US Open 10 ball & 8 ball is Back!

The US Open One Pocket event has been running consistently since 2011.

Unless you're talking about something else.

The US Open 1P has been around longer than that. It was run out of Kalamazoo for many years. Went to it a couple of times. Also they didn't hold it last year, right? And Mark in a podcast a few months back said there were no real plans to hold it this year.
 
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It was held last year..

The US Open 1P has been around longer than that. It was run out of Kalamazoo for many years. Went to it a couple of times. Also they didn't hold it last year, right? And Mark in a podcast a few months back said there were no real plans to hold it this year.

It was held at the usbtc in reno. They had I think eight big tables set up around the periphery of the arena in Reno and that's what they held the us open one pocket on...

Jaden
 
It was held at the usbtc in reno. They had I think eight big tables set up around the periphery of the arena in Reno and that's what they held the us open one pocket on...

Jaden

Ok thanks, I thought that was 2013.
 
I really like watching the pros play on the 9 foot tables over the bar tables but understand that this makes more sense money wise without having to bring in the 9 foot tables. Those league players are mostly used to playing on the 7 footers every week and the events they play in Vegas too so they can relate more to it. I doubt you will get league players looking to pay $350 to play in an event but maybe a few will, lower entry and certainly you would without question. Doubt they would stagger the entry based on non pro players ratings so they could play (donate) in the event.
 
How true this post is, well stated. You could have the U.S. Open on the big screen TV behind the bar with the restrooms adjacent to it. You can sit there and watch it all night on the busiest league night and not two league players will stop to watch or even ask who's playing or what tournament is on, even though a few are coming up to the bar and many are passing back and forth to use the restrooms all night long.

They (league players aren't real Pool players) simply have no interest in Pro Pool players in doesn't matter what tables they are playing on, because in all reality they really have little interest in Pool. It's just a night out for them, where they can BS, maybe have a few beers, stand in the way of any poor sole unlucky enough to be renting a table anywhere near them, and if you dare say something they will get indignant and say something like "well you shouldn't be playing next to the league anyway" like you would be if you had any other choice, instead of a simple sorry I guess I shouldn't have been standing two feet from your table with my back toward it, you are right. I don't own the place because I come in once a week to play in a league. These people aren't real Pool players and never will be, it's just a night out for them, you could replace the word Pool with any other activity and they wouldn't really be into that activity either, it's a night out for them, period.

They don't have junk leagues like ours in other countries they get serious players and run the leagues right, the leagues here are like some carnival side show. it's best to just stay away from the Pool rooms on league nights. The leagues players show no courtesy what so ever, then people will say "well they just don't know any better", and if that were true that's one thing. The truth is they they don't know any better because they simply don't care, the proof is if they did care over time they would show more courtesy and that simply doesn't happen. -----------------> One can only feign ignorance for so long.


that might be true in general, but I know some league players that are highly skilled and have much respect for the pros.

Of course, there are some league players that are way over confident and ignorant of the true gap in talent between them and the pros, but I think there are many that understand and respect how great the pros are
 
No they're not. Not if they're being contested on bar boxes. I don't get it but hey, no one consulted me, LOL!

I've got mad respect for MG and CSI, but huh, what now?

Aside from the table size issue, it seems to me that this only dilutes the USBTC brand as the preeminent US bar box tournament.

I can only surmise the idea is this will hopefully spark more spectator interest from the several thousand players there for the BCAPL National Championships. I'm not convinced this is the case but I'm sure they know better than I.

I agree, I practice on a 7 footer because it is available to me but would rather play on a 9. And certainly Tournament play should be played on a 9 at least. 7 footers are weird, I don't hardly look at the pocket setting up I just know it's there it's so close.
 
So China has decided to throw their weight behind 8-ball on a super tight 9-footer with elite fields of the worlds best in an effort to build the sport. An effort to attract fans who appreciate exceedingly apparent huge levels of skill and technique needed in order to win.

America is going to go to the complete opposite side and set up pro pool on the easiest equipment where fields of a far more varying skill level will occur, more people will have a chance to win based on "luck" factors such as the break, and the game will attempt to likely market "excitement" and "action" rather then the sophistication of the Chinese offering.

