Jay describes below what he suspected was a rigged game in his
his book Pool Wars: On the Road to Hell and Back with the World’s Greatest Money Players (p.143, iUniverse, Bloomington IN. 2012). Jay was the referee in 1991 of the final game of what would be the
Challenge of Champions tournaments. In its first year, it was a $50,000
Winner Take All tournament and was touted as having the eight best players in the world (Mike Sigel, Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Allen Hopkins, David Howard, Nick Varner, Jim Rempe, and Mike Lebron).
Jay described how the favorite, Buddy Hall, very likely threw the match to the player with 20-1 odds to lose. The players and Jay figured the odds against Mike Lebron made no sense. At match end, about a dozen $200 bets had been made on Lebron and those gamblers won over $50,000.
Evidence that others agreed with Jay Helfert's suspicions of rigging is the tournament bookmaker's refusal to book bets on subsequent
Challenge of Champions tournaments. It was Jay’s guess, too, that the
Winner did not
Take All in the tournament; the prize money was divvied up instead among the players. In any event, in subsequent years players signed agreements that no deals of any kind would be made else no $50,000 payment.
Jay described the finals between Mike Lebron and Buddy Hall:
“Now [Lebron] had to beat Buddy Hall in the finals. It was an excellent match with good play on the part of both players, although Buddy missed a ball or two that maybe he shouldn’t have. I had the best seat in the house, ringside, racking the balls and refereeing.
It came down to the case game, the winner getting the Fifty Grand! Buddy got the first shot at an open table, ran down to the six ball and played shape for a combination on the nine. He could have just as easily tried to get position to make the six cleanly, but he didn’t choose that option. He was fairly close to the six ball and the nine was maybe a foot or so away, and about a diamond from the corner pocket. It wasn’t a cinch by any means, but was a combo the Buddy was a favorite to make. Except this time he missed it badly, hitting on the wrong side of the nine ball. It almost appeared that he missed it purposely, but like I said, I can’t say for sure. I’m only a witness and you know how eye witnesses are unreliable at best. Mike got out from there and was jubilant in victory, as well he should be.”
