of tournament play" from the Pro-Am Charity event at the SBE. It is set up more to be a fun event, not a tournament type event. However, you will get to meet some of the pros and I believe you will have some fun. :D

BTW, hopefully, my wife and I will be in the stands watching. :D
 
TX Poolnut said:
In the pool world, mixing it up and trying your damndest even though you're a weaker player is called having heart. Never quit and don't back down just because his name is Fransisco. If I fall, at least I stepped up and danced. There's more to life than winning.
Click to expand...

Hang in there Bud. No pain, no gain!
I'll see ya in Houston. I'll be there almost all of April.
 
Rude Dog said:
There's "dead money" and what some may think are "dead money." No namers come through a tournament bracket all the time and win the whole shibang. Well, not all the time, but enough to know that anyone has a chance to win.

But I do agree that there are plenty of players that know they have no chance but for the love of the game, they play as many as they can. I think the 2 answers that the thread starter got from the players was awesome.

There's going to be a day that the champions of today will be "dead money" too but we'll still be there to watch them play. Peace, John.
Click to expand...

You remind me of an up-and-comer who traveled to San Antonio years back. Everybody knew he could play, but there were a few with the "big reps" there and all the buyers leaned toward them.
The up-and-comer played real solidly, sold for app. $20.00, and I think he beat Buddy Hall in the finals.
How's my memory so far?
 
ironman said:
You remind me of an up-and-comer who traveled to San Antonio years back. Everybody knew he could play, but there were a few with the "big reps" there and all the buyers leaned toward them.
The up-and-comer played real solidly, sold for app. $20.00, and I think he beat Buddy Hall in the finals.
How's my memory so far?
Click to expand...
Yep, that was me. Dead Money took the money that day!
 
I've largely been a donator myself - but like others said, some pay their money and play tournaments because they a) enjoy it, b) like playing different/better people. I think I could say I fit in both categories. And, it certainly helps my game.

I played in a monthly bracketed/handicapped tournament this past weekend, one that I usually go two-and-out in. I'm in the 6/7 bracket (APA players) and most of the sixes are strong sixes. In my third match (won first, lost second), I was up against a fellow I know who's a damn good shot - and damn if I didn't nearly beat him, TWICE - I gave up the two games he needed to win while I was on the hill. Soooo close! I had the guy worried - and this is someone I've been talking to about going to for some coaching. :)

It's experiences like that that I learn from, that help me improve my game, so I can step up the *next* time and beat those guys. And it helps - last night, I played in a little local 9-ball tournament, and played pretty dang well for the most part, and took 3rd out of 8. Nothing major to most of you, but usually I don't get in the money.
 
I joined the amateur tour this year with no expectation of coming in the money let alone winning a stop. The reason I did it is threefold: 1) I want to support the tour and 2) I want to see how much better the people in the tour are than me and 3) What I can learn from playing the better players.

After 3 stops I have only won two matches. The ones I lost were close and could have gone either way.

But I have found that I don't have to fear any of them. They just are a bit more precise on shot selection and safety play. And make a higher percentage of shots they attempt. When I get to the table and it is runable, then in order to win, I have to run it. Duh. I have to perform. No one gives you anything for just trying. That only happens in our Government schools.

But this experience only costs me $40. Which really does not concern me. And there are quite a few players in the tour who I figure to beat.

Now Capone's has a Monday evening tournament for only $15 where players like Morris, Saez and Crosby play. Limited to 32. And I think Rocky adds $500. But 75 miles each way at night is not my idea of fun. If it was during the day I would be there everytime. Pay $15 to play one of these guys? How great would that be. And what if they gave me a tip on what I should do to improve my game. But of course playing these guys you might only have a few turns at the table and not have anything to shoot at. A local guy from the KPT played, and beat, Tony Crosby. That sure made his day.

Also, watching a player play is nothing like actually playing that person. Do you get nervous? Do you lose concentration? Why does the match just seem to slip away? All valuable lessons that can only be learned by doing.

But cueball1950 I suggest rather than look down at these fillers (not that you do) you should thank them for playing, encourage them, and help them. Because if it wasn't for them then there would be no tournament. Nor any money for the winners.

It is just a plain fact that half the field will lose their first match, and half of those losers will lose their second match. Just look at the brackets of the IPT qualifiers. A lot of dead money there. LOL

In fact, I believe Ga Young went two and out at the last WPBA event. Does that make her dead money?

And it is probably possible that even you have gone two and out at times.

Locally, we have a saturday afternoon tournament for $10 where Dave Ross and Bob Otto play and both have played in the FPT where it is hard for them to come in the money yet in this tournament it is hard for them not to come in the money. Dave I have yet to beat but Bob I beat twice in one day. Now, that is fun.

Oh, it sure ain't about the money.

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