I guess may those with the right idea prevail...

I think America might want to keep in mind though there "IS" one cue sport that has made it, it is shown the world how it is done for years and the top players are rich celebrities, the events are extremely well respected and followed, and it has a massive number of fans and sponsors.

Snooker.

Between the two games above, which version of "pool" seems to have taken their lesson from Snooker properly?
 
not a fan of 7 footers

but I can see the logic, the entry fees for the bar table championships that also include practice time can actually work out to be less than playing the same amount of hours at your local pool hall....with a frickin prize fund at the end

it gets the lesser amateurs out there too and a full field and many other benefits

meh, gonna go with the flow on this one, at day's end, Shane still wins, lol
 
So China has decided to throw their weight behind 8-ball on a super tight 9-footer with elite fields of the worlds best in an effort to build the sport. An effort to attract fans who appreciate exceedingly apparent huge levels of skill and technique needed in order to win.

America is going to go to the complete opposite side and set up pro pool on the easiest equipment where fields of a far more varying skill level will occur, more people will have a chance to win based on "luck" factors such as the break, and the game will attempt to likely market "excitement" and "action" rather then the sophistication of the Chinese offering.

I guess may those with the right idea prevail...

I think America might want to keep in mind though there "IS" one cue sport that has made it, it is shown the world how it is done for years and the top players are rich celebrities, the events are extremely well respected and followed, and it has a massive number of fans and sponsors.

Snooker.

Between the two games above, which version of "pool" seems to have taken their lesson from Snooker properly?

I'll say this, things work differently in different parts of the world. In the states there just isn't a market to watch pool. At least not enough to support those who make a living playing it. And well, that is what it is. You cannot try to duplicate what works in a Chinese market because it works there. Or even the British market. Anyone who's traveled to Europe or Asia or whatever can clearly see things are just different.
 
I hear people saying league players can relate to this and will
Show up to watch. I don't believe that. If league players were really interested in professional pool they would watch even when played on a 9 footer. I can tell you this, if Shane and Earl came to my town to put on a exhibition on a bar box, it wouldn't interest our league players!!! They would rather have a beer and watch a APA skill level 4 play a skill level 5!!!!

Yes & Major League Baseball Players don't play softball & Pro golfers don't hit 14* drivers from the forward tees & the NFL does not play flag football. And like you say no one pays to watch those lesser games.

There is a difference between the elite players & the games that they play, even in bowling. Put a league bowler on a lane prepped for a pro tournament & watch how they struggle.

I guess we'll see but it seems that everyone is looking for one thing as a fix. Trying to jump to the top instead of taking it one step up at a time.

Personally I don't think anyone is going to save Pro Pool unless the players themselves somehow take it in their own hands. Unfortunately, that seems to be an even more difficult vision to see.

I'm Sorry that I don't have any answers. I just know I'd not like the game to get any more watered down than it has gotten but perhaps it needs to go out the front door & around back in through the back door before it can earn it's way to come in through the front door again.

I came up on a an oversized 8' Brunswick & I when got into playing in the APA & BCA leagues on coin table I said that it was not even the same game...& it's not. There's tennis & then there's table tennis. Both require different skills.

Sorry for the rant with no answers. I hope it all works out for the best in the long haul.

Best,
Rick
 
I'll say this, things work differently in different parts of the world. In the states there just isn't a market to watch pool. At least not enough to support those who make a living playing it. And well, that is what it is. You cannot try to duplicate what works in a Chinese market because it works there. Or even the British market. Anyone who's traveled to Europe or Asia or whatever can clearly see things are just different.

Obviously.

I think if anyone is striving to build a new pool tour of some form at this point you are going to try to attract a global market. The internet spans borders and so does it's marketing and presentation power. The players in this sport are from nations all over the world and they travel the world to play. The fans of pool as many as they are do not limit themselves geographically and fans of 8-ball will check out Chinese 8-ball and English Black Ball to see if it appeals to them or if a truly awesome talent in that game can be seen.

