Donald Wilson and Ryan Moore join us for a sneak peek of the World Foosball Tour 2025 Hall of Fame Classic happening in Vegas this week. Each edition of the World Foosball Tour just gets better, Vegas will be the best yet!
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[00:01:56] and use promo code FOOSTALK to save 10% off your purchase price. And here we are back live once again. Foos Talk Live, episode number 249. Hey there, I'm Tom Robinson. We're just about to take this thing on the road. We're heading to Vegas. And we're looking forward to this next week as we broadcast live from the Westgate Resort in Las Vegas. Man, the Hall of Fame Classic is just about to happen. So we're looking forward to that.
[00:02:25] But before we get there, I thought we'd give you a quick overview of what's going to be going down. So in the meantime, of course, if you want to talk about foosball, it always pays to have at least one person who loves the sport as much as you do, which would be Randy Raposo from the great state of Alabama. Hello, Randy. What's up, man? Nothing. How are you, Tom? I'm just trying to keep my excitement down here. I'm just trying to, you know, keep it under control a little bit because I'm just like, wow, it's almost here. It's almost here. It's like Christmas morning kind of thing.
[00:02:56] Yeah. Yeah. I just need these next four days to go by. That's it, man. Thursday night is going to be the worst because I got my flights at five. So I got to be up at three. I'll be in Vegas around 930. I already got my Uber set up. Oh, yeah. Dude, when I get there, I'm going to get right to the hotel, go drop my bag, come down to the room, check it out, say hi to everybody. Nice.
[00:03:22] And then back into the room, probably take a nap, get up, eat, go through my routine, and then foosball. Yes. Foosball. Foosball. I can't wait. Wall-to-wall foosball. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. My chest is getting tight. My goodness. It is that kind of event. It is the first Hall of Fame classic for the World Foosball Tour.
[00:03:47] And, of course, if this is anything even approaching, like the TKO, we're in for a really great time at the Westgate. I think it's going to be awesome. You know, instead of guessing as to how it's going to go, why don't we find out what it's going to be like?
[00:04:03] Oh, by the way, it just so happens that Donald Wilson, who happens to be Ryan Moore's right-hand guy, knows more than most when it comes to these tournaments, is with us tonight, hiding out in an undisclosed location. Hello, Donald. Hey, Tom. How's it going? Hey, Randy. You get the round of applause in everything.
[00:04:26] So, yes, we're not supposed to disclose where you might be, but you're headed for Vegas when? I'm heading out tomorrow. Nice. Okay. Sometime that early afternoon and get there around 5 o'clock. Okay. Nice. And you'll be, as they say, hitting the ground running? No. I pulled a hamstring a couple weeks ago. It's pretty bad.
[00:04:52] So, I'm not going to be running, but I will be walking pretty briskly. Till I get to the hotel, then I'm probably going to rent me a scooter. Oh, gotcha. Brisk pace. Okay. That's right. Yeah. Do you have a direct flight? You have a direct flight? I do, nonstop. No, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. See, I couldn't get a direct. I'd fly into Dallas and then over and then on the way back. I actually fly to Orlando. Oh. And then back. I don't know the way these flights work, man. It blows my mind. Yeah. Yeah. Anybody.
[00:05:21] I'm jealous of anybody who got a direct flight. I got a direct flight. Yeah. I live about less than two hours from the New Orleans airport. Oh, good. Yeah. That's cool. I'm in Louisiana right now and I fly out tomorrow. There we go. I came down for their tournament this weekend. How was that? It was fun. We had two events. We had a Roto doubles and then we had a, what they call a Batman doubles, but it's a limited
[00:05:50] event where pros down to, uh, down, down to expert or something like that have to play with certain ranges. Two amateurs can play together. Okay. Uh, and it, and it makes it competitive for everybody and it's a lot of fun. Batman? It makes the pros. I mean, yeah, I was dripping sweat, man. I was trying so hard because you know, it was just, it's just a lot of fun and, uh, most of the teams are pretty even. And that's so it is, it is a battle. It's kind of like, uh, we used to do sort of like an AB thing.
[00:06:17] So if you went to the DYP, um, if you were a lower ranked player, you'd automatically get in the AB. So someone you played with would have to be an A player as opposed to a B player. So, um, that's right. Made it more balanced for sure. I was always enjoyed those. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. So that, that gets you all psyched and ready to go. You're going to be, um, heading to Vegas. And now, uh, of course, uh, the room is just getting set up now. Uh, in fact, we're seeing a couple of, uh, couple of people checking in here on Twitch TV.
[00:06:47] One of which is just checking in. Only one person just checking in. Oh, gotcha. I think it's two people behind one name, but it's. Oh, gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're in Vegas checking in. Um, and so Don, so it's, it's, uh, just getting your aspect of what's going on as far as registration and all those other things. How much of that is done in advance? Well, usually we would like all of it to be done in advance, but, uh, you know, we, we,
[00:07:14] uh, they just updated the points after Wisconsin and they're, they're, you know, they're doing some new things as far as, you know, re re, um, setting people to certain levels and they're looking at their history and all that kind of stuff. So after they did the update people that they said they would, you know, keep and, and just make sure there were no mistakes. They went through everything.
[00:07:39] And of course with, uh, South Dakota, um, their tournament was ran on modern foosball software. And to this day, we don't really have a way to import it. So that whole tournament had to be done by hand. Okay. Wow. Yeah. Manual. Damn. So that took some time. So we just want everything to look good. So we really, you know, we had 70 people, 70 to 80 people register for the tournament without it even being announced on the internet that it was open. Very cool.
[00:08:08] People saw it. I saw it. As soon as I saw it, I was like, ah, I just, I, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't help myself. So, so how many people, how many people are registered now a week out? Well, technically five or five days out. I haven't looked. I'm sorry. A million. Just say, just say a number. 600. We have, we have, we have about, I don't know, eight or 900, eight or 900. That's what I'm talking about. Wouldn't that be something, man? Let's let's sell. I'm hoping. I'm being for real. 89 to a hundred.
[00:08:39] Really? 89 to a hundred. Oh, see, you heard, you heard, you heard the country, the country accent. 80 to 900. 80 to 900. Yeah, there it is. There it is. It's, it's, it's, it's all in the dialect. Well, okay. So how many tables are there this, this, this coming event? Uh, you know, they, they can only carry over so many. Yep.
[00:09:08] And then having some more come in. So I'm thinking the number that don't quote me on this because, you know, I'm, I'm, I just kind of direct the tournament. I'm not really over the setup and all that stuff, but I believe we're going to have 65 tables. 65. Okay. I believe so. Something like that. I mean, there was 63, there was 63 at the kickoff. Yes. Yeah. And we needed, and then we needed every bit of them. Oh yeah. Yeah.
[00:09:35] You know, I'm not, I'm not a hundred percent sure. I mean, let me log on here real quick. See. Yeah. You think about, um, on, on Friday, Friday afternoon, Friday evening, every single table was going, you know, with the TKO is 63 tables. So you've got to imagine it'd be the same kind of thing here. Uh, every, every table is going to be cranking for sure. Um, yeah, it's going to, it's going to be packed.
[00:10:01] Um, I'll say we, I mean, I don't, I don't, I can't really, you know, I can only see so much cause I, I'm not, you know, I just do the, the, uh, looking at the verification and stuff like that. I'm not going to be actually running the charts because my times will be free up, freed up to concentrate on verification and referees, right. Getting to the places and answering any questions somebody has as long as it's about foosball are, are my other best subject, the Lord. How many, uh, anyway, um, how many reps?
[00:10:29] I mean, I just happened to look at amateur doubles and we already have 50 teams. I mean, just for amateurs, 50, 50, 50 players. I'm sorry. 50, no, that's 50 teams. 50 teams. So that's a hundred players already. Wow. Let's see. One assess. That's well, yeah. I mean, I got two rows, so that's them and their partner. So yeah, it's about, it's about right at 50. There you go. There you go. It's going to be big. Yeah. It'll be big. Yeah. All right.
[00:10:58] So, and as foosballers go, they tend to register in the last couple of days before they get there or when they arrive. That's it. That's right. You still got, uh, you still got lots of time for that. Uh, you know, and again, I, you know, what I was getting at about the points and everything, they, they haven't really made a public announcement yet on Facebook to registrations open because they wanted to get the points. Right. And they didn't want anybody signing up if they had to adjust the points. You see what I'm saying? Okay.
