Why The World Straight Pool Championship Exists

koreandragon

Banned
Gold Member
Five years ago, I was talking over with Thorsten Hohmann, John Schmidt, and Tony Robles about straight pool. They were telling me stories of their high runs and other great players and I could see right away how much they loved the game. I thought, what a shame that there is no platform for them to compete in with other great 14.1 players. These were my very good friends, and they had a talent in a game which no one could see. Then I researched on the past straight pool events and learned it had been several years since a major 14.1 event took place and about 15 years since the last World event. Thats when I decided to see if DP could revive the World Championship.

Since that time we have produced 3 World 14.1 Championships in a row. And learned alot. The most important thing what we learned though, was how passionate and grateful the fans and players were that this event existed again. From a profit standpoint, it wasnt worth the effort and financial risks, but the fans and players have been so outspoken that we felt obligated to continue this event.

Unfortunately, politics have turned made this great event messy.

As many people have heard, the World 14.1 event is not WPA sanctioned for 2009. The main issue is the lack of money in the billiard industry. With a year of preparation we were unable to raise the $20,000 added that was required. As of today we are adding $15,000 and have reduced the field to 48 players due to many overseas players canceling their trip.

After all stones turned we asked the WPA to consider sanctioning the event with the reduce added money and be lenient on this year's event as we have had lack of sponsor support, due to the struggling economy. There has never been any ranking points assigned to the event in the past, it has always been an honorary and prestigious title to be recognized as the World 14.1 Champion.

DP has also informed the WPA that a sponsor would be willing to match up to $2000 if any other sponsors were to contribute into the event, and DP would add the additional $1000. But nothing was done.

WPA responses to this situation were that they would not be able sanction reduced prize money World Championships because it was unfair for players to be required to play. DP emphasized that this decision to play or not to play be should be made by the players themselves. In numerous times we’ve been informed that a World Championships should have a larger added money similar to World 8-ball, World 9-Ball and World 10-ball. Currently they stated the standard is $75000 added.

We’ve explained that 14.1 is a unique game and the reduced interest in this sport each year will make straight pool obsolete in the future if events are not produced yearly. This year’s event will surely be a great loss financially for our company, but we feel it’s important for us to continue producing events in this economy when several huge events have already been cancelled this year. In tough times when other promoters are cancelling events we feel it’s very important for us to keep producing to keep the sport alive.

We had hoped for more support from the world organization on this event since the main purpose of WPA is to promote pool-billiards as a world-wide international sport and to co-ordinate world championships annually for men, women and junior players. We understand the WPA does not want to obligate players to play in the event, but with no ranking points involved no players ranking would be affected.

DP is disappointed to see some of the players we revived for this event for being discouraged to not attend the event. Those players are the very ones we have toiled for.

The original intent for DP reviving the World 14.1 Championship wasn't for the WPA it was for the players and fans who love this great game. And for all the friends of mine who have mastered this game and the friends we have made who come to watch them.
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Charlie...Thank you for the explanation, and for your support of what is surely the Championship Game, in the history of pocket billiards. My best wishes to all the players that make it to NJ for this event. IMO, the winner will still be a World Champion (even without the defending champion present this time). It's still a tough field, and nobody will just walk through to the winner's circle.

GO MAX! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge
 

Steve Lipsky

On quest for perfect 14.1
Silver Member
Great post. I assure you that the players and fans do thank you very much for the hard work you guys have put into this event.

Looking forward to participating and doing my part to keep this game alive. Thanks for doing yours.

- Steve
 

Fast Lenny

Faster Than You...
Silver Member
Sorry to hear this, do not understand why the WPA should be payed so much to sanction in event, what are they the Mafia or something? :cool:
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Here again is the info from the WPA web site about sanction fees:

IV Sanction fees:
The total cost of sanctioning is 5% of total added money in all categories. There are no fees applied to any entry fee money which is added to the prize fund. The 5% fee is limited to a prize fund up to USD 500,000.

If anyone had bothered to ask me, I would have put in $10k, but no one did. But my participation would have come with conditions: There would have been referees and scorekeepers for each match. There would have been a tournament program. The event would have been in a hotel. The player selection process would have to be explained.

