U.S.OPEN One-Pocket----Open to all? No Way!

I'd like to say hello to everyone first....."hello all you fellow one hole buffs", haven't posted on AZ in quite a while and just found this site in the last week or so.......ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!

Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately with something that kind of relates to this site and I'll be putting my 2 cents in and more, here.

I bought another pool room in the Detroit area (Livonia, MI) at the end of April and I'm still in a little bit of shock that I'm doing it again.......but......when you love pool, I guess you just want to keep getting punished trying to make things better (Grady knows what I mean). It's going great and things turned around way better and faster than I could have hoped, thanks to ALL my friends from the old place.


What I wanted to say now was regarding all the talk about the revival of the U.S. OPEN ONE-POCKET and how everyone thinks it shouldn't be a limited field.......OF COURSE IT SHOULD! It should be the cream of the crop.....like Golf does with their Open....I think you should EARN your way in, with invitations from winning certain tournaments in the past year, some invitations for people with past credentials.....AND THEN.....to make it an OPEN event.....QUALIFIERS.....for anyone else to have a chance to get in.


THIS EVENT SHOULD BE FOR THE..........BEST OF THE BEST!!!

Quality instead of quantity, think about it.


Steve (Will have a Qualifier at my place)

stevelomako said:

I'd like to say hello to everyone first....."hello all you fellow one hole buffs", haven't posted on AZ in quite a while and just found this site in the last week or so.......ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!

Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately with something that kind of relates to this site and I'll be putting my 2 cents in and more, here.

I bought another pool room in the Detroit area (Livonia, MI) at the end of April and I'm still in a little bit of shock that I'm doing it again.......but......when you love pool, I guess you just want to keep getting punished trying to make things better (Grady knows what I mean). It's going great and things turned around way better and faster than I could have hoped, thanks to ALL my friends from the old place.


What I wanted to say now was regarding all the talk about the revival of the U.S. OPEN ONE-POCKET and how everyone thinks it shouldn't be a limited field.......OF COURSE IT SHOULD! It should be the cream of the crop.....like Golf does with their Open....I think you should EARN your way in, with invitations from winning certain tournaments in the past year, some invitations for people with past credentials.....AND THEN.....to make it an OPEN event.....QUALIFIERS.....for anyone else to have a chance to get in.


THIS EVENT SHOULD BE FOR THE..........BEST OF THE BEST!!!

Quality instead of quantity, think about it.


Steve (Will have a Qualifier at my place)

Click to expand...

Howdy Steve, maybe if the term 'Invitational' was stuck in there somewhere. You win your qualifier you receive an invitation to play. So call it the U. S. Open Invitational One Pocket. Just an idea, hell, I ain't had a good one lately and this one is probably not a start of a new trend.

I hope so much that this US Open thing goes well. For those of us who enjoy playing and watching 1 hole, we need more quality tournaments. And the format with qualifiers and what not is the way to go. Steve, can you give information on qualifiers that may be held in places other than MI?

kollegedave

stevelomako said:

What I wanted to say now was regarding all the talk about the revival of the U.S. OPEN ONE-POCKET and how everyone thinks it shouldn't be a limited field.......OF COURSE IT SHOULD! It should be the cream of the crop.....like Golf does with their Open....I think you should EARN your way in, with invitations from winning certain tournaments in the past year, some invitations for people with past credentials.....AND THEN.....to make it an OPEN event.....QUALIFIERS.....for anyone else to have a chance to get in.


THIS EVENT SHOULD BE FOR THE..........BEST OF THE BEST!!!

Quality instead of quantity, think about it.


Steve (Will have a Qualifier at my place)

Click to expand...

Steve, how many entrants would you envision? 75, 100, 150, more? I agree with you that they should be the cream of the crop-- the best one hole players playing today. I'd would just hope they come up with a system that would ensure that. I'd hate to see a top player unable to play simply because he hadn't won a qualifier. I suppose the committee would reserve 20 or so spots for invitations. Is this an event that is already in the works, or is it just in the hypothetical stage?

Doc

Start out small...

