Why no California Tour

[Fragged]

They are tripping over each other trying to create new tours on the East Coast. There gotta be decent money in it for the Tour Ops.

So the question is, why in our most populous state has no one stepped up and created a tour? I know Hard Times gets 90 players, some of whom drive 2-3 hours for a crummy monthly $20 open tournament? The demand is there, the money is there-What gives?-Someone step up!!!!

 

[storke]

Good Question

I have asked myself this same question. There were living here at one time quite a few pros. Since then most have moved either back east or down south were there are tours and action. Also leagues like the BCA and APA are not as popular here as are down south. Hopefully sometime soon a tour can be started up.

 

[jrhendy]

They are tripping over each other trying to create new tours on the East Coast. There gotta be decent money in it for the Tour Ops.

So the question is, why in our most populous state has no one stepped up and created a tour? I know Hard Times gets 90 players, some of whom drive 2-3 hours for a crummy monthly $20 open tournament? The demand is there, the money is there-What gives?-Someone step up!!!!

Jay Helfert ran a Cal Tour event in the mid 90's. I'm sure he can give us the pros & cons. John

 

[Fragged]

Jay Helfert ran a Cal Tour event in the mid 90's. I'm sure he can give us the pros & cons. John

Id like to hear them but if they are working everywhere else and they clearly are -I cant imagine what makes them non viable in California.

I know for sure Mike Zuglan, Mike Janis and Jose Burgos are not philanthropists-They are in it for the cash.

There is no big investment required so the downside is minimal. Sure pool players are hard to please but for the right personality type that is nothing..

 

[MikeJanis]

The BIGGEST problems I have encountered with trying to get the Viking Tour on the West Coast are that:

A: I can not find a reputable TD in that region that wants to work on developing the region for Viking Tour events.

B: It's WAAAYYYY too far for me to drive to do an event.

C: The region is sooo vast from N. Cal to S.Cal that any one tour for the entire state would be very difficult for players to attend many events.


Mj

 

[CrownCityCorey]

No tour because we are all too busy looking at ourselves in the mirror and surfing.....................all year long

Cowabunga Dude!!!

 

[MikeJanis]

No tour because we are all too busy looking at ourselves in the mirror and surfing.....................all year long

Nice, I have never been surfing. Maybe we can host a pool event at a beach style pool room and include a surfing contest amongst the pool players?

Corey, just out of curiosity, what are the POOL SEASON months in CA ?


Mj

 

[BRKNRUN]

Gold Coast Tour

There used to be a Gold Coast Tour.

The TD pulled a KT and ran off with the G....

This may be way way way out of the relm of interest of the new Arizona Tour promoters, but I bet that with the proper support (and interest of the promoters to actually do it or partner with someone that wants to do it) That tour could be expanded into a Western Region tour.


The tour is kind of being promoted for the better players and getting the better Cali players in the mix would only benefit the quality of play and number of players (hopefully in both states)

Phoenix to LA / San Diego is only 5hrs away.....

I would be all for at least a San Diego / Riverside / Bellflower / stop on that tour in the future...and i would bet most of the (actual) better players would be for it....

(I don't quite count as one of the better players yet...I am just an occaisonal giant killer here and there)

Jimmy......you (ex) Cali Boy.........you listening?

 

[Cuebacca]

Nice, I have never been surfing. Maybe we can host a pool event at a beach style pool room and include a surfing contest amongst the pool players?

Corey, just out of curiosity what are the POOL SEASON months in CA ?

Mj

Can you have a snowboarding one at a log-cabin pool room in Tahoe after that?

 

[storke]

Help needed

Hey Mike as someone with tons of experience on this topic. Tell us what we need to get the ball rolling. It's a shame we don't have a amateur or pro tour here in Cali. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I for one am willing to do whatever is necessary to help get on of the ground.

 

[jay helfert]

Jay Helfert ran a Cal Tour event in the mid 90's. I'm sure he can give us the pros & cons. John

I put on the California 9-Ball Tour in 1995. There were twelve events that ran on twelve successive weekends.

All of them had a $60 entry fee, with $10 of that going toward a registration fee. $1,800 was added to every event, so with a full field of 64 players, the purse would be $5,000 even. First prize was $1,000. Brunswick put up an Additional $5,000 purse that went to the top three players at the end of the tour. $2,500 to first, $1,500 to second and $1,000 to third.

First of all, it was a several month long job to get 12 room owners to put up the money needed to fund this tour. Then it was an arduous task to travel around the state (at my expense) running these twelve tournaments.

The first few events were well attended with fields of 50 or more players. By the end of the series, the fields had shrunk to 20-30 players per event. I was making exactly $10 per player, so I couldn't even cover my expenses. The final room owner reneged on half the added money and I had to put it in out of my pocket.

In hindsight, putting them on 12 weeks in a row was a mistake. It was too much work for so little return. Thats' why I totally support guys like Mike Janis, Mike Zuglan and others who run Regional tours. It's a thankless job.

Nowadays, there are a multitude of nice added money events for West Coast players. The Sands in Reno still does two events a year (Sands Open and the U.S. Bar Table), There is a big one at Shooters on Labor Day weekend, The Swanee in early February, the Rum Runner in March, Hard Times in June, a couple of nice events in Phoenix at Alexanders, the BCA in May and many smaller tourneys year round. So there are about 10-12 good added money events for serious West Coast players to play in now. And this does not include the Northwest which has several decent events every year.