Maybe there wouldn't have been a DCC 14.1 in 2010, but I think saving the WC14.1 is more important.
 
Last edited:

Roy Steffensen

locksmith
Silver Member
Here again is the info from the WPA web site about sanction fees:

IV Sanction fees:
The total cost of sanctioning is 5% of total added money in all categories. There are no fees applied to any entry fee money which is added to the prize fund. The 5% fee is limited to a prize fund up to USD 500,000.

If anyone had bothered to ask me, I would have put in $10k, but no one did. But my participation would have come with conditions: There would have been referees and scorekeepers for each match. There would have been a tournament program. The event would have been in a hotel. The player selection process would have to be explained.

Maybe there wouldn't have been a DCC 14.1 in 2010, but I think saving the WC14.1 is more important.

I hope they ask you for next year! I like your conditions. That's minimum for considering it a World Championship.
 

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
Champions' conditions

Here again is the info from the WPA web site about sanction fees:

IV Sanction fees:
The total cost of sanctioning is 5% of total added money in all categories. There are no fees applied to any entry fee money which is added to the prize fund. The 5% fee is limited to a prize fund up to USD 500,000.

If anyone had bothered to ask me, I would have put in $10k, but no one did. But my participation would have come with conditions: There would have been referees and scorekeepers for each match. There would have been a tournament program. The event would have been in a hotel. The player selection process would have to be explained.

Maybe there wouldn't have been a DCC 14.1 in 2010, but I think saving the WC14.1 is more important.

Bob:

I agree with Roy. 'Tis unfortunate you subsequently edited your post, for I think your conditions are the proper ones for a World Championship.

Also, kudos to Charlie and *anyone* for keeping the great sport of 14.1 alive. IMHO, 14.1 is still the champions game -- the one where the greatest skill and long-haul concentration rises to the top!

-Sean
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
... 'Tis unfortunate you subsequently edited your post, ...
OK, I put it back. (It seemed obnoxious and self-serving under the conditions, but there it is.)

But the problem now is how to have a 14.1 WC in 2010. It is almost too late to start planning it. Hotels often require two years lead time, but maybe not in this economy.
 

Jerry Forsyth

Well-known member
OK, to clear a few things up... First, the WPA has (as would be expected) a set of standards for an event to be an official World Championship. Those standards are spelled out in a contract. When the terms of a contract cannot be met, the sanctioning is pulled. It is regrettable, but standards must be maintained.

And that is the reason the WPA exists and why it collects sanction fees. Prior to the WPA there were many, many 'World Championships'. Jim Rempe was always introduced at events as the players who had won over 80 World Titles. Well, sure. You could play in the World 9-Ball Championships in Greensboro one week and then a month later go play in the World 9-Ball Championships in Las Vegas. You could play in quite a few "World Championships" every year and most of them came nowhere close to deserving the title. Many of them were only for members of whatever organization was around at the time.

So now the WPA has criteria for what makes a World Championship. Unlike before, players have to be invited from around the world according to their rankings, so you cannot have a "World Championship" in Tulsa where only Americans play. Those players who have proven themselves around the world are invited to compete for the title. Minimum prize monies are set. Standardized rules are used and referees are provided. In short the World Championships deserve their name and the champions deserve the recognition that they get.

In exchange for the sanction fee the WPA provides referees and a Tournament Director for the events and makes certain that the event runs as advertised. The remaining sanctioning funds are used to cover the costs of traveling around the world to negotiate new events and to encourage new promoters and sponsors of the game. The WPA is not a profit-making organization. The WPA also provides, through its alignment with the IOC, a funding mechanism for many players whose governments or Olympic Committees fund their travel to all WPA -recognized events and who pay bonuses to the players who win these events.

The WPA provides quite a value to the game. It has become faddish, although foolish, to criticize the organization without bothering to examine its purposes. Without the WPA, we go back to a plethora of World Championships so titled because the promoters think it sounds good.
 

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Although it may be a bit cheesy to have a World championship in a pool room, I don't really see how or why that should be a condition for a WC! It has no real bearing on anything unlike the other requirements to be a World Championship. Ga Young's first World Title came in a WPA Sanctioned World Championship held in a pool room.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Although it may be a bit cheesy to have a World championship in a pool room, I don't really see how or why that should be a condition for a WC! ...
With some effort and coordination, it's not hard to get an event into a hotel. Usually the hotel will provide the tournament room for free due to the room-nights they will sell. It requires planning and foresight. And if you hope to have an audience, there are very few pool halls that work well.

