ABP boycotts Berhman's event

Barry has done plenty with his tourney over the years, that can't be denied

it's too bad this whole thing will turn into a he said/she said heros/villains situation--that's the NFL/NBA lockout ladies and gents ---not this

players can't give it their all without full promoter support and vice versa, the cycle has to break somewhere
 
12ozCurl said:
Was Rodney serious?

He cant go play other tournements because he cant afford to go to them because he was owed monies?

Man up. Go hustle something. I would bet my left nutt that SVB could walk into any pool room in the world and leave with a pocketful of cash.
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cuesmith said:
Well, maybe not. When you're a recognized player it's hard to get any action where you're not having to outrun the nuts.
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Ok, then. Here's another alternative for pro players.......... If they are recognized players, then they can make that work FOR them.

How much would you pay to have a pro player come to your local poolroom, shake some hands, play some challenge matches, and talk a little about how they got where they are ? $25 ? $50 ? $100 ?
These "recognized" pros have a potential money maker by holding workshops, exhibitions or seminars for a built-in audience.

Or they can cry about it while they stand behind the counter and ask if they want that order super-sized.
 
Cleary and others, obviously you've never played pool for a living.
Another big difference between your job and the professional players, is that we have to spend $1000-3000 out of our own pocket to get to a tournament before we hit a ball, and then IF we perform well we make money. And at times all we get back is our expense money, and less than that. If we perform badly, no money and we are out of pocket.

In the US Open 9ball case, we are not even sure when we would get paid even after spending $ to get there.
Not too many people I know pay to goto work and may or may not get paid.

That's the kind of pressure most don't face. And that's why no one on the forums or pool industry will ever be able to relate to that unless you have been there.

Originally Posted by cleary
The convention center wouldn't take a postdated check. The bleacher rental company wouldn't take an IOU. The table movers and mechanics wanted money before they got to the open. Oh, and the spectators won't buy seats, shirts, food before they start the event. Does anyone see a pattern here?

Shawn, Johnny, Charlie... whoever this is, I'm sorry but its a two way street. You're not doing manual labor, under the table. Its not 'dig the ditch, get your cash'. This is how things work in the professional world. The fact that he even has cash to pay ANYONE is simply amazing. CASH! Only in pool man... only in pool. That's funny!

I'm a professional in my industry and I work for very large clients. Nearly always I work for clients who are working for a client who are working for a client. The money exchange is never quick. Sometimes up to a year. It's my responsibly to manage my money. The larger the amount, usually the longer it takes. Do they have the money, of course, but I'm not the only bill they got.

How does this translate? Well, I think players need to manage their money better. I do understand you want to get paid, and you should. But if you have to wait a month or even 3 months to get paid $10k, $20k or even $50k... I think you should be more thankful that you had the opportunity to win that amount than worry about how quickly you can get it. A tournament like the US Open doesn't happen weekly.

Take a look at the lotto. Say you win $20million. YEAAAA... let me hold a hundo! But for real, say you win. You got a choice to make. Do you want a lump sum NOW or do you want it broken up? A pool player wants its ALL NOW!!!!! Well, all now means a lot less. Its the sucker move.

So would you rather win $15k and have to wait 3 months to get it or win nothing at all? This boycott is exactly that.
 
ABPpros said:
Cleary and others, obviously you've never played pool for a living.
Another big difference between your job and the professional players, is that we have to spend $1000-3000 out of our own pocket to get to a tournament before we hit a ball, and then IF we perform well we make money. And at times all we get back is our expense money, and less than that. If we perform badly, no money and we are out of pocket.

In the US Open 9ball case, we are not even sure when we would get paid even after spending $ to get there.
Not too many people I know pay to goto work and may or may not get paid.

That's the kind of pressure most don't face. And that's why no one on the forums or pool industry will ever be able to relate to that unless you have been there.
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So to ask the question again, would you as an organization rather the added money be cut by 50% so that Barry can pay on site or would you rather be paid more later?
 
We rather be treated as respected professionals who have bled for our sport and paid our dues to develop world class skills that you the fans love to watch.
HOW MANY PEOPLE GOTO WORK AND WORk and would not be angry at getting their paycheck 3 months later? could you survive that way?

Is it really so crazy to ask to be paid all our money on time.



brandoncook26 said:
So to ask the question again, would you as an organization rather the added money be cut by 50% so that Barry can pay on site or would you rather be paid more later?
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ABPpros said:
We rather be treated as respected professionals who have bled for our sport and paid our dues to develop world class skills that you the fans love to watch.
HOW MANY PEOPLE GOTO WORK AND WORk and would not be angry at getting their paycheck 3 months later? could you survive that way?

Is it really so crazy to ask to be paid all our money on time.
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Did you really think this was going to pass as an answer to the question? The question was simple, your walk around it was not.
 
ABPpros said:
We rather be treated as respected professionals who have bled for our sport and paid our dues to develop world class skills that you the fans love to watch.
HOW MANY PEOPLE GOTO WORK AND WORk and would not be angry at getting their paycheck 3 months later? could you survive that way?

Is it really so crazy to ask to be paid all our money on time.
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The industry has changed, getting ANY "income" playing should be welcomed.
You guys want longer races, and bigger payouts? Call JCIN and get the PPV rolling.
 
ABPpros said:
We rather be treated as respected professionals who have bled for our sport and paid our dues to develop world class skills that you the fans love to watch.
HOW MANY PEOPLE GOTO WORK AND WORk and would not be angry at getting their paycheck 3 months later? could you survive that way?

Is it really so crazy to ask to be paid all our money on time.
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You should be a politician. That was a very good attempt to skirt the question without giving an actual answer.

