That's a very contentious questions. Something on the order of "What are the rules for 8_Ball? LOL It's all depending on the Promoter of a tournament or event. Everyone has
their own idea of what constitutes a professional. Nothing is really written in stone. If it was there's no way of making criteria that everyone will be happy with, for many
different reasons. Nor would it be fair to everyone.
Gary Spaeth and I were best friends and road partners for about the last 17-18 years of his life. We met at a local bar tournament one night and we immediately hit it off.
We had a lot in common and I was stubborn. I could not believe ANYONE could play 8-ball "THAT MUCH BETTER THAN ME!" BOY WAS I WRONG! Gary liked me and didn't want to
take advantage of me. He offered to play me one handed and/or he'd bank the 8 ball. I was too proud to take that spot beside he would play me $1 8-ball and I had the keys to
the table, so there was no cost for the table. I won some games once in a while, but not games that Gary got to shoot beyond the brake. We soon started going to all the local
tournaments 5 nights a week when we were in town. We usually spent a week to 10 days a month on the road elsewhere. We had to time our arrival of the local events to be
there right at the cut-off time for entry and we still had people who walked to the tournament director and begged to get their entry fees back on the days we'd showed up. This
was not about me at all, but a lot of people would not play if Gary was in the tournament. I always felt that the nits that would ask for their entries back were absolutely stupid!
First off, half of the tournaments were short races, luck of the draw, partners tournaments. Some were even a race to 1! And the entries were usually $5- $10! Just how much the
nuts do some people think they need to play in a tournament like this?? I mean, Shit! You have as good of a chance of drawing Gary for a partner ans anyone in the room! Gary
playing in a situation like this isn't much better that even money unless Gary draws a good partner! We always played alternate shot, not alternate turns! His opponent has to
shoot half of the time and he's depending upon their position play! Beyond that you always had the opportunity to watch one of the best players on the planet and hopefully pick
up some ideas from him which was worth many times the entry fee IMHO.
And what really gets me is that you'll see the same nits going out to the casinos, acting like a high roller who were just getting unlucky! This is one of the big reason that
pool's in a bad spot lately. People feel like they are suckers if they get beaten, even in a small tournament, at pool but could care less if they blew 10 times the money playing
Casino Games and on-line Poker! Also the leagues do less than nothing to encourage interest in professional pool. If the leagues were structured right it would be much more like
baseball having farm clubs and players working their way through the ranks to be invited to play in the Pro Tournaments. Japan and the Philippines are good examples of how
this work.
Well I'm off the soap box, rant over!
Sherm
I think people throw this label out without thinking. I am a good regional player, in pool terms, a good shortstop. I used to play on the florida tour 5 years ago and had some success. I have always had a job, pool is just a hobby for me, it has never been the only source of income. lol I would starve!
I also play APA, and valley pool leagues.
heres the question, what criteria should be used to call someone a professional? in my opinion, if you derive your income, and support yourself from that activity, your a pro. if your ranked on the men's major tour in the top , say 100, your a pro. being an amateur in a sports activity means you do it as a hobby, and it's not your way of supporting yourself. I get very tired of people telling me, your a pro!, because I play pool good. since when is it a crime to be good at something that you do for a pastime, or hobby?
look in the dictionary under professional, then under amateur. read what it says, that should be the answer right? let me know what you think azer's
