I've heard good things about the ABT; but most times I've looked at them, they've been pretty pricey to enter/participate.
Amateur Bowling Tour (ABT)
Does anyone have experience with the ABT?
There's a tournament about an hour from me the end of January that I'm starting to think about entering.
I've heard good things about the ABT; but most times I've looked at them, they've been pretty pricey to enter/participate.
ABT - ANother Baggers TOur!
If you have sticks, then this tourney is for you. If you're scratch, hopefully they have a separate division for you.
I stop doing ABT years ago because of the baggers...
Thats the trouble I had with the abta. It seems like it's run by a group of asians that all know each other, friends, related to each other, etc... And surprisingly...someone from that group won almost every time. The last time I participated, an asian woman that was one of the people running things won it rolling over 600 scratch with a 134 entering average.Originally Posted by fokai73
:roll eyes:
My new plan is to get good enough that the sandbaggers can't win...or start doing scratch leagues/tournaments. Handicap leagues/tournaments are great when you're in the 120-159 range and are rapidly getting better. But once you get to your "plateau"...where improvement doesn't come as quickly nor as easy...say 165-195...and you get very little handicap. Then you're vulnerable in TWO ways:
1) The handicap bowlers behind you are getting more pins but improving at a faster rate.
2) The scratch bowlers 200+ because even on a bad night they can beat you.
It's like the fantasy football betting sites and in my opinion roll tech...when you start getting money involved and making deposits...based on somewhat fictional results...you have a system ripe for abuse. Handicap is similar. It's based on the concept that everyone tries their best and makes competition fair. When someone doesn't try their best...they can manipulate the system.
In Bag: (: .) Motiv Trident Odyssey; (: .) Hammer Scorpion Sting; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Radical Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 185; Lifetime Average = 171;
Ball Speed: 14.4mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 181
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
I'm related to many of these Asians who bag. In fact, any Non Asian who hangs out with Asians who bag, more than likely are bagging too lol.
Since moving to California and bowling, I've been asked many times to Drop my average.
I admit, one year I was @ 220 then dropped ten sticks before the season ended. I was asked to do so to make the cap for next years team. Though no money was involved, I later felt that I was cheating myself for missing all those easy spares. Karma hit back, that next year.... I struggled with corner pins all year and pretty much stayed at 208-211 the next two years. I learned to be a bad spare shooter I guess...
I thought the same thing...close to $100 for a tournament if I remember correctly. There is a fair amount of prize $$$, I guess. Might try and find something different locally to get my feet wet
ABT Nationals the price tag was closer to $1000 when you add everything up. There are smaller tournaments regionally...but like the abta...it's questionable who is running the show and how much sandbagging is taking place.
It's sad, because a robust handicap/amateur tournament series would be great for the sport and get the more interested bowlers into a competitive/sport mindset...sport becomes more popular, etc... But when you start to see the massive abuse of the handicap system in some of these tournaments...it's not even worth it.
If it was up to me, I'd have the ABT and abta and TNBA investigated by the IRS. Do a quick audit, let the USBC get involved, and start removing some of these bad actors. And more can be done locally as well...like former winners having to bowl scratch...requiring a minimum amount of sanctioned league participation to be eligible, maybe even require sanctioned league participation in more than one center.
I don't really "get it" myself. I can't see how cheating and stealing people's money is something to be proud of...yet in each bowler's digest newspaper...there's a big picture of the winners of that month's tournament...mostly asian...and they are all smiling like their proud. Proud of what? It's like mugging an elderly person and then posing next to them with a big smile on your face and their wallet in your hand. You're not a great bowler...you're a petty theif. : /
In Bag: (: .) Motiv Trident Odyssey; (: .) Hammer Scorpion Sting; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Radical Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 185; Lifetime Average = 171;
Ball Speed: 14.4mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 181
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
Good to see nothing ever changes. These "tournaments" were just as crooked 20-25 years ago when I used to try them out. Just going by different names now. Sad to see that they have a "Milwaukee" region, or whatever they call it.
Old guy with power (15.5-16; 325). Current arsenal--Storm Summit, RotoGrip Idol Helios, Storm Phaze III, Storm SureLock (retired), Storm IQ Tour Nano and Motiv Rebel tank (spare/dry). High sanctioned game - 300 (4). High sanctioned series - 856. A.V. 300-s - 8. Longest string - 25.
2023/2024 YTD highs--High game-300; high series-739
How do you go about finding these tournaments? Whenever I google it, or click on any abt "tournament schedule" or "calendar" they are either blank or listing 2015 stuff....like they never get updated?? Trying to enter my first tournament but can't seem to find one
TNBA
ABT
abta: American Bowlers Tournament Association
TAT: True Amateur Tournaments
Once your sandbagging skills are at their highest level....these would be great ideas and ya probably could make a few bucks.
In Bag: (: .) Motiv Trident Odyssey; (: .) Hammer Scorpion Sting; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Radical Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 185; Lifetime Average = 171;
Ball Speed: 14.4mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 181
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
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