Back in 1980, the basement ballroom of a hotel in Rochester, Minn., saw the very first “Valley League” playoff. Next year marks their 40th anniversary, and the producers of this most durable of all coin-op promotional events will pull out all stops to stage a spectacular international championship in Las Vegas to celebrate the occasion.
Beginning with mini-tournaments on May 20, 2020, and winding through dozens of separate contests (like 8-ball and scotch doubles) to their May 30 Awards Banquet, league leaders Gregg and Brian Elliott, and tourney director Gary Benson will field 250 Valley pool tables on Bally’s ballroom floor where a small army of competitors will do their best to nail down prize money and trophies. (Brian said their 2019 event hosted over 4,000 players and onlookers.)
All operators, charter members or not, are welcome to attend all or part of this ten-day event, and if you’re interested, call Bally’s for rooms at 800-634-3434 and don’t forget to mention that you’re coming in for the VNEA event to get the Valley rate. The Elliott brothers anticipate their block of rooms will fill up quickly.