Are The Bonus Ball Players Under Contract?

[ChrisBanks]

I hate to say this but, isn't creating a new game like reinventing the wheel?

The bank pool match at Southern classic is exciting and difficult enough that ANYONE would be AWESTRUCK! Banking 10 in a row from certain defeat.

Just an observation!

KD

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

You're right, I think bank pool might be the most exciting game. One pocket is exciting to me, even when it's played squeezing.

Bank pool is easy to follow for the non-player too.

I've never been anxious to watch a match of 8-ball, and the bonus ball I watched fell into the same category.

 

[Mark Griffin]

Bonus ball start date

The start date has now been announced as Jan. 3rd.

From Barry Bremner Facebook page



Mark Griffin

 

[singernak]

Mike Dechaine, is not participating in Bonus ball, he also is not longer associated or wants to be associated with ABP.

 

[sjm]

Mike Dechaine, is not participating in Bonus ball, he also is not longer associated or wants to be associated with ABP.

Are you sure? Mike is listed on the WPBL website as a member of the Boston team.

On the other hand, if what you've posted is true, although one has to respect the decisions made by both Shane and Mike, it's disheartening to learn that neither of America's top two players will play bonus ball. Of course, just like the entrepreneurs at bonus ball, I'm hoping that bonus ball succeeds to the point that both Shane and Mike will want in next season.

 

[meximan2469]

To answer a few questions .....

1) Yes the start date has been delayed until Jan 3rd because of construction delays

2) Yes Mike Dechaine will not be involved with Bonus Ball

3) Thorsten has now been named the captain of the Boston team and is currently in the process of filling the open roster spot.

4) The players are all in Vegas and will be going through a training camp style week..... which to be completely honest is needed for a lot of these guys and is kinda a blessing in disguise.

5) The players are getting paid for 3 weeks salary and are only expected to be here for the 6 day training camp.

 

[Mark Griffin]

Bonus Ball

OK - I applaud Bonus Ball for paying the players 3 weeks salary, and I am sure a lot of the players to come up to speed on the game.

But I just feel something has to be said;

First of all, I want to state that I hope Bonus Ball gets some traction and is a big success. That would be good for pool. Even if it is very successful, the other standard games are not going to disappear.

Here is my problem. It was asked many times if they would open on schedule - and everyone has been told yes. Keep in mind this adventure was originally going to start back around may of 2012.

Then the start date was November 3rd, which the got moved to Nov. 29th and now is moved to Jan 3rd. It now seems someone dropped the ball and didn't know or didn't want to tell people that a delay was going to happened. This also caused a lot of travel stress on the players. I don't get it - the goal should be to work WITH everyone.

Constantly changing the dates puts everyone in a fix. This is just like scheduling a tournament and then cancelling. Nobody can do any events or schedule any promotions because the decent promoters try to avoid conflicts.

I am sincerely asking the management of Bonus Ball to keep the players and other promoters better informed on their actual schedule. To do otherwise will cause discord and animosity in an already fractured industry.

This is very serious stuff!

I hope this gets someone's attention before any more damage is done.

Respectfully,


Mark Griffin

As a PS, In a previous podcast, I predicted that BB would not start until mid January. I am still saying first matches will be Jan. 10th.

 

[Roger Long]

OK - I applaud Bonus Ball for paying the players 3 weeks salary, and I am sure a lot of the players to come up to speed on the game.

But I just feel something has to be said;

First of all, I want to state that I hope Bonus Ball gets some traction and is a big success. That would be good for pool. Even if it is very successful, the other standard games are not going to disappear.

Here is my problem. It was asked many times if they would open on schedule - and everyone has been told yes. Keep in mind this adventure was originally going to start back around may of 2012.

Then the start date was November 3rd, which the got moved to Nov. 29th and now is moved to Jan 3rd. It now seems someone dropped the ball and didn't know or didn't want to tell people that a delay was going to happened. This also caused a lot of travel stress on the players. I don't get it - the goal should be to work WITH everyone.

Constantly changing the dates puts everyone in a fix. This is just like scheduling a tournament and then cancelling. Nobody can do any events or schedule any promotions because the decent promoters try to avoid conflicts.

