Pool Agent

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
I'm so excited to see larger purse in pool thanks to the Saudi Arabia-Matchroom contract, a first with this kind of dough since the IPT. When the International Pool Tour first his the scene with its big money and motto of "real pool, real rules, real money," pool players of all caliber were coming out of the woodwork: road warriors, action players, retired pros, league players, and recreational shooters. This was a good thing at the time and gave pool players hope around the world. As we all know, it didn't pan out.

A few years ago, Matchroom pushed its players to interact with fans on social media to help the sport, and they all complied, but it's fizzled out with most of them today. When Shane Van Boening posts a thread, within seconds, he receives a thousand-plus likes, and it keeps growing and growing and growing. It's the same with a few of the other super stars in the pool world today.

There are some pool stars who still enjoy interacting with their fans on social media, like Rodney Morris, Savannah Easton, Kelly Fisher, David Alcaide, Alex Kazakis, Oscar Dominguez, just to name a few. There are others who could care less about who likes their threads or says "congratulations" a hundred times or more when they do well in a tournament. I'm sure it's because they don't have time to hit the like button on a thousand posts in their thread, like Shane's exploding threads. I definitely get that.

Learning how to navigate status as a public figure is uncharted waters for the pool professional and will be a challenge for sure. Ronnie Wiseman's quote about everything's funny when you're winning big money is true, but some may not know how to handle it. I am reminded of Belgium's Luca Brecel's World Snooker Championship win when he purchased a $300,000 car after he won $500,000. He hasn't won a tournament or championship title since.

I want to see pool as a sport get respect it deserves, and I especially want to see our pros enjoy a good lifestyle and be rewarded for their years of dedication to their career. Some pros have a good family structure, a spouse, to help them manage fame and money. It would be nice to there were counselors or agents to help the pros in the future so that they don't fumble and be left with nothing in their senior years. Ronnie O'Sullivan has an agent, as do some other pros in the snooker world. When the IPT was born, Mark Trainor signed up quite a few IPT members with a contract to be their agent.

With the rising purses in pool, do you think pool's pros will need agents like other sports celebrities have today? It would help with travel expenses and managing their careers. Thoughts?
 
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A post on AzBilliards, Jul 2006, about Mark Trainer as an agent for pool.

Mark Trainer is a player from days gone by. He also used to own Pool Sharks here in Vegas, but sold it. Apparently, he's made some very wise investments in real estate. Rumor has it that he bought a piece of property worth 600,000-plus and sold it for 18 million.

Mark does present some great ideas and has a vision of acquiring big-name sponsors. With a block of players, he can market not only pool, but the players themselves, hoping to make them a household name down the road when and if the IPT becomes a sport in American eyes. Overseas, though, pool in some circles is quite popular. I can only imagine that the IPT in Europe, for example, may grow due to the television exposure.

The contract is a good deal for some players who have no means of income to travel to these events. It guarantees them a monthly salary, making their life a whole lot easier. Money worries can be a big detriment on the tournament trail, and with an actual income, this removes the financial hurdle of attending events.

I think there is a website called Athletes First which Mark Trainer is the agent for. This company has signed up many name-brand baseball and football pros.

Of course, Mark Trainer is hoping to make a profit on this huge endeavor by signing up pool players. Some of the players who have signed on are not only IPT members, but qualifier players as well. This truly is a golden opportunity for some, and for others, the contract isn't desirable at this juncture. In reality, Mark is expending six-figures up front to pursue this great endeavor, and if it works, then the players who did sign on will receive additional income from prospective sponsors. I do hope it is a win-win for the players and Mark Trainer. Anything that can help promote pool, I'm all for it.
 
JAM said:
I was curious also, so I looked to see if many of the snooker players had agents, the article I read stated that there were only 63 different players over the last 2 years ,who won over 35,000 pounds. I know Ronnie O Sullivan has a booking agent , he probably arranges exhibitions and takes care of his lodging and travel, but I doubt more than a handfull of them could afford even that.
Plus, I 'm not sure what a venue would do , other than guarantee a certain amount for say Ronnie or Judd Trump or a couple of others to show up.
I doubt they even do that.
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The Saudi misinformation on this board is awful.

The partnership for billiards and Saudi would be a great way to inspect their financial markets.

Billiards, billiard players are great ways to track economic data. Saudis have always been cooperative since 9/11.

