$500 for 1st place........you are kidding me right? WTF? a major event and that is all that can be paid? what is pool becoming? that payout disgraceful!
One of the reasons the payout was low was that CSI was working on exposing the game to as many new players as possible and not necessarily worried about making a big payday for the players. That explains the central location, and the many categories.
Contrast that with the 2012 Derby Straight Pool Challenge which is more of an event for the hard core straight pool fan. We did not have separate categories and so the best players got the most money. We were able to raise money in addition to the entry fees of $4,600.00. We did not have to pay anyone to work the room since we were all unpaid volunteers. Cameras were brought in by the volunteers and in addition, J.R. Calvert and Alvin Nelson of Inside Pool were kind enough to stream some of the event. And we had unpaid commentators. We were lucky enough to have the room and the tables provided by Diamond and so that is another expense we did not have to worry about.
Mark Griffin, CEO
CSI - BCAPL - USAPL
2012 CSI Hi-Run Challenge (Held at BCAPL May, 2012)
Here are the results of the whole event:
Single High Run: Mika Immonen 141 ($200 prize)
238 - Dennis Orcullo
218 – Mika Immonen (141)
214 - Corey Deuel
196 – John Schmidt
183 - Ryan Stone
177 - Johnny Archer
169 – Tony Robles
159 – Darren Appleton
Appleton defeats Orcollo (100-67)
Schmidt defeats Stone (100- unable to play)
Archer defeats Deuel (100-15)
Robles defeats Immonen (100-73)
Appleton defeats Schmidt (100-40)
Archer defeats Robles (100-75)
Archer defeats Appleton (100-6)
(Player wanted to play to 100 and not 150)
Archer = $500
Appleton = $300
Schmidt & Robles = $200 each
Orcollo, Stone, Deuel, Immonen = $100 each
Men’s Amateur
Larry Wilson - 103 ($500)
Greg Hogue - 88 ($300)
Robert Frost - 85 ($200)
Blaine Barcus - 83 ($100)
Men’s Senior
Bob Jewett - 77 ($300)
Mike Zygmunt - 71 ($175)
Calvin Cocker - 71 ($175)
Peter Lhotka -68 ($100)
Women
Melinda Bailey - 39 ($300)
Susan Williams - 38 ($200)
Gail Glazebrook - 32 ($150)
Grace Nakamura - 27 ($100)
Total winnings per player at DCC 2012:
Ralf $2650
Alex $2450
Mika $2000
Schmidt $1600
Appleton $1500
Orcollo $900
Niels $700
Archer $700
Huidji $500
Mats S $100
Total Prize Money: $13,100.00
First and Second was $2600 and $1900 shared by Ralf Souquet and Alex Pagulayan.
Third and Fourth was $1200 apiece for John Schmidt and Darren Appleton. ($1100 was last year)
Fifth through eight was $700 apiece for Johnny Archer, Dennis Orcollo, Mika Immonen, and Niels Feijen.
High run of the event: Mika Immonen $1000.
Dailies:
Sunday:
John Schmidt 127 ($300)
Huidji See 84 ($200)
Darren Appleton 51 ($100)
Monday:
Huidji See-105 ($300)
Darren Appleton-85 ($200)
Ralf Souquet - 83 ($100)
Tuesday:
Ralf Souquet - 108 ($300)
Dennis Orcollo - 73 ($200)
Mats Schjetne -64 ($100)
Wednesday:
Mika Immonen- 156 ($300)
Alex Pagulayan-141 ($200)
John Schmidt- 110 ($100)
They were different types of events with different purposes.
The event put together by Charles Eames and Steve Kurtz is somewhere in the middle of these two events. They give great exposure to the game to new players, like the Vegas event. I think they give some prize money to categories other than the pros, like Vegas. But they also are able to put together a pretty fair pot of money for the pros due in large part to the great fundraising done by Charley and Steve. They work with a volunteer crew, like Derby and keep those costs down, but they do have to pay for space and tables, and that eats into their prize fund a bit. They attract great players who end up getting some big runs.(I had something like this in my original post but Steve was worried someone might take it the wrong way. After chatting with Charlie, I decided to again mention their event as one of the events that helps promote straight pool.)
Together, I hope we all contribute to the rising tide of interest in straight pool that will help right the ship.