I am sincerely asking the management of Bonus Ball to keep the players and other promoters better informed on their actual schedule. To do otherwise will cause discord and animosity in an already fractured industry.

This is very serious stuff!

I hope this gets someone's attention before any more damage is done.

Respectfully,


Mark Griffin

As a PS, In a previous podcast, I predicted that BB would not start until mid January. I am still saying first matches will be Jan. 10th.

Mark:

I'm not a spokesperson for Bonus Ball, but I was there yesterday and was very courteously afforded a full tour of the facilities and given an in-depth explanation for the delays. I can tell you that the delays are mainly due to many last-minute changes that will vastly improve on what was originally planned. These changes will benefit the players and the audiences (both live and TV) alike.

I don't feel I am at liberty to say any more than that at this time.

Roger

 

[AtLarge]

... The expected revenue will come from television, PPV, merchandize, advertising and of course amateur leagues, just like other sports. ...

... I'll be damned if I can see how it works ...

"and of course amateur leagues" is an interesting item in that list. Do the BB owners foresee something like the APA in their futures -- pouring money into their pockets like the APA has for Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart for 30 years? Could BB ultimately replace the APA or the BCAPL or some other amateur league in some/many areas?

 

[Luxury]

"and of course amateur leagues" is an interesting item in that list. Do the BB owners foresee something like the APA in their futures -- pouring money into their pockets like the APA has for Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart for 30 years? Could BB ultimately replace the APA or the BCAPL or some other amateur league in some/many areas?

I sure hope it becomes a successful league. 10 times funner than eight ball for me.

 

[Jesters]

OK - I applaud Bonus Ball for paying the players 3 weeks salary, and I am sure a lot of the players to come up to speed on the game.

But I just feel something has to be said;

First of all, I want to state that I hope Bonus Ball gets some traction and is a big success. That would be good for pool. Even if it is very successful, the other standard games are not going to disappear.

Here is my problem. It was asked many times if they would open on schedule - and everyone has been told yes. Keep in mind this adventure was originally going to start back around may of 2012.

Then the start date was November 3rd, which the got moved to Nov. 29th and now is moved to Jan 3rd. It now seems someone dropped the ball and didn't know or didn't want to tell people that a delay was going to happened. This also caused a lot of travel stress on the players. I don't get it - the goal should be to work WITH everyone.

Constantly changing the dates puts everyone in a fix. This is just like scheduling a tournament and then cancelling. Nobody can do any events or schedule any promotions because the decent promoters try to avoid conflicts.

I am sincerely asking the management of Bonus Ball to keep the players and other promoters better informed on their actual schedule. To do otherwise will cause discord and animosity in an already fractured industry.

This is very serious stuff!

I hope this gets someone's attention before any more damage is done.

Respectfully,


Mark Griffin

As a PS, In a previous podcast, I predicted that BB would not start until mid January. I am still saying first matches will be Jan. 10th.

Another delay that is being sugar coated for those who will listen. This time the delay is due to them making the game better. They are almost a year behind schedule I would have thought this kind of thing would be already handled during the other delays. This just seems to be not very well managed and from what I can gather is putting promoters in a position to rearrange or cancel or work around their schedule that keeps getting changed. Maybe they do not realize that as must as they believe the pool world as we know it is dead or how much they think that Bonus Ball is the only game worth playing it is NOT the only thing in pool and that their actions are putting the players in a spot too. Maybe before long the players will turn against Bonus ball after putting their lives on hold waiting for the game to actually start. The fact that Bonus Ball are paying the players can be looked at as a good thing and it beats the alternative but in reality all they are doing is what is right and what should be done. I also wonder how many of the players actually knew it was going to be delayed AGAIN before they got to Las Vegas. Or was it a shock to find this out? Was it a ploy to just get the players there and once cornered they had to agree to pay them or the players would have walked off the job. What kind of odds could someone get that Bonus Ball does not start in January as planned? How long are they going to string these players along? I know there are some supporters out there that are not going to like my honesty but come on really? This would not fly in any other sport and they are taking advantage of that.

 

[JCIN]

Mark:

I'm not a spokesperson for Bonus Ball, but I was there yesterday and was very courteously afforded a full tour of the facilities and given an in-depth explanation for the delays. I can tell you that the delays are mainly due to many last-minute changes that will vastly improve on what was originally planned. These changes will benefit the players and the audiences (both live and TV) alike.

