Ontario Snooker Players

[Terry Davidson]

The second of 10 OBSA-OSC tournaments will be taking place at the Corner Bank starting at 11am this coming Saturday, Oct 10th. $40 entry fee and one-time membership of $25. You can pre-register at 'ontariosnooker.club' which is mandatory and the nice thing is you will be playing your peers for the first couple of matches instead of running into an Open (Black) player right off the bat.

Best-of-5 throughout, dress code is golf/polo shirt, dress shoes and pants although you can wear a dress shirt and waistcoat if you want as waistcoat pockets are handy for holding your chalk. Try and arrive by `10:45am at the latest. The Red draw will be made the evening before and posted on our website by 9pm or so although if there are 16 or less Red players then all will start at 11am sharp.

Good Shender tables with lots of room, 1G balls and Hainsworth cloths. Good food and all the booze you can handle along with many large screen televisions to keep up with your favourite sport.

[sharkster63]

Day off today, going to go down and practice for a few hours. Feel free to move me up to black if you need one. Cheers

[lesedwards]

Day off today, going to go down and practice for a few hours. Feel free to move me up to black if you need one. Cheers

We will leave you in the Reds but we need players. Any suggestions? This has become a frustrating process.

[sharkster63]

I understand what you are saying, I think time and patience will work, change is never easy for some. Small turn out worked out fine last tourny, completed in one day.
Cheers,

[Terry Davidson]

Even the time we had 23 players the tournament finished on the Saturday around 10pm I believe. I think the best-of-5 is the way to go rather than the best-of-7 we did previously. I remember all the pro-ams I played in Britain in the 80's were all best-of-5 since there was usually around 100 players and they had to get through them, but of course more tables too.

Players will usually wait until the last minute to sign up for some reason which I can't figure out as the draw is totally random. It is very frustrating for Les and I as we would like to see a nice tournament of 16 Reds and 8 Blacks which is the perfect number, but hell even 32 would do too.

[sharkster63]

I am sure that you will acheive 24 and 32 players sometime in the near future. I like the format, best out of 5 is better than 7. And yes its nice when a tourny is finished in 1 day, no matter how late, 8 blacks and 8 reds would be good for a start, where are all the black players.. CHeers

[lesedwards]

I am sure that you will acheive 24 and 32 players sometime in the near future. I like the format, best out of 5 is better than 7. And yes its nice when a tourny is finished in 1 day, no matter how late, 8 blacks and 8 reds would be good for a start, where are all the black players.. CHeers

I would be good with that. Yea good question where are all the Black players. I cannot understand what we are doing wrong. You would think these guys would want to play espically with more cash involved. Maybe they don't like the format as they would like to draw one of instead.

[Terry Davidson]

Most players wait until the last possible moment to register if we can look at the history when the OSA was running them. Another factor might be it's Thanksgiving weekend so some may have family responsibilities to consider.

[Csmith]

Out of curiosity, do you think you are getting more Red players than before? Or as many? With the Black players perhaps some on the lower end of the spectrum may be hesitant because traditionally they were used to playing a Red player in the opening round? I would expect that more Red players should at least enter these events.

Thanksgiving will certainly play a role in attendance this weekend, and if I had to hazard a guess perhaps the tournament last time may not have been as well attended as some players are still dusting off their cues from the summer? Is there a certain time frame where you guys see a higher rate of participation than others in the past?

I'm also wondering at the Shender tables, if they play more difficult than some of the Red players are accustom to? The Shender tables I played on in Montreal are much tighter than what I practice on, though it doesn't dissuade the local players from coming out.

[Terry Davidson]

Out of curiosity, do you think you are getting more Red players than before? Or as many? With the Black players perhaps some on the lower end of the spectrum may be hesitant because traditionally they were used to playing a Red player in the opening round? I would expect that more Red players should at least enter these events.

