FORUM CLOSING ON 14th JANUARY

Barney wrote:

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My suggestion for a second division is as follows: It will run as per the top section with the following two exceptions:

* All money to be a fifth of the top section i.e. £20 entry, £100 to winner etc...

* Tables from Rileys not on free play.

The reasons for this are that the two sections can't be for the same money as the standard will inherently be different. The winner of the top section will have worked a lot harder for their £500 than the winner of the second section. Therefore it is fair enough that the second section should be for less money. Plus we are going to find another 12 people happy to pay £20 much easier than another 12 people willing to pay £100.

Rileys aren't keen on both sections being free play but they may be able to offer a discounted rate for the second section. Even if not each player is playing one match per month that may take 90 minutes with the cost shared between them and opponent so actually I don't think it's too bad to pay for the table.

I don't want to start a whole new set of postings in response to how the second section should run otherwise we'll get nowhere. So far I have 10 players interested but can they contact me to confirm their interest based on the two points above and the rules already published:

1. James Watson
2. Craig Coles
3. Tom Williams
4. John Kinsey
5. Nick Mansell
6. Nicki Hoskins
7. Lee Brown-John
8. Dave Crawford
9. Pete Timms
10. Jamie Saczak
11. Julian Wood

Regards
Tom.

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Count me out but I appreciate and commend your effort Tom.

At 2-3 hours a match at best and 11 matches, even if you win div 2 you'll still be out of pocket. If you don't win in div 2 it will have cost you far more than £100 and you will have learnt less for your £100 than playing Div 1. I do find the whole having earnt it argument a bit strange - the prestige of winning that division with those names is worth a lot more than £500 and is the main prize in my opinion.

Most of all though, as anyone who has dealt with Riley's and their 'deals' will tell you, they last a month at best, staff are never informed and managers leave every other month!! Hope you got him to sign it with his own blood.

I would have thought they would get more money back from div2 where players are more likely to drink with less on it and will be in their venue longer!



-- Edited by hulio at 19:02, 2008-12-22

50 sounds good.

i also think 50 squids would be better but im up 4 the 20 aswell

Hmmm are you two in cahoots over this???!!

Just off the hotline to Rileys and the deal for players in the second section will be buy-one-get-one-free on pool at any time of day.

Thus accepting that a match shouldn't take longer than two hours it will be £7.50 per match.  For each player that's £3.75.  So that's £3.75 once a month.  Hardly breaking the bank.  Over a season then it will be £41.25 which is less than some people's nightly beer fund!

I would like this to work but it needs people to say yes.  The latest list is:

1. James Watson
2. Craig Coles
3. Tom Williams
4. John Kinsey
5. Nick Mansell
6. Nicki Hoskins
7. Lee Brown-John
8. Dave Crawford
9. Pete Timms
10. Jamie Saczak
11. Julian Wood
12. John Street

So we have 12 players but if we discuss the details too long then we'll get nowhere.  There won't be free tables for the second division, but the deal above is the best I can get.

Regarding the entry fee & prize fund etc we need to make a decision soon on:

Entry per person:         20       30      40        50
Winner gets:               100     150     200      250
2nd gets:                     60       90       120     150
3rd gets:                      40       60       80       100
4th gets:                      20       30       40        50
Play Off winner gets:    20       30       40        50

Can everyone on the list above let me know what they think asap so we can progress this?

Regards
Tom.

the apprentice wrote:

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From the small table you have drawn up, £40 looks ok.
But if people want to stretch to £50, then im ok with it.

Would be nice to sneak in free tables, if not maybe one free drink per match :P

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Maybe DJ Doug could strike a deal with Supreme for sponsorship too?

Manse wrote:

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Maybe DJ Doug could strike a deal with Supreme for sponsorship too?

 

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yh he loves the sausage

 

20 quid

Ok, so from the reaction I've had today to the various entry fees, we're still a bit up in the air.  Most are keen to go for ther £50 entry with a couple preferring £20.

It is the players involved that make leagues like this work so we need to come to an agreement.  The first match won't be until February so there is no immediate rush.  I am possibly going to be away from the internet for upto 2 weeks so won't be catching up on emails or the forum.  If anyone has anything important to suggest please text or call me on 07739016497 otherwise I won't pick up further forum postings until early January.

If the 12 that are interested don't agree on an entry fee then it should be possible to hold one league for £50 entry and another league for £20 to satisfy all.  This may mean though that the prize fund for each is reduced and there aren't 11 matches for each player.

Cash aside, I think though that the opportunity this league offers to have decent quality matches each month will only help the league members improve their pool whatever your standard so maybe we should focus less on the financial issues and more on what you can gain from this in a pool sense.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Regards
Tom.

Right, we some definitive progress.

In a somewhat adventrous manner I am proposing the following:

Section 1 - £100 entry, all 12 places already filled up.

Section 2 - £50 entry, 8 places currently taken with: Craig Coles, John Kinsey, Nick Mansell, Tom Williams, Lee Brown-John, Jamie Saczak, Julian Wood and Chris Webb.

Section 3 - £20 entry, 3 place currently taken with: James Watson, Dave Crawford and John Street.


Section 1 has tables on free play, Sections 2 and 3 don't.

So now I am looking for 5 more players to take the remaining spots in Section 2 and 9 more players for Section 3.

Irrespective of the differing entry fees and related prize funds this is an excellent opportunity for regular pool on superb tables against decent opposition.  My single aim for creating this league is to improve the standard of Oxford pool whether it benefits the County squads, local teams or individuals.

Matches will begin from February so let me know asap.

Regards
Tom.

-- Edited by Barney at 18:20, 2009-01-05

No free tables shouldn't be an issue to anyone.  At the very worst it'll be £6.50 per hour.  A match will take on average 90 minutes but I'd expect most matches about one hour.  This cost once a month split between two players is peanuts compared to what you might spend just for an evening of pool practice.  But I appreciate it's a factor which is why I'm trying to sort out a deal with Rileys to maintain something like a 25% discount or buy-one-get-one-free.

Plus whatever the entry fee is, you have the chance to recoup it even if you finish in last place.

The main point of these leagues is not about how much money you can win or how much it costs to play, it should be the desire to be involved in decent quality singles matches over a format more demanding and rewarding than a best-of-three duck shoot.  It's designed to make those that enter it better players and if that means they have to pay a little for it then that's up to them.

Jamie, if you'd rather I can put you in the £20 section but places are filling pretty quickly.

Regards
Tom.

Barney wrote:

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Section 2 - £50 entry, all 12 places now taken with:

• Craig Coles
• John Kinsey
• Nick Mansell
• Nicki Hoskins
• Lee Brown-John
• Jamie Saczak
• Julian Wood
• Chris Webb
• Shaun Taylor
• Rhys Freemire
• John Williams
• Paul Carter

Section 3 - £20 entry, all 12 places now taken with:

• James Watson
• Dave Crawford
• John Street
• Andrew Gee
• Ross Gibson
• Daniel Stockwell
• Peter de Banks
• Keith Hollis
• Steve Jordan
• Mark Cooper
• Tom Gaughan
• Kenny Broster

So the latest is we're looking for none for Section Two and none for Section Three pending people pulling out.  Should anyone change their minds or fail to pay their entry fee I'll be open to other players taking their place.

Tom.

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-- Edited by Barney at 09:11, 2009-01-07

im really looking forward to it, it will be good practice playing with people that i wouldnt usually play with.

A couple of notices:

Firstly it looks quite possible that Section Two matches can be played at Colours on free tables.  I should be able to confirm this in the next few days.  Section Three remains at Rileys on non-free tables.

Secondly, can everyone in the list below send me their mobile phone number, either by Private Message here, email tom_williams78@hotmail.com or text to 07739016497?

James Watson
Craig Coles
Lee Brown-John
Paul Carter
Steve Jordan
Tom Gaughan

Thirdly, can everyone who is yet to pay text or email me so we can sort out meeting hand cash over asap?  I want to get cash in asap so that everyone's place is confirmed before I produce the fixtures which then need distributing to the players.

Tom.

All,

It's just been confirmed that Colours will provide free tables for Section Two.

I will add the necessary changes to the instructions for those in Section Two and distribute once people have paid.

Section Three remains at Rileys (or other agreed venue) with tables not on free play.

Tom.