[00:11:26] So, so I think if he's done it, they did it in the past day or two, but I've been down here in New Orleans. So I really haven't been, uh, paying attention to the internet, uh, while I'm down here. Cause I'm just number one, wifi is limited. And, uh, for me anyway, and, and, and, uh, I hadn't been just, I hadn't been on a computer much since I've been down here. That's a good thing. You need a break because you're going to be on a computer all weekend. Yeah.
[00:11:52] But I'm looking on there now and seeing, um, and I, I don't see an announcement on Facebook, but trust me, they're going to get signed up. This, this year, uh, for the, uh, hall of fame, we're, we're, we're geared up and ready to handle 600 people. If they show up. Wow. You know, we're ready. We have, uh, I feel like. The best staff setup we could possibly have.
[00:12:18] Again, we have Kristen going to run the charts to free me up from, from doing that from last tournament. And we're going to have four registration. We're going to have Donna, Carol, karma, Arthur, and Scott. So we're gonna have four registrations. Wow. And, uh, so we're ready to knock it out of the park. So yeah, we're ready to do this and, uh, it's going to be great. Points. I saw points were updated Tuesday morning. That's when I noticed they were updated.
[00:12:48] So I don't know if they were updated when, uh, Monday night or at some, but I, I was checking to sign up and, um, and I saw Tuesday morning they were updated. So tomorrow will be, uh, I mean, yeah, Tuesday will be a week. So, um, but, and, and then registration happened to open up right at that kind of at that same time. So, but I registered right away, Donald, I'm, I'm, I want to get there and play some foosball and, and I'm excited to see how this room set up.
[00:13:16] Um, have you heard anything about the, the national contingent, what that's looking like?
[00:13:49] Yeah. Everything worked right. And that's what they've been doing the rest of this week. But, uh, as far as the, the international, uh, I believe it's always been big and I don't look for it to be any different. Now I'll be honest with you. There, there is some, some other tournaments that will take a lot of the foreigners attention with the main one being the, the world cup. That's going to be in the end of June.
[00:14:16] That's where all players for two years qualify to go to the big ITSF tournament of the year, which is every two years. So a lot of them will probably be committed to that. Um, and then we have the world series at the end of May, which is going to have the top uh, top 12 in each division of men and women playing the gold ticket finals. So that's, that's going to have a lot, but there's still going to be a lot here.
[00:14:42] Cause I've had a lot of people call and, uh, have to get their rank for the, uh, tournament before Vegas. So we've had quite a lot of entrance. So I look forward to still be high. Yeah. You know? Yeah. No, it's, it seems like, uh, because Vegas is such a destination sort of, uh, uh, it's a vacation destination for a lot of folks. It's easier for the international players to really get there and do their thing. So that makes a huge difference. It's, uh, it's exciting. Um, have you been in the Westgate before?
[00:15:13] Yes. Well, our first tournament was last year. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Um, it's, it's super huge. Um, we, when you go in there, they have an eating place. When you walk through the front door, you go all the way to the end and they have one of the biggest walls of TVs I've ever seen in my life. TVs? That TVs one after another. And I was like, what in the world? And then I see all these booths, like you're at a booth fixing to sit back and watch, you
[00:15:41] know, Wayne Newton sing or Elvis, you know, by the way, the Westgate used to be Elvis's casino way back in the day. Oh, it was. Oh, I thought I mentioned that. Oh, that's cool. That's a place where Elvis actually did his residency and lived upstairs and all that. That was the hotel. Exactly. Exactly. That's it. Oh, wow. That's awesome. So I'm sitting, I'm sitting at all these booths and all them TVs. And then I found out that's where they do the, the online gambling. Oh, sports betting. Yeah. Sports betting. Yeah.
[00:16:10] Boxing, hockey, basketball, baseball. Foosball? Boxing. We need to get that in there. I need to tell them, hey, y'all need to get some foosball betting in there. But you know, that was what all that was. And right down there is where you get some food. If you don't want to go to a restaurant and get big stuff. I mean, I got like pizza, chili, all kinds of stuff and sandwiches, all that down there.
[00:16:31] And then, but, but on, on back, when you first come in the casino from the, from the street, if you turn to the right, go down that first hall, they have some really nice expensive restaurants down there. But when you get to the end of the hallway, that's where the first ballroom is. And you're going to hang a right, then take the first hallway to the left. And we're down that away. Now we're also going to be playing foosball during this gigantic dart tournament. What? Dart tournament here? Oh, geez. Yeah. The darts were there last time we came.
[00:17:00] And I think they have, if I'm not mistaken, they have something like, I don't know, 4,000 dart players or something like that. I mean, it's a, it's a ton of dart players. And I've heard they have over hundreds and hundreds of, of dart boards in there electronically. And they have their own live stream. And it was really cool because some of the guys from, from our stream went over and talked to their stream and actually invited them. And they came over to our stream and watch it. And they was like, oh man, this is so cool.
[00:17:28] Cause you know, a lot of dart players know about foosball. Yes. Of course. And a lot of foosball players know about dart playing. So it was real neat. Everybody wears matching uniforms in the dart tournament. They all have on their team shirts, just like, you know, foosball needs to be. And it is getting out of the way. A lot of people do. Yeah. You know, you see a lot of those, uh, nice looking, uh, uh, foosball network jerseys and, uh, the 3d print, uh, jerseys and, and stuff like that. That's what they all look like. It's super cool.
[00:17:57] And, uh, of course they have so many rooms that that's why you need to book early because they booked the hotel out usually every time. Okay. And also they have a gigantic indoor, uh, concession stand, which would be next to us now. Okay. Since they moved us, they moved us around the corner somewhere. We're closer to where the, uh, indoor, uh, concession is. And they also have an outdoor concession with the grill and everything. So we'll be right beside that. And, uh, we'll be sharing it with them.
[00:18:27] Uh, actually we're bumming off of them because, you know, whenever you have concessions, you have to have reach an arbitrary. Since they have that, we're not bound by that. So that's so cool, you know, and, uh, you know, it's pretty good food too. So that's, that's a big plus. So it's going to be a lot of people there. A lot of people will be walking by the hallway, looking at us, watching us play foosball. And you hear a lot of, man, I used to do that. And so all we, all we say is in y'all to start back, you know? Yeah. Come on in.
[00:18:56] It's, it's, it's a lot of fun to do with them. Last time it was, it was really exciting to have them and see them come by and stop at the door and amazement. And then when we go to concession, we look at their stuff with amazement. So it's, it's pretty cool all the way around. So I'm just excited. I get to be in the same hotel. I'm an Elvis fan, but to be in the same place where he did all those drugs, man, I'm pumped. And he shot his TV. He shot, he actually shot his TV.
[00:19:23] Like in the room, in the room I had, I actually had a picture of Elvis on one wall. Oh, and, uh, I'm thinking it was Marilyn Monroe on another one. I don't remember, but anyway, it's pretty cool. So I haven't played a tournament in Vegas and I think 20 years, at least 19. It might've been 06, but I think it was 05 was the last time I played a tournament in Vegas. So, um, I'm, I'm, I'm really looking forward more than anything else. Legitimately. I'm looking forward to the hall of fame induction ceremonies.
[00:19:52] That's really why I'm going. Yes. Obviously I love foosball. I got two great partners, uh, playing with my buddy, Bruce Welton and pro doubles, and then playing with Sullivan Rue and open doubles. Ooh. And I'm really, really excited. Oh, uh, like I said, two great partners. So obviously looking forward to playing some foosball, some great foosball, but just, I get to see obviously, uh, Tony Spreedman get inducted. And then, uh, you know, my, my dear, dear friend, Billy Pappas get inducted. Yeah.
[00:20:20] Um, it's, I think, you know, and I know Ryan, Ryan's doing a great job. I know he's going to make it over the top and he's going to make it a show. And I'm, I'm just, I'm glad I get to be a part of it. So I'm, I'm really, really pumped about this whole thing. No pressure, no pressure, Randy, but you know, maybe, maybe, maybe we could get, uh, you know, Billy to sit down and talk just maybe. That's yeah. It's not going to happen. It's not, it's not good. You could ask him, Tom. I'll ask him. I'll ask him in front of you. Yeah.