Yes, cheesy. Is that how you want to present the game?

It's unfortunate the tournament was not renamed the "US Open 14.1" as soon as it became apparent that it would not be a World Championship. I think that would have been a much better solution than what we have now.
 

Roy Steffensen

locksmith
Silver Member
It's unfortunate the tournament was not renamed the "US Open 14.1" as soon as it became apparent that it would not be a World Championship. I think that would have been a much better solution than what we have now.

Or just simply Predator Straight Pool Championship, but I would prefer US Open 14.1

I don't see what Charlie has to gain by calling yet another of his events for a World Championship when it is not sanctioned.
 

DogsPlayingPool

"What's in your wallet?"
Silver Member
Guys, I'm with you on the significance of this event. Cut and pasted from my very first post here on AZB:

"All games played on a pool table are enjoyable to me. Three-cushion and snooker are nice diversions too. I probably play more 9-ball than anything else and have played this game since before the concept of racing was invented and it became a tournament game. I understand the reasons it has become the most widely played game and find it both enjoyable and challenging.

But it is straight pool which I hold in the highest regard. From the opening break, gingerly potting the first few balls, the delicate cut shots played in order to gently part the cluster, reading the rack for those magical caroms and combos, and engaging the imagination - not always taking the easiest or most obvious shot - to strategically weave your way through, run the table and continue on, is what makes this game such high art. A game of infinite intricacies & choices is 14.1. While all pool games require skill in shot-making and cue ball control, it is the creativity intrinsic to straight pool for which it stands above the others as a billiard art form. Straight pool expertly played is to me the pinnacle of the cueing arts. Call me old school, but it was the champions game back in the day when it was the players and not television executives or promoters that decided which game should determine who was the best."


That's how I feel about the game. And the winner WILL be considered the World Champion in the hearts of all those who love the game of straight pool. It's just a shame that somehow it comes down to a measly 5 grand determining whether this is officially a world championship. :confused:
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well said, Jerry! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

OK, to clear a few things up... First, the WPA has (as would be expected) a set of standards for an event to be an official World Championship. Those standards are spelled out in a contract. When the terms of a contract cannot be met, the sanctioning is pulled. It is regrettable, but standards must be maintained.

And that is the reason the WPA exists and why it collects sanction fees. Prior to the WPA there were many, many 'World Championships'. Jim Rempe was always introduced at events as the players who had won over 80 World Titles. Well, sure. You could play in the World 9-Ball Championships in Greensboro one week and then a month later go play in the World 9-Ball Championships in Las Vegas. You could play in quite a few "World Championships" every year and most of them came nowhere close to deserving the title. Many of them were only for members of whatever organization was around at the time.

So now the WPA has criteria for what makes a World Championship. Unlike before, players have to be invited from around the world according to their rankings, so you cannot have a "World Championship" in Tulsa where only Americans play. Those players who have proven themselves around the world are invited to compete for the title. Minimum prize monies are set. Standardized rules are used and referees are provided. In short the World Championships deserve their name and the champions deserve the recognition that they get.

In exchange for the sanction fee the WPA provides referees and a Tournament Director for the events and makes certain that the event runs as advertised. The remaining sanctioning funds are used to cover the costs of traveling around the world to negotiate new events and to encourage new promoters and sponsors of the game. The WPA is not a profit-making organization. The WPA also provides, through its alignment with the IOC, a funding mechanism for many players whose governments or Olympic Committees fund their travel to all WPA -recognized events and who pay bonuses to the players who win these events.

The WPA provides quite a value to the game. It has become faddish, although foolish, to criticize the organization without bothering to examine its purposes. Without the WPA, we go back to a plethora of World Championships so titled because the promoters think it sounds good.
 

dmgwalsh

Straight Pool Fanatic
Silver Member
Five years ago, I was talking over with Thorsten Hohmann, John Schmidt, and Tony Robles about straight pool. They were telling me stories of their high runs and other great players and I could see right away how much they loved the game. I thought, what a shame that there is no platform for them to compete in with other great 14.1 players. These were my very good friends, and they had a talent in a game which no one could see. Then I researched on the past straight pool events and learned it had been several years since a major 14.1 event took place and about 15 years since the last World event. Thats when I decided to see if DP could revive the World Championship.

