Camel Pro Tour...perhaps the best PRO tour to date??

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Was watching some old tournament matches last night from the old Camel Pro Events, and it brought back some nice memories of when I was in my youth admiring pool and it's PRO players.

Is it fair to say that maybe the Camel Tour was the best PRO tour to date? Seems like for my generation it was (I'm 31).

They even had a "bonus" program similar to Golf and NASCAR where players accumulated points and got a nice check at the end of the season. I believe they contributed approximately 250k to this.

I was sad to see the tour disappear.
 

tucson9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I would have to agree, it's been the best in the last 20 years or so.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the end of year bonus get obscounded with? I seem to recall the funds doing some kind of vanishing act.
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That's what the anti-smoking laws did to pool. No more TV or print ads for cigs, no more tour. Same thing that the anti-internet gambling laws did in part for the IPT, no more ad dollars from that, no more tour. Not that I even remotely agree to smoking being OK or that it should be back to the smoking in the hospital waiting rooms and airplane level. No smoking in public buildings passed in most places, within a few years 95% of rooms with no bars shut down.

But I don't see "The Huggies Pro Tour" coming to ESPN anytime soon.
From what I have seen with many of the good players, the best bet is to get marijuana legalized and then we'd have a new tour sponsor.

Seminole tour was great, Joss tour is nice, but none matched the real Pro Tour in the 80s and 90s.
 

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
But I don't see "The Huggies Pro Tour" coming to ESPN anytime soon.
From what I have seen with many of the good players, the best bet is to get marijuana legalized and then we'd have a new tour sponsor.

Funny stuff man...

IMO the Seminole Tour was good, but tournaments should of been in better areas. I heard at the 50k added they had about 30 fans watching.

The biggest and best pool tournaments should be in the Midwest or at least more centrally located. They keep putting tourneys together on coastlines and in Las Vegas then wonder where all the spectators are?? :cool:
 

tucson9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That's what the anti-smoking laws did to pool. No more TV or print ads for cigs, no more tour. Same thing that the anti-internet gambling laws did in part for the IPT, no more ad dollars from that, no more tour. Not that I even remotely agree to smoking being OK or that it should be back to the smoking in the hospital waiting rooms and airplane level. No smoking in public buildings passed in most places, within a few years 95% of rooms with no bars shut down.

But I don't see "The Huggies Pro Tour" coming to ESPN anytime soon.
From what I have seen with many of the good players, the best bet is to get marijuana legalized and then we'd have a new tour sponsor.

Seminole tour was great, Joss tour is nice, but none matched the real Pro Tour in the 80s and 90s.

I beleive the Camel Tour fizzled before the smoking bans were in effect.
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1on1pooltournys...IMO, that has nothing to do with it. For example, you have 8000 poolplayers less than 50 yards away from a pro event being played in the same building, in Vegas...and it's hard to attract even a couple hundred fans. Same thing at the SBE. It's not a lack of available people...there are other reasons the fans don't support the events.

Scott Lee
Funny stuff man...

IMO the Seminole Tour was good, but tournaments should of been in better areas. I heard at the 50k added they had about 30 fans watching.

The biggest and best pool tournaments should be in the Midwest or at least more centrally located. They keep putting tourneys together on coastlines and in Las Vegas then wonder where all the spectators are?? :cool:
 

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1on1pooltournys...IMO, that has nothing to do with it. For example, you have 8000 poolplayers less than 50 yards away from a pro event being played in the same building, in Vegas...and it's hard to attract even a couple hundred fans. Same thing at the SBE. It's not a lack of available people...there are other reasons the fans don't support the events.

Scott Lee

I'll bet a hundo to a biscuit a tournament in the Midwest gets more fans then the same tournament in most places they have them. Prime example...Galveston, TX...among Tampa, Cali, and yes even Vegas.

It's not the answer to success, just part of the recipe.
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
tucson9ball...This is correct. RJ Reynolds decided to abandon pro pool because as a corportate entity they decided that it wasn't paying off for them as much as they expected. It had little to nothing to do with smoking laws. Now, it's certainly possible that RJ Reynolds corporate elite had some prior knowledge of what was coming via Congress...but they stated publicly that they wanted out for other reasons.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I beleive the Camel Tour fizzled before the smoking bans were in effect.
 

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I beleive the Camel Tour fizzled before the smoking bans were in effect.

I believe you are right. I heard Mackey and the players made too many demands on Camel. I also heard that Earl walking out on a tournament was the straw that broke Camels back. Johnnyt
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1on1pooltournys...I'd probably take that bet. Just FTR, when the world championships (WPA) were held in Chicago, there was only a smattering turnout...same thing when they had the big tourney that Buddy Hall won years earlier. The midwest is no different. Poolplayers are always going to be the biggest fans, and where there are more of them (at a national amateur event, for example), is where you'll have the best chance to "capture" them, and have them attend a pro event as fans. If they organized a big pro event in the midwest, they'd still have to attach it to a big amateur event, to ensure the potential of fans to pay to watch a pro event. Same was true this summer for the Tunica event...which also had a low turnout, compared to the DCC.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I'll bet a hundo to a biscuit a tournament in the Midwest gets more fans then the same tournament in most places they have them. Prime example...Galveston, TX...among Tampa, Cali, and yes even Vegas.

