I found this in an old magazine of 'American Cuest' written our very own Jerry Forsyth.
Jerry and I met during my early tournament career and we've certainly made some "pool history" together through the years. Here's the article that I just typed up for those that want to see his perspective on the 'Million Dollar Challenge' Pocket Billiard Tournament.
The next time you sit down for coffee with Earl Strickland don't even think about picking up the check. Pool created it's first million-dollar man in Earl Thursday, April 11 when he was awarded that amount for accomplishing the seemingly impossible feat of running ten consecutive racks of Nine Ball during tournament competition at the first event on the new PCA Tour. One of the forces behind the event, John McChesney of Texas Express Promotions, put it in perspective with figures from the insurance company that insured the prize.
Their figures show that a professional player will accomplish this feat only once in 7.8 million attempts. A pool player is 8 times fore likely to be struck dead by lightening than to run ten consecutive racks. Betcha Earl goes inside when it rains.
To further expound the difficulty of this, consider that it was accomplished on nine foot Brunswick Gold Crown tables with incredibly tight pockets. Two object balls could not make it past the nose of any corner pocket, and the angle of the side pockets were nearly non-existent. Indeed, it appeared that the side pockets projected almost straight out into the plane of the table.
This was the tough equipment. So Earl not only denied some awesome odds, he did it on stingy tables on the first day of the first tournament at which the million dollar reward was ever offered. We should all hope for nothing more than this boy go bald so we can rub his head for luck.
During an interview afterward Earl said he did not start thinking about having a chance at the million dollars until the sixth rack. "Then things got a little nervy. I sure didn't want to scratch or have the cue ball fly off the table while breaking. When I broke the tenth rack, I had to make a crucial decision. I could have put the one in the side and tried to run out the table, but the balls weren't really laying right for that. I have always been a bit of a go-for guy and I figured I had about a 50% chance at making the table-length one-nine combination shot, so I went for it." He made it, and history at the same time. After a 45-minute break to regain control, he went back to the table and ran yet another rack. So, for the record, he ran eleven consecutive racks.
On top of this, the tournament was a grand success for the new PCA tour group and professional pocket billiards. The field included Strickland, ESPN World Champion CJ Wiley, George San Souci, George Breedlove, Ismael Paez, Roger Griffis, and Mike Massey amid a fine supporting cast of both established and emerging pros. A tip of the 'American Cueist' hat goes to the producers of this event. The spectators were well taken care of here. The normal collection of tables was removed from the host site, CJ's Billiard Palace in Dallas, and six new Gold Crowns installed in their place.
With tiered tournament seating throughout the room, spectators could get great views of several matches simultaneously while a courteous wait staff kept them supplied with excellent food and drink. Those of note attending as spectators were cue-maker Richard Black, Larry Johns, President of McDermott Cues, and former world poker champion Amarillo Slim. A conversation with Mr. Johns displayed his determination to continue the upward spiral of our game's popularity. He is working with promoters to garner additional sponsorship from corporations outside the billiard industry, and his commitment to the McDermott tour appears unwavering. If you need a cue, the sponsorship that McDermott provides, along with the excellent product they produce demands that you look at their cues first. Their continued loyalty to the sport is critical and requires our respect.
The matches were held as scheduled, well organized, and when the balls stopped rolling on Sunday night, CJ Wiley had defeated Earl Strickland to win the $10,000 first prize. Earl took home (in addition to his million), $6500 for second place. Canadian Paul Potier finished a strong third, Max Eberle claimed fourth, while fifth was awarded to Shannon Daulton and Larry Liscotti. On his trip to the finals Mr. Strickland took out some formidable players including Bobby Hunter, Paul Potier, and even sending eventual winner CJ Wiley to the losers side with an 11-9 nail-biter. For his part, CJ showed his grit by putting away the likes of Roger Griffis, Mike Massey, Ismael Paez, and Shannon Dalton before being cast out of the winners side by the sharp-shooting Strickland to take on Mr. Potier.
The best match of the tournament may have been this match-up between Potier and Wiley. Paul shot well and smart, building up a huge lead of 10-4 in this race to 11. In control of the table on what would have been the final game of the match, Paul missed a 6-ball and CJ took over the table. He shot flawlessly and won the next seven games in a row to win the set 11-10! This gave the honor of meeting Earl in the finals to CJ, and he came into the set determined to make up for the earlier loss.
The final match see-sawed for the first seven games, staying close with neither cueist running away from the other. Then CJ got hot and built his lead to 10-5 and with a fairly easy cut on the nine to take the win. Inexplicably, CJ missed the shot and gave Earl the table. With thoughts of his own earlier come-back against Potier torturing him, CJ sat and watched Earl slam a long-rail bank in on the nine to claim the game and the right to break. But another come-back was not meant to be, and the local hero CJ Wiley claimed the next game and the tournament win. With his earlier win in Las Angeles added to this one, CJ now carries a lot of momentum forward into the rest of the year.
Of note, the McDermott Tour will act as a feeder group to the PCA pro tour. The winner of each McDermott stop gets free entry into the next PCA event. This nurturing of the player base should help bring new faces into play and help structure pool in much the same manner that golf has already found to be successful. 'American Cuest' wishes the new tour every success and hopes that it will avoid the clash of egos that has doomed so many of it's predecessors.