If a pool promoter is trying to target a regional market, they are simply doing it wrong. Especially if that market happens to be America where pool popularity as a spectator sport is dismal. If they are not looking globally and trying to create an international product that will appeal to much of the pool playing "world" they have been relegated to being dinosaurs. Pool has gone beyond that, and some places, promoters, and marketers are finally getting it.
 
Obviously.

I think if anyone is striving to build a new pool tour of some form at this point you are going to try to attract a global market. The internet spans borders and so does it's marketing and presentation power. The players in this sport are from nations all over the world and they travel the world to play. The fans of pool as many as they are do not limit themselves geographically and fans of 8-ball will check out Chinese 8-ball and English Black Ball to see if it appeals to them or if a truly awesome talent in that game can be seen.

If a pool promoter is trying to target a regional market, they are simply doing it wrong. Especially if that market happens to be America where pool popularity as a spectator sport is dismal. If they are not looking globally and trying to create an international product that will appeal to much of the pool playing "world" they have been relegated to being dinosaurs. Pool has gone beyond that, and some places, promoters, and marketers are finally getting it.
You say that pool popularity as a spectator sport is dismal in the US., and that's ture. But is it better anywhere else? I don't know. The Mosconi Cup sure gets a lot of rowdy fans in the UK, but does that reflect general pool popularity or something else? I can't imagine it's popular in China or Qatar, but maybe it is.
 
You say that pool popularity as a spectator sport is dismal in the US., and that's ture. But is it better anywhere else? I don't know. The Mosconi Cup sure gets a lot of rowdy fans in the UK, but does that reflect general pool popularity or something else? I can't imagine it's popular in China or Qatar, but maybe it is.

"Better" is a relative term. It is certainly "better" in some other places. I have seen some tournaments in Asia where they get quite a large crowd, although normally they put the events in places where the fans have easy access to see the play (such as one of their gigantic shopping malls).

Pool as a spectator sport is certainly doing better in the Philippines, the action matches that get posted to youtube often show them to be quite popular and it is definitely standing room only, and sometimes there is not much standing room either... I think the Philippines and the gambling on the matches (and each game) that occurs helps spur the popularity. I have gone off and on here for years about the fact that sports betting is probably an absolute must if pool is ever going to get anywhere in America.

That is why I am so vocal about the fact that if/when you get casino's backing tournament pool you really actually "have" to make sure you don't screw that up. Sports popularity for a huge number of people out there links into gambling enjoyment, the sport becomes more interesting to watch and study because you are now doing so with a vested interest instead of simply a way to waste time.

When the "players" took that extra interest away from the fans at Caesars they likely had no idea how much they had screwed up what might have been an awesome thing for them. Fan's bet on sport while they sit in their lazyboy drinking a beer and eating a bowl of chicken wings, the guys they are watching on TV live in million dollar mansions and date Hollywood actresses. The pro pool players? They seriously missed the potential of what they had there and took that piece of the pie out of the fans hands and it screwed EVERYTHING up.
 
You say that pool popularity as a spectator sport is dismal in the US., and that's ture. But is it better anywhere else? I don't know. The Mosconi Cup sure gets a lot of rowdy fans in the UK, but does that reflect general pool popularity or something else? I can't imagine it's popular in China or Qatar, but maybe it is.

It is rumored that tickets for the Chinese 8-Ball World championship that Appleton won were going for $100USD... PER MATCH!

I'm not 100% certain that is true, but it sure seems that the future of pro pool is moving abroad... so we better take the event s we can get right here in the good ole USA.

The DCC seemed to be a success this year with high numbers of entries into the events. However, when you compare what Alex won for Master of the Table,1st Place in One pocket, and high finishes in the other events combined vs what Appleton won for the Chinese 8-Ball event, it certainly tells a story.
 
You know why snooker is popular in most countries other than the Usa.
It's because they can show hours and hours of live matches without editing and constant commercials.
Also the fans appreciate how tough the game is.
Only a handful of top pros in the world could beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in a race to 2 in snooker.
But thousands of pool players can beat Shane in a race to 2 on a 7ft table.
 
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