Agreed that ten ball is a little tougher, but my philosophy is that if pro pool is to be successful in drawing the amateurs as fans, the game played must be one with which the amateurs are greatly familiar. To me, that leaves eight ball and nine ball, and at least for me, where Kevin Trudeau and the IPT had it right was playing eight ball (yes, they were wrong in countless other ways), the game best known to amateurs and the only game that many who play solely in bars have ever seen.
As a fifty three year veteran of the pool halls, I have rarely seen ten ball played other than by highly accomplished players, and even then, I have rarely seen it played at all. Played Texas Express, ten ball is at least intelligible to those that play nine ball, but add "call shot", "ten ball last", "money ball doesn't count on the break" or, worst of all, "call safe", the first two of which are required under WPA rules, and the casual fan is quickly disenfranchised.
Our beloved former poster Edwin Reyes, to paraphrase, said "if it's good for the players, it's good for pro pool." With due respect for a highly respected, and sorely missed AZB poster, Edwin was mistaken. In truth, what's good for pro pool is whatever keeps the fans interested enough to watch it.
The typical amateur has never even heard of ten ball and even fewer know it as played under current WPA rules. As we saw with Bonus Ball, a game of great skill and intrigue, give the fans a game they don't know or play and not that many of them will choose to watch.
Ten ball with call shot has its place in our game as a big action game because the big action matches attract a very different type of fan. Ray Hansen and many others have offered countless exciting ten ball matches for this kind of fan, who tends to be a serious player very familiar with all games played on a pool table.
All that said, although Eurotour plays nine ball, Europe, a few years ago, added ten ball as a discipline in the European Championships. It is possible, though in my view improbable, that this will popularize ten ball among the European amateurs, but only time will tell.
I've never seen the so called "amateurs" as big pool fans. The people who come to watch the tournaments (and fill the stands) are true fans of the sport. Some play pool and some just like to watch good pool players. Most "league" (amateur) players that I've come in contact with don't even know who the top players are and could care less. If you were ever at the BCA Nationals you saw this phenomena first hand. We had some great pro tournaments there and very few amateur league players bothered to come and watch.
That said, there is a hard core audience that probably numbers in the hundreds of thousands nationally and millions worldwide, who will support a pro pool tournament. Every city, large or small, in this country has people who will come to see top level pool no matter the game. I've seen this take place in tournaments, even in little hick towns. We had crowds of more than 1,000 people watching tournaments in Burlington, Iowa and Huntsville, Alabama just to name two. We packed a 1,500 seat arena in Los Angeles for an All-Around tournament. We were just as crowded for One Pocket and Banks as we were for 9-Ball.
There is a "hidden" group of people that never go to a poolroom, but they will show up if you bring top level competition to an arena near them. Been there, done that. :wink: