WOW, 62 Pool Tours ?

[coopersschon]

On the AZ front page under the Tours & Tournaments section they have 62 pool tours listed. Link here - http://www.azbilliards.com/2000tourmain.php?tournum=95

I am just curious as to how many are still in operation, which ones are not and why not (if anyone knows) along with wanting to know why the ones that are still operating are successful ?

Do we need more tours? Less Tours or just a couple highly successful ones?

No answer is the wrong answer as I am just curious.

Thanks

 

[Jason Robichaud]

I posted a year or two ago about this. People asked, what is wrong with pool? I said, 100 tours doesn't help! Take all that $500-$1000 added money and create a monster tour.

Too many people with connections able to get a few added $$ for a local tour. All of these TD's are taking thousands and thousands of $$ from the game. Since there is no chance in hell of these guys giving up easy cash, pool will remain stuck in the same rut.

I know, I know... these local events are good for the game - thats why the mens 'pro tour' is in such great shape! Hard to argue success

 

[purpdrag]

I know the Tiger Pool Tour (Northern Virginia) is dead. The last tournament was April 2009, and their web site (planet-pool.com) finally disappeared about two or three months ago.

There is no surviving tour in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area, although I did see some posts from someone running a one day tournament near Baltimore that looked pretty good.

As to why it folded, hard to say, but I have a guess. You had a lot of the same players playing regularly, with a small group of the same guys usually cashing and the rest of the players almost never cashing. My guess is that the non-cashers got tired of contributing their entry fees and stopped showing up.

The tournaments had pretty good turnouts in the years it was running, but I think that was slacking off at the end. I know several guys who played in the tournaments, two of them pretty well. One of them dominated the tournament and regularly placed first or second in it's last couple of years. The other is a solid 7 in TAP, but always finished in the middle of the pack and never cashed. He was one of those who eventually gave up.

I also know the person who ran the tournaments, but not very well and didn't get a chance to talk to her about why it died. I'm guessing she just wasn't making enough money to continue.

Now to comment on the value of a bunch of small tours vs a few or one comprehensive and well organized tour. This has been discussed numerous times in this forum and on several pool blogs. I agree with the majority that it is not helping the sport at all. I am one of many who would love to see just one well organized, fair, and reputable U.S. Pool tour with both amateur and pro level events available throughout the country.

It's not that it hasn't been tried before. Either it wasn't done right or the money just wasn't there to make it successful. Most pool players believe it is the latter.

Still, I wish someone with some startup cash, guts, a hard work ethic, motivation, and the right industry connections (Mark Griffin?) would step up and try to get this done right. Clean out all this trash and develop a quality reliable tour.

 

[master9baller]

Why local tours fail

Inevitably small regional tours fail because the top 15% of players take the lion's share. This will always be the case where the top 5 of 30 players are strong favorites, no matter what level the tournament is. Eventually those who are in the bottom wake up to the realization that their games aren't strong enough to win, no matter the spot, and just donating is demoralizing.

Many of our regular players have dropped off in the past few years. Their games no longer live up to their handicaps. Those who have continued to improve have passed them by. Also there are very few new players coming up to replace them.

Without practice and dedication to real improvement, time and talent will pass you by. Those who realize that they are not there yet are well on their way to getting there simply by identifying the need to improve. All that is left is the work and dedication to get there.

Creating more and more "B level amateur tours" is good for fostering new players, but sacrifices those who have done the most to improve and build their games. I think we just need as much action as possible to breathe life into things.

I travel farther than before, plan ahead more and actively look for tournaments that interest me. Matching up with players alot just to keep in action. In Syracuse we're down to 1 weekly tournament with < 16 players. Several years ago we had 4 weekly tournaments a week, one routinely had > 40 players each weekend.

Those tours that are no longer active should be taken off the list on the "tours" page, no need to be in denial about things. I think we need to have some bigger money events for non-pro caliber players, but it's so hard to regulate ratings and keep everyone happy. I commend any tournament director who is willing to take the heat for the love of the game. I know they seldom go into it for the money earning potential alone.