[00:20:46] He's just, you know, Billy, Billy's just, uh, you know, I don't know. I know. We'll see. We'll see. No pressure. No pressure. We'll see if we can get him for a couple of minutes. It's only like, it's only like, you know, the, before I die, I have to do this, you know, kind of thing. Well, you know what? If, if you get him to sit down and talk to you and interview, you've done something. Okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. He doesn't, he doesn't, he won't do it. He won't do it. Look, even, even get, even getting them on the phone.
[00:21:13] Like he, he doesn't like to, you know, I called him the other day. He was actually, I think he's been in Vegas for like a week and a half now. And I call him, I can get him on the phone, but most of the time he won't answer the phone. He just wants a text. He won't even answer the phone. He won't. He won't. And look, I've been trying to get ahold of him for something very important. It has to do with the world cup, world championships, and it has to do with the hall of fame ceremony. And I've been back and forth. He'll text me back and forth. And as soon as he texts me, I'll jump on that messenger phone and call. Go silent.
[00:21:44] So just, I mean, today, just about, just about an hour and a half ago, I said, if you would just answer your phone, I could talk to you and we could have everything understood in just a matter of minutes. And then he texts me back. He says, well, I just have my PC and I don't have a phone. I don't, you know, we'll just, we'll just have to text. So I, you know, it's okay. I understand. I understand. Some people, you know, they just, it's these millennials. Jeez.
[00:22:11] Well, I know, I know he's, I know he's, I know inside he's happy to be put in this because it does mean something, but you know, he's just a, just a happy guy. There's Ryan Moore. What's up, Ryan? Oh man. Just checking in guys. Just the, you know, getting to Vegas and checking in. I wanted to join up on you guys. Oh, dude. We were just, just talking about the hotel. We're talking about that. That's Elvis's hotel. Is that true? I'm in Elvis's room. Actually. You're in his room. Let's go.
[00:22:40] Let's go. Whoa. Is that, I had to get a nice room. Oh, dude. I had to get a nice room to like entertain, you know, all the VIPs. Look at that. I just want to do. That's a VIP. Hello, Iveta. Yep. So, so. Wow. That's where he did all the, that's where he did all the drugs. That's where Elvis did all the drugs. Right there. Let's go. Is the TV that he shot. We want to know.
[00:23:13] Is the TV that he shot. He shot a hole in the TV. Is it still there? Or is there. No, they had to replace that. We'll have to talk to Randy about the, the caliber of a weapon. He used to, what was it? Like a three 57 Magna or something. He used to shoot the TV. It was a, it might've been, it might've been a 44. I don't know, but it was one of those. It was one of those, you know, them, them bubble boob tube bed. Those things. It don't even matter. He barely put a hole in it. Those things were indestructible. Right. Exactly.
[00:23:42] So, so Ryan, let's, let's get an update here. What's going on. How, how is that? How's the setup happening? Oh, it's great. I flew in. And as soon as I landed, I knew tornado was going to be here soon with our truck of tables, brand new tables. And yeah, we're getting another 32 brand new tables for this one. So we'll have a total 64 tables. So just one over TKO, but we had plenty of TKO. It was, it was awesome. Yes. We actually,
[00:24:09] the reason why we don't have more is because our room wouldn't allow it. We were maxing this room out. I mean, it's going to be maxed. Okay. All right. I'm going to try to find your spot, buddy. Well, I appreciate that. You know, if, if, if I got to go in the men's room and hang out in there, I guess that's a, that's the way it works. Right. Yeah. So, but yeah, no, what was cool is I called Josh when I landed. Cause I'm like, all right, we got to get this truck offloaded. I got about a thousand packages at Mike explains house. I got to go pick up, you know, got a, got tornado landing.
[00:24:39] So I called Josh and said, what's up, man? So what's going on? He's like, yeah, man, we're, we're fully offloaded. The truck trailer's already offloaded and we're waiting for tornado to get here and we're going to offload that. I'm like, wow. Very good. Nice. I don't, I don't like to have to tell people what to do. So it's, it's awesome. So they're taking control. The crew's already got everything in the room, but a tornado trucks here and they're just waiting for the forklift to, to get free. And they're going to use the forklift and yank everybody in the room. We'll probably start set up tonight.
[00:25:08] Donald, I don't think we're going to be behind this tournament. That'd be great. So the, we got a, we got a, after, after TKO, I learned a lot. So we got 50% more employees this tournament. 50% man. I was like, I am not going to be understaffed ever again. So now the pit set up, that's the, that's the real deal. The one that you had, had, had configured the first time this is going to show up at, in Vegas. Yeah.
[00:25:37] I actually really wanted a whole lot more, but again, the space, they, they shafted me out of about 4,000 square foot of four-year space I was supposed to get. Oh. So yeah, it was a miscommunication and the contract wasn't perfect. You know, we still got a decent size room, but I had more than I had was planning on. And as soon as I learned, I didn't have any of the four-year space. I was like, you know, fuck, excuse my language. I feel like excuse my language. Yeah. That's fine. I was just like, now we're, we're tight.
[00:26:05] So I had to do away with the bleacher set up and I actually wanted to try more of a dart approach, more of a chair, like a bunch of chairs on the floor versus bleachers. So we'll see what the players think about that because the TKO, I noticed there's more people in the round tables with chairs than there were in the pits. And I'm like, well, the last thing I want to do is deter people from coming in because they have to go sit on a cold bleacher. So maybe, maybe chairs will be a better route.
[00:26:35] So, you know, I kind of had two things. One, I couldn't do the bleachers. We didn't have the space. And two, I was like, well, good, we're going to get a good tester of what people will feel about chairs on floor versus bleachers. And don't be wrong. We're going to have, I think like 140 or 50 chairs. Wow. So it's not like we're going to be short on chairs. But yeah, it's going to be a whole different approach. It'll be more like a dart approach than how we've always done it all these years.
[00:27:03] So like no risers, you know, so it'll be interesting. But the TVs are massive and they're like perfectly placed. So you'll see. You'll see. The finals area has got an upgrade. No doubt. No doubt. Very cool. Upgrade from TKO. Like it's finals 3.0 compared to TKO. So, no, it's exciting, man. Me and the wife has been, man, we've been busting ass. You know, I don't, I'm not shying away from it. And having fun doing it. I want to put that out there. I don't want no pity.
[00:27:33] No pity party from nobody. It's been a great time. But we've been busting ass making this thing look beautiful, at least in our mind. We're hoping it comes to fruition when we get here. Well, you get no sympathy from us, but you do get our thanks. Because we're so pumped up, man. We're so psyched about getting there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yep. The things, the only things, me and the wife talked about, the only things we want is like, yeah, bro, thank you. Not like, thank you, Ryan, for everything you're doing for food. Well, I hate that. Don't do that.
[00:28:02] Don't do that sympathetic shit. I'm having a good time. You're doing it because you love it. Pretend you came to my house. Pretend this is a foos party at a house. And you're like, hey, man, thanks for the good time. No problem. I'm cool with that. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so anyways, now we're excited. The layout at the kickoff was awesome. When I got there, I was surprised at how awesome the kickoff looks. So if this is that plus, I don't think anybody's going to be disappointed.
[00:28:30] No, I mean, I hope not. I hope not. I mean, again, man, I told you, it's level up every single time. There won't be one time. It's not leveling up. Well, nationals will be a little bit different because the ceilings are shorter. So we can only do so much at nationals. But just wait till y'all will hear about worlds. Oh, yeah. That's all I can say. You get no information. You get zero information on this call. Just wait till worlds up.
[00:28:59] No, no information about when or where. Is that what you're saying? You get zero information on that. Oh, man. You know how to, you really know how to hurt a guy. I mean, come on. Just a little hint. Just a little tiny. Is it like. I know. She knows. Okay. It's all contracted. We're good. Is it in the Northern Hemisphere? Okay, fine. I'll tell you. I'll tell you. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to give him a hint. All right. All right. The hint is. It's going to be unbelievable. And that's all I'm saying.
[00:29:29] All right. No, no. I'll tell you guys. I can't. I can't let you guys game dry. All right. It's at the Clarion and looking to Kentucky, baby. Let's go. Very cool. Are you joking? Yes. He's joking. I'm joking, man. I'm joking. Is it going to be. Is it going to be Labor Day weekend again? It's going to be the same weekend, right? Same time. Same time. Okay. Okay. All right. Got that. That's good enough. I'm not going to say it. Yeah, I'm going to say it.
[00:29:58] We are shortening it, though. It used to be a six-day event. We're going down to a five-day event. Five days. Yeah, that's good. Okay. That's good. Five days. That's good. We got it. That's good. Internet. It's me. Maybe. Yeah. I remember back in the day that Monday was always a travel day. We got you. Monday was always a travel day anyway. Totally disappointed. No. Nobody's disappointed on that. No, nobody's disappointed. No, and shortening it. Oh, yeah. No, no, no. No, no. Let me tell you. Let me text you. Yeah.
[00:30:27] I was saying back in the day, Monday was a travel day. You know, they finished up a few events. Right. Finished up a few events, but it was mostly a travel day. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. They didn't run events on Monday back in the day. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. We finished Sunday night, and then Monday was get home. So, I don't know. Okay. You guys did hear what I said before I cut out. Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're going down to a five day instead of a six day. Okay.
[00:30:54] So, one day are you eliminating Wednesday or Monday? Eliminating Monday. Nice. But I'm not eliminating Monday. I'm converting Monday. Monday will not be a foosball day. It could be your choice. It could be. Uh-oh. Now we lost you. Now we just cut out. Now we lost you. He was about to get good. No. Look at him. No. Oh, we lost you. It was about to get good, and we lost you. Can you hear me? Yeah. There you are.
[00:31:24] There we got you. All right. All right. So, Monday can either be a foosball day, or it could be a have fun around the area day, a travel day. Oh, good. Okay. So, it'll be up to you. I mean, we're going to have fun around the area, but. Yeah. And we're not talking about Lexington. No, we are talking about Lexington. It's Lexington, Kentucky. There's horses. There's hay. There's grass. There's bourbon. Hey, Luke. There's bourbon. I sent you a picture of what your face was stuck on that for a while while you were talking.
[00:31:54] I just sent you the picture. You know what's funny is you're always having fun. You're always having fun. Yeah. So, I get it. I get it. I get it. So, what happened for me at Worlds, and it wasn't just me. It was the vibe. I felt it. Everything wrapped up Sunday night. Like, almost everything. Monday was a few specialty events. Everybody had already been partying like crazy. Yep. The winners were already crowned in every major event. And then Monday came around, and we were all like, what are we still doing here?
[00:32:23] Yeah, it was all the leftover, like, people that, I don't know, just, we were all zombies. I was kind of like, man, I'm tired. And I didn't even work that, right? So, I was just like, man. And then even with, like, the ITSF tournaments, you go there, and it's like a seven, now it's a seven-day tournament this year. I'm like, this is miserable. Seven days. You know, it's just too much. Like, you know, for me, not even foosball related. For me, like, when I, four days is like the max I like to go somewhere. Five, I can handle. Six, it's like, okay.
[00:32:53] Seven, I'm like, I need to get the hell home. You know, I'm like, it's been too long. I mean, like, you know, short three-day trips, a great one. Two days, you're getting a little bit too little, you know. But that's why I'm like, five days is just money. You know, like, let's make it five. Let's let people use Monday as travel day or vacation day, whatever your heart desires. And I think we can get it all done in that. You know, I want us to leave Worlds going, damn. Not leaving Worlds going, all right, what do we do today?
[00:33:22] Yeah, right, right, right, right. Just like, oh, I'm very intrigued now that it's not Lexington. I know. I tell you, man, I tried. They didn't win this. Yeah, they told us no. They said we don't like you guys anymore. Oh, come on. Yeah. I'm sure that's what they said. Yeah. The road just kicked us out. Uh-oh.
[00:33:50] Well, I mean, what's Freddie got to say about this? I want to know what Freddie's got to say. Oh, Freddie. Come on. Yeah, now she's talking about some other things we're going to announce soon. We got some cool people coming. I don't think he's ever came to the Hall of Fame. Maybe a long time ago. Maybe, like, 10 years ago. Okay. Yeah, we have a Hall of Famer coming. We have a few that actually hadn't came out in, like, over a decade or two.
[00:34:18] We have a Hall of Famer from Europe. Yeah, we have. So there's only two people. I want to make sure the stat's correct. I think there's only two people in the Hall of Fame from Europe. Uh-huh. Well, I know one for sure. I know. Yeah. Dieter Thiel. Dieter Thiel. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Is he coming? Yeah. Nice. Cool. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. So he's on the foosball card. So if people got foosball cards and want to get them signed. I've got one. I'll bring it with me.
[00:34:47] Only chance you're ever going to have. Yeah. I'll bring it with me. And you want to know something else about Dieter Thiel? He was a dart champion. Him or his wife, one of them was like a dart champion in Germany. Whoa. Whoa. So there we go. I mean, you see. So we got him coming. And then old man Jeep Perry's coming, man. Jeep. He hadn't been out in like decades. So when I heard that, I was like, oh, hell yeah. That's super awesome. Very cool. This is going to be a good one. This is going to be a good one.
[00:35:15] Anybody missing this, man. You're losing your mind if you're missing this one. Right. I'm telling you. Seriously. Dang. Yeah. I saw there was a bunch of good like last minute flights too. Like it's not that expensive. I was looking up a couple of them the other day. I was like, damn, dude. Like $250 and $300 for most big cities to get here. I'm like, okay. That's grace. But yeah. Yeah. Our hotel block was funny. They left it open for a lot longer than they were supposed to. I think they just forgot to pull it down. But they just pulled it down the other day, yesterday or the day before. Did they? Okay.
[00:35:46] If anybody's looking for a last minute room, I have a line on one if you're interested. So it's a single. But if anybody's interested, I'm just putting it out there. Yep. But it's. We're about to go get to work. Yeah. You got to get back to work. Yeah. Well, hey, look, we're what? Four, three days out until this thing gets rolling. So. Yeah.
[00:36:14] We appreciate your time. It's already started. Yeah. It's already. Yeah. For you, it has. Yeah. So. No, we can't wait, man. I'm telling you. We're pumped. We're all pumped. So. Did the block? Did the block sell out? Did the room block sell out? It was weird. So. Like weeks before the deadline, Saturday was sold out. So you couldn't book through Saturday. You had to book like every other day. And then Wednesday sold out.
[00:36:41] And then after I said, this is sold out, that's sold out. The King sold out. And then two days later, all of a sudden the rooms were back. I think maybe they added more to the block is what happened. They sold out and they added more rooms. But we sold out of the original amount, which was like 220 or 230 rooms on Saturday. Wow. Which, which is good. Cause that insinuates, you know, at first I was a little nervous, to be honest with you, because I think Donald touched base on it. She was listening.
[00:37:10] I heard it in the background, but there's a lot of big tournaments this year between world cup, the world series gold finals. Oh yeah. So we thought we were going to take a hit, but you know, last minute, dude, we were, we're, we're, we're right at the same room cells as last year, which for us is a win because we were so concerned about, you know, uh, the world cup and all these other tournaments, you know, obviously pulling players. There's no way it can't. Um, you know, there's, there's only, you know, the world cup requires you to take a week off vacation at work. Yeah.
[00:37:36] I mean, you know, that, that, that, to be honest with you, every world cup year, I guarantee you, um, robs like a huge percentage of players from this tournament nationals, all the big tournaments worlds, because people from Europe and all these other countries can't do big tournaments a year like that. You know, think about it. Even, even an American player, I know many people that can't come to Vegas cause they're going to Spain. Uh, well, think about it. Like in America, you're going to have to take off two days of work to come to the tournament. It's about a grand, you know, maybe a little more, a little less, depending on your lifestyle.
[00:38:06] Um, well, in Spain, you're at six days off work and you're three grand. Maybe if you, if you, yeah, maybe 2,500, if you're lucky. So it robs somebody of at least three tournaments from America. So it's, it's, you know, it's, it's a great tournament and there's nothing to complain about. It's just the reality. So the fact that we're matching last year's numbers is fantastic. And that tells me next year's Vegas, especially when some news comes out about that, right? It's going to be fire. Yeah.
[00:38:37] Yeah. So. It's yeah. And also we might be in a ballroom about twice this size next year. Okay. That's good to know. Maybe it's not final. All right. So I'm trying. So I guess the best way to describe it this year is where it's going to be cozy, so to speak. Oh yeah. That's the first time you made her laugh.
[00:39:06] Hey man, you know, I've been married almost 30 years now. I got, I mean, I got some of that in me, you know? Yeah, no, it's not that bad. So, so like last year, the total square footage, um, was about 14, four. Mm-hmm. If you don't count storage. And this year we have 12, eight. Okay. So, um, you know, I think it was 14, four or 14, eight. It's about 2000 square foot less than last year. Hmm. Got it. Okay. But we have a huge front area.
[00:39:35] We have a huge amount of tables. We have a lot of stuff. So I just, uh, all right. She's rushing me. Cause we got to get going. She's getting you out of there. Okay. All right. Well, Hey man, it's, uh, we're, we're going to be there before you know it. And, uh, we're, we're looking to have a great time. So, uh, you know, uh, step up, make, make it, make it happen, dude. It's happening guys. It's happening faster than we all know. And, uh, and, uh, things are looking good. I'll give you guys one last teaser. It's kind of hilarious. It's not even a teaser actually.
[00:40:05] It's just the information just hit today. And I found it kind of funny. I'm meeting with the guy that created the UFC, the UFC, Dana, Dana White. No, not Dana White. The guy that actually created it. Dana White bought it. Bought it. He bought it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, the guy who actually created it. He's coming to the tournament actually. He's going to be there? Wow. That's cool. It'll be fun. It'll be exciting. I don't, I, it's not like we're meeting to like, I don't know, do something, but, uh, Athena actually just sent me a message today.
[00:40:35] She's like, Hey, uh, don't I meet my, my uncle? I was like, Oh, okay, cool. That's, that's kind of cool. So anyways, uh, a lot of cool stuff happening. So, uh, anyways, we're getting all right. Thanks buddy. We'll see you in a couple of days. Party on dude. And, uh, don't work too hard. I don't see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow. Don't miss your flight. I need you to get to work. I'll be looking for my limo. I already got your scooter rented, buddy.
[00:41:04] That's exciting news. All right. All right, guys. Later. Later, Ryan. Later, Ryan. See you better. That's great. Well, that was, that was, that was a nice surprise. Uh, could you feel that energy coming off him? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That's a hundred percent. He's 150%. He's all the time on that. It's going to be big. Yeah. I just want to get inside that, that Elvis Presley suite, man.
[00:41:33] That looks, that's pretty amazing. He had a pool table. Yeah. Yeah. In there. That was big. Dang. I can't wait to see my room. Probably going to be in the basement. The basement. Well, now, now. No, I'm just kidding. Well. No, I'm just kidding. So, I mean, the Westgate's been there a long, long time and I'm sure there's been lots of renovations and stuff, but I'm sure it's still got that same atmosphere that when Elvis was there in the, uh, what was it? The seventies when he took residency?
[00:42:03] Yeah. I'll tell you what, it, it, it, they spent what I heard from Mary when she, uh, before she got it last time, she said they spent millions of dollars upgrading that hotel. Got it. And again, it's what it is now, but it still has some, I believe Elvis statues in their places and, and some other things. So it's going to be nice. I mean, and, and, and here's something else. Let me tell you about this.
[00:42:28] I'm not going to go into detail, but our first tournament last year at the Westgate, one of our staff brought his fiance and I got married into the chapel and we actually got to go in the chapel, which is inside the Westgate. And, and we had a wedding there. It was so awesome. Ooh, there you go. They talk, it's romantic too. Yeah. So if you're not married and you want to, if you want to do it, you can come and have Elvis marry y'all. Or if you are married, you can get married again by Elvis. That's right. You can, you can.
[00:42:59] But I tell you what, it's, it's really, really a nice place. Yeah. It's really good. I noticed there's a, I think you mentioned it already. This buffet, which, which I think every casino must have its own buffet, you know? So I'm sure they, I'm sure they do somewhere, but down there was more like a go to a counter and order it. And it had a bunch of chairs out there and then it had all them booths watching the TV, but you could order stuff there and take it to your room or eat there. And then they give you a cup. You can get a bottle of this cup for your drink.
[00:43:26] And they just said, you can come back anytime during the day and get sodas or whatever refill. There you go. And so that was pretty cool, but you shouldn't drink that much soda probably. But anyway, it was pretty good. You know, it was good. And, and, and here's a couple of tidbits I'll tell people. Number one tidbit is Walmart will deliver to the Westgate. Oh, nice. They will. If you have, if you're, if you're a Walmart plus, which, you know, I am. So when I, when I get there, I'm going to order for them to bring me, you know,
[00:43:52] like some things for me, like bottled water and you know, cause five, five dollars a bottle is kind of high. So I'm going to get a case for like four 48. Okay. And, uh, drink, drink water and you know, maybe some snacks or chips or something, or even maybe a sandwich. I don't know. But anyway, that's a little tidbit on that. Huh? Getting to somebody. And, and for anybody who's bringing a family and they're going to explore Vegas while you're playing and sweat it out. The, uh, the little thing like they have at the Epcot and Disney, those, uh, little,
[00:44:22] you know, what are they called? Paddle? You know, it's one of those, the tram. Yeah. The thing that goes up on them, they, uh, it goes to the West gate. So it starts at West gates and goes all the way down the strip to almost the other end. But you can, yeah, you can ride those trams, uh, trams back and forth. And, uh, we did. And it was fun. It takes you on a tour of the city really as you go. Yeah. It takes you by that big old spear that has that big round ball where it has all the stuff on there. Yes.
[00:44:52] It's so amazing. So it takes you right by the big old Ferris wheel down there by the, uh, flamingo where that was. So it's, it's got, you know, it's, it's a nice ride. That's, uh, there's, there's obviously it's Vegas. So there's always something going on. Yeah. Always something going on. I don't think, I think a day pass is only like $8 or something. I'm making four. I don't know. Okay. Our three day pass might be eight bucks or I don't know, something like that. But my wife did it and I went with her a couple of times. It's a lot of fun.
[00:45:18] So rumor has it that if you're in the, uh, the foosball room, the, the, uh, the tournament room and you want to go back to your hotel room, it can take as much as 15 minutes just to get back to your hotel room. Is that true? It could take a while. Yeah. It could, uh, when you walk down the hallway, it's going to take you about three or four minutes to get to the ballroom, another three or four minutes, get to the elevator. And then depending on the elevator, you know, uh, it could take anywhere 10 to 15 minutes.
[00:45:46] And I believe we're staying in the North tower, which is the furthest away around. And I was, I was probably going to rent a scooter anyway, without the injury, just cause I probably need to get there quicker. Yeah. You know, for getting, make sure I'm on time in the mornings and getting back to my room and stuff like that. And, uh, you know, I know I probably need to walk that much, but not all in one day. Right. Two days. Right. So, um, I'm, I'm, I'm looking forward to it. You know, it's going to be good.
[00:46:15] And they have a whole bunch of stores down that whole hallway. Um, I know some things I'm going to have to pick out for my kids. Cause they had a lot of stuff down there. My adult kids like socks that are. Like game themed and all kinds of stuff. I know you want it. They got it. I mean, very cool. Well, it's, uh, it, they say it is one of the more expensive tournaments in the, uh, in the tour for sure.
[00:46:41] Uh, but at the same time, uh, if you think ahead, you can also, you know, grab a few things, uh, from home to, uh, to bring with you as far as just, you know, small meals, things that, that are non-perishable. You can. Yep. Uh, you know, ours had a microwave. I'm, I'm sure if every room, I mean, I think last year, uh, Mary got a sweets and, and we stuck like, uh, a suite had like three rooms with a big one, with a big one in the middle of how to stand up towel, refrigerator, microwave, but my room actually had a microwave.
[00:47:09] So I was able to get some meals that she just popped into the microwave for a couple minutes and, and, you know, but, but you know, it's, there's a, there's a, uh, one restaurant, a Benny, Benny Hannah's, I think. Does that sound right? Benny Hannah's. Yeah. Yep. Man, uh, somebody at the tournament went and got something to eat. I can't remember if it was Darren bone or somebody went and got some steak over rice, you know, some steak and, uh, and, and they said they couldn't eat it all. And they gave it to me and I was like, oh my gosh, it filled me up.