Start out small...

stevelomako said:

What I wanted to say now was regarding all the talk about the revival of the U.S. OPEN ONE-POCKET and how everyone thinks it shouldn't be a limited field.......OF COURSE IT SHOULD! It should be the cream of the crop.....like Golf does with their Open....

Click to expand...

Problem is that currently there aren't very many one-pocket tournaments abound. How many one-pocket tournaments occurred last year, by way of example?

One-pocket is popular, and there are many great one-pocket players who don't frequent the current tournament trail, consisting mainly of 9-ball events.

Stevelomako makes a good point about having a limited field consisting of the cream of the crop. However, having just recently attended the final day of a PGA golf tournament, it is still difficult for me to compare pool with golf and see any similarities. I do not see pool ever being as popular as golf in my lifetime. I hope I am wrong.

There is only a limited number of sponsors. Folks like Stevelomako offering to be a host pool room for a one-pocket qualifier is a great start. How ideal it would be to have a pool industry sponsor chip in some monies dedicated to one-pocket tournaments only (IMO)!

This U.S. Open One-Pocket tournament can become a reality, but somebody is going to have to step up to the plate, devote a lot of hard work and time into planning it to get it going, find sponsors, develop a format, bring in the pool media like Accu-Stats for recognition, and all this work with no compensation. However, I believe it is do-able!

Maybe having a big event like the U.S. Open One-Pocket tournament would be a way to create a one-pocket organization dedicated to the game, like the OPPA, One-Pocket Players of America. If all the wheels are set in motion, a membership could be attained. This website can be the launching pad for such a worthy endeavor (IMO). Lots of food for thought.

JAM

JAM said:

...Maybe having a big event like the U.S. Open One-Pocket tournament would be a way to create a one-pocket organization dedicated to the game, like the OPPA, One-Pocket Players of America. If all the wheels are set in motion, a membership could be attained. This website can be the launching pad for such a worthy endeavor (IMO). Lots of food for thought.

JAM

Click to expand...

JAM, indeed that is exactly what one of the main concepts of OnePocket.org is, and give yourself a pat on the back, because you are already a member , and indeed OnePocket.org -- the organization -- is growing every day!!

--> in fact, a membership drive is coming your way soon

stevelomako said:

I'd like to say hello to everyone first....."hello all you fellow one hole buffs", haven't posted on AZ in quite a while and just found this site in the last week or so.......ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!

Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately with something that kind of relates to this site and I'll be putting my 2 cents in and more, here.

I bought another pool room in the Detroit area (Livonia, MI) at the end of April and I'm still in a little bit of shock that I'm doing it again.......but......when you love pool, I guess you just want to keep getting punished trying to make things better (Grady knows what I mean). It's going great and things turned around way better and faster than I could have hoped, thanks to ALL my friends from the old place.

What I wanted to say now was regarding all the talk about the revival of the U.S. OPEN ONE-POCKET and how everyone thinks it shouldn't be a limited field.......OF COURSE IT SHOULD! It should be the cream of the crop.....like Golf does with their Open....I think you should EARN your way in, with invitations from winning certain tournaments in the past year, some invitations for people with past credentials.....AND THEN.....to make it an OPEN event.....QUALIFIERS.....for anyone else to have a chance to get in.


THIS EVENT SHOULD BE FOR THE..........BEST OF THE BEST!!!

Quality instead of quantity, think about it. Steve (Will have a Qualifier at my place)

Click to expand...

THIS POST WAS MY FIRST ONE ON HERE 6 YEARS AGO.


Thought it would be interesting to bring it up again as I still believe in what I wrote and with Mark looking for ideas.


I actually did have a qualifier for Mark's first US OPEN in Vegas, Larry Nevel won it and couldn't go so I just paid him for everything and had the entry left and posted somewhere I didn't know what I would be doing with it.

Mark Griffin called me and asked if I would put some guy in the tournament, he says "I don't know if you know him but he still plays alright and if you don't put him in I'll probably be putting him in anyway".

I ask him who and he tells me "Johnny Ervolino, you ever hear of him?" LOL, I laugh and tell him "go ahead, give it to him, I know who he is". LOL


Well Johnny makes a nice run in that tournament and played good.

