The FIX (1991 Challenge of Champions)

Matt_24

Matt_24

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Has anyone ever heard the story about how the 91' Challenge of Champions was fixed? I bought a DVD with all of the matches from it.....and I regretfully have to say it looks as though it was by "some" players. Any thoughts/opinions? Pretty interesting to watch.
 
Matt_24 said:
Has anyone ever heard the story about how the 91' Challenge of Champions was fixed? I bought a DVD with all of the matches from it.....and I regretfully have to say it looks as though it was by "some" players. Any thoughts/opinions? Pretty interesting to watch.
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I think I heard something about this, was that the one Lebron won?
 
Pool players would never do that. Their egos are too great to allow them to let someone else get the glory.

LOL Jake
 
LastTwo said:
Can you describe what happens? Were people dogging shots seemingly on purpose?
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It is blatantly obvious in the finals...and Mike's competitor is a hero of mine and I still hold him in high regard....but it was just ludicrous. It got to the point where he was like...sheesh..how many shots do I have to dump for you to be able to run out Lebron. His opponent was winning every tournament in sight that year (91) and Lebron stood no chance...but JUST...MANAGED...TO..SQUEAK IT OUT on the hill. Yeah..right. When is the last time you've seen a pro miss two consecutive shot in a cosmo rack..or make a shot and scratch on an EASY OUT?
 
Shorty said:
WHERE did you get it on DVD! I want this DVD!

Shorty
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Watch for it on Ebay. Somebody taped all of the matches off of tv and put them on one dvd. The quality is excellent. Again..the only match where there is blatant dumping is the finals. I could be and hope I'm wrong..but I'm probably not.

Also bought a great match between Ronnie Allen and Keith McCready/Harry Platis teamup at one pocket. 5 ahead for 10 thousand. That was a fun match to watch.
 
Matt_24 said:
Watch for it on Ebay. Somebody taped all of the matches off of tv and put them on one dvd. The quality is excellent. Again..the only match where there is blatant dumping is the finals. I could be and hope I'm wrong..but I'm probably not.

Also bought a great match between Ronnie Allen and Keith McCready/Harry Platis teamup at one pocket. 5 ahead for 10 thousand. That was a fun match to watch.
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Matt, you are dead on...and actually the whole tourney was a dump for Labron to win it all. I can't say my sources...but I have known this for QUITE some time. I would give a small body part or two for a copy of that DVD. I have a very good friend that wants it, and I owe it to him as a personal favor. I will keep my eyes peeled on Fleabay.

Thanks,
Shorty
 
Why go back to 1991? how about the Skins game that was held not too long ago. Was there any funny business in that game?

Jake
 
jjinfla said:
Why go back to 1991? how about the Skins game that was held not too long ago. Was there any funny business in that game?

Jake
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No, that was just Earl being a poor sport LOL

Shorty
 
Shorty said:
Matt, you are dead on...and actually the whole tourney was a dump for Labron to win it all. I can't say my sources...but I have known this for QUITE some time. I would give a small body part or two for a copy of that DVD. I have a very good friend that wants it, and I owe it to him as a personal favor. I will keep my eyes peeled on Fleabay.

Thanks,
Shorty
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Ok, it is no big secret because anybody can access this match. The final was between Buddy and Lebron. It was almost painful watching Buddy repeatedly making errors so Lebron could capitolize and take the lead. The problem was...Buddy kept doing it but Lebron couldn't come through. In the last rack alone Buddy had to make TWO errors I believe. There were like 4 innings (and not involving safeties at all) in one game. It was ridiculous. Buddy would make a ball in the corner and scratch in the side. He then cut the ball in another corner and jacked up on the cue ball so it would curve off the rail and go in the side (although it hit the point and stayed on the table). There was NO REASON for him to jack up and do that. You could almost see him get frustrated because Lebron would then make another dumb mistake missing an easy shot...thus causing Buddy to create another believable dump. Finally in the last game Buddy ran out setting up on an EASY combo (but you could tell that was going to be his dump..because combos are missable, especially for 50K). He missed it of course, and Lebron managed to run out the two balls for the "victory". Early on in a match Lebron won, Kevin Cusack was interviewing him talking about how he was the 20-1 underdog. Buddy and Nick were the top two players expected to win. Lebron said, "I'm going to win the tournament. I'm playing great." Well..he wasn't playing great but he won. Some other matches - Kim Davenport beats Mike Sigel (these are races to five ok.) Sigel is up 4-1...and Kim squeaks through to that victory. Hmmm.... Next, David Howard versus Nick Varner. Nick has BALL IN HAND and sets up his shot on the one with the bridge??????...where there was no reason to. Allen Hopkins was like, "I don't know why he is opening up with the bridge, Nick shouldn't do that." David wins that match saying, "Well, he gave me plenty of opportunities. Nick wasn't on his game." No..the underdogs were just winning every match except for Buddy..who I'm sure due to the betting patterns, etc was planned to go to the wire. Can you imagine what kind of odds people were getting on Lebron when it came down to him and Buddy? Honestly, I don't really care at all. It was very entertaining to watch. Heck, it's not like Las Vegas hasn't hustled enough people. These pros just got together and beat Vegas..LOL.
 
