Things You'll Need:
- Establishment to hold tournament
- Pool table(s)
- Score sheets
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Step 1
Find a place to hold your 3-Ball Pool tournament. Convenient places include bars or taverns with more than one pool table or a pool hall. You will have to ask the owner's permission to hold the tournament. Luckily, they don't usually charge because you are bringing business into their establishment and it doesn't cost them a thing. Some places will even add money to your winning pots to draw more people.
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Step 2
Determine how much the entry fee will be. This is how you collect money for the winner's and ace pots. For example, if you charge $5 per person to enter, you would place at least $3 in the winner's pot and the remaining amount in the ace pot. The tricky part on the ace part is determining what to do with the pot, if nobody sinks an ace throughout the tournament. Unless you have a recurring tournament, in which case, you keep the ace pot money and add to it each time. The more people who enter, the higher the pots and when the ace pot builds up, more people will enter, which is the appeal of having a recurring tournament.
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Step 3
Advertise the 3-Ball Pool tournament beginning at least two weeks in advance, so people will know when and where the tournament will be held. You can do this by placing signs at the establishment where the tournament will be held and other places where pool players congregate, if you have permission from the owners of these establishments.
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Step 4
Sign people up to play beginning one hour prior to the start of the tournament. The order of the sign up sheet determines the order in which everyone will shoot the first round. The total number of people entered will determine if you can play on one table. It gets challenging to play with more then 20 people on a table, so you will either have to limit the number of people who can sign up or split up larger groups to play on separate tables and find someone to help you keep score on the second table.
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Step 5
Explain the rules. Many people will already know how to play, but you will want to make sure they know exactly how you are running your tournament since there are variations on the rules. Ask if anyone has any questions prior to beginning and announce how much the winner's and ace pots will be. The ace pot is won only if a person knocks in all three balls on the break without scratching the cue ball.
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Step 6
Start the tournament by announcing the first player's name and the last player, who will need to rack the balls for the first player. As each player finishes their turn, announce the name of the next person to shoot and make sure the person finishing up racks the balls for the upcoming player. Each player will rack three balls either in a straight line, which is more challenging, or in a triangle pattern depending on the rules you've set forth. Each player will then have a predetermined number of shots to sink all three of the object balls; this number is typically five and will be the highest score a person could earn on any round.
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Step 7
Announce the top three scores at the finish of round one. This includes the names and scores of each player and in case of a tie announce which player was at the top of the sign up sheet, so everyone will know who the new first shooter is and what the current score to beat is. You then follow the list from the new first shooter down.
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Step 8
Tally everyone's score again at the end of round two and announce the top three scores. Again you may have a new first shooter and score to beat.
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Step 9
Watch the scores carefully after each person shoots their third and final round. The people with the highest scores from the first two rounds may be skipped if any person after their third round earns an overall score lower than the score someone else has after just two rounds. For example, if one person gets threes during all three rounds and has a final total of nine points and other people already have a 10 after two rounds, they have already lost. They would get one shot to see if they could get an ace, but otherwise their game is over.
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Step 10
Announce the winner after the third round based on who has the lowest score. In the case of a tie, announce those players who will play one more round as a tie-breaker. Following this tie-breaker, announce the winner.
