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ABT Tourney Schedule

Posted By: Dan Pelton
Date: Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 3:34 a.m.

In Response To: ABT Tourney Schedule (Bill Riles)

One of the prime factors for Tournament Directors is to be able to find a venue that can offer affordable lodging for players. I think its pretty clear that most backgammon players won't want to travel to a tournament and pay well over $100/night for a hotel room. Guaranteeing a number of room nights is one of the ways the tournament director gets a discount on the cost of the playing room. Remember that most tournaments are held over a 2-1/2 day period, Friday early afternoon thru Sunday dinnertime. Some players will arrive on Saturday morning, in time for the Calcutta and the main tournament start, which requires only 1 hotel night if they leave after finishing the tournament on Sunday.

In Phoenix, I have been trying to do some background work towards hosting a tournament in 2010. The months available for a decent hotel rate in Phoenix because they are off-season are June - August. For some reason people don't want to visit the desert when its 110+ degrees out. September and October the weather is nice enough to attract golfers when its got too cold across the east and midwest, and November-May we are inhabited by "snow-birds" and visitors to Cactus League Spring Training baseball.

Affordable room rates are purely a matter of supply and demand. Pittsburgh and the Midwest championships are held in February and March, but who honestly really wants to visit Pittsburgh or Chicago to see snow on the ground and experience airport weather delays. CJCs tournament in July is held in Metro-Detroit, which I'm sure ranks high as a summer-time vacation destination.

One of the difficulties I am running into is finding other people here in Phoenix that can not only support a tournament and perhaps not play in order to help out as staff, but also finding Phoenix players that will attend other ABT tournaments around the country. Tournament support by directors seems to be a matter of directors mutually supporting other events on the tour, both to gain the visibility of the playing field and advertising thru word of mouth.

I would be curious to hear from tournament players regarding what features they find most important in deciding to attend particular tournaments, especially those that require air travel. Email me or post your thoughts here on the forum.

Messages In This Thread

• ABT Tourney Schedule
  Bill Riles -- Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 8:55 p.m.
  • ABT Tourney Schedule
    Jason Lee -- Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 10:30 p.m.
    • ABT Tourney Schedule
      Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 10:51 p.m.
    • ABT Tourney Schedule
      Bill Riles -- Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 10:58 p.m.
      • ABT Tourney Schedule
        Dan Pelton -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 3:34 a.m.
  • ABT Tourney Schedule
    Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 10:40 p.m.
    • ABT Tourney Schedule
      garyo -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 7:03 a.m.
  • ABT Tourney Schedule
    Rich Munitz -- Tuesday, 17 March 2009, at 10:47 p.m.
  • ABT Tourney Schedule
    Sam Pottle -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 1:32 a.m.
    • ABT Tourney Schedule
      garyo -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 6:46 a.m.
  • ABT Tourney Schedule
    Dale Kerr -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 7:29 a.m.
    • ABT Tourney Schedule
      KenB -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 4:05 p.m.
      • ABT Tourney Schedule
        Dale Kerr -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 8:00 p.m.
        • ABT Tourney Schedule
          Matt Cohn-Geier -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 8:25 p.m.
    • ABT Tourney Schedule
      Dan Pelton -- Wednesday, 18 March 2009, at 5:20 p.m.