The Illinois Pool Tournament Index
What it costs to play competitive pool in Illinois — computed from 81 live tournament listings at 48 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 Illinois pool tournament is $20, level with the U.S. median of $20 (from the 48 Illinois listings that publish a fee).
- Centralia is the cheapest place to play in Illinois (median $10); Algonquin is the most expensive at $25.
- Friday is Illinois's biggest pool night with 22 weekly tournaments, ahead of Sat (17), Sun (10).
- Sterling hosts the most tournaments in the state (11).
- 8-Ball is Illinois's game of choice, 33 events to 9-Ball's 22.
- Illinois venues add $200 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
| City | Tournaments |
|---|---|
| Sterling | 11 |
| Centralia | 10 |
| Algonquin | 6 |
| Fox Lake | 4 |
| Peoria | 4 |
| Champaign | 3 |
| Chicago | 3 |
| Crestwood | 3 |
| Downers Grove | 3 |
| Pekin | 3 |
Every pool tournament in Illinois → · The national Pool Tournament Index →
Methodology
Action Buddy aggregates public tournament listings and venue submissions across Illinois. Each recurring weekly series counts once. Fee statistics use the 48 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/il/).
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