Thanksgiving will certainly play a role in attendance this weekend, and if I had to hazard a guess perhaps the tournament last time may not have been as well attended as some players are still dusting off their cues from the summer? Is there a certain time frame where you guys see a higher rate of participation than others in the past?

I'm also wondering at the Shender tables, if they play more difficult than some of the Red players are accustom to? The Shender tables I played on in Montreal are much tighter than what I practice on, though it doesn't dissuade the local players from coming out.

I'm not really sure what's happening. The Red players get a tremendous advantage and we put that in place to encourage the bulk of the players which are those less skilled. This way they stand a good chance of winning a match or two and making it to the money rounds. Perhaps it's a matter of trust since we are the new guys as I found out at one of the Snooker Canada tournaments that a lot of players are still checking out the old website looking for the qualification tournaments. It may be a matter of us doing a better job of getting the word out there.

The Shender tables are the exact same ones used in the IBSF World Championships although they always have new cloth on them and do play a little less tight than those at The Corner Bank. But it's a wonderful facility, with plenty of room around each table and there aren't many rolls in the tables either. They are also all steel-blocked cushions which are more lively than other tables.

[Csmith]

I'm not really sure what's happening. The Red players get a tremendous advantage and we put that in place to encourage the bulk of the players which are those less skilled. This way they stand a good chance of winning a match or two and making it to the money rounds. Perhaps it's a matter of trust since we are the new guys as I found out at one of the Snooker Canada tournaments that a lot of players are still checking out the old website looking for the qualification tournaments. It may be a matter of us doing a better job of getting the word out there.

The Shender tables are the exact same ones used in the IBSF World Championships although they always have new cloth on them and do play a little less tight than those at The Corner Bank. But it's a wonderful facility, with plenty of room around each table and there aren't many rolls in the tables either. They are also all steel-blocked cushions which are more lively than other tables.

I think the change in website may play a large part in the discrepancy in participation. That and perhaps not fully understanding that you guys are affiliated with the CBSA and not an offshoot given that your first few events I believe were unrelated to qualifiers. I work a lot of virtual employees and have found that any change in the standard operating procedure results in a rocky implementation and takes time before everyone is aware and fully onboard.

Eventually the overall format should result in more Red players coming out. And I can foresee the fact that the Black players getting more tournament experience against each other could potentially raise their level of play from the bottom up? That would be cool.

[Terry Davidson]

Disappointing...only 9 Red players

[lesedwards]

Disappointing...only 9 Red players

What's more dissapointing is there was 23 visitors to our website today who went directly to the registered players page. Just a bunch of nosy people or guys waiting to the last second to see how many players are registered to see if it is worth their while. All about the CASH. What's wrong with playing for the love of the game. I hope there is 10 guys waiting there tomorrow morning so I can tell them if they want to play they will be playing in the Black draw or they can go back home. No redraw this time.

[markz]

What's more dissapointing is there was 23 visitors to our website today who went directly to the registered players page. Just a bunch of nosy people or guys waiting to the last second to see how many players are registered to see if it is worth their while. All about the CASH. What's wrong with playing for the love of the game. I hope there is 10 guys waiting there tomorrow morning so I can tell them if they want to play they will be playing in the Black draw or they can go back home. No redraw this time.

Seems harsh Les, you are just starting up and trying to encourage participation in your events. What's the point of putting red players in the black players side of draw just because they turn up and register on the day. It will make players even less interested. Usually all the draws would be done on the day, it doesn't take long to sort it out and it's all done in public then as well.

Hope it goes well and you get a better turnout. Good luck.

[GeordieDS]

What's more dissapointing is there was 23 visitors to our website today who went directly to the registered players page. Just a bunch of nosy people or guys waiting to the last second to see how many players are registered to see if it is worth their while. All about the CASH. What's wrong with playing for the love of the game. I hope there is 10 guys waiting there tomorrow morning so I can tell them if they want to play they will be playing in the Black draw or they can go back home. No redraw this time.

That would be counterproductive and sounds unprofessional Les, It's new and needs time so don't get down