The California Pool Tournament Index

What it costs to play competitive pool in California — computed from 150 live tournament listings at 66 pool halls and bars. Updated November 2026. Free to cite with a link to this page.

Weekly tournaments by night

Key findings

• The median entry fee for a California pool tournament is $20, level with the U.S. median of $20 (from the 104 California listings that publish a fee).
• Bishop is the cheapest place to play in California (median $20); San Francisco is the most expensive at $25.
• Saturday is California's biggest pool night with 23 weekly tournaments, ahead of Tue (22), Sun (21).
• Mammoth Lakes hosts the most tournaments in the state (11).
• 8-Ball is California's game of choice, 63 events to 9-Ball's 52.
• 10 of 150 listings (7%) post a Fargo cap — handicap-protected events for amateur players.
• California venues add $1,360 per week of guaranteed added money across the weekly tournaments that publish it.

Median entry fee by city

Cities with at least 5 fee-listing tournaments, cheapest first.

Most tournaments by city

Every pool tournament in California → · The national Pool Tournament Index →

Methodology

Action Buddy aggregates public tournament listings and venue submissions across California. Each recurring weekly series counts once. Fee statistics use the 104 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/ca/).