[00:47:37] So I went and bought one later that week. It wasn't that expensive. They got it to go place. Okay. And I bought, I bought one of those for like, like 20 something dollars and I ate it and had enough for two meals. I mean, they just packed it in there. Yeah. And there was a lot of people that ate in there. A lot of foosball players went and ate in there. I saw Miriam and a bunch of her friends in there eating one time, Hannah and all of them. They went in there and ate. It was a nice place. And it's right there in the hallway to the foosball room. So they have some places.
[00:48:03] Now they had another place where they had the price of the meat up there. And there was one steak that was like 150 bucks or 100 bucks, something like that. Wow. That better be good. That better be good. It better be good. And it better burnt me if I need it. Because I mean, it's, you know, that's a lot of money. Damn. I always wondered about that. There's a, what is it called? Ruth Chris Steakhouse. There's one here in Albany.
[00:48:29] And yeah, that's the, that's like the average price of a, of a steak at Ruth Chris. And it's like, what? Really? Nah, you can get a, you can get a filet at Ruth Chris for like 60 bucks. Oh, 60? Okay. You could get something like that, but it's a big thing. Yeah. You get some places where you, you try to get like some, some Wagyu and it'll run you like 150 bucks. Or if you get a tomahawk, it's a hundred bucks or, you know, the one good thing about Vegas that I'll say is it don't matter what time it is. If you want something, you can get it.
[00:48:59] So that's the one nice thing about it. Right. So. Yep. It doesn't close. Now, over on Fremont where we used to stay, they had some restaurants where you could get a steak dinner, steak lobster dinner for like about $19. I don't think you'll find that on, yeah, I don't think you'll find that on a strip. I don't think you'll find that on a strip. Riviera, baby. Yeah. I remember the Riviera days. My goodness. Yeah. Well, there was a time, especially when the mafia was more present, where you would go and get comp for meals a lot of times.
[00:49:27] If you're a gambler, you know, you go there to comp your meal or comp your room. They still do that? Okay. I think they still do. You just got to lose a lot of money. Right. And as far as a mafia, I'm sure they're there, but I don't want to know about it. Yeah. We're not going to ask. If you know about it, you probably did something wrong. Just keep a low profile. That's all. You know? Yeah. I don't know nothing. It's okay. It's all right. They're everywhere.
[00:49:56] They're everywhere, Mr. Donald. They're actually everywhere. Oh, yeah. I know. I know they are. I know they are. I tell you what, something, if you are with your family, you like some fun stuff to do. Something I always wanted to take my wife on was go to that Venetia place. The Italian place. Yeah. And get in that little boat deal they got going around. What they call them things. Oh, the Venetian. So my wife and I. Yeah. The gondola. The gondola. We took a trip in 2019.
[00:50:24] We did a West Coast trip where we flew into Vegas and then we drove to LA and up to San Francisco. And we were in Vegas for two days. We stayed at the Palazzo, which is actually, the Venetian has two hotels. It's the Venetian and the Palazzo. And they have an outside gondola and they have an inside gondola. And we rode both. And the outside one's kind of small. The inside one's cool because the ceiling of the building is all painted like it's outside. Yeah. And it's pretty cool. It really is pretty cool.
[00:50:53] Also, if you're a thrill seeker, you can go to the stratosphere down the street and they have rides on the roof of the building. They have a free, like a free fall. And then they have. Oh, I've seen pictures of that. Yeah. Oh, man. I'm afraid of heights, man. But my wife, we went up there. She got me on the free fall and I was petrified. And then they have like a, it's like a roller coaster where they hang you off the side of the building. And then they have another thing. It's like a claw.
[00:51:20] They hang you off the side of the building and they spin this thing. And it's, I'm getting, I'm sweating just talking about it. But yeah, I mean, there's, you know, there's a bunch of cool stuff to see. And then I think New York, New York actually has a roller coaster inside the hotel that goes outside. And yeah, I mean, if you're, it's, they've actually made it fairly family friendly. Yes. Throughout the years. So vacation, vacation destination, really.
[00:51:50] Just a little. Let me just tell you what you need to avoid those when you're walking down the strip. If you see some guys going slapping their hand with a piece of paper, just keep walking. They just want you to grab the car and they're trying to get you to go to a naughty bar. So just keep walking. Don't look at them. Wow. Well, they still got that, but it's more late at night, but you're right about family friendly because they got an M&M store. They got a Mercy's chocolate store.
[00:52:18] They got all these stores that I do not need to go in. Yeah. Well, and I'm going to tell you if for anybody, look for anybody who's maybe not street wise, there's a lot of people always trying to, they're always trying to hustle you. They're trying to get their hands on your money. You might see some people standing around a guy playing three card Monty or find the ball, right? They'll put a little red ball under three shells or three caps. Yep. And they'll tell you a hundred bucks, a hundred bucks.
[00:52:47] And they'll let you get it one time. And then after that, so just avoid any type of hustle. Don't take anything from anybody. Keep your eyes on your stuff. Just, just, it's okay to, you don't have to be mean, but you don't have to be nice. Just mind your, mind your business and keep moving. And, uh, right. That's it. You know, don't look them in the eyes. Yeah. I can look them in the eyes. You can look them in the eyes. Just, you can just don't, just don't stop. Right. Yeah. Just don't stop.
[00:53:16] That's your best bet. Don't stop. Let me tell you something. You talking about the Strat? It's right across street from Westgate. Is it? Oh, perfect. Okay. Oh, that's another thing. Uh, me and my wife went there just to check out circus circus. And it's actually. Child friendly. It's got all these kinds of carnival games all the way around it. And then the center about once an hour, every two hours, they do a circus act. Nice. And it's all free. It's all free. Okay. Yep. Well, there's a, there's something to do in between matches for sure. Absolutely.
[00:53:46] Yeah. Might take longer than a match, but I mean, uh, it's, it's pretty cool. Well, I mean, there are going to be downtimes, of course. Uh, I don't know. Oh, we'll see. See how many events. I mean, if you, if you go, if you go out and two, there's going to be downtime. Yeah. So we're going to be playing foosball, Tom. We're going to be playing foosball. Oh, yes, we are. Oh, yes, we are. No, it's a, it's, it's exciting. I think there's lots of, uh, lots of anticipation here and just, just the atmosphere alone is,
[00:54:14] is, uh, is great for competition, you know, and, uh, we'll have to hang out together. That's a, that's. I can't wait. That's the big bonus right there. For sure. I can't wait. I get, I get to see a bunch of my favorite people. I can't wait. Oh yeah. I'll be a lot of good people there. Yeah. I only have really one more thing to say about this tournament is that it is going to be the first USTSO full qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup, world championships.
[00:54:42] You have to be a member of USTSO before you play the event. Okay. Now, what does that mean? If you, I'm fixing to explain that to you. USTSO is America's federation. In order to play in ITSF events, you have to be a member of your country's federation or another country. If you live there and you move over here, like, like some of the Costa Rican players
[00:55:11] that live here still stay a federation with their home country along with some from England or Germany, wherever. But if you're going to represent USA, you have to be a federation member of USTSO. ITSF will not allow you to play unless you are. You cannot earn a qualifier, which means if, if it's a qualifying event, whether it's seniors, seniors, women's, 63 older, men's, no matter what, if it says qualifier, you cannot accept
[00:55:38] the qualifier unless you are a member of USTSO. Now, in the past, we've let them go till the end of the tournament to sign up. Okay. Now, officially, you have 15 days to accept or deny the, the qualifier. And the only reason we do that is because sometimes people might play with somebody they don't, they would rather play with somebody else and they say, I choose not to accept this. Uh, another way they wouldn't be eligible to win it is if one's from another country and
[00:56:06] they're a member over there, you have to both be, both be members of USTSO to earn a doubles qualifier and singles. You just have to be a member. Now our rules in our, our, uh, manual for USTSO sports coach says you must be a member of USTSO to accept the qualifier. Hmm. To win the qualifier, which that means you need to be a member really before the event's over.
[00:56:32] But I say before it starts, just needs to be a, if I, if you come up and you win, congratulations. Are you a member of USTSO? If that answer is not yet, then you didn't win. Sorry. Got it. Got it. Got it. I mean, like, like one of our board members, you know, we've, we've given them a couple of years to get used to knowing they have to be a member. And, uh, um, the, the slack time is over. We had, cause we had some people that thought they was, didn't know if they was. And, and, you know, then I said, well, let me pay now. And I'm like, well, that's like several months ago.
