Dragon Promotions virtual 14.1

Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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Dragon is promoting a virtual 14.1 tournament. They are calling it the 80th World Championship.

The event is not sanctioned by the WPA as a WC. The WPA has pointed out that participation in the event by WPA players will be a violation of the player's license agreement. The last sentence of the WPA notice is:

This means that athletes who are taking part in the upcoming aforementioned event will, at minimum, lose or will be unable to apply for, a WPA players license in 2021.
 
Ridiculous for the WPA to do that given the lack of opportunity for pool players to make money. It's also a stretch to refer to pool players as "athletes".
 
Are they really going through with this "World" thing? As of 2 weeks ago, they hadn't even announced a location. Now they apparently have one -- a pool room in Orlando. We're now 16 days from the announced starting date of the 8-player main event (last year's final 4 plus 4 qualifiers). Is anyone aware of any pros who have attempted to qualify (virtually)? Anyone from outside the US? Anyone from outside of Florida?
 
Well, I just looked for information on Facebook. The top 4 qualifying scores as of Dec. 8 were:
1. Christoph Reintjes (Germany) 209​
2. Mike Davis 117​
3. Charlie Williams 42​
4. Mario Massad (Jordan)10​
4. Chris Happel 10​

So it has already surprised me; I didn't expect anyone from outside the US. (Maybe they were already in Florida?)
 
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kaznj said:
Bob, are players only allowed to play in sanctioned events?
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Players are allowed to play in unsanctioned events...which is generous. They are just not allowed to play in events that call themselves a “world championship” without that being sanctioned and conforming to the rules of how a world championship is to be operated...which is reasonable.


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Does anyone really consider this a world championship anymore? That said, in a year with so few earning opportunities for professionals, I’m not sure this is the appropriate year for the WPA to put their foot down.
 
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Cameron Smith said:
Does anyone really consider this a world championship anymore? That said, in a year with so few earning opportunities for professionals, I’m not sure this is the appropriate year for the WPA to put there foot down.
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I imagine that if the WPA does not actively enforce their trademark, they will lose it. That's the way trademarks seem to work.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I imagine that if the WPA does not actively enforce their trademark, they will lose it. That's the way trademarks seem to work.
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Do they have separate trademarks for each game? Also, if they don’t use it, does it matter? Im just curious since I don’t know how these things work. I was surprised that Dragon Promotions slipped back to calling a world championships after years of it being called a world tournament.
 
CW and Ian A have been a thorn in each other's sides for 15 years now. I wonder whom will outlast who. (I probably butchered the grammar)
 
The need to qualify via an unattended practice run is a regrettable format indeed, but maybe the times demand such a formula. If it leads to matches that are real, rather than virtual, I guess it's not too terrible. If, on the other hand, the eight qualifiers will thenceforth match up against each other by seeing who can post the higher practice run on video, this event really isn't worth having.
 
wpa,bca,cia none are credible in my view. Just more big govt politicians that are virtually worthless rackets - used to promote fake news and or spy on the public i.e Cowards. If any people have questions pertaining to any of these entities - see bob the scholar/polytacktician'. I noticed on wpa's web cite - when referencing "the game" they use the term 'pool billiards' instead of the proper nomenclature Pocket Billiards. This = tomfoolery and is not a good sign or business model for Pocket Billiards. My guess would be - any potential event that is associated with bca or any other acronym big govt - a corrupt business model will be put in place. bca,pbia, all - cess pool billiard promoters.
 
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Although the WPA isn’t my favourite organization, I do feel like DP was looking for a fight by changing the title to “World Championships” this year after several years of using the “World Tournament”. I appreciate their efforts, but a lot more work needs to be done to generate a field worthy of a world championship for me to get on board with this. Too many of the top 14.1 players are missing each year. Currently, I would say that the premiere international 14.1 event is American Straight Pool Championship. The last two in particular have been an absolute delight to watch.
 
Yeah, Dragon could have had called it a "high run internet Covid challenge" and it would have probably gone over very well. Just go for high runs on livestream, and leave it at that. No in-person matchups after that. Maybe even pay participation prizes, as few would do it anyway.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Too many of the top 14.1 players are missing each year. Currently, I would say that the premiere international 14.1 event is American Straight Pool Championship. The last two in particular have been an absolute delight to watch.
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The field at the European Straight Pool Championships is probably just as strong.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Although the WPA isn’t my favourite organization, I do feel like DP was looking for a fight by changing the title to “World Championships” this year after several years of using the “World Tournament”. ...
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DP called it a "World Championship" in 2019 as well.

www.facebook.com

79th World Straight Pool Championship

Sports event in Jacksonville, FL by World 14.1 Championship on Monday, December 2 2019 with 154 people interested and 50 people going. 19 posts in the discussion.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
​
 
AtLarge said:
DP called it a "World Championship" in 2019 as well.

www.facebook.com

79th World Straight Pool Championship

Sports event in Jacksonville, FL by World 14.1 Championship on Monday, December 2 2019 with 154 people interested and 50 people going. 19 posts in the discussion.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
​
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I stand corrected, but I still think that whenever the decision was made they probably expected this to turn into something.
 
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