Joey, I know what your saying but as I said, no pool player has an obligation to the people betting on the side whether its the rail or a calcutta. Most of those people wont be giving up an jelly anyway and that is a part of what is wrong with pool too. If those players got a 10% jelly on all the side betting they would have a couple extra grand a year but most people are cheapskates and would not buy the guy a beer. How much is bet on the side on Shane when he plays a TAR match?, lets just say $20,000, he does not get any love from those people who bet on him and win some dough.
I respect backers because they are making the action happen in the first place, putting up $10,000 to win $5,000-$6,000 while people on here and elsewhere bet $500 and win $500 usually. I wish The Action Room had a 10% player jelly fund for the TAR matches, would be pretty cool to see $500 get shipped to the player with a thanks and good shooting note from x, y and z on AZ Billiards.
Imagine Oscar or someone like that receiving that money and feeling good that the guys betting on the side appreciate him playing hard and winning, being true fans. So a player wins and gets nothing from the rail but if he loses he gets degraded and called a dog or dump artist, that is just disgusting.
As for what a player should do, be honest and not cheat, dump or con. Not showing up for a match because he stayed out late is not something that I see as wrong regardless if people bet on him in the calcutta, its the players choice but with a pro player I think expectations are higher. I can understand people being upset and especially a room owner or promoter if the players in the final chop it up at a big event without playing a match and putting on a show for the spectators.
Players pay an entry to play in a tournament and try and win it, not to become part of the process of gambling and the calcutta. Calcuttas are illegal in most states so a player supporting that is not helpful for pool at all and when the calcutta is busted and its in the local paper and on the news then it gives pool a black eye and bad image and do not say it has never happened because it has. So what is really wrong with pool Joey, the illegal activity and support of it or the players not taking part of it? Personally I think gambling on pool is fun and calcuttas too but totally understand the guys walking the line and not taking part in it, its THEIR choice.
If pool had real money in it then calcuttas would not be needed, pool is a 2nd class sport because its in the game section at Barnes and Nobles. We have big sports here in the USA and pool is not one of them, its not a spectator sport so not many watch it and therefor sponsor dollars go elsewhere. Its popular in Asia because they do not have the big sports like NFL, NBA, MLB and whatnot like we do along with Nascar and a ton of other things. Pool is what is wrong with pool, its a subculture that us diehards love, it would be cool if it was on ESPN like it should, broadcast live and big sponsors behind it or would it be? Maybe the allure to us in the subculture is the fact that it is an underground game so to speak, small and tight nit community with the players accessible to the fans, we might not like it as much if it blew up and everyone was doing it.
I see many people on here who lose a bet on a guy and whine about how the guy played, like when Earl lost it when he was tied at 65 or something in a race to 75 and just gave up. I bet on Earl and was disappointed but it was his choice, I knew a meltdown was possible and he owes nothing to me or the rest of us who bet on him. I think some people do not look at pool players as human being but more as racehorses, stroke them while they are running good and when they are not so hot then they are dog food. That to me is what is wrong with pool.