[00:57:02] I can't go back and let you do that. You know? So we're, we're being more strict on it this year. We're trying to get in line with, uh, the way ITSF wants us to be as far as a federation and go by their standards, their rules. And so you have to be a member in order to win it. And I'm going to announce that before every event. Can we get, can we get signed up at this tournament? You can, uh, you, I'll have a ledger book out where I can do the names and add them on our roster. We already have over a hunt. We already have over a hundred now.
[00:57:31] That's already signed up since, you know, the start of this year, um, because they want to earn points too. Uh, this last two seasons, we had about eight players win tour packages. For example, we have Hannah, Sullivan, Miriam, Tony, uh, Trevor Park, Tommy Yore, Tony's Friedemann. That's seven right there. They all get tour packages. That means when they get to Spain, they're going to get in that line and they're going to give them 700 euros.
[00:58:01] Ooh, right off the bat for getting there. That's awesome. And like, and like Tony and Sullivan, they won multiple. Tony's won about, I heard Tony won nine tour packages. Dang. But they only, but they only pay you for one. Huh? So he's getting, so he's getting 700 euros, but I'm going to talk with the powers to be and say, look, every time somebody like Tony wins a qualifier, he saves you $700, 700 euros.
[00:58:31] That's true. So you should at least reward him and give him at least a hundred euros to stack on each time he wins one. Yep. I know the players would love it, you know, and it still saves them money. It's incentive. They don't have to do 700 to every different person. Yeah. It's a great idea. And I'm going to bring it up to him. I just hadn't had a chance. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's exciting. I mean, just the World Cup alone is such an event and, and I mean, just the fact you're representing your, your country.
[00:58:59] I think that's just, that, that surpasses anything that, that, that we normally do. Oh, it feels great. Yeah. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. Okay. One more thing, Don, when it comes to Vegas itself. Um, what's, what's one thing a person who's going to Vegas for the very first time should never do? Never leave.
[00:59:26] Well, there's, there's quite a few things you never should do. Number one is never leave your stuff unattended. Okay. Never mess with anything that's unattended. Mm-hmm. Um, always be vigilant of your surroundings. Like public transportation is fine. The bus is fine. The tram is fine. Uh, just pay attention to your surroundings. Got it. Head on a swivel. And maybe, and maybe put your wallet in your front pocket.
[00:59:56] Oh, there's an idea. There's a concept. It's harder to pick a back pocket than it's easier to pick a back pocket than a front pocket. Yeah. Yep. Yep. But as long as you stay, don't, and I was told, and this is the same way in New Orleans or anywhere. Don't, don't take a shortcut and take a back street. Stay out there where everybody else is. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's a good call. And especially if you're, if you're traveling to Vegas for the first time, you're coming to play foosball. If you do decide to venture out, it's probably best to go out with, with someone else in a group.
[01:00:24] Uh, if you do decide to go by yourself, you know, just, just be careful. Uh, like Mr. Donald said, be, be vigilant, know where your stuff is and, uh, just, just be careful. Stay, stay where people are. Don't take shortcuts. Um, you know, it is a big city and, uh, no, no one's, no one's saying that it's not safe, but, um, it's always best to just be cautious. Be careful. Use common sense. Yeah. A hundred percent.
[01:00:53] Well, if yeah. Common sense is good, but I mean, some people might not have street, street sense, which, you know, I'm guilty for not training my kids with that. Cause I've always been protective dad, but, but like, uh, when you use Uber, make sure it's who says they supposed to come get you, uh, public transportation. You got vending machines where you get tickets and you can use a public bus. That's always, you know, if it gets you where you need to go and you're always around a lot of people.
[01:01:21] Um, but, um, you know, just like, like I said, like Randy's, uh, saying be vigilant. And if you're going to go out anywhere by yourself, do it at daytime. Yeah. And I wouldn't, I wouldn't be out at night unless you're with some people. Um, that's, that's it, man. Uh, you know, I talked with the Uber driver last time I was there and I said, I said, man, this is really nice. It's really looking good. And, and this was back, they had a big, uh, Indy car race through there. Ooh. They got a crack through Vegas.
[01:01:49] I mean, they shut down, they shut down roads to have this big race back in December. It's cool as all get out. Yeah. And they still have everything set up. I mean, you still could see it. And, uh, that was real cool. And I asked them about it. I said, well, you know, this is pretty good. And he was saying, yeah. And he said, and he was giving me tips where to be careful, which was so, which was so cool. Yeah. He said, you know, Vegas wants people to come. They're not going to put it on the news about something happening over here, over there. Yeah.
[01:02:16] You know, he said, but stuff happens everywhere in the world, but you know, I wouldn't go. And he said, I wouldn't really go in that part of the town, you know, especially by yourself. So, but overall, if you stay where most of the public is and all the tourists, you're going to be okay. Cool. Go with the crowds. Yeah. Yeah. And if, if you're flying in, you land at the airport, don't be afraid to take a limo. Uh, especially if there's a couple of you, it might actually be cheaper than a taxi. I know most people Uber now, uh, but the limo, the limos are there just like taxis.
[01:02:43] And a lot of times a taxi might cost you 40, 50, 60 bucks where you can get in a limo, a full, a stretch limo for 30 or 40 bucks. Hmm. Okay. So, and especially if you're traveling in a group, what? No, not anymore. Last time I was there, I got in a limo for 40 bucks. It's, it's gone. And what year was that? Uh, 19. Okay. Uh, well that they might do it for 75, but it's about 150 now. Really? Wow.
[01:03:12] It's definitely not. And that's, and that's not even, it's not, that's a big SUV, big black. It's not even a limousine. It's a big SUV. They're not with those anymore. Well, they got, they have some limos and they probably even higher, but, um, I wish somebody would have told me this. You could get an Uber. It's going to cost you about 40 bucks. Like you said, but they have a, they have a public bus. Well, it's not even a public bus. This is just a hotels. It's not public. Don't get it. There's a name for it. The shuttle. And when you get to the, yeah, it's a shuttle.
[01:03:41] When you get to the carriages, it's going to say something about ground shuttle. If you go there, you can buy a round trip ticket to the hotel and back for $30. Dude. And I already got an Uber. I got a, I got a full size SUV picking me up at nine 40 on Friday morning and it was 35 bucks. I know it's one way, but, um, yeah.
[01:04:06] The only, the only downside to a shuttle is that you might stop at about three, three or four hotels before you get to yours. Okay. But you get to see other hotels up close. So it's pretty cool. That is pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. So it's okay. But like I said, I wish I'd have known that. I kind of found out on my own, but, uh, you can book that at home before you leave and it's all set. You just go and go and go. The buses run about every, I guess about every hour or every 30 minutes or something like that. Okay. So it's pretty cool.
[01:04:35] So not much, not much waiting at all. That's good to know. No, everything's always moving. Everything's always moving. Yeah. Yeah. And if you get bored, they, they have, they have a slot machines in the airport. Of course they're everywhere. They're everywhere. Oh yeah. Just, I know in, in, uh, when I was in Reno working, I was walking through some of the casinos there and I noticed some of them allow smoking. Is that the case in the Westgate? Yeah.
[01:05:03] Um, I don't, I don't believe there's any that are non-smoking. I know they, like in, in, in Mississippi, they advertise this one and only casino that is totally smoke-free. Oh. And then they had, they have some casinos that have smoke-free rooms. Got it. Off to the side. But I don't believe any of them are totally smoke-free. Got it.
[01:05:24] But, but when you're going back and forth from the, uh, where, where we're going to be playing foosball to there, you kind of got a short, maybe a, I don't know, 50, 75 foot, maybe a hundred foot walk through the top part of the casino where you first come in the door. Yep. Until you're back into the hallway on the other side. Okay. No big deal. So, so you're not deep in there, but, but you still walk through some of it. Right. And a lot of these hotels now they've invested money in like air filtration systems. Oh yeah. You could, you could smell it, but it's not as bad as it used to be.
