One of the BEST things you could ever do is to offer unlimited Brackets for 5 dollars a piece. Pay out 30 1st, and 10 for 2nd.....and leave it at that. Often tournaments try to make money on brackets,etc. Some people charge 6$ or more each bracket and then on top of that only pay out like 25-10 or something.
A true successful tournament would be the tournament director making like 200$ profit for the day. Some people make entirely to much money on an event and that runs people away. I am a bowler myself and I play alot of tournaments. Its not hard to add up all the money that goes into a tournament and seeing how its devided out so forth. I had one guy at one time, making much more than first place in each of his tournaments. After a short period of time, people started realizing it, and now his tournaments has fizzled plum out. He is now lucky to have 20-30 entries... People are not stupid! And with the economy the way it is. Can you really blame them for being bitter?
Anyways, put on your flyers that you are going to take out only a couple hundred bucks out of the prize fund for the tournament director. Now a couple hundred may not be enough for you, but thats just a number to throw out there for an example. If a bowler reads that kind of information, theres a 90% chance he is then going to want to play it even more. Let the bowlers know exactly what they are getting with no grey areas and you will have your hands full with people wanting you to have another.
One other thing that may get you on the right track, is to use a flat pattern. Run maybe a 38-42ft. patter with no out of bounds,etc. You want the bad bowlers to be able to compete in these things, as well as the most advanced. Kegal Patterns work super great. I just bowled on I think, "The Dead Mans Curve" the other night and it wasnt the hardest shot ever but you did have to throw it kinda good too... You get what Im saying? Dont be affraid to advertise it also if you can have a pattern such as that arranged, because bowlers love to see stuff like that especially being a first time tourny. No matter what the pattern is though, you will have have bitching etc. Just try not to ignore them, and to tell them they are stupid. Just kinda agree with them, and so forth. Oh and almost forgot, if you do a handicap tournament make sure to put a ligit cap on it. Like 20 max for men, and say 35 for women. Make it as fair as possible...
Im sorry this has been such a long message. I like tournament bowling myself and just want you to have a successful start,etc. Let me know if you like any of my ideas and also if you have any other questions feel free to ask. Thanks, john