The trouble in Saudi is they suffer some type of economic infection. Financing in those parts of the world are not well understood by the US.
Its like the trouble is a debtors imprisonment scam or criminalization of debt.
No rational Saudi would do what most Americans know they would not do. Framers exist everywhere.

Billiards is a NGO.

In Billiards everyone is watching the money, its not like humanitarian aid.

Who wants to invite me to their trip abroad? I can teach math to your children.

When Russia was partnering with billiards only Russians would win pyramid events. Pyramid events did not encourage global participation, they hardly invited the Turkish federation.

Saudis have already paid out. And Russia is no longer stable.

Mr. Chairman, as this Subcommittee knows, the ability to prevent terrorist acts largely depends on the implementation of laws that permit investigative intervention. Saudi Arabia has taken several steps that greatly enhance the activities of our joint efforts to prevent terrorism financing.


Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and charitable organizations serve legitimate purposes however, they can be vulnerable to abuse for use as a source of funding for terrorist organizations. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has put new laws in place that are designed to ensure donations to charities aren’t diverted to entities other than humanitarian organizations. It also issued instructions to all institutions prohibiting the transfer of funds by charitable organizations to recipients outside the Kingdom. New rules have been codified that impact on the Opening of Bank Accounts and place new restrictions on the bank accounts of Saudi charities:
​
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Maxx said:
Kind of hard to get excited about any involvement by the Saudis in pool. Makes Kevin Trudeau seem like a choir boy.

But if it's just money you want, then I guess it's a good thing. Unlike the IPT this tour shouldn't go broke.
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Yeah. Like Phil Mickelson said while he was getting into bed with them, "They're scary motherf—ers to get involved with."
 
LowRight said:
Yeah. Like Phil Mickelson said while he was getting into bed with them, "They're scary motherf—ers to get involved with."
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I think the amount of money Phil Mickelson signed for with LIV (Saudi Arabia) has calmed his nerves immensely.

What is Phil Mickelson's contract with LIV?

Phil Mickelson - $200 million

At 53 years old, Mickelson signed the largest contract in LIV history on June 6, 2022. The exact figures weren't revealed until months later, showing that Mickelson was earning much more than initially reported, making him the highest-paid player off the course. Dec 9, 2023

Jon Rahm got even MORE from the Saudi's!!

Estimates on what Rahm was paid to jump from the PGA Tour range from $400 million to $600 million, with the Telegraph reporting the most precise number at $566 million, with $302 million paid upfront.Dec 9, 2023
 
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didn't go well for daryl peach.. i wonder how much of his 100k ended up in the pocket of that idiot manager lol

the filipino stables seem to work though. jay h probably has insight there.
 
Agents negotiate contracts. So unless we are going the way of contracts for mere appearances like Shaw got, I don't really see the need for them in pool. A business manager or personal assistant for helping them with bookings and money management is a different story. But no agents required yet imo.
 
RT Ford said:
Golf pros have caddies. Perhaps I can get a job as a 'pool caddie'.
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Pool sponsors are dead money in tournaments.

Its not called caddie, its called an early draw or an easy first round win.

Dr Fedak always loses but still plays.
 
RT Ford said:
Golf pros have caddies. Perhaps I can get a job as a 'pool caddie'.
Click to expand...
Now this is a job that would def exist if pool had any money in it.
"No don't shoot that. That's stupid."
Words every player wish they heard someone say to them before they were in their chair thinking, "why tf did I shoot that? That was so stupid."

Honestly tho, when I was a mid handicapper, my scratch buddy decided he'd caddy for me one round to see what he can squeeze out of my sweet swing... I beat my best ever score by 4 strokes and my morning round at the same course by 7. Just think how many decent shooters reside in the sl5 and sl6 ranks due to a complete lack of tactical considerations or proper pattern play, let alone misjudging banks/kicks. 7s with caddies, easy.

I can already picture divorce lawyers pooling money together to take out ads for husbands to pool caddie for their wives.
 
Very nice post Jen. I bet that car is a distant memory as well as the purse.

Sadly many folks are uneducated about money and anyone that comes into money quickly should get a financial advisor the next day.

It remains to be seen if this new investment stays long term or not but it is fantastic nonetheless. Hopefully it will not fizzle like the IPT did.

Happy Valentines Day to you and the Keither.
 