[01:05:55] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, some of these hotels, they put that, I call it like a perfume smell that goes through their filter system. Like I know the MGM, when you walk by it, it's like, boys, this smells nice. Somebody's got, you know, but it's the hotel just put it out there. So, I mean, they know people don't want to smell bad, like smoke and everything. It's a, it's a big, big giant deodorizer for your car, like a big giant pine tree, you know, like the hanging from the ceiling. Right. Out in the street, they do the same thing, except it's, it's a weed smell that they pump through the air.
[01:06:25] Yeah. I think so. Yeah. That's, that's still going on. You smell that walking down the road. But it's, but it's, but it's legal there. So what can you do? Yes, sir. But, but I don't remember smelling like smoke when, you know, at the West gate, when I get to my room and I don't remember having that kind of odor. So it's, it's okay.
[01:06:46] Here's a, here's one thing I hope for, and this is a little off topic here, but one thing I hope for, and I just noticed a drifter radio is asking about the stats on Pappas and Sprayton and the reign of terror. Here's what I, here's what I hope. Wouldn't it be cool if, if Tony and Billy ended up in, in this, the singles finals, you know, facing each other. I know it's not going to happen, but wouldn't that be something? I don't think Billy's plans. I don't think Billy's plans. Yeah.
[01:07:13] I found out Billy had an opportunity to play singles at the world cup championship. And he said, I'm not a singles player anymore. He just plays doubles. Huh? So I don't, I don't think he'll be playing. He might since it's the hall of fame. And I, and I think, I think they, I think, uh, since their hall of fame inductees, I think they actually get to play free or, or, or they're there to be becoming a member. I think they get comp for this event. Huh? I'm not sure. Are either risk-free one or the other or something like that.
[01:07:41] But, uh, yeah, that would be, I said in, I don't know if it was on here or where they probably wasn't on here. I probably was just telling somebody that it would be nice if Tony and Billy was playing together. Yeah. Yeah. That would be, but that would be P for Tony B for Billy, Elvis Presley, TB taking care of business. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha. You're, you're. That could be, that could be their team name. T, lightning bolt B.
[01:08:09] Oh, that is, that's creative. That's really creative. I love that. That, that's hilarious. Uh, it's, it's, it, your command of the, of the, the, the alphabet is amazing, Donald. Amazing. Thank you. Yeah. T and B take care of business. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. So guys, let's make plans. Let's, uh, let's do some hanging out in Vegas. Uh, meanwhile, Randy, anything else you want to add here when it, before we, uh, let Donald get back to his life?
[01:08:38] No, Mr. Donald, uh, thank you for coming on, uh, the information. Obviously I hope you have safe travels. Uh, look forward to seeing you in a few days, Tom, again, uh, buddy, safe travels. I'll see you in Vegas and everybody, everybody listening. Um, Hey, if you can't make it, I'm sorry, but, um, we'll see you out there. Let's have a good time, play some foosball, see our new hall of fame inductees. And then, uh, we'll, uh, we'll be talking about it while we're there. So yeah, let's go. Very, very cool.
[01:09:05] And, uh, if, if there's anything at all that you guys think of between now and the next time we get together, uh, that we can do to have some fun there in Vegas, just, you know, shout out, let me know. But we're going to have some fun. Oh, we're going to have some fun. Close by the West gate. There's an indoor skydiving dome. Is there really? Yeah. Yeah. Somewhere close by. Absolutely. That's, uh, that's unique. Um, like free fall.
[01:09:36] Like here's a parachute. It's where you, it's where you, it's where they got a big fan and you kind of go in there and then you start floating up and you do that kind of, that kind of, okay. I've seen that before that, that actually looks like a lot of fun. And so it does, you know, you can't get hurt by falling. I don't guess. Let me give you a, give you a helmet and, and, uh, and pads and that kind of stuff. So, well, Hey man, you know, uh, I'm just already floating on air anyway. So that's, uh, what can I tell you? Anyway, guys.
[01:10:06] Go ahead. One more thing before, before we go. I know Randy, I'm sorry that it's been 10 minutes past nine. I still love you. Go ahead. Big news. I posted it a couple of days ago. We've signed a contract for Mississippi state. I saw that. Nice. I saw that. Uh, it's, it's four weeks after worlds. December 4th. If no, four weeks, four weeks after the T, the tornado championships. It's the last weekend. He's thinking Louisiana state.
[01:10:37] That's what I was thinking. Mississippi state is going to be the last weekend of September. Oh, okay. And we're, and it's going from the coast back up to Pearl, Mississippi, which is right there off I-20 halfway up the state. That way we'll get some more Tennessee players to come down, more Alabama players to come and more over. It's a great location there. It's right across the street from the baseball park. It's in the same parking lot as Bass Pro Shop. It's got a Sam's club walking distance.
[01:11:01] So it's a very great location and it's less than 10 minutes from the airport in Jackson. Nice. What hotel? What hotel is it? The Holiday Inn. Oh, so it's where it was a couple of years ago in Pearl. Where it was a couple of years ago. Yeah. Nice. Good restaurant. Good restaurant in there. We're set to go. And then we signed, then I signed the contract for Louisiana state. Same location, same date. It's the first week into December. It's going to be the 4th through the 7th, like you mentioned.
[01:11:30] Now we are going to move that out of December because it's way too close to Christmas. We have, people have accompanied Christmas parties and people just getting their money for Christmas. So we are going to move it, but we couldn't do it this year. But next year, as a matter of fact, we'll set the contract for 26 in the next couple months so we can go ahead and get an earlier date. But anyway, just excited that we was able to get those two booked and ready before TKO. That's a lot sooner than we've done it in the past.
[01:11:58] I want to have the flyers up on the computer hopefully this coming week. Cool. Just want to do a spot for Mississippi and one for Louisiana. Well, if I'd known about the one for Mississippi, they'd be on the tournament beat tonight. But Louisiana state made it. So we got that there. But next week, of course. Okay. Guys, again, this is a blast. And I'm just so pumped up about this. And I just can't wait for the big event. And, you know, let's do this thing.
[01:12:28] Absolutely. Cool. Yes, sir. All right. Well, guys, thanks for jumping in. And thanks to Ryan and Yvette for joining us from Vegas. That was a really nice surprise. They're having a blast right now. Oh, I can imagine. I can imagine. And so hopefully we'll see them in the Elvis suite this coming weekend. We'll see. But once again, it's Foos Talk Live episode number 249. Episode number 250.
[01:12:56] We are celebrating right there in Vegas at the Westgate. And I hope you can be a part of that as well. That'll be a blast. And stick around now because we have a lot coming up on the Foos Talk Live's tournament beat. Foosball tournaments are everywhere. Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you. With the Foos Talk Live tournament beat. Here's what's up.
[01:13:24] The World Foosball Tour presents the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic. April 9th through the 13th at the Westgate Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. RK Foosball presents the 2025 Florida State Championships. May 1st through the 4th holiday in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Florida. The 2025 Minnesota State Foosball Championships. May 2nd through the 5th, Wyndham Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
[01:13:53] The Canadian Foosball Tour presents the Canadian Hall of Fame Open 2025. May 9th through the 11th at Tailgaters in Ottawa, Canada. The ITSF presents the 2025 Tornado World Series and ITSF Gold Series Finals. May 23rd through May 26th at the Westin-Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Dallas, Texas. It's the 2025 Illinois State Championships.
[01:14:20] June 5th through the 8th at Poplar Creek Bowl, Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2025 National Championships. July 10th through the 13th at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee. Canada Foosball presents the 2025 Vancouver Island Foosball Championships. August 22nd through the 24th at Courtenay Legion, Courtenay, British Columbia.
[01:14:48] The 2025 Great Lakes Classic is now scheduled for October 2nd through the 5th at the Hilton Garden Inn, Lansing, Michigan. Just announced the 2025 Louisiana State Foosball Championship. All set for December 4th through the 7th at the Clarion Hotel, Kenner, New Orleans, Louisiana. Each week we do our best to give you the most up-to-date listing of foosball tournaments near you.
[01:15:14] If you have an event you'd like to add, send us all the details at foosballradio at gmail.com. Tune in every week for the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foos Ball Radio. With gratitude we recognize our Foos Ball Radio Patreons. Our Foos Talk Live sponsor, original-leonhart-usa.com. Tune in again next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live.
[01:15:44] In the meantime, we'll see you foosin'.