Darren Appleton's post on FB about the pro division at SBE

Meanwhile i played two amateurs first two rounds 10-4 10-3 wins.. but yes maybe thats it i can't beat Amateurs .pmsl...

And you wonder why MORE than 50% of Professional Pool Players are Bipolar .LOL.

Darren :-)
 
say what you want, anyone can speak their mind, and hopkins does and should make money, he was the smart one to put it together. ive been there four or five times and love every second of it, if the pros complain to damn bad, all they are doing is taking money away from the amatuer event, who when its all said and done are the ones who make it happen. $72000 is what the amatuers put up, first place is $5000, what a joke. that space could be used to add 20 more barboxes for the amatuers and increase the pot size significantly. in case you haven't noticed, no one watches the pros too much, its their own fault they make the game unwatchable with dreadfully slow play and safties. they should be grateful. the only way a tournament like this should be run is the pro should be invited and the payouts should be even, fight for a trophy and pride.

HE SHOULD MAKE MONEY AND HE DOES LOTS OF IT.:-). I Applaud him for that :smile: he pulls it off every year without fail.

i agree the whole event should be amateur events only and ladies.

nobody watches the professionals anyway. even though it was packed out everyday.
:)

Darren
 
Darren,

You are obviously one of the best players in the world today. Your travels take you worldwide. What do you see as the major difference between "pro" pool in America versus the rest of the world? How would you change the situation here? What could Allen Hopkins have done better with the funds he had available to run the event? Not trying to be a smart ass but I grew up in Rochester with Mike Sigel and heard the same complaints from him.

Lyn
 
Meanwhile i played two amateurs first two rounds 10-4 10-3 wins.. but yes maybe thats it i can't beat Amateurs .pmsl...

And you wonder why MORE than 50% of Professional Pool Players are Bipolar .LOL.

Darren :-)

You have a right to seek changes! You were very cordial to people there and I thank you lol
 
Allan lowered the added from 25k one year to 8K added the next year by my memory- I could be wrong. Anyway when it was substantially lowered, all the pros still went. What did that tell Allen? It told him he might be able to lower it more. The pros should have acted that first year and stayed away in droves. It's too late now and it's the pros fault and i almost never say that.

If memory serves, the drop to $8k added came the year that the ABP came into existence "to save pro pool" and they had as a stipulation that for a tournament to be "ABP sanctioned", it only had to have $8k added.

Before that, SBE had been $25k added.

I could be wrong on some of this, but I don't think I am. Funny how this stuff gets forgotten.
 
Darren,

On a completely different note: I'm looking forward to watching you play this weekend in the Carom Room Spring Classic 8 Ball Tourney. It should be an outstanding event. Good luck!
 
If memory serves, the drop to $8k added came the year that the ABP came into existence "to save pro pool" and they had as a stipulation that for a tournament to be "ABP sanctioned", it only had to have $8k added.

Before that, SBE had been $25k added.

I could be wrong on some of this, but I don't think I am. Funny how this stuff gets forgotten.

good post.. thats where it all went wrong with ABP.

They vanished into thin air.

AND NOW SBE add Nothing lol..

Pool World strikes again

D
 
Darren,

On a completely different note: I'm looking forward to watching you play this weekend in the Carom Room Spring Classic 8 Ball Tourney. It should be an outstanding event. Good luck!

Yes I'm really looking forward to this event.. unlike the weekend.. see you there be a great event :-)

darren
 
most of you missing the point..

What I'm saying the event supposed to be a prestigious professional event or was in years gone past..
But sadly last two years its gone backwards weaker fields and no added money which as meant more amateurs in the field than professionals. no live stream because they wanted a lot of money for it to be live streamed.And i know somebody that offered to live stream it for free.but SBE Wanted 10k from them. for me the paying public come to watch professionals play, Yes from the last 16 players the standard was professional level.

the rules were bad 10ball slop is not 10ball,prize money no good/alot of players don't stick to dress code/ plus other things .

its become a small tournament thats lost its prestige shame :-(. in the past was good with top field and good payouts and professionally organized.

I used to enjoy playing remember first year i played 2009 was great event.. now i don't look forward to playing in that event anymore...The social side good with all the booths but not the playing.

The tournament unless change should Rename the event the (Diamond Open Championship ) the Way it is now "Professional Players Championship' should be dumped because nothing professional about the event what so ever.

End of the day all the Proper Professionals agree with me and i just talking on all the pros behalf..The ones that don't agree with me are not wired up right.

Darren appleton.

