Billiard Coach – Mike Fieldhammer

Pool Gets No Respect

Posted on 03. Jan, 2016 by Fieldhammer.

I saw this beer bottle in a pal’s refrigerator. The slogan reads, “The perfect beer for striking up a game of blindfolded billiards.”  I suppose “Strip Straight Pool” wouldn’t have been approved by the ad execs.

Personally, Iwould like to see an ad campaign by a national brand that helps the Billiard Industry.

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Happy New Year

Posted on 01. Jan, 2016 by Fieldhammer.

Let’s hope for a great year for pool.

Last year: You could win more money with “Playin’ Pool” pull tabs than in actually playing pool.

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Brand New Pool Tournament Format

Posted on 08. Sep, 2014 by Mike Fieldhammer.

Saturday Action Challenge

Presented by

Billiard Coach and Jimmy’s Pro Billiards

(Flyer verbiage)

20 pool players matching up in the same pool room over eight hours. At minimum, 40 sets for at least $50/set. Spectators, have you ever seen action on ten tables and five different games? Get involved in the Saturday Action Challenge. Bring cash — In God We Trust, All Others: Post Up!

(End flyer verbiage)

Rules Draft 2

Twenty invited players will randomly match up in four $25 sets in five varieties of pool.

At 11:00 a.m. on Saturday October 11, 2014 at Jimmy’s Pro Billiards, twenty players will pay $100 entry plus the $10 daily special to participate in this groundbreaking action packed event. The first round of matches will be determined by a random draw. One player from each of the ten matches will pull a scrabble tile out of a bag to determine the game format of their match. Tiles distribution and resulting game format is as follows:

Winning players must report the match score and collect their $50 winnings immediately. Players will be placed on an overall standings board ranked by points earned, then secondly as fewest points given up as tie breakers.

Points awarded for games won/lost in 8-ball and 10-ball will be given to exactly reflect the final match score. For example, a match ends with Chuck beating Buck 7-4 in 8-ball. Chuck gets 7 points with 4 points as a tie break while Buck gets 4 points with 7 points as a tie break. Louie beats Dewey 9-7 in 10-ball. The standings board looks like this after these matches:

One-Pocket points will be awarded by games multiplied by 2 and bank pool scores multiplied by 1.5. Straight pool points in a game will be divided by 10. For example, Will edges out Bill in banks 4-3, Don crushes John 80-27 in straight pool, and Jack beats Mack 3-1 in one-pocket.

Adding these three matches to the overall standings results in this:

After all ten first round matches are completed, pairings for the next round will be by standings. 1 vs. 2, 3 vs. 4, etc. and player with the odd ranking will draw the tile to determine the game. Player with the even rating will be given the option for the first break in the match.

Side bets are encouraged between players, spectators, or anyone within shouting distance. Racking procedures (e.g. rack your own, magic rack, 10 on the break, etc.) are to be negotiated between players before their match begins. If negotiations fail, the tournament director (a.k.a. stake holder) will step in and dictate terms.

Each round should take a maximum of two hours. Rounds three and four will commence just as round two. In the unlikely event of an exact tie in win points and tie-break points, a coin toss will determine the player’s positions in the chart.

In the event of an emergency, a player may leave between rounds but before the game has been drawn given that he/she finds a replacement player and notifies the tournament director. Entry money will not be refunded, but the player may make a deal with their substitute.

This event is sure to fill and pre-registration/posting up is required. Please let me know if you’d like to reserve a spot and pay (post up) Jimmy or me to lock in your spot as soon as possible. I’ll list the confirmed players in the next message in this thread.

Thanks,
Mike Fieldhammer

Updated player list will be in the forums here: http://www.billiardcoach.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2816

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My Favorite Pool Tournament – Rugby North Dakota’s Northern Lights Shootout

Posted on 18. Nov, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

This year is the 13th annual Northern Lights Shootout in Rugby, North Dakota. I’ve been to every one of them save the first. Robert Mattson brought me to my first one in 2000. This December 1-4 the Tournament Director will be yours truly. We’ll have a $50 entry 9-Ball warm up tournament that begins Thursday night at 7 pm and continue through the day Friday. There will be no cap on the number of entries in this event this year. We hope to pay out over $1,000 for first place! Not bad for a low entry preliminary event.

The 8-Ball main event will begin Friday night at 7 p.m. and entries must be paid by 6 p.m. that evening. Mail your entry to the Chamber of Commerce if you’d rather not stress about arriving by 6 o’clock. Weather and oil truck traffic are both unknowns in ND these days. If you absolutely can’t pay by mail and know you’ll be there in time to pay on site, please do me kindness and let me know to expect you.

This tournament, the town, and all the great people of Rugby and the players who attend are all very special to me. In particular, I’d like to thank my cue sponsor Samsara Cues. Perhaps one of the most underrated cue makers in the world, they’ve been in business 20 years! We’ll have some special shop tours and you’ll get to see the guts of cues ranging in price from $500 to $10,000.

Why should you come to the Northern Lights Shootout? I know pool tournaments have been dieing out and the number of players dwindling, but this event must be kept alive. Please pass the word and make an effort to attend. I’ve got a discussion thread in the Billiard Coach Forums that has a list of players that are coming. Add your name to the list and comment on some of your favorite things about this tournament.  I’m writing a special piece in this year’s program to thank Mark Hamilton and all the local volunteers for getting this small town event a big time reputation in a dozen years. Here’s to another dozen successful tournaments!

Please contact me to register or to answer any questions about the event.

Thank you,

Mike Fieldhammer

Please pass the word on about this great tournament.

13th Annual Northern Lights Shootout

$5,000 Added

Rugby Armory — Rugby, North Dakota

9-Ball: December 1-2, 2011

Sign-up Deadline Thursday at 6pm

$50 Entry

Matches begin at 7 pm

8-Ball: December 2-4, 2011

Sign-up Deadline Friday at 6pm

Matches begin at 7 pm

Men’s Division $70 Entry

Race to 5 Alternate Break

Final 32: Calcutta, Redraw and Race to 6

Women’s Division $40 Entry

Race to 4 Double Elimination

Send Money Orders to:

Rugby Chamber of Commerce

Attn: Sharon Pfeifer

224 Highway 2 SW

Rugby, ND 58368

Hotel Rooms

Northern Lights Inn

701.776.5776

For more information please contact:

Mike Fieldhammer

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