He passed away a month or so after.

stevelomako said:

I'd like to say hello to everyone first....."hello all you fellow one hole buffs", haven't posted on AZ in quite a while and just found this site in the last week or so.......ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!

Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately with something that kind of relates to this site and I'll be putting my 2 cents in and more, here.

I bought another pool room in the Detroit area (Livonia, MI) at the end of April and I'm still in a little bit of shock that I'm doing it again.......but......when you love pool, I guess you just want to keep getting punished trying to make things better (Grady knows what I mean). It's going great and things turned around way better and faster than I could have hoped, thanks to ALL my friends from the old place.


What I wanted to say now was regarding all the talk about the revival of the U.S. OPEN ONE-POCKET and how everyone thinks it shouldn't be a limited field.......OF COURSE IT SHOULD! It should be the cream of the crop.....like Golf does with their Open....I think you should EARN your way in, with invitations from winning certain tournaments in the past year, some invitations for people with past credentials.....AND THEN.....to make it an OPEN event.....QUALIFIERS.....for anyone else to have a chance to get in.


THIS EVENT SHOULD BE FOR THE..........BEST OF THE BEST!!!

Quality instead of quantity, think about it.


Steve (Will have a Qualifier at my place)

Click to expand...

The main problem I see with what you're suggesting is that the tournament prize fund will suffer as a result. Let's face it, we can't get enough sponsorship to make the added money alone and the entry fees from the elite add up to a good prize fund. We need the lesser players who are willing to donate in order to gain the experience to make the winners purse adequate.

If there was a big sponsor adding a large chunk of money then I would agree with you, but even the US Open 9 & 10 ball tournaments are in the same boat when it comes to the prize funds and they don't restrict entry either. You have good intentions, but it's just not well thought out. Unfortunately pool doesn't have the deep pocket sponsors that Golf, Tennis and other sports have.

Sherm

cuesmith said:

The main problem I see with what you're suggesting is that the tournament prize fund will suffer as a result. Let's face it, we can't get enough sponsorship to make the added money alone and the entry fees from the elite add up to a good prize fund. We need the lesser players who are willing to donate in order to gain the experience to make the winners purse adequate.

If there was a big sponsor adding a large chunk of money then I would agree with you, but even the US Open 9 & 10 ball tournaments are in the same boat when it comes to the prize funds and they don't restrict entry either. You have good intentions, but it's just not well thought out. Unfortunately pool doesn't have the deep pocket sponsors that Golf, Tennis and other sports have.

Sherm

Click to expand...

Ummm, Sherm.....Mark is only going to have 32 players.

Should there be 8 real good players and then 24 hacks jump in just so they can say they played???


There needs to be SOMETHING that means SOMETHING tournament wise.

You need to really read and think out what you post.

JAM said:

Problem is that currently there aren't very many one-pocket tournaments abound. How many one-pocket tournaments occurred last year, by way of example?

One-pocket is popular, and there are many great one-pocket players who don't frequent the current tournament trail, consisting mainly of 9-ball events.

Stevelomako makes a good point about having a limited field consisting of the cream of the crop. However, having just recently attended the final day of a PGA golf tournament, it is still difficult for me to compare pool with golf and see any similarities. I do not see pool ever being as popular as golf in my lifetime. I hope I am wrong.

There is only a limited number of sponsors. Folks like Stevelomako offering to be a host pool room for a one-pocket qualifier is a great start. How ideal it would be to have a pool industry sponsor chip in some monies dedicated to one-pocket tournaments only (IMO)!

This U.S. Open One-Pocket tournament can become a reality, but somebody is going to have to step up to the plate, devote a lot of hard work and time into planning it to get it going, find sponsors, develop a format, bring in the pool media like Accu-Stats for recognition, and all this work with no compensation. However, I believe it is do-able!

Maybe having a big event like the U.S. Open One-Pocket tournament would be a way to create a one-pocket organization dedicated to the game, like the OPPA, One-Pocket Players of America. If all the wheels are set in motion, a membership could be attained. This website can be the launching pad for such a worthy endeavor (IMO). Lots of food for thought.

JAM

Click to expand...

Wow! I can't believe I wrote that.

