Appleton Suspension?

I don’t mind WADA. It could relax on pot but overall it’s good for pool to keep its nose clean if it wants to grow as a professional and commercially viable sport. Likewise I appreciate that we have WPA to help with calendar protection and provide legitimacy to world rankings and world championships. While it’s easy to criticize the decisions it makes that seem off the mark and question it’s value, my mind goes the other way. I’d like to see how it could gain further legitimacy and add more value. If nothing else it could be a better clearinghouse for getting industry leaders in the same room facilitating interesting partnerships and programs. It would be nice if that gave promoters some shared leverage to engage with broadcasters/streamers to help bolster access of pool to audiences. Maybe DAZN sucks, but what if a single subscription could get you access to all the big pool events? Maybe that’s not the exact solution but it would be nice to see more organization and force multipliers in the industry.
 
I do get it but imagine flying all over the world to play in a tournament and you lose like Dennis did. Just doesn't seem right to me 🤷
That’s pool. It happens.

I’ve flown ½ around the world and lost doing my thing. I’ve also sent people home packing. That’s life. It’s not about being fair. It’s about winning. And the spoils that come with it.

Best
Fatboy <———no refunds
 
I do get it but imagine flying all over the world to play in a tournament and you lose like Dennis did. Just doesn't seem right to me 🤷
I get that but Dennis did win two matches. That also makes the lag so important. Filler put the cueball on the end rail. Dennis butchered it by like 2 diamonds.

Then filler played safe. It was a tough one. Stretched out kicking off the short rail to a ball down table. He missed and gave up ball in hand for a sellout.

Filler strings some racks together. He really wasn’t playing perfect. He just kept getting in bad spots and recovering aggressively. He spoiled one runout and played safe with 3 balls on the table. Orcollo kicked with pace hoping something good would happen but sold out again. He could have bunted the object ball to the top rail as a containing safe. But nope.

Then Filler plays safe in another rack and Dennis jumps, makes contact, and sells out. Some of that is bad rolls but how many times do you see Albin or Jayson hooked and they kicksafe to turn the tables. You gotta generate opportunities. Dennis didn’t play bad but he was destined to lose if wasn’t going to find a way to burn as bright as Filler was. And nobody else showed up with that gear.

Once it was over Dennis was smiling, applauding, and shaking hands. I think he respects a good performance because he knows he’s done it to many others. The stat sheet looked bad. The match looked great.
 
I think there are two options:

(1) WCBS (and WPA) act like all other international sports bodies and apply sport-specific solutions instead of rubberstamping IOC recommendations or whatever is the hot topic at the Swiss ski clubs. Most sports modify WADA guidelines for their specific requirements--e.g., players shouldn't miss warm ups because of testing. No other international governing body has banned all participation by Russian/Belarusian athletes. No other World Games sport has taken this position. Only billiards.

or

(2) Pool leagues go their own way without worrying about what some international federation thinks. The NFL doesn't care or follow what the IFAF thinks about football. The MLB doesn't care about the IBAF. Perhaps the WCBS/WPA would be better off tinkering with amateur-only events (like the IFAF) and step away from the professional game.
There is a 3rd option.
Follow what Snooker has done already.
The WPBSA, the governing body, worked out how to operate with a commercial business, World Snooker (WST - World Snooker Tour)
Funny enough, World Snooker is part of Matchroom....


The board of the WPBSA concentrate on governance.
They cover the professional game.
But, more recently they setup the WSF - World Snooker Federation, which covers the amateur game.
The WSF then has spots for top players to move into the professional game.

It's all laid out as a proven, worked through model.
If Pool follows this, job done.
 
Since I don`t really know how much expences pro players have, I can`t comment on prize money, entry fees and if MR`s 1750$ is a good or bad deal for the players.

But in my opinion MR`s value for the players goes far beyond prize money.
It is the TV time on and off the table, it is social media coverage and the creation of the positive image as athletes and sports personalities.
These are the modern tools for pool players to generate a solid income.

My two prime examples for people, who make a living being in the pool world are Ralph Eckert and Jasmine Ouschan.
They are two very good players, but they are no all time greats, no big money winners.
But during their prime years, they were able to position themselves as true ambassadors for our sports.
Books, TV shows, coaching lessons, sponsors outside of pool...this is what other pros should aim for.
Prize money is just the icing on the cake.
 
I amended my post, Jay, because I was wrong about lodging costs. Still, even after the correction, the spirit of the post is unchanged.