Since that time we have produced 3 World 14.1 Championships in a row. And learned alot. The most important thing what we learned though, was how passionate and grateful the fans and players were that this event existed again. From a profit standpoint, it wasnt worth the effort and financial risks, but the fans and players have been so outspoken that we felt obligated to continue this event.

Unfortunately, politics have turned made this great event messy.

As many people have heard, the World 14.1 event is not WPA sanctioned for 2009. The main issue is the lack of money in the billiard industry. With a year of preparation we were unable to raise the $20,000 added that was required. As of today we are adding $15,000 and have reduced the field to 48 players due to many overseas players canceling their trip.

After all stones turned we asked the WPA to consider sanctioning the event with the reduce added money and be lenient on this year's event as we have had lack of sponsor support, due to the struggling economy. There has never been any ranking points assigned to the event in the past, it has always been an honorary and prestigious title to be recognized as the World 14.1 Champion.

DP has also informed the WPA that a sponsor would be willing to match up to $2000 if any other sponsors were to contribute into the event, and DP would add the additional $1000. But nothing was done.

WPA responses to this situation were that they would not be able sanction reduced prize money World Championships because it was unfair for players to be required to play. DP emphasized that this decision to play or not to play be should be made by the players themselves. In numerous times we’ve been informed that a World Championships should have a larger added money similar to World 8-ball, World 9-Ball and World 10-ball. Currently they stated the standard is $75000 added.

We’ve explained that 14.1 is a unique game and the reduced interest in this sport each year will make straight pool obsolete in the future if events are not produced yearly. This year’s event will surely be a great loss financially for our company, but we feel it’s important for us to continue producing events in this economy when several huge events have already been cancelled this year. In tough times when other promoters are cancelling events we feel it’s very important for us to keep producing to keep the sport alive.

We had hoped for more support from the world organization on this event since the main purpose of WPA is to promote pool-billiards as a world-wide international sport and to co-ordinate world championships annually for men, women and junior players. We understand the WPA does not want to obligate players to play in the event, but with no ranking points involved no players ranking would be affected.

DP is disappointed to see some of the players we revived for this event for being discouraged to not attend the event. Those players are the very ones we have toiled for.

The original intent for DP reviving the World 14.1 Championship wasn't for the WPA it was for the players and fans who love this great game. And for all the friends of mine who have mastered this game and the friends we have made who come to watch them.

I, too, would like to say that I appreciate what you did in helping to bring my favorite game back from the dead. It's difficult, I suppose, to keep it on life support during these difficult economic times, but you are still trying to put something together for the fans and players that love the game. Thanks for all you have done and I hope to be able to watch the tournament in New Jersey again this year. :thumbup:
 

Spade

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It doesnt matter if the event is not WPA sanctioned, not that any of us even paid attention to that in the past anyways.(does anyone really care?)

This is THE Straight Pool event of the year, and the winner of this event is THE WORLD STRAIGHT POOL CHAMPION!!

Thanks Charlie and Dragon Promotions for keeping this alive. We do appreciate what you do for the sport :)
 

PoolGrapevine

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is a great and historic feat what DP has done bringing back 14.1. It's really a shame more of the European players didn't come to support it this year and sided with the WPA. I thought players like Jasmin,Souquet and Niels Feijen would be sure to come play.
Feijen is defending champion, it's sad to see him and the others deterred like a puppet by federations.

But at least there are some wiser players like Thorsten Hohmann,Oliver Ortmann and Mika Immonen. They decided to control their own careers thank God for the fans. They are the favorites in any 14.1 field !
Good luck to them!
 

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'll confess to being just another idiot on the internet, but it seems to me that the criteria which the wpa sets up for sanctioning events should be flexible. In a case like this where this is apparently the best package which can be put together for a world 14.1 championship, and if the alternative is not having a world 14.1 championship in 2009, then it seems to me they should sanction the event if financially possible.
 
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