i can see an initial consequence being that the elite pros stay with MR and that the next tier players, especially euros, go the WPA/predator route. i don't think pinoy players, or americans for that matter, would have as much reason to stay away from MR. icbw there. but in theory we could have one tour with top fargo players and one tour with lower ranked pros. guys like grabe, makkonen etc.
MatchRoom's response to the WPA player sanctions:
- Thread starter The_JV
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i can see an initial consequence being that the elite pros stay with MR and that the next tier players, especially euros, go the WPA/predator route. i don't think pinoy players, or americans for that matter, would have as much reason to stay away from MR. icbw there. but in theory we could have one tour with top fargo players and one tour with lower ranked pros. guys like grabe, makkonen etc.
I read it as everything under the WPA would be amateur competition, and the MR events would be professional competition. There were some prior communications from MR staff that said something to that effect. It was recent within the past month. I don’t recall the exact wording though.
Interesting. I see similar. The USA players will all go MR because there is no BCA/USA structure. The Rouge and outspoken European players like Shaw, Appleton, Boyes, will go MR. The Fillipinos will go MR because they do whatever they please and rarely leave their country anyway because of the travel and visa difficulties.
The careful Europeans, such as Souquet, Ouschan, He, Thorston, will go WPA.
Does anyone know if USA living players who represent Europe get the financial support? (Thorston, Mika, etc).
Is that in addition to tournament winnings? Or is it only if a player wins less than 20k, does the snooker tour bump it up to 20k?
What do you mean "doing with our money"? Aren't the payouts and added Money straight forward?
Predator has been pretty cool about letting the players they sponsor play any event they want including skipping Predator events to participate in a Matchroom event. I wonder if Predator might feel more strongly about whether their players get WPA suspensions and then become prohibited from playing in their events entirely. So that’s an angle that hasn’t been discussed much. But also Predator events have continued to get weaker and weaker fields. If suspensions are involved that might get worse.
So there could be a side effect where Predator slowly starts putting on fewer events. It’s possible they might have been on that track anyway and this might it help. This certainly can drive a wedge when it comes to the 8-ball and 10-ball world championships if the WNT players end up not being able to participate in them.
Granted I assume WPA suspensions won’t be handed out for participating in WNT alone. It’ll more likely be limited to participating in specific WNT events that clash with blue ribbon WPA events like the world championships. If it comes down to that, Matchroom could bring a cease fire together if they can negotiate 2-3 dates on the calendar they promise to avoid.
So there could be a side effect where Predator slowly starts putting on fewer events. It’s possible they might have been on that track anyway and this might it help. This certainly can drive a wedge when it comes to the 8-ball and 10-ball world championships if the WNT players end up not being able to participate in them.
Granted I assume WPA suspensions won’t be handed out for participating in WNT alone. It’ll more likely be limited to participating in specific WNT events that clash with blue ribbon WPA events like the world championships. If it comes down to that, Matchroom could bring a cease fire together if they can negotiate 2-3 dates on the calendar they promise to avoid.
L.S. Dennis
Well-known member
Anyone remember when CJ's PCA broke off from and went head to head with the PBT? How'd that work out! Just wondering...
It was just another tour created and promoted by pro pool players.
The kick off was the Million dollar challenge, and Earl did win that.
CJ had to battle the Insurance company, as they did not want to pay out.
Jay Helfert was there, he had to do a live video of the last 4 games I think? and Earl was chompin' at the bit in wait.
Jay has all the scoop on this moment in time.
The kick off was the Million dollar challenge, and Earl did win that.
CJ had to battle the Insurance company, as they did not want to pay out.
Jay Helfert was there, he had to do a live video of the last 4 games I think? and Earl was chompin' at the bit in wait.
Jay has all the scoop on this moment in time.
Both are long gone!
Basically that players who play in non-sanctioned WPA events (big Matchroom events) will be banned from playing in WPA events for violating the "WPA player license." There's another thread on here about Yapp being banned from play in a Taiwanese tournament that has more details. Yapp wasn't banned for this reason, but something more stupid involving an unsanctioned English Billiards tournament that he didn't even play in.
As we know, Matchroom is not sanctioning their events. Most WPA and regional federation player agreements have stipulations warning players may be punished for attending unsanctioned events when sanctioned events are available. The Polish federation warned their players not to attend the Matchroom Asian Open because it’s too close to the world 8-ball championships. Other federations like the ACBS are likely to follow suit given their actions with the Singapore players. The WPA has a general assembly of the federations on 10/7. The President transparently acknowledged that enforcing sanctioned event priority was a topic to be voted on. He also gave fair warning that the current sentiment and conversations indicated its members are highly likely to vote in favor of enforcing those restrictions. The letter WPA sent was promising the players if that happened it wouldn’t go in effect on such short notice that players would have to make any event and travel decisions guessing at the outcome. They promised any implementation of such a decision would be made carefully to give fair timelines the players can comfortably plan to.
This is an odd statement and I hope I can say it without stirring the pot, too much. Matchroom doesn’t need the best players in the world to produce the best pocket billiards production, in the world. WWE didn’t have the best wrestlers in the world but their wrestlers made a lot more money than those who were the best.
If players, who need Federation funding, choose to stay under the Federation/WPA umbrella and not participate in MR events, that doesn’t mean MR can’t produce a very entertaining pocket billiards product. The product they produce will be perceived as the best because that is the pool we get to see.
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If players, who need Federation funding, choose to stay under the Federation/WPA umbrella and not participate in MR events, that doesn’t mean MR can’t produce a very entertaining pocket billiards product. The product they produce will be perceived as the best because that is the pool we get to see.
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Any chance Matchroom gets PBT players like Sigel, Davenport, ... Reed?
That would be fun to see Matchroom develop.
I like watching the old vids. Can the older pros put together an interesting show for today's audiences?
Only if you include Marty Herman and Hairyman.
That will take a different promoter. Is Kevin Trudeau available?
I had forgotten about the 20k guarantee which I think started in the last two years.. I think they don't have to go out of pocket for travel that way. When the China tournaments start back up that's important. ... I see the "Wuhan Open" is in October. I think I would have called it something else.
And I wonder who will be playing in the Mosconi Cup. 
I took it as her saying that non-MR events were "amateur" by the way they were run, the production value, brackets and live scoring, etc.
Look at the final of the 2015 World 9 Ball compared to the 2022 World 9 Ball. By comparison, 2015 looks like an amateur event. It's all relative.