Unfortunately, the economy is not what it was back in 2009. Every one has cut back on money or services or sponsorship or expenses. Why were there only 16 "pros"? Couldn't they afford the $500 entry and expenses? Or did they boycott it because it wasn't a "pro" tourney?
 
Darren,

You are obviously one of the best players in the world today. Your travels take you worldwide. What do you see as the major difference between "pro" pool in America versus the rest of the world? How would you change the situation here? What could Allen Hopkins have done better with the funds he had available to run the event? Not trying to be a smart ass but I grew up in Rochester with Mike Sigel and heard the same complaints from him.

Lyn

IM just saying what the majority of the players were saying ,Im just the guy that likes to voice my opinion in public and give credit when its due and criticize when it should be..


Big difference to Professional Pool around the Rest of the world!! They play to Official rules WPA Rules 10Ball 9ball or 8ball / .10ball was invented to be call shot.. So why most events in USA keep changing rules and bending them doesn't make sense 10ball slop a joke. u can touch balls with hand move balls and not a foul joke. rack your own with a $1 wooden rack can't rack the balls unless a rack expert joke. No Dress code for so Called Professional events i.e. weekend players wearing training running tops /sneakers.jeans,t shirts etc joke. Schedule in most events no good. Too many matches in some tournaments in one day sometimes into early hours like us open then up again to play with 4-5 hrs sleep. joke. No Added money Professional event like the weekend No good. Any body can pay to enter no matter what the level don't agree with this. but with current state of pool in usa thats the road we gone down. should be some type of qualifying criteria.. plus no ranking events, bar table events been added as ranking events for mosconi cup.Plus many other things list goes on and on..

worldwide Professional events the format and schedule much better and all events got added money playing to the official World rules. all got at least TV or a Live Stream. All players Wear proper dress code Shoes,pants and collared shirts some events vests. all events are ranking events and must qualify through a ranking or win a qualifying event to participate.all events use a magic rack with referee fair for both players if you touch a ball accidentally even if a referee or not its a foul. But don't get me wrong rest of world lot to learn also..But its much more professional.

I just want better events and the game to grow not go backwards like I'm seeing some events.. with no professionalism and weakened fields and lot of good players missing because no value to play.

We need to play the same rules worldwide and Asia/Europe/Middle East/America etc all need to work together on this. otherwise nothing will change.

we need one Association with the right people in charge. we are long way from that and i don't see it anytime soon Sad..

Don't get me wrong some events are good in states but still don't play to the right rules and formats and dress code big issue in some pro events...

but Csi do good for pool /Us open still a good and dcc good festival week.event but i don't like the format and schedule at us open thats another tournament thats a day short. needs to be a day longer esp double elim all the way to final.. all Professional events imo once half the field been cut it should go to Single Elimination Better for tv Better for fans and Spectators and doesn't drag tournaments out to silly hours or days. People worldwide in all sports understand Single Elim.Not Double elim thats old school to keep people in the Pool rooms all day and night. Like i said early stages ok for double elim like pool events worldwide.but once last 64 or last 32 or last 16 depending on size of the field it goes to single elim thats the way it should be in america also.

We can go on for hours but i can't type good lol.. so leave it at that and hope one day somebody rescues professional pool in usa. maybe one day i will :)

darren
 
Unfortunately, the economy is not what it was back in 2009. Every one has cut back on money or services or sponsorship or expenses. Why were there only 16 "pros"? Couldn't they afford the $500 entry and expenses? Or did they boycott it because it wasn't a "pro" tourney?

well it was ok until 2012 was 20k winner.. its nothing to do with economy that for sure.

nobody boycotted it. but it was weakest field at the expo I've played in maybe because no added money and if got to travel if finish 3rd for example break even.2500$ for 3rd place.

Darren
 
1. Darren Appleton
2. Shane van Boening
3. Mike dechaine
4. Jayson Shaw
5. Dennis Orcullo
6. Rodney Morris
7. Brandon Shuff
8. Oscar Dominguez
9.Corey duel
10. Justin Bergman
11. Justin Hall
12. Johnny archer
13. Michael Yednak
14. Thorsten Hohmann
15. Donnie Mills
16. Bucky souvanthong
17. Tony Robles
18. Skylar Woodward
19. Earl Strickland
20. Lee Brett
21. Mika Immonen
22. Jeremy Sossei
23. Warren Kiamco
24. Shaun Wilkie
25. Steve Moore
26. Matt Krah
27. Scott Frost
28. Hunter Lombardo

This was pretty tough field. Congrats to all the players. I only wish they played non stop ten ball, eight ball, nine ball over five days. There was potential for a lot of tournament if organized right. Like a mini Derby city.
 
