The setup of the One Pocket Series 2017 in the Netherlands
For those who haven’t heard about the One Pocket Series yet, it’s a new One Pocket tour in the Netherlands! The past few weeks I’ve been busy preparing everything for the One Pocket Series. One pocket is gaining foothold in the Netherlands. There’s a growing group of players who’re enthusiastic about the game, but there are almost no opportunities for competitive play (in the form of tournaments) on a regular basis. The Deurne City Classic, our version of the Derby, and the Dutch National Championship one pocket are the only opportunities for players to test their skill. So, we decided to setup a tour.
The setup is inspired by the World Pool Series. There are 3 open ranking tournaments (max 32 players, because we start with one-day tournaments, and only a €25 entree fee) and 1 Grand Finale. The reason for the low entry fee is that we want it to be accessible for players of all levels in order to promote the game. The top 16 of the ranking plays the Grand Finale with guaranteed prize money (€1400) and no entry fee. Overall there’s €2500 added to the prize money thanks to our sponsors. Hague 5, the epicenter of one pocket in the Netherlands, being one of them.
The OPS Shoot Out
Next to that, we’ve added a special element, a shoot out (in the form of the game ‘up&down’ (see image)) on hill-hill (in a race to 3) until the final. Only the final is a race to 3 without a shoot out. The players need to lag to determine who begins the shoot out. The winner of the lag decides who starts. The starting player has pocket A, the opponent is Pocket F. The first to make the ball in his pocket wins the shoot out. Every foul results in loss of the shoot out and thereby the match. When the object ball is pocketed in a different pocket it’s being spotted in the middle of the table.
Players need to pay upfront, online via CueScore. This is just a ‘try out season’ and we hope the game itself and our tour gains popularity so that we can grow next year.
This is a link to the website: www.onepocketseries.nl. It’s in Dutch though. The Facebook page can be found at @onepocketseries.