I don't feel I am at liberty to say any more than that at this time.

Roger

Thats all well and good but has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the point he was making. At some point they knew they were going to make those changes. Why wait until four days before the scheduled launch date to announce them? If they are a month out from being done I find it hard to believe they didnt know that until four days before the kick off date.

They let players fly all the way to Vegas. Either they knew the building wouldnt be done and just didnt care to mention it to anyone or they dont know whats going on. Its become ridiculous.

It not only hurts people like me it hurts players and fans. Dancing around this moving target of a schedule has kept TAR from doing two matches due to scheduling conflicts that could have been done if we knew they were nowhere near ready to go. Thats $12,000 out of four players pockets and two events people never got to see.

Bonus ball reps have said they want to work with the industry. They should either do that or make it clear they have no concern at all about anyone else trying to create things in this country. Its their business and they can do what they like but its getting old.

Its hard enough to do this stuff.

Just an unrelated observation....paying players three weeks pay is not some benevolent gesture. If they didnt pay off half of the players wouldn't come back in January.

 

[Jesters]

Thats all well and good but has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the point he was making. At some point they knew they were going to make those changes. Why wait until four days before the scheduled launch date to announce them? If they are a month out from being done I find it hard to believe they didnt know that until four days before the kick off date.

They let players fly all the way to Vegas. Either they knew the building wouldnt be done and just didnt care to mention it to anyone or they dont know whats going on. Its become ridiculous.

It not only hurts people like me it hurts players and fans. Dancing around this moving target of a schedule has kept TAR from doing two matches due to scheduling conflicts that could have been done if we knew they were nowhere near ready to go. Thats $12,000 out of four players pockets and two events people never got to see.

Bonus ball reps have said they want to work with the industry. They should either do that or make it clear they have no concern at all about anyone else trying to create things in this country. Its their business and they can do what they like but its getting old.

Its hard enough to do this stuff.

Just an unrelated observation....paying players three weeks pay is not some benevolent gesture. If they didnt pay off half of the players wouldn't come back in January.

MY previous post on page #2

Another delay that is being sugar coated for those who will listen. This time the delay is due to them making the game better. They are almost a year behind schedule I would have thought this kind of thing would be already handled during the other delays. This just seems to be not very well managed and from what I can gather is putting promoters in a position to rearrange or cancel or work around their schedule that keeps getting changed. Maybe they do not realize that as must as they believe the pool world as we know it is dead or how much they think that Bonus Ball is the only game worth playing it is NOT the only thing in pool and that their actions are putting the players in a spot too. Maybe before long the players will turn against Bonus ball after putting their lives on hold waiting for the game to actually start. The fact that Bonus Ball are paying the players can be looked at as a good thing and it beats the alternative but in reality all they are doing is what is right and what should be done. I also wonder how many of the players actually knew it was going to be delayed AGAIN before they got to Las Vegas. Or was it a shock to find this out? Was it a ploy to just get the players there and once cornered they had to agree to pay them or the players would have walked off the job. What kind of odds could someone get that Bonus Ball does not start in January as planned? How long are they going to string these players along? I know there are some supporters out there that are not going to like my honesty but come on really? This would not fly in any other sport and they are taking advantage of that.

 

[Johnnyt]

While paying the players until the new start date is a plus for Bonus Ball I would think they had a performance bond with the contractor. Johnnyt

 

[Majic]

While paying the players until the new start date is a plus for Bonus Ball I would think they had a performance bond with the contractor. Johnnyt

makes you wonder what is really going on doesn't it.


doing what you say your going to do is called integrity

 

[Fatboy]

how could this possibly be?

An expensive error, at best. I hope once corrected, somebody puts his big-boy pants on and makes it work.

