Amateur Pool vs Amateur Pickleball

[BasementDweller]

I was having a conversation with my brother last night, and he has jumped all-in into pickleball. Long story short -- you win an amateur event in pickleball and you'll win a 3 dollar medal. Zero cash! I kind of think the whole pickleball world just needs a couple promoters willing to award the amateur players with some cash and the whole paradigm may shift. Then again, the players don't seem to be playing for the cash, but for the love of the game.

It's interesting how pool players can complain about payouts (myself included), but apparently that's a good problem to have.

 

[garczar]

I was having a conversation with my brother last night, and he has jumped all-in into pickleball. Long story short -- you win an amateur event in pickleball and you'll win a 3 dollar medal. Zero cash! I kind of think the whole pickleball world just needs a couple promoters willing to award the amateur players with some cash and the whole paradigm may shift. Then again, the players don't seem to be playing for the cash, but for the love of the game.

It's interesting how pool players can complain about payouts (myself included), but apparently that's a good problem to have.

Pickleball is new with no real history of money related things. Pool brings with it its gambling history/legacy. BTW there is a pro p'ball tour. Top player made around 200k last year.

 

[Cameron Smith]

Arguably it’s partly what makes growing pool difficult because so much of the games income goes back to the players. If pickle ball is paying little to no prize money, then it has more money left over for promoting and advertising.

A friend of mine is active in our national curling organization and I was astonished at the amount of initiatives, programs and paid employees they have despite the fact that Curling isn’t that much of a bigger business than pool.

 

[SBC]

I was having a conversation with my brother last night, and he has jumped all-in into pickleball. Long story short -- you win an amateur event in pickleball and you'll win a 3 dollar medal. Zero cash! I kind of think the whole pickleball world just needs a couple promoters willing to award the amateur players with some cash and the whole paradigm may shift. Then again, the players don't seem to be playing for the cash, but for the love of the game.

It's interesting how pool players can complain about payouts (myself included), but apparently that's a good problem to have.

All you would end up with is the APA American Pickleball Association and couple thousand overpaid league ops who think they own pickleball.
So yeah it would be just like American pool.

 

[Cuedup]

Is gambling pervasive throughout pickleball like it is in pool? Like, do the higher skilled players tell the lesser skilled players they need to gamble more to get better?

I don't know anything about it, just curious.

 

[JolietJames]

I thought you had to be over 70 years old to play pickleball.
People who still have an ounce of athletic ability and self respect play tennis.

 

[SBC]

Is gambling pervasive throughout pickleball like it is in pool? Like, do the higher skilled players tell the lesser skilled players they need to gamble more to get better?

I don't know anything about it, just curious.

No the low level pickleballers pickle for patches and the occasional 5 inch trophy....all the while shunning anyone with legitimate pickleball skills.

 

[kling&allen]

I thought you had to be over 70 years old to play pickleball.
People who still have an ounce of athletic ability and self respect play tennis.

Last time I went it was mostly people under 30.

99 percent of the people are playing because it's a fun social activity and doesn't take any skill or practice to have some basic level of competence. It's the market that pool might have captured in the past, except pickleball had an advantage in the modern world because it appears slightly more healthy and is played in nice venues.

 

[SBC]

Last time I went it was mostly people under 30.

99 percent of the people are playing because it's a fun social activity and doesn't take any skill or practice to have some basic level of competence. It's the market that pool might have captured in the past, except pickleball had an advantage in the modern world because it appears slightly more healthy and is played in nice venues.

Why do people just want to dumb down pool for ratings.

Pool is a fringe sport....which is a good thing. Hard to learn, harder to understand.

 

[kling&allen]

Why do people just want to dumb down pool for ratings.

Pool is a fringe sport....which is a good thing. Hard to learn, harder to understand.

No argument there--one of the amazing things about pool is can be fun for people who just bang balls around and also for people who spend a lifetime studying the game.

 

[Dan_B]

Did a slim dive into the who's who on a city block size development here, the headline is "$6 million pickleball complex.
From what I can tell it's a hedge fund, 3 - 4 layers of financing players addressed in New York, gets real fussy as to who/what the gig is, maybe some kind of private REIT set-up. anyways,
says that it will be high-end dinning, looked like its going to be a members club.

 

[KissedOut]

I thought you had to be over 70 years old to play pickleball.
People who still have an ounce of athletic ability and self respect play tennis.

Telling us you know nothing about pickleball without telling us you know nothing about pickleball.

 

[BasementDweller]

I thought you had to be over 70 years old to play pickleball.
People who still have an ounce of athletic ability and self respect play tennis.

Tennis is dying a quick death except for the most talented players in favor of pickleball. It's crazy how busy all the pickleball courts are.

 

[poolnut7879]

Tennis is dying a quick death except for the most talented players in favor of pickleball. It's crazy how busy all the pickleball courts are.

Hmm...sounds like a smaller playing area is easier and possibly more fun.

 

[poolnut7879]

I was having a conversation with my brother last night, and he has jumped all-in into pickleball. Long story short -- you win an amateur event in pickleball and you'll win a 3 dollar medal. Zero cash! I kind of think the whole pickleball world just needs a couple promoters willing to award the amateur players with some cash and the whole paradigm may shift. Then again, the players don't seem to be playing for the cash, but for the love of the game.

It's interesting how pool players can complain about payouts (myself included), but apparently that's a good problem to have.

Someone playing a game just for the fun of it! Imagine that.

 

[BasementDweller]

Hmm...sounds like a smaller playing area is easier and possibly more fun.

I do think this is a big problem that pool has, especially professional or big table pool, and pickleball has solved this problem for the paddle/racket sports. The bar for entry is way lower in pickleball than tennis, but yet it can still be very competitive and challenging all the way up to the professional ranks.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but big table pool switching from 14.1 to 9 ball however many decades ago, made the bar to entry HIGHER not lower. Two bangers can play a competitive game of 14.1 that reflects their skill on a big table much easier than 8 or especially 9 ball. 9 ball really requires a strong skill set, at least on the execution side to play something that is really more than just a poke and hope type game. I think this difficult bar to entry explains the bar table situation as much as anything.

 

[SBC]

Hmm...sounds like a smaller playing area is easier and possibly more fun.

Omg it's just like the dumbing down of pool!

 

[straightline]

Miniature pool could be a thing. Folding 2 or 3 foot tables you can carry around like backgammon sets would be pretty cool. Setup anywhere and gambol.

 

[Black-Balled]

I was having a conversation with my brother last night, and he has jumped all-in into pickleball. Long story short -- you win an amateur event in pickleball and you'll win a 3 dollar medal. Zero cash! I kind of think the whole pickleball world just needs a couple promoters willing to award the amateur players with some cash and the whole paradigm may shift. Then again, the players don't seem to be playing for the cash, but for the love of the game.

It's interesting how pool players can complain about payouts (myself included), but apparently that's a good problem to have.

The difference is one is goot for your health and one makes you want to kill yourself.
Kidding. Somewhat!

Fitness must be the divider.

Bicycle racing is the same. We can go to a local weekend event and there will be 100 guys riding in the top category and only three will get paid, first place maybe 500 bucks and they each paid 20 to 50 to race.

And there might be 15 races that day, with only 2 ( pro men/ wimmins) getting cash.

 

[JolietJames]

Telling us you know nothing about pickleball without telling us you know nothing about pickleball.

I know that at my tennis club, men played tennis and old ladies played pickleball.
That's all need to know because I am not an invalid yet, allowing me to play an actual sport like tennis.
When I am old and decrepit, I will pick up pickleball and probably dominate the know-it-alls like you.