I need to find my rose-colored pool glasses. I seem to have misplaced them in recent times.

My way...

My way...

Okay so maybe the sand has fried my brain... but I was planning on being one of the "hacks", "that donate"...
300 seems awful cheap to get to play a race with a world champion... especially if you are one of the hacks...
perhaps the tournament should not be limited, but an open invitation to any and all... If all it is about is money then extend the play, and take more entries... Personally I think it has a lot more to do with bragging rights... I don't think anyone expects the tournament to cover expenses...

There has always been people who tournament play, and road warriors... I think most of the people here would like to see some of the warriors play in the tournament...(no I know I am not a player)

So as of today... I have made plans to attend, and play... and with a little luck, I might just draw a daulton, joyner, reyes, or frost... and get to learn alot for 300...thats 100 a game in a race to three, if any of them are online, I would do that anyway, just to play, and probably have more success because they would give me a ball or four...

Why do so many people show up at Derby City? Do you think besides the gamble, they might have the same idea as me...Playing cuts expenses to watch some quality pool...

Just saying...

Bille

I believe Mark said that he will notify the obvious top players first, so that they can get the initial chance to enter. After that he'll open it up.

He also may expand the field to 48 players, and then spill the event over into Monday.

Personally, I don't believe there will be any problem filling the event, even at 48 players. I'd be hard pressed to name 32 "cream of the crop" 1P players, but there are many very good players who will want to play.

Doc

gulfportdoc said:

I believe Mark said that he will notify the obvious top players first, so that they can get the initial chance to enter. After that he'll open it up.

He also may expand the field to 48 players, and then spill the event over into Monday.

Personally, I don't believe there will be any problem filling the event, even at 48 players. I'd be hard pressed to name 32 "cream of the crop" 1P players, but there are many very good players who will want to play.

Doc

Click to expand...

I think Mark is testing the waters this year. There is a lot going on beside the one pocket and since it's a late entry he's unsure of the outcome.

He may be surprised as to how much interest there is today in one pocket and in the future this might become the premier event in the years to come.

For those that want to see the best in this event they will see the best even if it's an open field. The top players will, as usual, make it to the final games because that is the nature of this game. And I'm sure these top players would welcome some matches with the "hacks" that will enter.

I anticipate that after this first event he will make plans for a large true open event for the following year.

Frank Almanza said:

I think Mark is testing the waters this year. There is a lot going on beside the one pocket and since it's a late entry he's unsure of the outcome.

He may be surprised as to how much interest there is today in one pocket and in the future this might become the premier event in the years to come.

For those that want to see the best in this event they will see the best even if it's an open field. The top players will, as usual, make it to the final games because that is the nature of this game. And I'm sure these top players would welcome some matches with the "hacks" that will enter.

I anticipate that after this first event he will make plans for a large true open event for the following year.

Click to expand...

I agree Frank, the intertest in this event, even with a few months notice will be considerable.

I certainly hope I will be aloowed to play and would be happy to be "Cannon Fodder" for the champions. Where else would I get a chance to play against them.

Thanks to Mark for making it happen at all and If I can't play I will be there as a spectator to support the tournament.

Frank Almanza said:

I think Mark is testing the waters this year. There is a lot going on beside the one pocket and since it's a late entry he's unsure of the outcome.

He may be surprised as to how much interest there is today in one pocket and in the future this might become the premier event in the years to come.

For those that want to see the best in this event they will see the best even if it's an open field. The top players will, as usual, make it to the final games because that is the nature of this game. And I'm sure these top players would welcome some matches with the "hacks" that will enter.

I anticipate that after this first event he will make plans for a large true open event for the following year.

Click to expand...

I think you're right, Frank. Of course, Mark has been there many times before, and is very experienced.

I think they're limited only by space, and by how many tables they want to haul out from Louisville.

Doc

Mark, thanks for the event... Have to agree with John H. even if I don't get to play I still want to watch...

I've been "mortar" fodder for the past year... don't mind at all being "cannonfodder" for a tournament...lol

Bille

Steve's points (and valid they are) aside, 'One Pocket' has the OPEN back again.

May all the success of this event bring continued growth to the future of the US Open One Pocket.