Thanks for asking Willie. BIG, BIG difference between the two. There are some "top" players who will NOT gamble without a backer. Names withheld for fear of causing great emotional embarrassment. These players will not risk one dime of their own money under any circumstances. Even if they have thousands in their pocket, you couldn't pry it loose with a crow bar. Do I make my point?
Then their are a few players who prefer to bet their own with no backers (Chris Bartram, Darren Appleton, SVB are three I can think of quickly). That way there is no one looking over your shoulder and no one to explain anything to afterward. I happen to be in this mix. I don't like someone else's cheese riding on my cue, just mine and only mine.
And there are many top players who like having someone take a piece of their action, just to lower their overall risk. This is especially true when the bet gets very high, as it did in the matches JL just played. Usually these "partners" only take a small piece of the action, and often it is done as a favor for a friend who wants to be involved. I have frequently taken a 10% piece of some very big bets (in the tens of thousands). Often times a backer or a player will "lay off" part of their action, just because the risk is higher than they want to take on their own. Same thing that bookies do frequently.
When a player like JL lays off a piece of her action with a friend or "partner", it does not diminish her risk. She (and George of course) is still betting her own for considerable amounts of real money. There is no doubt that betting high for your own money takes significantly more courage than playing with a stake horse putting up all the dough.
Of course, the rewards are greater if you bet your own. You get it all if you win! With a stake horse, a player is lucky to get a third in a big game, and often times it is much less. Smart backers have learned that giving up half to the player is a losing proposition. You have to win two out of three times to break even (on similar sized bets). Not a good percentage.
I always thought it was a third or less to the player if it's on the road but about 50% if it's in his home room or city. I've never let anyone back me, mostly because I really hate to lose someone's money. The only reason I never gambled for very high stakes is because I'd really hate to carry all that money on me and have people know that I have it on me.
Jay, do you know how much Lassiter used to get from his backers? I know he was road partners with Don Willis, but I've also heard he had backers at other times. I would think that he would get 50% because they say he nearly always won for the cash.