I will be talking with Jeff Bey this weekend about doing three more 4K added events at Hollywood Billiards this year. A 9-Ball, a Ten Ball and a One Pocket tourney. That's enough for me right now.

 

[MikeJanis]

I will be talking with Jeff Bey this weekend about doing three more 4K added events at Hollywood Billiards this year. A 9-Ball, a Ten Ball and a One Pocket tourney. That's enough for me right now.

What rules you gonna use for the 10-ball Jay ? LOL

 

[RunoutalloverU]

Nice, I have never been surfing. Maybe we can host a pool event at a beach style pool room and include a surfing contest amongst the pool players?

Corey, just out of curiosity, what are the POOL SEASON months in CA ?


Mj

Sorry just got to clear up, that there is no surf season, its an all year round sport. And we have the pechauer tour, although havent heard much about it recently.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... And we have the Pechauer tour, although haven't heard much about it recently.

The last event of the Pechauer West Coast Tour seems to have been at Family Billiards in SF in December. Hanh Chung won with Billy Palmer second, Rafael Martinez third and Chris MacDonald fourth. I can't find any listing of future events, and it is not listed on the AZ Billiards tour list.

West coast events are listed at http://www.onthebreaknews.com/January08-34.htm and maybe other sites. As was pointed out, the West is a large place. If you're willing to travel, there are lots of events, including the Fingerpool World Championships in Washington this Sunday -- only $3 to get in.

Around this area, there are some monthly tournaments in 9-ball and 1-pocket that aren't exactly at tour level, but for $25 you get to play people like Tony Chohan, George Michaels and Rafael Martinez.

 

[1-pocket-player]

The last event of the Pechauer West Coast Tour seems to have been at Family Billiards in SF in December. Hanh Chung won with Billy Palmer second, Rafael Martinez third and Chris MacDonald fourth. I can't find any listing of future events, and it is not listed on the AZ Billiards tour list.

I hope they are still having the Pechauer tour. I play at the tournament they have in Boise every year. It's one of the few tournaments that's close enough for me to drive to from SLC. If anyone knows if they are still going to have the tournament in Boise shoot me a PM or post the info here please. I would really appreciate it...

Thanks,
-Andy

 

[trainer]

poor behavior

The last event of the Pechauer West Coast Tour seems to have been at Family Billiards in SF in December. Hanh Chung won with Billy Palmer second, Rafael Martinez third and Chris MacDonald fourth. I can't find any listing of future events, and it is not listed on the AZ Billiards tour list.

West coast events are listed at http://www.onthebreaknews.com/January08-34.htm and maybe other sites. As was pointed out, the West is a large place. If you're willing to travel, there are lots of events, including the Fingerpool World Championships in Washington this Sunday -- only $3 to get in.

Around this area, there are some monthly tournaments in 9-ball and 1-pocket that aren't exactly at tour level, but for $25 you get to play people like Tony Chohan, George Michaels and Rafael Martinez.

I might be wrong,BUT; If memory serves,the major problem in californakaycion was the inability to make the players beehave!! It became so bad they actually had to pay part of the prize fund for pool police!!
Terry Stonier ruled the Sacramento tournaments with an iron fist and the players stayed in line..As someone said, today it's everyman for himself!
T.O.

 

[Jaden]

Hey Jay. I think it's a different world now.

That was thirteen years ago when you had that tour. It was right after I got out of pool the first time or I would've been at every tourney. I think with the proliferation of the internet and Azbilliards that it would be a different story if someone or you tried it again now....

With the ability for word to spread more easily and quickly, I think a west coast tour with added money could succeed now. I know that the Camel billiards tour failed but I think that was more due to diminishing returns and trying to make it too big than anything else.


Anyways, see you tomorrow Jay. I'll introduce myself to both you and Mark although Mark already knows me or should from San D. He just doesn't know me as Jaden. I'll be wearing a Batman shirt so that people can recognize me as Jaden. I think most of the posters here have heard how I got the nickname "Batman", so if you see me tap me on the shoulder and say hi. The shirt actually says Dark Knight on back and has a pictre of Batman on front so any AZber's feel free to tap me on the shoulder and introduce yourself tommorrow...

 

[CrownCityCorey]

There used to be a Gold Coast Tour.

The TD pulled a KT and ran off with the G....

I think you may be referring to the "California Gold Rush" tour run by Debbie Brown. That sure was a long time ago--8yrs or so (?).

For everyone else mentioning the J. Pechauer Tour, they have abandoned Southern California and in Northern California, they have limited themselves to 2-3 tournaments.

As far as I know, the J. Pechauer is still running events in Oregon and Washington.

Lastly, Thank You Very Much! to Jay Helfert and Jeff Bey (Hollywood Billiards) for the upcoming 3k added events to take place there; Memorial Weekend, 4th of July Weekend and Thanksgiving weekend.

 

[RunoutalloverU]

I think you may be referring to the "California Gold Rush" tour run by Debbie Brown. That sure was a long time ago--8yrs or so (?).

For everyone else mentioning the J. Pechauer Tour, they have abandoned Southern California and in Northern California, they have limited themselves to 2-3 tournaments.

As far as I know, the J. Pechauer is still running events in Oregon and Washington.

Lastly, Thank You Very Much! to Jay Helfert and Jeff Bey (Hollywood Billiards) for the upcoming 3k added events to take place there; Memorial Weekend, 4th of July Weekend and Thanksgiving weekend.

good info thanks corey