It's not the answer to success, just part of the recipe.
 

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1on1pooltournys...I'd probably take that bet. Just FTR, when the world championships (WPA) were held in Chicago, there was only a smattering turnout...same thing when they had the big tourney that Buddy Hall won years earlier. The midwest is no different. Poolplayers are always going to be the biggest fans, and where there are more of them (at a national amateur event, for example), is where you'll have the best chance to "capture" them, and have them attend a pro event as fans. If they organized a big pro event in the midwest, they'd still have to attach it to a big amateur event, to ensure the potential of fans to pay to watch a pro event. Same was true this summer for the Tunica event...which also had a low turnout, compared to the DCC.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com


You would get action for sure my friend. If you play the U.S. Open in Vegas vs. the midwest I'm betting on the place more centrally located.

Looking over that tour schedule above was cool. You can look at some of the brackets. Back when races were to 11. I realized a lot of the players in those tourneys are not even seen these days.

Sad to see the game becoming extinct, or at least an endangered species. :frown:
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
... Is it fair to say that maybe the Camel Tour was the best PRO tour to date? Seems like for my generation it was (I'm 31).
...
At the end of the Tour the players were owed $400,000. Perhaps that reduces the niceness of the Tour. So far as I know, they were never paid.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
1on1pooltournys...IMO, that has nothing to do with it. For example, you have 8000 poolplayers less than 50 yards away from a pro event being played in the same building, in Vegas...and it's hard to attract even a couple hundred fans. Same thing at the SBE. It's not a lack of available people...there are other reasons the fans don't support the events.

Scott Lee

Well, but... If you want a successful event, you don't want a lot of spectators. They only get in the way and make noise when they aren't supposed to. You only want enough spectators to fill a section or two of seats. What you need is eyeballs in front of screens. Paid live admission is a drop in the bucket of the money you need for a successful tour.
 

JumpinJoe

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The camel tour was destroyed by the "PROS". Noone else as usual.
Like CW is doing to everything nowadays
 

JumpinJoe

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1on1 pool tourneys. The galveston event was not because of location, it was the worse advertised event ever put on and had a bad egg behind it.
People in Houston didnt even know about it, and thats thier backyard
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
Pro Billiards - It takes more than just money....much more

Was watching some old tournament matches last night from the old Camel Pro Events, and it brought back some nice memories of when I was in my youth admiring pool and it's PRO players.

Is it fair to say that maybe the Camel Tour was the best PRO tour to date? Seems like for my generation it was (I'm 31).

They even had a "bonus" program similar to Golf and NASCAR where players accumulated points and got a nice check at the end of the season. I believe they contributed approximately 250k to this.

I was sad to see the tour disappear.

There is a long drawn out story of what happened with the Camel Tour. We were in a time that there was a lot of momentum in Billiards and many of us felt the way of tobacco was a big mistake. I started the Professional CueSports Association as an option for players and I don't have enough time today to get into what happened next. We did get a Tour with a LOT of money and ESPN time, and then one of the players ran 11 racks in a row to win a Million Dollar Challenge and things got complicated.....very complicated indeed. :wink: Here's an interview of Earl Stickland and myself in New York City talking about the CAMEL TOUR and what we were getting ready to do (this was AFTER Earl ran the racks by a few weeks).
CLICK PICTURE FOR LINK
 

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There is a long drawn out story of what happened with the Camel Tour. We were in a time that there was a lot of momentum in Billiards and many of us felt the way of tobacco was a big mistake. I started the Professional CueSports Association as an option for players and I don't have enough time today to get into what happened next. We did get a Tour with a LOT of money and ESPN time, and then one of the players ran 11 racks in a row to win a Million Dollar Challenge and things got complicated.....very complicated indeed. :wink: Here's an interview of Earl Stickland and myself in New York City talking about the CAMEL TOUR and what we were getting ready to do (this was AFTER Earl ran the racks by a few weeks).
CLICK PICTURE FOR LINK


Thanks for the video tape CJ! It really seems like there was something about to "snap" here in the billiard world. Hopefully something lifts off the ground soon for pool or I'm afraid it will go EXTINCT!! We need a grassroots campaign and get the ball rolling!
 

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
1on1 pool tourneys. The galveston event was not because of location, it was the worse advertised event ever put on and had a bad egg behind it.
People in Houston didnt even know about it, and thats thier backyard


I think the Galveston tourney was inadequate in its attempt to market itself as well. But, I do think it would of had a better turnout in a more Centrally located area.

It is the same concept as big shopping plazas or car dealerships in Metropolitan areas. The more easily accessible geographically the better. Nothing wrong with having some pool tourneys on coast lines, but I think as a rule you will see less player and fan participation if they were more central in the good ol U S of A!
 
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