Mike Sigel. With all this IPT hostility flying around.....

rackmsuckr said:
Well, I have a couple cars bought and paid for from my company I work for too. What does that mean? I take it to mean that MS bought the cars from his winnings from the LJJ match and the KOH. Are you saying otherwise?

I have MS's home phone number too, but I have chosen not to call him. He is entitled to his privacy without everyone bothering him. Besides, he can only tell us what KT has told him.

I do know that MS has been a guest at KT's home on several occasions. On one occasion, he was asked to play volleyball with the Kennedys and Shrivers. Maybe KT could sell his home on 'the most exclusive piece of land on the planet', to pay us peons off? :D
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Do you really think the Kennedy's and Shriver's were hanging out at KT's house? Much less playing volleyball?
 
av84fun said:
Personally, I have no clue why Texas Hold 'Em has struck such a nerve as it has nor do I have any clue as to why pool sports, which are among the most popular participant sports in America...if the NOT most popular...cannot get more of a TV audience or spectator base for the pro tournaments than is the case today.
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Well, Texas Hold Em took off about 2 or 3 years after the movie "Rounders" came out. It was a hugely popular movie, along with the fact that this is about the time that Internet poker rooms started becoming more polished. Some producer noticed how popular it was, and decided to cover the World Series in a reality format. To tell you the truth, poker players are really some interesting characters when you get a camera on some of the more colorful ones. There are many with every bit of charisma that Minnesota Fats was said to have.

And to make it even MORE popular a so called "amateur" called Moneymaker won the Main Event, proving even amateurs could win at poker. Never mind the fact that he had spent a LOT of time in online tournaments, and was ALWAYS a contender to win, even in the toughest fields online, and that he'd probably played MORE hands of tournament poker online than even the most seasoned "professional" players in poker... Side note: A lot of brick and mortar poker pros look down on online professionals, even though the online professionals have more table time.. Puzzling phenomenon.

Now.. Let's look at two of the big "booms" in pool.

1. After "The Hustler" came out. The Johnston City tournament coverage at the same time.

2. After "The Color of Money" came out.

See anything similar here? These two time periods portrayed pool as a gambling game. People like to gamble at pool. People like to gamble at poker. People like to gamble period.

That's why "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is so popular. Not because some dork asks a bunch of questions.

It's because people get a rush out of seeing people put in a decision of whether to be content with what they have, at no risk, or to take a BIG risk and go for it all.

The billiard industry has been self defeating for oh...pretty much it's entire existence. They have been fighting against the gambling undercurrent of the game.

It used to be because in the 40's, 50's, and 60's, American society used to look down on gambling. That is no longer the case. People everywhere are interested if you say you are a good poker player. They will ask you questions. They don't really want to know the inner mathematics of the game, they are just looking for a vicarious thrill.

It's been said before. Unless someone comes up with a format that DIRECTLY involves gambling on camera, pool is dead.

I personally think what would be most successful would be a series where a top player "masquerades" as an unknown, and goes in to various pool halls and "matches up" with local players, and generally takes home the cash. Some sort of running commentary on camera as he plans out his moves, maybe with his backer. Cory would be perfect for this, as he has the "boy next door" look, but he has the stroke to take down the cash. Just set up a few fake matches with another good player on camera (with Cory winning, of course), get some memorable quotes on camera from some of the local "characters", and wah lah.. I really think you have a product.

I mean, how freaking entertaining would it be to see Cory match up with some guy with Cory playing one handed? And seeing the guy hand over his money? And get pissed about it? Seeing him about to quit, and seeing Cory reel him in with some other outrageous spot that the guy can't win with? I'll post this in the main forum.. See what people think..

Russ
 
Str8PoolMan said:
Do you really think the Kennedy's and Shriver's were hanging out at KT's house? Much less playing volleyball?
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This was related directly from MS. The area of homes are exclusive and Mike was lounging by the pool, watching the shenanigans of all the people playing vollyball nearby...pushing and shoving each other and having a good time. They came over and asked him if he wanted to join them and he declined and found out later who they were.
 
Hi Russ. You make some very interesting points. (PS: you have no idea how familiar I am with The Hustler...although some of the readers of this forum know....just my little secret for now...(-:

Among your numerous valid points is that gambling in general is becoming a national phenomenon...and while I won't moralize that is a fact which is not devoid of negatives. The reports that I have read show that the vast majority of on-line gambling is by highschool and college age "kids" and that the enrollment in "rehab" type programs catering to gambling addiction is skyrocketing.

A local (Nashville) newspaper wrote a story about a guy who asked for a show of hands at a highschool presentation from students who REGULARLY play Hold 'Em on-line (the question was NOT whether they gambled for obvious reasons) and the speaker said that he could not see a single student who did NOT raise a hand.

I am not suggesting that is either bad or good but it is certainly something that ought to be thought about pretty carefully...since only the clinically naive would believe that a great many of those students are not gambling on-line.

But back to pool and betting...I am not an authority on state or federal gambling laws but betting being shown in real time on TV is clearly not illegal...i.e. horse racing where the odds and the handle are updated every second or two...and those programs are not banned even in states where horse racing is illegal.

So...why couldn't a pool event, located in Vegas be televised with LOTS of cuts to the Sports Book board showing what bets are going down I wonder??

But let me share this with you. I went down to the Sports Book at the Venetian during the IPT Vegas and tried to place some bets for friends who wanted me to do that and here is what happened.

THERE WAS NO BOOK on the event. When I asked the "pit boss" or whatever you call the sports book manager why not he said..."You've gotta be kidding." and he left it at that. What he clearly meant was..."Who in their right mind would book a pool event when dumping is legendary. But WAIT!! What about BOXING where just one man can take a fall whereas no one man can, from the beginning, determine the outcome of a 200 player field. AMAZING that pool is held in such low regard EVEN BY BOOKIES! (-: OUCH!!!!!!!!!!

I enjoyed your excellent post.
Regards,
Jim
 
rackmsuckr said:
This was related directly from MS. The area of homes are exclusive and Mike was lounging by the pool, watching the shenanigans of all the people playing vollyball nearby...pushing and shoving each other and having a good time. They came over and asked him if he wanted to join them and he declined and found out later who they were.
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That bridge in New York that I own is still for sale........
 
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