AZB Money Leaders - Chinese 8 Ball Winners

Jason Robichaud

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
With nearly $150,000 earned, Yu Haitao, is dominating the earnings and I never heard of the guy. The winner of this event will top the list every year unless someone wins every "Major" event in pool. Isn't Chinese 8 Ball more of a specialty event than a regular pool event? The pockets are extremely tight, cut like a snooker table, mostly played with snooker cues, and players have a snooker stance/form/CB control. Is it the future of "pool" or an oddity that pays extremely well?
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The latter. And no, it does not cater to snooker players because the guy who has won the most in that game, Gareth Potts, is an English 8 ball/blackball player.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
... Isn't Chinese 8 Ball more of a specialty event than a regular pool event? ... Is it the future of "pool" or an oddity that pays extremely well?
I suppose time will tell. It could be that the current "popularity" is due to a single person or small group of people and if/when they go away so will Chinese eight ball. Does anyone know the history of the game? Wikipedia is of no help this time.
 

azhousepro

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
For what it's worth, I debated for quite some time about adding those results to the database because I knew it would mean that it was the same player at the top for the better part of the year.

I'm thinking about adding a way to filter the money list based on what game was played.

Mike
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
For what it's worth, I debated for quite some time about adding those results to the database because I knew it would mean that it was the same player at the top for the better part of the year.

I'm thinking about adding a way to filter the money list based on what game was played.

Mike

Sounds like a good idea....I feel Chinese 8-ball is still a novelty game....
..like bonus ball but with a lot more money behind it.

We have one at the pool hall because some are already going cheap on the secondary market.
...it gets played, but we don’t need a second one.
 

highkarate

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I suppose time will tell. It could be that the current "popularity" is due to a single person or small group of people and if/when they go away so will Chinese eight ball. Does anyone know the history of the game? Wikipedia is of no help this time.

I don't know the history of the game, but I can tell you, based on my experience, that 100% of pool halls I went to in mainland China (and I traveled all over the country) have exclusively Chinese 8 ball tables. I'm talking extremely rural areas, large cities, north, south, it's all Chinese 8-ball. They are also way more enthusiastic about the game, their pool halls are always full. And the casual player in China is much much better than the casual player in the US. I believe it's here to stay, and with the money involved, we may see a stronger shift towards the game on an international level.
 

Oze147

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't know the history of the game, but I can tell you, based on my experience, that 100% of pool halls I went to in mainland China (and I traveled all over the country) have exclusively Chinese 8 ball tables. I'm talking extremely rural areas, large cities, north, south, it's all Chinese 8-ball. They are also way more enthusiastic about the game, their pool halls are always full. And the casual player in China is much much better than the casual player in the US. I believe it's here to stay, and with the money involved, we may see a stronger shift towards the game on an international level.

Chinese 8ball is indeed very popular in China, but I'm not sure about an international break trough.
Just a few weeks ago the EPBF sent out a letter, where they informed their players, that their negotiations with JOY have failed.
They were planing to install a Chinese 8ball Eurotour of some sort, but made changes to the already discussed contracts, which the Europeans never agreed to.
Anyway, because of that the EPBF forbids all their members to compete in events promoted by JOY. (I don't know if this includes events in China or just future events in Europe).

So in the worst case we will never see European players, and this also includes non professionals, play in Chinese 8ball events again.
 

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
I'm fine with the way it's presented now. In terms of money alone, Yu is having a better year than Filler.

If Yu were voted "AZB player of the year" with just one major title, though, I'd have to take exception.
 

mark187

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Chinese 8ball is indeed very popular in China, but I'm not sure about an international break trough.
Just a few weeks ago the EPBF sent out a letter, where they informed their players, that their negotiations with JOY have failed.
They were planing to install a Chinese 8ball Eurotour of some sort, but made changes to the already discussed contracts, which the Europeans never agreed to.
Anyway, because of that the EPBF forbids all their members to compete in events promoted by JOY. (I don't know if this includes events in China or just future events in Europe).

So in the worst case we will never see European players, and this also includes non professionals, play in Chinese 8ball events again.


Snooker players regularly play in Chinese 8 ball tournaments, so there's going to be plenty of European representation. The snooker pros are a bigger draw than pool pros in Europe anyway, so the game isn't going to die out because the EPBF can't figure out a deal.

I can't agree with whoever said the game is a novelty. Maybe in the States, but prize money like this isn't consistently handed out for a game without a large player and fanbase.
 

Oze147

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Snooker players regularly play in Chinese 8 ball tournaments, so there's going to be plenty of European representation. The snooker pros are a bigger draw than pool pros in Europe anyway, so the game isn't going to die out because the EPBF can't figure out a deal.

In the end it is all about money and politics. If you read the EPBF statement and the ICEA statement, you get both sides of the story.
But since the EPBF can force the national organisations to follow their direction, at least we won't see European pool players in C8B events in the near future.

Snooker is something different, because Worldsnooker go their own way anyway.
Barry Hearn might be the smartest guy in Billiards and is a businessman through and through. So as long as C8B doesnt interfere with his plans for the snooker circuit or his Matchroom pool events, I think he will tolerate the game.
But keep in mind, that snooker players also aren't free to do whatever they want. Their contracts with Worldsnooker, are even stricter than everything an organisation like the EPBF can impose on their members.
 

Ģüśţāṿ

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There are a great many Chinese 8-ball pool rooms in China and they are always packed! With how tough those tables play I'm surprised it's as popular as it is. Its so discouraging when going from American tables to those, you need to shoot dead straight to be successful. Im sure its going to catch on here, at least a little bit, soon enough. Everyone wants tighter pockets....well there you go!
 

Tooler

AhSheetMaDruars
Silver Member
This could be a good opportunity for Diamond.

Come out with a Chinese 8-Ball table.:thumbup:


Yeah, right....just what we need.



Are the balls the same size..? Just curious.
 

skogstokig

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i think darren's biggest paycheck was c8b too. the reason isn't hard to understand, if you get even a fraction of a percent of the chinese people interested in anything to which you can tie ad revenue, it will generate money.

i'm not a huge fan of 8 ball, but the tougher the better. barbox or bucket 9ft is unwatchable to me. i'd still say i liked the WPS 8-ball better than any c8b i've seen so far
 
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