The Gambler Pro Tour Director, Jeff "The Buddha" Van Buren, is blazing down the tour path to meet with room owners and players alike. For the next three weeks Van Buren will be visiting 9 states, to ink deals with billiard room owners and sign players up for GPT competition.
The GPT has an ambitious plan for regional and national coverage. The tour will attract seasoned veterans and amateurs, as well as, reaching out to those who are new to billiard competition.
Jeff "The Buddha" Van Buren, Commissioner of the Pool Hustler Series, and Founder of the legendary Shooters Tour that covered Upstate NY, has the industry experience to make Gambler Pro Tour a positive addition to the sport of billiards. Along with owning a pool room, Van Buren operated the Shooters Tour for ten years. It grew to over 1000 players after the first season, holding 30 to 40 events per year, with all sponsorship coming from outside of the industry. He is well known for not competing in his own tour, and for holding charity events. His favorite organization is the Make a Wish Foundation.
"Room owners will not be required to add money for semi-pro events," says Van Buren. "Many events will have no added money. This will take the lure away for seasoned players and give amateurs a chance at cashing in on events. Presently we have 7 venues signed on in New York and 5 in Florida. Our goal is to have two more states signed on by the end of 2011."
We are currently talking to several sponsors and working with independent 7-11 franchises along the tour path for those events that will have added money. "After the first year the presentation that can be given when courting the larger sponsors becomes much more effective," says Jeff.
Dominiak Cues (www.dominiakcues.com) will be the official Cue of the Gambler Pro Tour. The GPT is proud to announce our partnership with Dominiak. "Bill Dominiak's cues are made in America and they are the real deal," notes Van Buren. Dominiak Cues is known for their high quality craftsmanship. "Each cue is hand made with pride and passion right here in the U.S.A. and that is important to us," adds Jeff.
The first event for the 2011 Gambler Pro Tour will be in October. The newly opened Brockport Billiards, 4633 Lakewood S., Brockport, NY 14420, will be hosting the action packed tournament. Brockport Billiards is an upscale room with over 7000 sq ft. This will be the inaugural event since the Tour transferred ownership this summer from Dan Dennis to Jeff Van Buren.
Gambler Pro Tour is not seeking to compete with established pool tours. We will do our best not to enter markets where there is already a popular tour presence in place like the Lone Star Tour in Texas, Great Southern Billiards Tour, Tiger SE Tour, Joss Tour, Seminole Pro Tour, and Action Pool Tour.
The Joss Tour is currently in Rochester, Central NY, and the New England states. Gambler Pro Tour will not be going any farther East than Brockport, NY on the upper end of the state. On the lower end of the state we will be looking at the Southern Tier and the Binghamton Area. The Shooters Tour had a large number of players in the Binghamton, NY and Scranton, PA areas, which is why we were asked to return to those markets. The Action Pool Tour has become a very popular tour in MD and VA. The GPT feels that the WV and KY markets would best be served by the Action Pool Tour considering there are 20+ rooms in those states.
To find out when Jeff will be in your area at your favorite room, you can follow him on twitter @theGamblerPT with up to the minute tweets on the Tour Director's whereabouts. You can also 'Like Us' on our facebook page
@ The Gambler Pro Tour, for important updates on the GPT's progress and to be eligible for our upcoming promotions and giveaways.
To see a map of the tour path, learn more about format, and memberships please visit www.GamblerProTour.com