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Reactions: JAM
JAM said:
I'm so excited to see larger purse in pool thanks to the Saudi Arabia-Matchroom contract, a first with this kind of dough since the IPT. When the International Pool Tour first his the scene with its big money and motto of "real pool, real rules, real money," pool players of all caliber were coming out of the woodwork: road warriors, action players, retired pros, league players, and recreational shooters. This was a good thing at the time and gave pool players hope around the world. As we all know, it didn't pan out.

A few years ago, Matchroom pushed its players to interact with fans on social media to help the sport, and they all complied, but it's fizzled out with most of them today. When Shane Van Boening posts a thread, within seconds, he receives a thousand-plus likes, and it keeps growing and growing and growing. It's the same with a few of the other super stars in the pool world today.

There are some pool stars who still enjoy interacting with their fans on social media, like Rodney Morris, Savannah Easton, Kelly Fisher, David Alcaide, Alex Kazakis, Oscar Dominguez, just to name a few. There are others who could care less about who likes their threads or says "congratulations" a hundred times or more when they do well in a tournament. I'm sure it's because they don't have time to hit the like button on a thousand posts in their thread, like Shane's exploding threads. I definitely get that.

Learning how to navigate status as a public figure is uncharted waters for the pool professional and will be a challenge for sure. Ronnie Wiseman's quote about everything's funny when you're winning big money is true, but some may not know how to handle it. I am reminded of Belgium's Luca Brecel's World Snooker Championship win when he purchased a $300,000 car after he won $500,000. He hasn't won a tournament or championship title since.

I want to see pool as a sport get respect it deserves, and I especially want to see our pros enjoy a good lifestyle and be rewarded for their years of dedication to their career. Some pros have a good family structure, a spouse, to help them manage fame and money. It would be nice to there were counselors or agents to help the pros in the future so that they don't fumble and be left with nothing in their senior years. Ronnie O'Sullivan has an agent, as do some other pros in the snooker world. When the IPT was born, Mark Trainor signed up quite a few IPT members with a contract to be their agent.

With the rising purses in pool, do you think pool's pros will need agents like other sports celebrities have today? It would help with travel expenses and managing their careers. Thoughts?
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Remember Badi Nazhat in 2010-2013...

He specifically told the pool players that they did not understand the culture of the Middle East and that he had access to unlimited resources if they could get their act together .

People can research the numerous reasons that the players messed it up!

The best thing Matchroom can do is insist on some etiquette and cultural sensitivity training for all involved...

They need to be extremely careful with the player selections and appearance of the venture.

These new young guys may be able to do what Hatch/ Hennessey/ and others refused to do. Time will only tell!

I really suggest they not drop the ball. The sultans are big pool fans! They bought out the entire hotel in Manila 2007 world championships. The sultan played in the event himself! A very big deal. Very big! The money is extremely insignificant as much as it is important that the people involved understand and respect the situation.

www.azbilliards.com

Ultimate Ten Ball Championships – Bridges Burned? - News - AZBILLIARDS.COM

I began my journey with the Ultimate Ten Ball Championships due to my love for the game. The skill and artistry required to make those stubborn spheres obey are both amazing and unique. The game has a history of storied battles and is filled with masters like Greenleaf and Mosconi whose very names e
www.azbilliards.com www.azbilliards.com


And

Article by Badi Nazhat

http://www.azbilliards.com/news/stories/10780-ultimate-ten-ball-championships-bridges-burned/ thoughts? Seems to tell it like it is.. Seems I got his name wrong in the subject and can't correct it... sorry Badi Nazhat
forums.azbilliards.com


Kd





Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
 
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Quesports said:
Very nice post Jen. I bet that car is a distant memory as well as the purse.

Sadly many folks are uneducated about money and anyone that comes into money quickly should get a financial advisor the next day.
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luca won the snooker WC last year, bought a lamborghini and travelled around the world. he was still partying when the current season began. i think the car is still there but the rest of the prize money, probably not
 
Maxx said:
Kind of hard to get excited about any involvement by the Saudis in pool. Makes Kevin Trudeau seem like a choir boy.

But if it's just money you want, then I guess it's a good thing. Unlike the IPT this tour shouldn't go broke.
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You will be watching.
 
skogstokig said:
luca won the snooker WC last year, bought a lamborghini and travelled around the world. he was still partying when the current season began. i think the car is still there but the rest of the prize money, probably not
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Thanks for the reply, I hardly follow pool these days and snooker is like a foreign language to me. Hope he has taken care of his money or he will be sorry later on!
 
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