- Jerry Forsyth, American Cuest staff writer
Jerry and I met during my early tournament career and we've certainly made some "pool history" together through the years. Here's the article that I just typed up for those that want to see his perspective on the 'Million Dollar Challenge' Pocket Billiard Tournament.
The next time you sit down for coffee with Earl Strickland don't even think about picking up the check. Pool created it's first million-dollar man in Earl Thursday, April 11 when he was awarded that amount for accomplishing the seemingly impossible feat of running ten consecutive racks of Nine Ball during tournament competition at the first event on the new PCA Tour. One of the forces behind the event, John McChesney of Texas Express Promotions, put it in perspective with figures from the insurance company that insured the prize.
Their figures show that a professional player will accomplish this feat only once in 7.8 million attempts. A pool player is 8 times fore likely to be struck dead by lightening than to run ten consecutive racks. Betcha Earl goes inside when it rains.
To further expound the difficulty of this, consider that it was accomplished on nine foot Brunswick Gold Crown tables with incredibly tight pockets. Two object balls could not make it past the nose of any corner pocket, and the angle of the side pockets were nearly non-existent. Indeed, it appeared that the side pockets projected almost straight out into the plane of the table.
This was the tough equipment. So Earl not only denied some awesome odds, he did it on stingy tables on the first day of the first tournament at which the million dollar reward was ever offered. We should all hope for nothing more than this boy go bald so we can rub his head for luck.
During an interview afterward Earl said he did not start thinking about having a chance at the million dollars until the sixth rack. "Then things got a little nervy. I sure didn't want to scratch or have the cue ball fly off the table while breaking. When I broke the tenth rack, I had to make a crucial decision. I could have put the one in the side and tried to run out the table, but the balls weren't really laying right for that. I have always been a bit of a go-for guy and I figured I had about a 50% chance at making the table-length one-nine combination shot, so I went for it." He made it, and history at the same time. After a 45-minute break to regain control, he went back to the table and ran yet another rack. So, for the record, he ran eleven consecutive racks.
On top of this, the tournament was a grand success for the new PCA tour group and professional pocket billiards. The field included Strickland, ESPN World Champion CJ Wiley, George San Souci, George Breedlove, Ismael Paez, Roger Griffis, and Mike Massey amid a fine supporting cast of both established and emerging pros. A tip of the 'American Cueist' hat goes to the producers of this event. The spectators were well taken care of here. The normal collection of tables was removed from the host site, CJ's Billiard Palace in Dallas, and six new Gold Crowns installed in their place.
With tiered tournament seating throughout the room, spectators could get great views of several matches simultaneously while a courteous wait staff kept them supplied with excellent food and drink. Those of note attending as spectators were cue-maker Richard Black, Larry Johns, President of McDermott Cues, and former world poker champion Amarillo Slim. A conversation with Mr. Johns displayed his determination to continue the upward spiral of our game's popularity. He is working with promoters to garner additional sponsorship from corporations outside the billiard industry, and his commitment to the McDermott tour appears unwavering. If you need a cue, the sponsorship that McDermott provides, along with the excellent product they produce demands that you look at their cues first. Their continued loyalty to the sport is critical and requires our respect.
The matches were held as scheduled, well organized, and when the balls stopped rolling on Sunday night, CJ Wiley had defeated Earl Strickland to win the $10,000 first prize. Earl took home (in addition to his million), $6500 for second place. Canadian Paul Potier finished a strong third, Max Eberle claimed fourth, while fifth was awarded to Shannon Daulton and Larry Liscotti. On his trip to the finals Mr. Strickland took out some formidable players including Bobby Hunter, Paul Potier, and even sending eventual winner CJ Wiley to the losers side with an 11-9 nail-biter. For his part, CJ showed his grit by putting away the likes of Roger Griffis, Mike Massey, Ismael Paez, and Shannon Dalton before being cast out of the winners side by the sharp-shooting Strickland to take on Mr. Potier.
The best match of the tournament may have been this match-up between Potier and Wiley. Paul shot well and smart, building up a huge lead of 10-4 in this race to 11. In control of the table on what would have been the final game of the match, Paul missed a 6-ball and CJ took over the table. He shot flawlessly and won the next seven games in a row to win the set 11-10! This gave the honor of meeting Earl in the finals to CJ, and he came into the set determined to make up for the earlier loss.
The final match see-sawed for the first seven games, staying close with neither cueist running away from the other. Then CJ got hot and built his lead to 10-5 and with a fairly easy cut on the nine to take the win. Inexplicably, CJ missed the shot and gave Earl the table. With thoughts of his own earlier come-back against Potier torturing him, CJ sat and watched Earl slam a long-rail bank in on the nine to claim the game and the right to break. But another come-back was not meant to be, and the local hero CJ Wiley claimed the next game and the tournament win. With his earlier win in Las Angeles added to this one, CJ now carries a lot of momentum forward into the rest of the year.
Of note, the McDermott Tour will act as a feeder group to the PCA pro tour. The winner of each McDermott stop gets free entry into the next PCA event. This nurturing of the player base should help bring new faces into play and help structure pool in much the same manner that golf has already found to be successful. 'American Cuest' wishes the new tour every success and hopes that it will avoid the clash of egos that has doomed so many of it's predecessors.
- Jerry Forsyth, American Cuest staff writer
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That's funny, I don't care who you are.