Matchroom ad CSI/Predator are both really stepping up to the plate for pro pool, and I'm more optimistic about pool's immediate future that I have been for a long time.

At long last, the top players are making a solid living. Through April, the top ten on the 2022 money list have all made over $40,000 in prize money.
Not like you Stu to fail to do your research before posting. You are a good advocate for Matchroom. I'll grant you that. The fact that you failed to admit that Matchroom did not pay for the player's lodging, instead only deleting it from your original post is a dodgy response imo. This was the basis of my point in saying that the $1,750 guarantee barely covers travel expenses for many of the players. You may want to go back and amend your post again, since sixteen of the twenty four players had to win two matches to be guaranteed $3,750. You left that part out, unless you think that only the eight seeded players deserve mention.

I am just trying to be realistic about what they are doing or not doing on behalf of the players. We already know how one sided their contracts can be, and that was cause for concern many months ago. The good payday that you called it in truth was a subsidy for their travel expenses. No more, no less. Once again, more and better professional tournaments, with the accompanying media coverage is a good thing for pool and its players. The World Pool Masters was a nice perk for a select group of players, who now must stay an extra week in a very expensive locale before beginning their next event. Maybe this is the direction MR is headed, to smaller mostly invitational tournaments that are easier to produce logistically, somewhat similar to what is the norm in many of their snooker events.

Like you, for the most part I like what I see happening in pro pool today, with some reservations that I have noted earlier. Let's just see how it all shakes out in the end. Who knows they might get me off my ass to produce another L.A. Open! We paid out over $300,000 in real prize money nearly thirty years ago before Don Maggot came along to spoil the party. .
 
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As far as Appleton being chosen twice for testing, my understanding is that the WPA and the event organizer have no say in who will be tested. That is determined by the testing agency and the selection is random. If you think about it for a little while, I think you'll see why that's absolutely necessary for such a program. And I believe the testing agency is certified by WADA but separately contracted.
Bob, if you truly believe all the testing is "random," then I have a bridge I want to sell you. Unfortunately in the real world things rarely work the way they are planned or purported to be.
 
Thanks as always for your insights. Yes, we come at things differently, but that's never gotten in the way of constructive exchange of opinions between the two of us. That's because we've always wanted the same thing in our sport, namely tournaments that are lucrative for both event producers and pro players.

Did you realize that through April, the 18th ranked player on the AZB money list for 2022 has earned over $34,000 in prizes? That means that if things continue this way for 2022, eighteen players will make at least $100,000 in prize money, and every last one of them has sponsorship. The Matchroom rankings are brand new, but what the future holds is that all players that maintain a Top 32 Matchroom ranking will automatically qualify for every Matchroom event, and in all likelihood will thrive.

Yes, the middle of the road players will still have it tough, as they always did. You are 100% correct that it's only the elite who will be making a good living from pool, but pool has become a lucrative career for more players than ever before due to the combined efforts of Matchroom and CSI/Predator. I see some light at the end of the tunnel, but I think we'd both agree that there's still quite a long way to go.

Fingers are crossed.
I like this post. ;)

P.S. In my interview with 60 Minutes (originally set to air in April and postponed until September due to their coverage of the crises in Ukraine), I began by saying that Fedor Gorst just won $90,000 in the month of January alone (the interview was in February). Of course everything went sideways for him after that.
 
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Sorry, man, BBC is the largest viewership in the 'free' world. This is why pool in the USA is a losing bet. No private network can compete with state television.

There is a reason that snooker is huge. That reason is because the UK loves showcasing any of four things it can compete in on a global stage. Rah-rah britian, and all that. Snooker is one of those things. Putting a bunch of pool players on ESPN playing for lunch money is not going to sell to the world.
Good point about BBC, but we are talking about two different things. China and the United States are in fact the two largest televison markets ($$$$) in the world! My point was well taken and correct.
 
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Curious on your thoughts, Jay. What percentage of expenses is it for an international pool player on winnings? Hypothetically speaking, if a pool player earns $100,000 in a year, what percentage of that goes to expenses, travel, lodging, food, entry fees if applicable, miscellaneous? And then, of course, there's the taxes.
That varies greatly from player to player. The top players are well sponsored, enough so that they are basically on a free roll in all the tournaments they play. For many lesser players, they depend upon sponsors (backers) to subsidize their expenses in exchange for a share of their winnings. In most cases this can amount to 50% of whatever they win. As far as taxes are concerned, all travel expenses and entry fees are deductible from winnings. To better answer your question, a top player who wins 100K in a year will pay taxes (again very dependent on his nationality how much he is taxed) on his winnings plus his sponsorship money, less his expenses and entry fees. You can't really separate prize money and sponsor money for such a player. For the others who are independently backed they will pay taxes on their share of the winnings. If they get to keep 50K out of 100K in prize money, that is what they are taxed on. The tax rate is very different in different countries.
 
