Gavleston World Classic

So, there's this BIG, new, tournament being held for a week in Galveston, Texas September 11-20th or something.

It's called the Galveston World Classic and the first thing on their webpage says "Over $1,000,000.00 in prizes! All entry fees go to payout!"

You'd think I'd be interested in going, huh? It's in Texas after all and they are having team events, 1pocket, 8 ball, 9 ball, 10ball, scotch, amateur division, pro division, blah, blah.

But, $1,00,00,00 in prizes! Come on. First place in the events range from $5K to $50K (that's right, I said FIFTY). The entry fees range from $200-$600. So, if my math is right (which doesn't need to be - enough people have asked and looked into this themselves) that the tournament will require many peeps to pull this off.

I wish the tournament well. I wish all who is going well. I wish I could take a week off for "unknowns" but I am not going to.

They didn't share enough information early enough for me to decide to go. Numerous people asked numerous questions for months with no answers. Now - we finally have been getting answers, but I need more than 1 1/2 months to plan for a week trip. And now, many exciting things will happen that I am glad for but it still wont get me to go. I also have heard from unfortunate things (like the definition of "pro" versus "amateur"), but am excited for tv coverage and live streaming. Now billiard magazines are involved, ads are being run, and even video clips are showing up. But, I asked in a very sincere way, where was this before?

Everyone keeps asking me if I will be going. The answer is "thanks, but no thanks." If you would have told me sooner Bad Boy Billiard Productions would be running the amateur events, I might have planned a trip. If you could understand I can't take a week off to play in a tournament that wont tell me WHEN each event ends, then I can't possibly decide to go.

Yes, I live in Texas. But Texas is big - and Galveston is about 6 hours away from me. I am not going to drive that for a weekend or a week. While the hotel is Moody Gardens and there is a reduced rate, it's still an expensive nightly rate. I would have stayed at a hotel with better rates, anyway.

I hear it will be streamed live on the Internet so I plan to watch from home when I can to check it out. I do wish the tournament success and hope they have it year after year after they implement learning experiences. But I wont be going to the inaugural event. And I bet my bottom dollar you will not hear me utter these words, "I wish I would have gone."

I have a few friends playing in the tournament and I wish you all well!