Who is the Professional Governing Body with Official Rankings?

CJ Wiley

CJ Wiley

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I'm confused, who is the Governing Body of Professional Pool, is it the ABP or the BCA? The BCA says they are in this recent post on Face Book, and the ABP has their listing of just about every pro pool player on the planet. Does anyone know the Truth about what's going on politically?


The Billiard Congress of America is the Governing Body of Professional Pool in North America.
As such, we are the North American member of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) which derives its authority from the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS) and it is our responsibility to maintain the rankings of American Professional players in order to properly administer invites to World Championship tournaments for our top performing professional players. (Posted on 9/30/2012)

ABP PROFESSIONAL RANKINGS as of 9/29/2012 ABP HEADQUARTERS

1 Mike Dechaine 72 Brent Boemmels
2 Shane Van Boening 73 Bucky Souvanthong
3 Raj Hundal 74 Chris Lawson
4 Stevie Moore 75 Jason Hunt
5 Dennis Hatch 76 Mike Yednak
6 Brandon Shuff 77 Rob Hart
7 Shawn Putnam 78 Tommy Kennedy
8 Corey Deuel 79 Josh Ulrich
9 Darren Appleton 80 Andrew Pettinger
10 Mike Davis 81 Chin-Shun Yang
11 Dennis Orcollo 82 Glenn Stwell
12 Oscar Dominguez 83 Juan Carlos Exposito
13 Mika Immonen 84 Max Eberle
14 Jeremy Sossei 85 Mike Wong
15 Rodney Morris 86 Nick Malaj
16 Johnny Archer 87 Rory Hendrickson
17 John Morra 88 Tommy Tokoph
18 Francisco Bustamonte 89 Jason Klatt
19 Hunter Lombardo 90 Ernesto Dominguez
20 Louis Ulrich 91 Mike Yednak
21 Ryan McCreesh 92 Russ Phillip
22 Alex Pagulayan 93 Dave Fernandez
23 Donnie Mills 94 Joey Dupuis
24 Robb Saez 95 Jason Hubert
25 John Schmidt 96 Gareth Steele
26 Matt Krah 97 Jamie Forcier
27 Kenichi Uchigaki 98 Nick Brucato
28 Shaun Wilkie 99 Mike Wallace
29 Mario Morra 100 Norm Pomainville
30 Craig McPartlin 101 Andrew Shaw
31 Jennifer Barretta 102 Bill Dunsmore
32 Charlie Williams 103 Bobby Weimar
33 Sal Butera 104 Dee Adkins
34 Zion Zvi 105 Eddie Abraham
35 Jonathan Smith 106 Jason Michas
36 Earl Strickland 107 Jerome Rockwell
37 Jayson Shaw 108 Jimmy Endara
38 Ralf Souquet 109 Michael Dunn
39 Rain Chaing 110 Mike Nichols
40 Raul Hebles-Berraquero 111 Rajesh Vannala
41 Tony D’Alfonso 112 Randy Labonte
42 Jeremy Jones 113 Randy Schwager
43 Cleiton Rocha 114 Sean Leinen
44 Brian Brekke 115 Chris Bartram
45 Frankie Hernandez 116 Dave Hemmah
46 Klaus Zobrekis 117 Ignacio Schmit Romero
47 Alan Duty 118 Ike Runnels
48 Stephen Cohen 119 James Baraks
49 Ron Casanzio 120 Oliver Ortmann
50 Matt Tetreault 121 Paul Juarez
51 Joey Testa 122 Robert Lewis
52 Kevin Clark 123 Santos Sambajon
53 Ralph Eckert 124 Sylver Ochoa
54 Thomas D’Alfonso 125 Tommy Najar
55 Tim Murray 126 Holden Chin
56 Charlie Bryant 127 Jerry Crowe
57 Diego Simon Parra 128 Chris Lynch
58 Manny Chau 129 Bruce Nagle
59 Martin LaLonde 130 Phil Davis
60 Mitch Ellerman 131 Chris Simon
61 Warren Kiamco 132 Nelson Weimer
62 Donny Normandin 133 Mick Morris
63 Joe Landi 134 Ed Culhane
64 Angel Marchena Gonzales 135 Brian Lipes
65 David Alcaide 136 Blaine Barcus
66 Jose Parica 137 Rick Grannis
67 Simon Pickering 138 Eddie Saur
68 Tony Robles 139 Corey Harper
69 Steve Mack 140 Elias Patrikios
70 Karen Corr 141 Jesse Engel
71 Nelson Oliviera
 
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cjssecrets4u2 said:
I'm confused, who is the Governing Body of Professional Pool, is it the ABP or the BCA? The BCA says they are in this recent post on Face Book, and the ABP has their listing of just about every pro pool player on the planet. Does anyone know the Truth about what's going on politically?


