A little Christmas present to everyone, challenge of champions video

[JB Cases]

People are human. Frankly I am disappointed that my pool heroes could be involved in this but on the other hand I am also disappointed that the Mirage was so ill-informed as to make a ridiculous line of 20-1 on Mike Lebron. It's not like the guy couldn't play.

I think Matt Braun should have made it extremely clear that even a hint of "business" would result in no one getting paid from the casino or the prize money. Now that I think about it I think in subsequent years he did say something along those lines.

In any event I am sad to see this but glad that's it's out there. I would like to think that a few of the guys feel a little guilt or shame over it. I know that Buddy and Nick have both given a lot back to pool over the years since then. So I am inclined to cut them some slack and forgive them.

Again I don't think it's ruined pool in the least and certainly didn't ruin the Challenge of Champions as an event. Although Matt Braun might feel differently. Perhaps to him it could have been the springboard to even larger purses. Who knows.

Maybe now that it's out in the open on the forum and with video on YT some of the players can open up about it and get it off their conscience. From the reports it sounds like Mike and David already did.

 

[ChrisBanks]

Don't be disappointed that your pool heroes didn't meet your expectations, instead be disappointed in yourself that you had heroes in the first place!

 

[elvicash]

Man... Its a biatch when your gunslinger can't make a ball... Wow. Lebron has a lil pooch in him.

He was definitely having problems catching what Buddy was throwing.

 

[TATE]

If it's one thing we've learned here, pool players are not the best actors.

 

[Black-Balled]

Maybe Buddy didn't have enough experience playing for big bucks? :scratchhead:

 

[maxeberle]

so obvious. sad really. pool may have had a chance way back then...

 

[dardusm]

Thanks for the vid. The most damaging thing was that pool could have been booked legally. In the long run, it would have elevated the game/sports status.

 

[foxcues]

I had never seen this video,Thanks for posting it. One question I have is with mike on the hill first why did buddy go hill/hill?Wouldn`t it have just as easy to miss/scratch in the rack he ran? Or was there somekind of line about hill/hill.

 

[Black-Balled]

Thanks for the vid. The most damaging thing was that pool could have been booked legally. In the long run, it would have elevated the game/sports status.

That's pure speculation. It would likely have changed many things in ways both predictable and unpredicted.t

 

[dardusm]

That's pure speculation. It would likely have changed many things in ways both predictable and unpredicted.t

Yep it is speculation but you can look across the ocean at snooker as a benchmark. NFL, MLB, Hockey, College Football, College Basketball, Nascar, Tennis, Jai-Alai, etc. are all booked and have been successful. How many times have you made bets on pool matches? I know that I have made some over the years. Good or bad, booking matches would increase the footprint of pool.

 

[Carbonbit]

I had never seen this video,Thanks for posting it. One question I have is with mike on the hill first why did buddy go hill/hill?Wouldn`t it have just as easy to miss/scratch in the rack he ran? Or was there somekind of line about hill/hill.

From what I watched it looked like Buddy was trying to HAND it to Mike. Second to last rack Mike misses an EASY eight. What could Buddy do? Mike left him with a Stop Stop for the rack. Buddy had no choice but take the rack and go to the hill.

 

[wahcheck]

the cold stark evidence

I would just like to chime in with all the others to thank JPowell for the posting of this ..... I too had never seen the video.........wow, there it is for all the pool world to see ...... anyone who is a serious pool player/fan can see what is
obvious ..... as for this killing pool being a betting sport, can anyone really believe something like this wouldn't happen sooner or later if it did become a
"booked" sport? I can sympathize with all the disillusioned fans out there, but
as we all know, humans being humans, money is king; and then, as it is now, there's not much of it in pool.......

 

[juegabillar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y12sL1oR2s

My suggestion is that you control the comments at the youtube website. You can set it up to appear only with your approval. Just my opinion.

....and thank you for the link. We can now have our own opinion of what transcribed in that event....

 

[Black-Balled]

..look ..at snooker as a benchmark. NFL, MLB, Hockey, College Football, College Basketball, Nascar, Tennis, Jai-Alai, etc. are all booked and have been successful. ..

Impressive names, but unless the gambling= success factor, they are just names.

I don't think pool would have been notably more 'popular', had Vegas chosen to provide a regular book.

 

[xianmacx]

Thanks for posting.

The reason pool players dump and MLB players don't is income. Baseball/football/golf players are no more noble than pool players, they just have incentive to play to win. The top 10 MLB players averaged 27 mil each in 2012. The top 10 pool players averaged 71,000 in 2012. That is peanuts when you are 1 of the 10 best on this globe at your given talent.


You guys really think that if vegas or anywhere started booking singles events again that we would not see this from todays players? come on...

I think it sucks they did it, but they are no more corrupt than any other sport.

Ian

 

[dardusm]

I would just like to chime in with all the others to thank JPowell for the posting of this ..... I too had never seen the video.........wow, there it is for all the pool world to see ...... anyone who is a serious pool player/fan can see what is
obvious ..... as for this killing pool being a betting sport, can anyone really believe something like this wouldn't happen sooner or later if it did become a
"booked" sport? I can sympathize with all the disillusioned fans out there, but
as we all know, humans being humans, money is king; and then, as it is now, there's not much of it in pool.......

I agree, eventually it would have happened, but snooker has a very aggressive stance against this type of behavior as do other betting sports.

Impressive names, but unless the gambling= success factor, they are just names.

I don't think pool would have been notably more 'popular', had Vegas chosen to provide a regular book.

I think it would help the "viewing" of pool becoming more popular. I'm a huge fan of the game but it can be very dry to watch sometimes. I did like the energy of the Mosconi Cup. If more people watch, then more money for the sport. It could snowball i.e. poker if it could get regular television exposure. Maybe a fantasy pool could catch on :grin: They did it for awhile several years back for big tournaments and it was fun. Ahh but to dream.

 

[mrshifty]

Much has been said about what the casino lost because the underdog won. How much did they win because the favorites lost?

 

[dabarbr]

It would have looked better if Buddy would have just raked the balls and conceded after missing the straight in eight ball.
It looked like Mike was confused and thought that he was supoosed to be doing the dumping. And why did they make the match get so close?

 

[pwd72s]

Just finished watching both videos...thanks for posting them. Well, what can ya say? They tried to make it convincing...but no Oscar nomination from me.

 

[Hungarian]

Maybe someone can give Buddy a call and ask him.

Ok, who knows how to reach Buddy?

I had never seen this video,Thanks for posting it. One question I have is with mike on the hill first why did buddy go hill/hill?Wouldn`t it have just as easy to miss/scratch in the rack he ran? Or was there somekind of line about hill/hill.