That varies greatly from player to player. The top players are well sponsored, enough so that they are basically on a free roll in all the tournaments they play. For many lesser players, they depend upon sponsors (backers) to subsidize their expenses in exchange for a share of their winnings. In most cases this can amount to 50% of whatever they win. As far as taxes are concerned, all travel expenses and entry fees are deductible from winnings. To better answer your question, a top player who wins 100K in a year will pay taxes (again very dependent on his nationality how much he is taxed) on his winnings plus his sponsorship money, less his expenses and entry fees. You can't really separate prize money and sponsor money for such a player. For the others who are independently backed they will pay taxes on their share of the winnings. If they get to keep 50K out of 100K in prize money, that is what they are taxed on. The tax rate is very different in different countries.
Thank you for taking the time to reply with the informative breakdown.

It is very misleading, in my opinion, when I read that a pool player has won, hypothetically speaking, $50,000 so far in a year, but what the public may not realize is the amount of tournaments the pool player may have attended, did not win anything, and is stuck for the expenses of travel, lodging, food, and miscellaneous.

Sometimes the pool players, if they are friends and have to play each other, will make a saver of 5 or 10 percent to help their buddy out with their expenses if their buddy loses. It happens, not a popular happening with some, but it is quite commonplace with friends. The game is still played out to the best of their ability. There is no dump.

As you point out, too, the staked players have to split winnings after expenses, if there's anything left to win. Imagine a stakehorse backing a player for tournament entry fee, hotel, airfare/travel by car, miscellaneous. The player gets in the money round and pockets $1,000. Nobody wins, not the stakehorse and not the player. All that $1,000 most likely goes to expenses, but it is part of the above-referenced hypothetical player's $50,000 earnings on paper.

Sponsored players are fortunate, indeed, but some sponsored players are only sponsored with product, which you see them having auctions of pool cues, pool balls, or other pool merchandise on Facebook to raise funds.

On paper, the above-referenced hypothetical $50,000 earnings in pool looks dreamy for 6 months of playing pool, but in some cases, after expenses and attending tournaments where they got suck, they might be lucky to profit 15-, 20-, or $25,000.

I think your number of 50 percent is probably accurate for the sponsored players. I'd guesstimate that maybe 25 percent of players today are sponsored with money. Good for them! Many are sponsored with product if they are sponsored at all.

Luke Riches has the Billiard Network on YouTube which showcases many of today's pool super stars. It's pretty cool if you love pool. I see Darren Appleton competing there a lot in recent times. WPA may have banned him, but I hope, like Fedor et al., that he's still able to compete in the sport he loves.

It you haven't seen the Billiard Network on YouTube, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/c/billiardnetwork
 
I can only make an educated guess here.

Cuesports' affiliation with the IOC occurs at the WCBS (World Confederation of Billiard Sports) level, and pool (through the WPA), snooker and carom all fall under the WCBS umbrella. All three of these have hopes of being in the Olympics one day, and the probability of that happening, which many feel isn't very good, is not really the point. All three cuesports are already included in the World Games, a traditional stepping-stone to inclusion in the Olympic games. I believe that without WCBS and WPA affiliation, pool could not compete in the World Games.

All of that said, if pool wants to give up the Olympic dream and is willing to forego participation in the World Games, it could, but IOC affiliation brings quite a bit of money with it and pool, to this point, has chosen to continue its affiliation with IOC through the WCBS and the WPA, as have snooker and carom.

WADA comes with the territory as long as cuesports are affiliated with IOC through the WCBS, that won't change.

Why anyone in pool wants the IOC to touch it, ever, in any way, is a mystery to me.

I thought pool was trying to improve its image. Who watched the Olympics last time, whenever that was? Very few. That's old shit; it's time for new.

Drug testing is about as dumb of of a move as can be made in pool. What good could possibly come from it?


Jeff Livingston
 
Drug testing is about as dumb of of a move as can be made in pool. What good could possibly come from it?
If that requires explaining, then no explanation will be accepted as viable.

I think drug testing is a great move for professional pool. What possible negative could come from it?
 
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