Play Meter

8·ball tourney set for June 4·8
The Billiard Congress of America
is sponsoring the second annual
All -American
Eight-Ball
League
championship to be held June 4 -8 ,
19 0 . at the Four Seasons Motor
Inn , Colorado Springs , Colorado .
Robert Goodwin, managing direc-
tor of the BCA , told PLAY METER
that " the event will run in conjunction
with a nin e-ball tournament spon -
sored by the Colorado Pool League,
which means that the tables will be
go ing almost 24 hours a day . Also ,
th ere 'll be a 'trick -shot' tournament
which will pit the nine -ball winners
against the eight -ball winners. "
Openings for the eight -ball tour-
ney are set aside for 32 mens teams
and sixteen womens . Selection of the
teams will be determined by the
tournament committee based on the
size of the league , location of the
league , and previous participation.
Leagues with less than 120
participating men or less than 60
women must apply to BCA at 717
North Michigan Avenue, Chicago ,
Illinois 60611 by mid -January . The
entry fee per team is $50 which will
be returned in the event the league is
not selected . There also is a $2 .50
per player fee .
Applications must state the total
number of teams and players in it ;
th e numbers that wish to participate;
and the geographical area represent -
ed .
If accepted , each league must
submit a list of participating team
names and players on each team .
Th ose not properly listed will be
prohibited from playing in the
championship ; however , player sub-
stitutions may be made up until
February 15 , 1980 .
The required $2 .50 entry fee per
player entitles the entrant to a
comm emorative A -A patch and
identificatio n card , newsletters re -
porting o n the progress of tourna-
m ent plans , and a personal set of
playing rules . The fee provides funds
to pa y for the tournament site , prizes ,
tro phies. referees , and programs .
Organization officials note that
leagu es sometimes may be refused
after they are accepted . The appli-
cable situations might be if a league
fail s to remit the player entry fees
within thirty days of being accepted ;
fa ilure to supply the names of the
participating teams and players ;
failure to submit records of a team 's
participation in regular season play if
that information is requested by the
to urnament committee ; or falsifica -
tion of application information .
More than one league from any
given area also may participate . The
tournament committee , however ,
will make certain that the final
selection is representative of the
game and its decision is final.
The All -American is played with
five person teams which may have
up to three alternates. Leagues with
less than five persons may combine
the first two teams for purposes of
entering the All -American , but all
players on the team must have
played winning teams during the
regular season . T earns made up of
" all stars" will not be permitted to
enter the tournament.
The " double elimination " system
will govern championship play . In
other words , a team must lose two
matches to be eliminated . A match
consists of five players playing five
opponents . with each contestant
playing his opponent three times.
Scoring is based on the winner of a
game receiving three points for
pocketing the eight -ball legally and
one point for each ball left on the
table by his opponent . The total team
score at the end of the fifteen games
determines the winning team in the
match. There is no handicap play.
Tables used in the tournament are
supplied by the Valley Company of
Bay City , Michigan , and installation
will be handled by the local Colorado
Springs representative of Valley .
Prizes consist of trophies , in -
cluding one commemorative plaque
for each contestant. In addition , the
champions will receive custom -made
signature cues from Huebler Indus-
tries of Linn , Missouri .
Each player on the winning team
also will receive a " champions"
hand sewn gold bullion patch . Also ,
the sponsors of the winning team will
receive trophies for permanent dis-
play in their club.
Tournament officials are as fol -
lows :
Gary Benson , tournament direc-
to r , has been employed at D&R Star
for the past eleven years , where he is
shop superintendent. He has served
as tournament director for both the
D&R singles and invitational team
tournaments every year since 1974 .
Jim Wilhem, now BCA president ,
took over the executive vice presi-
dency last year from Darrell Lawless
of the Valley Company. who left
without completing his term . Wilhem
is president of the Saunier-Wilhem
Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania , a distributor and retailer of
billiard and bowling equipment.
Robert Goodwin , BCA managing
director. is responsible for the
administration of the congress and
works with the All -American tourna-
ment committee in arranging playing
facilities , exhibits, and housing for
the contestants .
Jerry Leeper. and Bill Nemgar ,
who comprise the tournament com-
mittee. were the originators of the
All -American concept , each ap-
proaching BCA separately with the
same idea.
In addition , John Evers of the
Colorado Springs Billiard League
was instrumental in finalizing the
concept that slated the 1980 cham -
pionships in his home town .
The
Colorado
Springs
Pool
League . whose president is John
Evers . is hosting the event.
calendar
January 17-19
March20-22
German Coin Machines Manufac-
turers (VDAI) , exhibition grounds ,
Frankfort , Germany
Amusement Operators Expo . , Fair-
mont Hotel , New Orleans
May 16-17
January 18-20
Music Operators of Minnesota , Min -
neapolis , Minnesota
Ohio Music and Amusement Asso-
ciation Exposition of Games and
Music , Columbus , Ohio
May 16-18
January 25-26
Oregon Amusement & Music Ope -
rators Association , Jantzen Beach ,
Portland , Oregon
Music and Amusement Association
annual convention , Host Farm ,
Lancaster , Pennsylvania
June 5-7
March 14-16
Western
Convention -Exhibit
of
Vending and Foodservice Manage-
ment , Anaheim Convention Center,
Anaheim , California
Music Operators of Texas , El Paso,
Texas
July 16-20
National Australian AMOA, Queens-
land , Australia