Is the money real or an illusion?

macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am reading a lot about the down fall of pool in America but it is really true? Are foreign player really making millions of dollars like the other athletes we are used to seeing here? Are they bagging big indorsement contracts, do you see their faces on billboards advertising products? Are they frequent guests on TV shows? Or is it actually an illusion because they draw some crowds in places with captive audiences who have not much else to get excited about? I honestly would like to know, what kind of money are these foreign players making that US players need to be jealous of? Do they make say the kind of money a US pro bowler makes annually?
 
Pool Money

Hey Macguy,
Really good questions, all.
I figure if they make ANY money they do better than their American counterparts.
I suspect some of these foreign guys may have a vision. If they play a more responsible part the worst that can happen is they appear more responsible...but I guess we Americans really wouldn't want to attract any real money to the game because then we might really have to clean up our act.
Sorry for the sarcasm but I figure we collectively deserve it. Kinda like a Karma thing or something.
Just my opinion, you be the judge.
 
Seems I recall that Danny D on his DVD was talking about how little money they were playing for back in the 60s, 70s and 80s at tournaments as compared to today.

Suggests that although they're not the highest-paid athletes in the world, they've been doing consistently better.
 
Good questions.

I wonder, if the top guys....Efren, Dennis, Fransico etc. etc....are making MILLIONS, why would all of them travel half way around the world to play something like Derby City where the most they could probably win is 50-75 thousand. Let alone smaller tourneys that pay out 5-10 grand to win.

Is it the same reason a cabinet maker makes cabinets ? Simply, that is what he does. I don't know what they really make but I am willing to bet that there are MANY hands in that cookie jar. From family and friends to backers and partners.

I don't know the answer, but I hope they are making great money. You should be able to make a living at being the Best in the World at just about anything. I just hope they don't make so much they decide not come here any more. :p
 
I read somewhere, years ago, that Mosconi averaged about $2800 a month during his playing career.

That was okay money back then, but still, very low for someone considered the best in the world at the time.
 
Stones said:
I read somewhere, years ago, that Mosconi averaged about $2800 a month during his playing career.

That was okay money back then, but still, very low for someone considered the best in the world at the time.
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What was the minimum wage back then? How about the gas prices?
 
Theres only one question there. "what kind of money are foreign players making"
Think you know the answers already to the other questions is 'not'
The US players are jealous? Fanning flames. :cool:
 
BlackDragon said:
Theres only one question there. "what kind of money are foreign players making"
Think you know the answers already to the other questions is 'not'
The US players are jealous? Fanning flames. :cool:
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The American pool culture has abandoned its American players, the reasons for which have been written about on this forum in many, many, many posts.

Do you have any knowledge of the American pool culture? Your flippant response is repulsive to me: "fanning flames."

JAM
 
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youre right JAM. The only knowledge of the american pool culture is what I pick up from posters and magazines. I realize that you have had seasoned experience. :cool:
The american culture is letting pool slide, I guess but I don't think that the american pool culture has abandoned anyone.
 
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BlackDragon said:
Think you know the answers already to the other questions is 'not'
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Very well. Please enlighten us with your wisdom about the lack of American pool talent. :rolleyes:

jiamusi ?? That near Detriot?

I guess if you remember everything you read in the magazines and posters you are way ahead of the curve of most of the people on this board. People who have lived the life and done the deed about which the question was asked.

Nice troll. You got me.
 
BlackDragon said:
youre right JAM. The only knowledge of the american pool culture is what I pick up from posters and magazines. I realize that you have had seasoned experience. :cool:
The american culture is letting pool slide, I guess but I don't think that the american pool culture has abandoned anyone.
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Honey, when you hit 52 years of age like me and see what I have seen, then maybe I would appreciate where you are coming from a little bit more.

Posters and magazines? LOL

JAM
 
It is an illusion. Some players are doing better than others just as they do in America. Probably the biggest difference is that some players in Asia actually have real sponsors outside of the billiard industry.

But there isn't millions in the game in Asia any more than there are in the USA. If anything the average total purses and payouts are probably less than the current tournament roster the players in the USA have on average. The money goes farther in Asia however.
 
I've hit 52. I play everyday. Just about. I don't write about it everyday. 'Fanning flames' was rhetorical as the assumption was that american pool players are jealous in the beginning. I didn't think so. Perhaps they should be of the taiwanese. Whatever. :cool:
 
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BlackDragon said:
I've hit 52. I play everyday. Just about. 'Fanning flames' was rhetorical as the assumption was that american pool players are jealous in the beginning. I didn't think so. Perhaps they should be of the taiwanese. Whatever. :cool:
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Me personally, I am not jealous of the Taiwanese. I am, however, very much aware that the pro players in the States are dwindling.

Maybe we have a language barrier, Black Dragon, and you and I are misinterpreting the written word in black and white, but if you play every day and are my age, for you to have an opinion based solely on posters and magazines, where on earth have you been playing pool every day?

JAM
 
The last three years in the dirty pool halls of North China. I started playing in Perth, Australia ten years ago. Played a little in korea. :cool:
 
BlackDragon said:
The last three years in the dirty pool halls of North China. I started playing in Perth, Australia ten years ago. Played a little in korea. :cool:
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Ah, I see. You have been privileged to play pool abroad as well as experience other pool cultures. Very nice! :)

There's a little more to the American pool culture, Black Dragon, than what you see on posters and read in magazines. Beneath the stains of time, pool as a professional sport is leaving American soil. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on one's involvement in pool, I guess.

P.S. Don't believe everything that you read in the pool mags, especially the American media.

JAM
 
Does this mean that the american pro's will leave America to play abroad?
I've read of guys driving twenty miles to a pool hall or paying twelve bucks an hour.
Here, I can walk to several pool rooms and for that money, play all week.
So its not just the top tier who are suffering, its the bottom rung too.
And without a broad well-fed base, theres going to be fewer elite later too.
btw I play in the province of the Black Dragon River.
 
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BlackDragon said:
Does this mean that the american pro's will leave America to play abroad?
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They're already doing it, BlackDragon, which is a good thing in some respects. What is distressing for me as an American is that there are not very many so-called "pro" tournaments here in the States. The regional tours are the best bang for the buck here.

BlackDragon said:
I've read of guys driving twenty miles to a pool hall or paying twelve bucks an hour.
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You're kind of a cutey pie! :p

I've driven hundreds of miles in inclement weather, sometimes me being the only car on the road, traveling to a pool room to compete in a regional tournament because that's about as good as it gets here in the States if you want to keep in stroke and compete on a professional level.

BlackDragon said:
Here, I can walk to several pool rooms and for that money, play all week. So its not just the top tier who are suffering, its the bottom rung too. And without a broad well-fed base, there's going to be fewer elite later too. btw I play in the province of the Black Dragon River.
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What kind of pool games are mostly played in Black Dragon River Province?

AND just out of curiosity, what cue sticks are the most popular in your area? Are they production brand cues or custom made?

JAM
 
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