[edited] Posted to a thread, than on reflection, may not have been a good idea and it was a particularly sensitive issue to some people.

Perhaps better for others to collect the relevant data and post it separately.
 
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I hate to cast dispersions, but have any of you closely watched Earl's games from the 2002 Mosconi Cup where Steve Davis beats Earl to win the Cup?

Earl played the worst positional shot you could imagine followed by a terrible pot attempt to lose the final game. Not to mention a couple of hooks he made on himself, which he got out of, almost to his chagrin it seemed.

Also, in his match against Chamat, he made several very untypical mistakes.

It may sound like rubbish, but watch the games and see what you think.
 
I remember it quite well.

It was so obvious when that LeBron-Hall thing happened, VEGAS decided to call off all bets.

So everyone that decided last minute that LeBron could pull it out, and dumped their money on him hoping to make a pre-organized mint, never got paid.

anytime when you have organized gambling, like in Vegas, and England, you are definitely going to have this happen.

I've seen it happen at tournaments that have a book going on during the tournament, with 2 players who are friends. They find out the line, and go get their crew to go bet it till the line changes, and then go bet it till it changes again or until they are cut off.

Funny to see the look on the books faces, when for some unknown reason, the underdog seems to make it to his line with ease.

The one instance in particular when i was standing right there as the players colaborated, consisted of a player who had made a small fortune gambling, and betting matches, who was up all night, and really didn't care about the prizemoney anymore, and basically he just wanted to get some sleep, so he could continue gambling later.

So they agreed that the line would be bet till it changes 2 times, and that the non-tired guy would win while this guy would make his line so that he could squeeze out some more cash to pay for his room and entry fee.
To him, it was like getting paid for a situation where he would have just given up anyway.

BUT, i have seen the opposite of this happen as well.
I can't tell you how many times i have seen where there was a PICK DON'T 8 or a PICK DON'T 10, where the BOOK went over and had a talk with the players after a huge amount of wagering, and wouldn't you know it....the matches went hill-hill, and EVERYONE lost.

So i guess it's just a matter of which angle is being played
 
Colin Colenso said:
I hate to cast dispersions, but have any of you closely watched Earl's games from the 2002 Mosconi Cup where Steve Davis beats Earl to win the Cup?

Earl played the worst positional shot you could imagine followed by a terrible pot attempt to lose the final game. Not to mention a couple of hooks he made on himself, which he got out of, almost to his chagrin it seemed.

Also, in his match against Chamat, he made several very untypical mistakes.

It may sound like rubbish, but watch the games and see what you think.
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Colin,

I believe i remember what you are talking about.
Wasn't it a stretch shot for Earl (from the camera view, on the right side of the table)?
I believe at that time Earl had some severe Kidney Stones, and was in considerable pain, and waited until after the Cup to see a doctor.

So i wouldn't say that there was any intentional dumping.
 
The less said about the Challenge of Champions won by LeBron the better. It's a scar on pro pool's resume that is still healing.
 
SUPERSTAR said:
It was so obvious when that LeBron-Hall thing happened, VEGAS decided to call off all bets.
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Are you sure no one got paid? This story has been told countless times here but this is the first time I have seen anyone say that Vegas called off all bets. Did the betters at least get their money back from Vegas?

I know Vegas never booked another event AFTER this, but I always heard that the players got paid for their bets on that event.
 
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