1. Darren Appleton
2. Shane van Boening
3. Mike dechaine
4. Jayson Shaw
5. Dennis Orcullo
6. Rodney Morris
7. Brandon Shuff
8. Oscar Dominguez
9.Corey duel
10. Justin Bergman
11. Justin Hall
12. Johnny archer
13. Michael Yednak
14. Thorsten Hohmann
15. Donnie Mills
16. Bucky souvanthong
17. Tony Robles
18. Skylar Woodward
19. Earl Strickland
20. Lee Brett
21. Mika Immonen
22. Jeremy Sossei
23. Warren Kiamco
24. Shaun Wilkie
25. Steve Moore
26. Matt Krah
27. Scott Frost
28. Hunter Lombardo

This was pretty tough field. Congrats to all the players. I only wish they played non stop ten ball, eight ball, nine ball over five days. There was potential for a lot of tournament if organized right. Like a mini Derby city.


so around 20 professionals if been generous...some of them on that list no chance to win the tournament.

i wasn't far out around 16-20 good players and rest good Amatuers to low Amateurs.

Darren.
 
Last edited:
This is a cool thread. We have one of, if not the best player ever giving us his unfiltered opinions. I'm all ears, wanting to hear all that you have to say.
 
most of you missing the point..

What I'm saying the event supposed to be a prestigious professional event or was in years gone past..
But sadly last two years its gone backwards weaker fields and no added money which as meant more amateurs in the field than professionals. no live stream because they wanted a lot of money for it to be live streamed.And i know somebody that offered to live stream it for free.but SBE Wanted 10k from them. for me the paying public come to watch professionals play, Yes from the last 16 players the standard was professional level.

the rules were bad 10ball slop is not 10ball,prize money no good/alot of players don't stick to dress code/ plus other things .

its become a small tournament thats lost its prestige shame :-(. in the past was good with top field and good payouts and professionally organized.

I used to enjoy playing remember first year i played 2009 was great event.. now i don't look forward to playing in that event anymore...The social side good with all the booths but not the playing.

The tournament unless change should Rename the event the (Diamond Open Championship ) the Way it is now "Professional Players Championship' should be dumped because nothing professional about the event what so ever.

End of the day all the Proper Professionals agree with me and i just talking on all the pros behalf..The ones that don't agree with me are not wired up right.

Darren appleton.

Thanks for clearing that up. I'd have to say I agree with you 100%
Jason
 
HE SHOULD MAKE MONEY AND HE DOES LOTS OF IT.:-). I Applaud him for that :smile: he pulls it off every year without fail.

i agree the whole event should be amateur events only and ladies.

nobody watches the professionals anyway. even though it was packed out everyday.
:)

Darren

the event was packed bc its free, a few years back when you had to pay it wasnt so.
I don't want to argue with one of the best pool players in the world, I have immense respect for you, you're a true professional and a respectful and likable person, I was watching you run racks after racks at steinway 14.1, Im one of the people who can watch a one pocket match for hours, but what exactly was your point with the original statement the OP made that you said? from what I know you're the closest pro to the event, you live in PA no? this is like an easy few thousand for you with a quick ride to the expo. America doesn't have Qatar oil money from bored billionaires or Asian money trying to promote business and political relations. the pool scene here is run from people who love the game and lose money doing so usually. small business owners putting together tournaments because they love billiards and its people, america the big bad capital country runs pool for love of the game. at least thats the impression I get. who knows, Im no pro and work a 9-5 for chump change.
 
Allan lowered the added from 25k one year to 8K added the next year by my memory- I could be wrong. Anyway when it was substantially lowered, all the pros still went. What did that tell Allen? It told him he might be able to lower it more. The pros should have acted that first year and stayed away in droves. It's too late now and it's the pros fault and i almost never say that.

As far as it being an 'industry show' Daz has to know that . He is a smart guy who can obviously see where the money is coming from and why attendance is always strong. League type event and Cues. The people with money in pool and many without it LOVE Cues more than pool. IN just about ANY pool room you go to, talk about Cues will will overshadow talk about pros or even playing better pool by a factor of about eight-maybe more. Me i could give 2 craps about sticks.

PS- I would guesstimate AH makes $250K off this one event every year.

Players continue to play despite the drop in added money just like players attend the US Open despite payout troubles...the potential paycheck is still too good for a pool player to pass up. They can't afford not to play. And as soon as 10 top pros commit to boycotting an event it greatly increases the odds of that 11th player winning or finishing high since he'll be competing against short stops and amateurs. For that reason a boycott will never work in pool.
 
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