It seems pretty hard to pay on time when he doesn't have the money. It seems the only option you have left BB is to cut the prize fund. How can he pay on time with money he doesn't have?

Good luck with your endeavors. I see that you are trying to make it easier on yourselves, but I think you will find in the long run you have screwed yourselves. It's hard to serve 10 people pie with only five pieces. The only way to do it is to chop it up into smaller pieces.

Thanks for not answering my question.
 
ABPpros said:
We rather be treated as respected professionals who have bled for our sport and paid our dues to develop world class skills that you the fans love to watch.
HOW MANY PEOPLE GOTO WORK AND WORk and would not be angry at getting their paycheck 3 months later? could you survive that way?

Is it really so crazy to ask to be paid all our money on time.
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It is ridiculous if your the person that owes players money, especially if they spent it before they could pay it out, I mean they just don't have it. Barry said he relies on the tournament proceeds like beverages and tickets to help with the prize expenses, while the entry fees and hotel group bookings are used to help put up the money for the tournament expenses. Barry might also be a hotel concierge, helping the local hotels get great deals on easy customers.

Heck the chain of line seems to be business to business, like failing to book the numbers at the hotel, the arena and seating expenses, the food servers and the tournament staff. And the easiest people to delay payment to are the players, Barry wouldn't do that to real business people, he needs them for next year. Real business people don't put up with delayed payments.

If he delayed payment to anyone else, they might up the rate on him.

Back to the thing on income from selling food and beverages, that means Barry can't guarantee added money, he doesn't know how much he will make from tickets/food. Unless he buys the soda and hires staff to dispense it at the usual marked up price. And if he is using ticket/food sales to payoff players, then players actually are investors in a pool exhibition production. Because you are putting up money (entry fees) to sell tickets and food while people watch you play pool. All Barry uses players for are to attract crowds and get startup capital (money for renting equipment).
 
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The truth is, none of our lives would change if the US Open fell off the calendar. Its not what we want, but it wont impact us like you say.
Many of us have actually won this event. Trust us, it didnt change our lives. Lot of us still broke! lol

There are plenty of great events worldwide with bigger prize money and more legitimate promoters. We would like to see Barry elevate his standards instead of lowering them and the sport.
 
The ABP may consist of players who play pool at a professional level, but the way they live their lives, their knowledge of anything not related to running a table, the way they present themselves, and the way they communicate is SO incredibly unprofessional it is ridiculous.

The "you haven't been there so you don't understand" argument is a pretty lame way to go. Good luck with that one, since the support you guys are looking for on here is going to be coming (or not coming) from a base of people who have never and will never be playing pool professionally.

The interview, the posts on here, and the press release have all made it pretty clear what this group is right now: a freaking joke.

Maybe this whole fiasco will make Barry change some stuff, but it seems to me the damage you guys have caused may hurt you more down the road than any changes at the open will do now.
 
The standard in the sport in America is so low, not sure if anything can damage it further. Afterall, our greatest event doesnt even pay us our winnings on time. How much further can we go?

Fortunately there are fans on here who we do love and respect in return. Thank you for your support, and coming to our aid, defense, and love.

And thank you to Tony Robles who has just called to have his name added to our list of not attending the US Open 9-Ball. We know more of our brothers will follow.
 
ABPpros said:
Many of us have actually won this event. Trust us, it didnt change our lives. Lot of us still broke! lol
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So there you go. You want Barry to change the way he does business but your own personal business decisions are so bad you are broke asses. Yay, good job.
 
ABPpros said:
The truth is, none of our lives would change if the US Open fell off the calendar. Its not what we want, but it wont impact us like you say.
Many of us have actually won this event. Trust us, it didnt change our lives. Lot of us still broke! lol

There are plenty of great events worldwide with bigger prize money and more legitimate promoters. We would like to see Barry elevate his standards instead of lowering them and the sport.
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That is the answer I was looking for. You would rather the tournament be shut down than to help grow the sport by attempting to attract new sponsors and work with BB to try and add more money. It's easy to want everything to work out great when you just have to show up instead of spending 6 months or more setting the thing up.

It shows what you think of the promotors and people that love pool. There isn't a tournament in the world with enough prize money to change your lives.

Go play in other countries where there is more money. Please tell me which of you typed this. I would like you to sign your name to it like you wanted us to do.
 
Fortunately there are fans on here who we do love and respect in return. Thank you for your support, and coming to our aid, defense, and love.

And thank you to Tony Robles who has just called to have his name added to our list of not attending the US Open 9-Ball. Reyes, Varner, Bustamante, Immonen, Van Boening...We know more of our brothers will follow.
 
ABPpros said:
Fortunately there are fans on here who we do love and respect in return. Thank you for your support, and coming to our aid, defense, and love.

And thank you to Tony Robles who has just called to have his name added to our list of not attending the US Open 9-Ball. Reyes, Varner, Bustamante, Immonen, Van Boening...We know more of our brothers will follow.
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Can I have Shane's Cuetec Sponsorship when they fire his ass?

I'll gladly play with a cuetec if its free!
 
ABPpros said:
The truth is, none of our lives would change if the US Open fell off the calendar. Its not what we want, but it wont impact us like you say.
Many of us have actually won this event. Trust us, it didnt change our lives. Lot of us still broke! lol

There are plenty of great events worldwide with bigger prize money and more legitimate promoters. We would like to see Barry elevate his standards instead of lowering them and the sport.
Click to expand...

Does someone have enough courage to put a name to this post by any chance?

I have the answer I was looking for, I just want to know who posted it.
 
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