Play Meter

(continued from page 15)
table's fault.
PLA Y METER: It appears from this discussion that
promotion and tournaments are very vital to the
continued success of foosball. Is that true?
HOINES: That's always been true. But what I'd
like to do is to get in an area where there are no
tables, no foosball tables at all, and then move in
and start out from one spot, get it started there, get
a monopoly. It'd grow like wildfire.
PLAY METER: You're suggesting then that the
operator do something he's never really done
before, promote and hold tournaments. How much
trouble is there in running a tournament?
HOINES: Really, it's not hard to do. Over half the
tournaments I run are not run by me-they're run
by the bar owners. All you have to do is teach them
how to do it; they love to do it themselves. Running
a tournament isn't that complicated. One way to
learn is to go to a big tournament or just get the
information from a guy that's had anything to do
with a basketball tournament or something like
that. I was familiar with basketball tournaments
and wrestling tournaments. Then I looked up
information and there wasn't any, so I called
Hanson Distributors here in Minneapolis. They'd
been running tournaments. Their man said a double
elimination tournament. He said he'd researched
the library in Minneapolis and couldn't find any
information, so what they'd done was sit down and
figure out their own bracket skeleton for a
tournament. You can buy them from most
distributors now, and you can't go wrong because
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everything is lettered.
Generally the best tournament to run in a small
location is a "draw your partner." I've had flops but
I've never had a flop when I ran a "draw your
partner': tournament.
PLA Y METER: You pick your partner out of a hat?
HOINES: Yes. That eliminates any team from
running off with it every week.
PLA Y METER: How many teams do you usually
have in something like that?
HOINES: I'd say eight to ten teams. If they each
throw in a buck that's $20.00. And generally the bar
owner and the vendor will kick in $10.00 or so-it's
up to them. You want to give first place a fairly
good amount, but you still want to get it down to as
many places as you can, so you can have more
winners. I've been going forty, thirty, twenty, ten,
40 per cent for first and so on.
PLAY METER: How much of that money had to
come out of your pocket?
HOINES: Percentagewise, I'd say probably 10 or 15
per cent. But then that's money they'd put back in
the tables.
PLA Y METER: What if you had to put up the
whole purse yourself, then would it be worth it?
HOINES: Yes it would because you make money on
these tournaments. Not the night of the tour-
nament, but you make money in practice for the
tournaments. The week before a tournament, the
tables will make probably twice as much money as
over an average week because of the tournament.
The week after the tournament too is always good .
PLAY METER: That "draw your partner" is a good
idea-I like that.
HOINES: Another thing. I always put on my
posters "Pro Players Will Be Seeded" and I know all
the pro players well. This will be kind of hard for
some operators but I know all the pro players.
When I say they're going to be seeded, I mean that
no two pros will end up drawing each other. And a
lot of times if I get a pro and I get two or three girls
that want to enter the tournament, I always make
the pros play with the girls . It gives everybody else
a better chance.
PLAY METER: How often should you hold a
tournament like this, these small tournaments?
HOINES: As often as the players want them.
PLAY METER: Once a week? Once a month?
HOINES: Some places go once a week. It depends
upon the caliber of the players. If they play in a lot
of t hese big pro tournaments they might want a
tournament once a week. You have a lot of guys
really take it seriously and want to play in pro
tournaments. But if you've got mostly novice
players, one or two tournaments a year may be
enough. It really is determined by the caliber of the
player in the area. As the years go by the caliber of
your player is going to be a little better, however ,
and so probably, as the years go by, you might have
to run more tournaments .
PLA Y METER: Do you find that there are more
players now than there were last year and the year
before? Is the player population growing?
HOINES: Oh yes. There are getting to be a lot of
younger players. High school interest is really
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