The Billiard Congress of America is the Governing Body of Professional Pool in North America.
As such, we are the North American member of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) which derives its authority from the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS) and it is our responsibility to maintain the rankings of American Professional players in order to properly administer invites to World Championship tournaments for our top performing professional players. (Posted on 9/30/2012)

ABP PROFESSIONAL RANKINGS as of 9/29/2012 ABP HEADQUARTERS
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CJ, do you have a link for those rankings? The ABP website is out of business and the link you provided for "ABP Headquarters" is a google map to Loop Footwear in downtown Chicago.

To answer your question, the Billiard Congress is the governing body in the United States recognized by the WPA. Since the World Championships are sanctioned by the WPA, I suppose for better or worse it is the BCA. The ABP isn't the governing body of anything as far as I know. I'm not even sure they govern the players really. Nor am I sure it even exists anymore except to the extent it suits CW.

BTW, there is nothing to govern. :rolleyes:
 
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I'd say neither for pro pool. If i considered anything to be, it would be the wpa. Charlie makes it up as he goes along, picking few tournaments and everybody seems quick to sign their name to it.

Would you mind filling us in on the details if you know more than the random press releases that raise unanswered questions?
 
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body.
 
any ranking that has dennis orcollo at 11 and bustamante at 18 is pretty worthless anyway, i would say. just my thoughts.
 
Pick up the phone, call Johnny Archer, and ask him to explain the ABP to you. That will give you the real answer about that "group". You will not get an "on the record" answer anywhere, but you and him on the phone, you just might.
 
What does Loop Footwear have to do with ABP?

DogsPlayingPool said:
CJ, do you have a link for those rankings? The ABP website is out of business and the link you provided for "ABP Headquarters" is a google map to Loop Footwear in downtown Chicago.

To answer your question, the Billiard Congress is the governing body in the United States recognized by the WPA. Since the World Championships are sanctioned by the WPA, I suppose for better or worse it is the BCA. The ABP isn't the governing body of anything as far as I know. I'm not even sure they govern the players really. Nor am I sure it even exists anymore except to the extent it suits CW.

BTW, there is nothing to govern. :rolleyes:
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I know, when I saw the "Loop Footwear" it started to concern me. I've replied to emails with no response and on their face book page they are saying to send money (annual dues) to the "Loop Footwear Address"..very strange indeed.....they may not even know about this, but I sent an email and can't locate a real person from the ABP to talk to. Here's their Face Book LINK https://www.facebook.com/ABPpros
 
Holly said:
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body.
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Congrats on your marriage, Holly. You are a good-hearted person who only deserves to be treated the very best. I am so happy for you. :smiling-heart:

About the BCA, what do they govern? I am at a loss as to how they are helping American professional pool. It seems they did at one time help a foreign player like Mika attend a tournament in China. Where is the BCA Open, that once-a-year invitational tournament where they invited half the field of American players and half the field of foreign players? :embarrassed2:

Holly, I know you may differ with me on this, but I don't see where the BCA is doing much for professional pool. I don't read any press releases about their contribution to American professional pool. I do read, however, how the BCA gave an industry sponsor an award. :rolleyes:

I would be the biggest BCA cheerleader on the Internet if I could recognize anything the BCA is doing positive for professional pool. Other than keeping a few industry members happy, maybe providing a vehicle for them to travel to international events, I don't recognize any other benefit to professional pool. Of course, the BCA isn't transparent, which is a big part of the problem. Everything is done behind closed doors. :frown:

Who's the BCA "Wizard of Oz" behind that closed door? is the question. :wink:
 
Far be it from me to want to upset you but I think that it is time to let this BCA/Mika thing drop. This is especially as you do not seem to be in possession of ALL The facts
 
highkarate said:
any ranking that has dennis orcollo at 11 and bustamante at 18 is pretty worthless anyway, i would say. just my thoughts.
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If they don't play or have not done well in the tournaments used for rank, that's where they are. If they are actually better players overall than others does not matter with tour ranking.
 
pro9dg said:
Far be it from me to want to upset you but I think that it is time to let this BCA/Mika thing drop. This is especially as you do not seem to be in possession of ALL The facts
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It should have *never* happened. I appreciate your reply, though, and understand you have an insider's perspective which may differ from me as a railbird. :grin-square:

That said, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about Qatar. I was not favorable about my opinion about Qatar and pool a few years ago, and I wrote about my disdain on this forum. I was wrong. :embarrassed2:

I recently had a job about Qatar that opened my eyes, habibi. :wink:
 
Where to start?

First off, there is no such thing as a governing party for billiards, or pool. I think of it kind of like a lot of sports are/were pre-merger of several leagues. That being said, this is what i think should be done.