TQM...as much as possible, given humans are present.

county inspectors are brutal in Vegas now, I know I had a few beef's with them. Because 80% were laid off the survivors take any new file(new biz applicant) and work it to death at the expense of the new business to cover their asses so they have something to do. They have f*cked with Larry to death on this, its shameful as Vegas is dyeing, its nearly impossible to make $$ there and then when someone does come along with a real business they get harassed by inspectors who are needlessly making it impossible to open a biz so they can keep they inspector job. Thats what it all boils down to, ZERO to do with pool.


when I moved to Vegas 20 years ago, you could open a biz easy and the local economy was booming, thats why so many people including myself moved to Vegas to open up Biz's. Now its worse than Ca or Ny in Vegas and the local economy suffers needlessly because of jack-off heavy handed inspectors. Its all but impossible to get a "Certificate of occupancy" for any biz nowadays. Because when you do the inspectors lose their action soon as they sign off, so to keep it going they keep busting balls over nothing. This has destroyed Vegas. And is Why I left, I'm just selling off empty buildings to people who think they are stealing them, LOL, I lost my ass-and I'm not the last guy to lose $$$ in Vegas.

I told Larry IMO Vegas was a poor choice for BB, I think Atlanta would have been the smart play. he would get a better gate at the matches, lower rent and less Govt harassment. I only lived and did biz there for 19 years,


thats whats really going on....really:angry:

 

[Fatboy]

While paying the players until the new start date is a plus for Bonus Ball I would think they had a performance bond with the contractor. Johnnyt

it aint the contractor, read my post above. I have done probably 10 times more TI(tenant improvement) work than BB is doing, over the past 19 years in Vegas. Even when it was easy and good you couldnt get a performance bond from a contractor UNLESS your a casino with a non-restrictd gaming license, they get(and still do) what they want. Everyone else gets sloppy seconds. Vegas is a different world. It's a little island surrounded by 275 miles of dirt in any direction. Its a island with its own unique set of rules.

 

[Fatboy]

MY previous post on page #2

Another delay that is being sugar coated for those who will listen. This time the delay is due to them making the game better. They are almost a year behind schedule I would have thought this kind of thing would be already handled during the other delays. This just seems to be not very well managed and from what I can gather is putting promoters in a position to rearrange or cancel or work around their schedule that keeps getting changed. Maybe they do not realize that as must as they believe the pool world as we know it is dead or how much they think that Bonus Ball is the only game worth playing it is NOT the only thing in pool and that their actions are putting the players in a spot too. Maybe before long the players will turn against Bonus ball after putting their lives on hold waiting for the game to actually start. The fact that Bonus Ball are paying the players can be looked at as a good thing and it beats the alternative but in reality all they are doing is what is right and what should be done. I also wonder how many of the players actually knew it was going to be delayed AGAIN before they got to Las Vegas. Or was it a shock to find this out? Was it a ploy to just get the players there and once cornered they had to agree to pay them or the players would have walked off the job. What kind of odds could someone get that Bonus Ball does not start in January as planned? How long are they going to string these players along? I know there are some supporters out there that are not going to like my honesty but come on really? This would not fly in any other sport and they are taking advantage of that.

you have absolutely zero idea of what your talking about, Why knock them with useless speculation??, these guys are spending millions on this.


I do know whats going on, and henceforth I run my mouth, when I dont know something I STFU about it, as you should.


And people wonder why pool is struggling, wow

 

[Johnnyt]

it aint the contractor, read my post above. I have done probably 10 times more TI(tenant improvement) work than BB is doing, over the past 19 years in Vegas. Even when it was easy and good you couldnt get a performance bond from a contractor UNLESS your a casino with a non-restrictd gaming license, they get(and still do) what they want. Everyone else gets sloppy seconds. Vegas is a different world. It's a little island surrounded by 275 miles of dirt in any direction. Its a island with its own unique set of rules.

If this is really the case then Bonus Ball has made a poor choice where to have thier headquarters/studio/arena. Johnnyt

 

[AtLarge]

To answer a few questions .....
...
5) The players are getting paid for 3 weeks salary and are only expected to be here for the 6 day training camp.

5-week delay; 3 weeks' salary

 

[1on1pooltournys]

Pros "lapping" it up!!!

I take my hat off to the select few guys that are going to cash in on this venture. The players participating have all paid their dues in pool and deserve some free money.

However, the consensus is this game is a joke. I don't see how in the world these people are making this investment. All I can think is they are having it in Vegas and think maybe they will get to turn it into some type of gambling proposition and "book" the matches? I'm sure something like this has got to be in the plans.

Seems to have lots of similarities to IPT. I wonder if KT is involved?