The Pool Tournament Index
What it costs to play competitive pool in America — computed from 1,722 live tournament listings at 919 pool halls and bars across 49 states. Updated August 2026. Free to cite with a link to this page.
$20
median entry fee
1,722
tournaments tracked
919
venues
49
states
Saturday
biggest pool night
48%
free or unlisted entry
Weekly tournaments by night
Key findings
- The median entry fee for a U.S. pool tournament is $20 (of the 903 listings that publish a fee; 48% are free to enter or don't list one).
- Iowa is the cheapest state to play (median $10); New York is the most expensive at $40 — 4.0× more.
- Saturday is America's biggest pool night: 357 weekly tournaments, ahead of Fri (271), Sun (247).
- Texas hosts the most tournaments of any state (191).
- 8-Ball narrowly beats 9-Ball as America's tournament game of choice, 717 events to 658.
- Venues add $18,335 per week of guaranteed prize money on top of entries across the weekly tournaments that publish it.
Median entry fee by state
States with at least 15 fee-listing tournaments, cheapest first.
| State | Median entry | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | $10 | 21 |
| Washington | $12 | 23 |
| Arizona | $12.5 | 38 |
| Florida | $15 | 66 |
| Michigan | $15 | 62 |
| Ohio | $15 | 41 |
| Oklahoma | $15 | 25 |
| Oregon | $15 | 19 |
| California | $20 | 84 |
| Colorado | $20 | 63 |
| Illinois | $20 | 38 |
| Louisiana | $20 | 24 |
| Missouri | $20 | 22 |
| North Carolina | $20 | 27 |
| Tennessee | $20 | 27 |
| Texas | $20 | 101 |
| Nevada | $25 | 19 |
| Wisconsin | $25 | 34 |
| New York | $40 | 17 |
Most tournaments by state
| State | Tournaments |
|---|---|
| Texas | 191 |
| Florida | 131 |
| California | 126 |
| Colorado | 96 |
| Michigan | 88 |
| Arizona | 80 |
| Wisconsin | 76 |
| Ohio | 70 |
| Illinois | 55 |
| Oklahoma | 51 |
Methodology
Action Buddy aggregates public tournament listings and venue submissions across the U.S. Each recurring weekly series counts once. Fee statistics use the 903 events that publish an entry fee. Figures regenerate automatically as the dataset refreshes; media are welcome to cite this page (attribution: Action Buddy, https://actionbuddy.app/pool-tournament-index/).
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