Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

My 2 cents!

At the end of a 'Year/Season' the Very Top Pool player's ernings are most likely higher than The Very Top 3C players!

But, Year to year the 3C players have a More stable arrangement!

AI Overview



Top three-cushion billiards players generally have more stable, organized corporate sponsorships and higher baseline earnings from federations and Asian markets than most pocket pool players. [1, 2]

Three-Cushion Sponsorships
    • Stronger Corporate and Regional Backing: Three-cushion is massively popular in South Korea, Turkey, and parts of Western Europe. In South Korea especially, professional billiards is heavily supported by corporate conglomerates, dedicated TV/streaming networks (like SOOP/AfrecaTV), and prominent brands (such as Molinari, Longoni, and various Korean cue and table makers) that offer elite players predictable salaries and contracts. [1, 2, 3]
    • Centralized Organization: The Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB) and professional circuits provide a more structured tier of international events, making it easier for top-ranked carom players to secure long-term brand alignment. [1]

Pool Player Sponsorships
    • Fewer Guaranteed Salaries: Outside of a tiny handful of elite international stars (like Shane Van Boening or historical top earners), most professional pool players struggle to find full-time salaried sponsors. [1, 2]
    • Equipment-Heavy Deals: The majority of pool sponsorships consist of free or discounted gear (cues, cases, and chalk) rather than substantial cash stipends or salary support, forcing players to rely heavily on tournament winnings, coaching, or action gambling.

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

Strongly disagree here. Sponsors give a name player a fixed sum and usually a certain amount of product which they can sell. They do not give them tournament participation costs.

Other than the matter of future contract negotiations with their sponsor, a player's participation decision, tournament by tournament, is an independent financial decision. That said, if a clause in his Meucci contract requires a pre-specified level of WNT participation, which is unlikely, then there is a possible breach of contract.

So no, it is not a sponsor's obligation to either pay a player's tournament participation costs or to monitor things like eligibility for invitational events. It is their option to do so if they are so inclined, but Meucii doesn't look bad here on any level.

May not be their obligation but pretty stupid not to get their player out there.

Lou Figueroa

Which Carbon Shaft: BeCue Prime II vs Viking Siege vs JFlowers S.M.O

Did anybody at Expo try these carbon fiber shafts 12.5mm:

  • BeCue Prime II
  • Viking Siege
  • JFlowers S.M.O
If so what is your opinion?

If you own any of these please post feedback, thanks!
I have been playing Becue for the last4 years, Becue builds shafts differently than any manufacturer I know of, instead of continuously building the new "best" shaft ever, they build different shafts for different types of hit, the first Prime shaft is very Muecci like, some consider it "whippy" I think it is very wood like shaft, the Engage shaft is a pure CF hit, very little if any feedback, if you like the majority of the well known shafts you will like the hit of this shaft, the Prime II is my favorite shaft, to me it has the best balance of feedback and CF hit, they all have LD and play great, the best shaft is the one that feels the best to you, Becue said it best, not everyone would like how one cue hits, they have taken the challenge to build cues that have several great hitting styles of cues and shafts

Thoughts on players who seemingly take Zero practice strokes, before shooting / final follow through?

Thanks for sharing this post. This puts it in perspective for me, but I have a question. For a person with 8-10 inch bridge, would you suggest a regular shaft or a LD?
I don't care for LD shafts as such but I am curious as to why one would shoot everything with the same "focal" length. Shots have too much range to confine yourself like that.

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