It will take one person or company/corporation buying out imagery rights, TV rights, etc. and bringing all parties under one roof. Much like the PGA changed the face of golf. The most important thing in that process will be some one with enough, money and guts to make players, promoters, and every one else involved to sign contracts, and hold them to said contracts. I think that all of this could be done, but I don't think it ever will. American pool as a sport just has the wrong attitude. Look how they are running pool and snooker in Europe and Asia. They are far closer to a governing body than any one in the states, but still far away at the same time.

You can take a look at the formula for the PGA or the UFC. A good product that some one put some direction and organization into. I don't think there is an individual or a group that wants to do it with pool. As said as it is, I really don't blame them when you take a look around at what you would be up against. HUGE risk, medium reward at best...

just my little $.02,

Justin
 
Who is the governing body with Official Rankings

This has become a point of discussion recently.

The Billiard Congress of America is the only official ranking body that is recognized by the WPA.

They just launched a new Facebook page which will help this to be understood and to always update the player rankings.

Billiard Congress of America Pro Player Rankings.

Mark Griffin
 
justadub said:
Pick up the phone, call Johnny Archer, and ask him to explain the ABP to you. That will give you the real answer about that "group". You will not get an "on the record" answer anywhere, but you and him on the phone, you just might.
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yes, your right...it's just strange to get emails that have no human signing them or responing to them and the address is a shoe place in Chicago....it's just like something out of the Twighlight Zone :eek: I just know how important it is to understand the politics with the BCA (from my experience)...and the ranking points is an important piece to the puzzle.
 
cjssecrets4u2 said:
yes, your right...it's just strange to get emails that have no human signing them or responing to them and the address is a shoe place in Chicago....it's just like something out of the Twighlight Zone :eek: I just know how important it is to understand the politics with the BCA (from my experience)...and the ranking points is an important piece to the puzzle.
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CJ, "politics" is the magic word in play here. You can get any number of strong reactions about the ABP here on these forums, which is why I advised you to prsonally call Johnny. You have a relationship with him, I presume, and you will get the straight poop from someone directly involved. And you will get it in a situation where he can speak more freely with you than he could in a public statement. Again, politics.

Most everyone respects Johnny greatly, which is the one thing the makes the whole ABP thing so puzzling.

I truly hope you have that conversation, CJ.
 
justadub said:
CJ, "politics" is the magic word in play here. You can get any number of strong reactions about the ABP here on these forums, which is why I advised you to prsonally call Johnny. You have a relationship with him, I presume, and you will get the straight poop from someone directly involved. And you will get it in a situation where he can speak more freely with you than he could in a public statement. Again, politics.

Most everyone respects Johnny greatly, which is the one thing the makes the whole ABP thing so puzzling.

I truly hope you have that conversation, CJ.
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I saw they were posting here and it is a public "tour" , but I understand your point....the Chicago thing through me off, because Johnny's in Atlanta. The emails I've been getting are from that address in Chicago and so is their public Face Book acc. ...hmmm, very interesting....Public Relations is probably in order at some point and time.
 
cjssecrets4u2 said:
I saw they were posting here and it is a public "tour" , but I understand your point....the Chicago thing through me off, because Johnny's in Atlanta. The emails I've been getting are from that address in Chicago and so is their public Face Book acc. ...hmmm, very interesting....Public Relations is probably in order at some point and time.
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"They" were posting here.... Rather, "he", quite likely.

I promise you, when you discover what it is, and what it isn't, you will be surprised. The press releases will become more interesting when you have the back story.

Public relations was a low priority for them last year, and it showed.

I'm rather surprised more folks haven't chimed in to blast away. I'm trying to be diplomatic in my responses to you. The ABP has been a rather hot button subject over the past year or two. Opinion hadn't been difficult to find. I only know what I've read here, and so I'm truly not one to make judgement, but it sure has been a curious and interesting development for pool here in the US. Some might say we've seen something similar before....:p
 
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Wow, a thread mentioning the ABP and no propaganda being spread by DP News? What a pleasant surprise!
 
justadub said:
"They" were posting here.... Rather, "he", quite likely.

I promise you, when you discover what it is, and what it isn't, you will be surprised. The press releases will become more interesting when you have the back story.

Public relations was a low priority for them last year, and it showed.

I'm rather surprised more folks haven't chimed in to blast away. I'm trying to be diplomatic in my responses to you. The ABP has been a rather hot button subject over the past year or two. Opinion hadn't been difficult to find. I only know what I've read here, and so I'm truly not one to make judgement, but it sure has been a curious and interesting development for pool here in the US. Some might say we've seen something similar before....:p
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I know it would have been a lot of fun if we had this forum back when I had the Professional Cuesports Association....what a great thing these days to be able to communicate so easily. I hope they start taking advantage of the opportunity. This is a dream come true to be able to stream worldwide and communicate worldwide instantly....gotta love the internet ;)
 
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