Pool needs a someone like this!

Barry Hearn is amazing and most points in this interview he hits on the head.

I think a shrewd businessman like himself could survive in any field.
 
naji said:
It seems that we have to make pool more challenging by making pool tables with snooker type holes, so only the best shooters get up there!!! I played snooker it is really hard game to maintain focus let along get over a 100 break!!..
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They have already started doing this in China, it's called Chinese 8 ball, Gareth Potts (English 8 ball player from the UK) won the first tournament a few months ago against a really tough field including Ralf Souquet, Darren Appleton, Chris Melling and Stephen Hendry.

It's played on a 9 foot snooker table with standard size pool balls, I've played it myself and trust me, it's one of the toughest games I've ever tried!
 
My understanding is that it's Barry Hearn's way or you can sod off. When people try that in pool it's "but we were here first, you have to respect us and accommodate us!" (At least, that's what I gleaned from that Bonus Ball thread.)

What pool needs is smart business people opening pool rooms in smaller markets. Get people playing pool and they may start to care about what the pros are doing and pay to watch it. If they're not playing it, however, they're not gonna pay for it.
 
MartinBullet said:
They have already started doing this in China, it's called Chinese 8 ball, Gareth Potts (English 8 ball player from the UK) won the first tournament a few months ago against a really tough field including Ralf Souquet, Darren Appleton, Chris Melling and Stephen Hendry.

It's played on a 9 foot snooker table with standard size pool balls, I've played it myself and trust me, it's one of the toughest games I've ever tried!
Click to expand...

Absolutely astonishing performance by Potts. Although I suspect he's no stranger to the bigger balled variant of the game, the difference between a 1.75" CB and a 2.25" CB is vast. To win it against the likes of Melling, Appleton et al is impressive. Also good to see Hill win the latest GB9 as well.

Where have you played it BTW?
 
MartinBullet said:
They have already started doing this in China, it's called Chinese 8 ball, Gareth Potts (English 8 ball player from the UK) won the first tournament a few months ago against a really tough field including Ralf Souquet, Darren Appleton, Chris Melling and Stephen Hendry.

It's played on a 9 foot snooker table with standard size pool balls, I've played it myself and trust me, it's one of the toughest games I've ever tried!
Click to expand...

Thanks much, i think it will be great challenge for all pros, i know Alex P is already good at snooker, will see, who is next to join..
 
I saw a 9 foot Snooker table on Craigslist.... that would be the ticket instead of cobbing up some rails. What a table for one pocket. No more bouncing off the first diamond & going in the hole.
 
Benward452 said:
Barry Hearn is amazing and most points in this interview he hits on the head.

I think a shrewd businessman like himself could survive in any field.
Click to expand...
I think one of the problems is somewhat geographic. Lets be honest, to play in a tour in the US you would go broke just traveling. England is about the size of Alabama. You can just drive to every tournament that there is. It may not be the biggest stumbling block, but it represents just one more problem with tournament pool in the US. In fact the whole UK is like 1/40th the size of the US.

The next thing is, with Snooker you can bet on every match. They even have betting windows at some tournaments. People who have never hit a ball may still be fans and also bet on the matches. That creates an added interest for the general public. How many horse players really care anything about horses? They care about making a bet. Again, just another difference, but they add up. I can't really think of anything that would make the general public in the US care one bit about the outcome of a pool tournament. Results aren't even covered in any papers or sports shows. That by the way would be a start, news coverage of tournament results. At least let the public know there is such a thing as professional pool.

I remember years ago Danny DiLiberto being interviewed by a sports guy at a tournament. The guy asked him what he did for a living. Danny said he was a professional pool player. The guy said, "No I mean what do as work, a job"? Danny didn't answer, he was kind on annoyed. He asked the guy if he knew anything about pool. The guy said no he had never played. Danny then said, "Then what are you doing here" and got up and walked away.

When someone here sees Danny ask him about this story, I am sure he will retell it in a very entertaining way. By the way, if I remember right the sports announcer was one of the top Wide world of sports guys like Jim McKay.

Back to the original topic, there is a lot of problems pool would have to overcome to reach even the most minor position as a pro sport with public acceptance.
 
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naji said:
It seems that we have to make pool more challenging by making pool tables with snooker type holes, so only the best shooters get up there!!! I played snooker it is really hard game to maintain focus let along get over a 100 break!!..
Click to expand...
I am not sure about that. You just need good fair equipment that is challenging. Making the game so players miss all over the place I don't think would help with public interest. There could defiantly be some rule changes. I think the idea of ball in hand has out lived it's usefulness. It seems very unprofessional, almost silly..

Different sets may be an idea. Play maybe like tennis where you have to win by 2 and get rid of the hill hill game. Play multiple sets for a match such as shorter races 4 out of 7. You can also go to single elimination this way streamlining the tournament. I played in a tournament in Europe that drew 300 players. They played single elimination for the early rounds till they got to the final 16. They then redrew and played double elimination to the final where they finished with one set 3 out of 5 set for the championship. There was also other things going on. They had a high run tournament, a trick shot tournament as well the players could enter and will money. The whole thing was a real happening event.

Most tournaments in the US put you to sleep even if you are a fan. You are lucky if they even do a player introduction. People come in and don't even know who they are watching. I guess it is easy to be a critic and everybody has an opinion but there is no argument that what is being done now with pool is not working.
 
Particularly interesting: 300,000,000 people will be watching the World Snooker Championships live. At least one cue sport draws spectators.
 
Naji,

I understand what your are saying in regards to the size of England, but World Snooker, is very international.

Yes some of the most prestigious tournaments are held in England still, but most tournaments are outside of the UK.

Take a look at the 2012-2013 schedule. These players are busy and traveling the world.

You are correct in your statement that betting plays a huge role. Pool may never get as large as snooker for that fact, but still looking at this schedule, I feel it has more to do with being able to identify markets and producing a highly polished, professional LIVE television production.

Also, Barry Hearn does not put up with the players BS. He doesn't want the top 16 to be protected and he wants to remove the excess gamesmanship from the live shows. He is a business man that gets what needs to be done to create a valuable commodity. My hats off.

2012
MAY

Q School
May 13-29
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

JUNE

Wuxi Classic qualifiers
June 5-8
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

Australian Goldfields Open qualifiers
June 12-15
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

Asian PTC1
June 18-22
Zhangjiagang, China

Wuxi Classic
June 25 to July 1
Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium, China


JULY

SangSom 6 Red World Championship
July 2-7
Bangkok, Thailand

Australian Goldfields Open
July 9-15
Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

UK PTC1
July 18-22
South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester

Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters qualifiers
July 24-27
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

AUGUST

UK PTC2
August 8-12
South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester

Premier League
August 16
Embassy Theatre, Skegness

Betfair European Tour 2 (Poland) pre-qualifier
August 16-18
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

International Championship qualifiers
August 19-22
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

Betfair European Tour 1 (Paul Hunter Classic)
August 23-26
Fuerth, Germany

SEPTEMBER

Premier League
September 6
Biddulph Valley Leisure Centre, Stoke

UK PTC3
September 5-9
South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester

Premier League
September 13
The Sands, Carlisle

Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters
September 17-23
Shanghai, China

Asian PTC2
September 23-27
Yixing, China

Premier League
September 27
Spiceball Leisure Centre, Banbury

Seniors World Championship qualifiers
September 30
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

OCTOBER

Premier League
October 4
Guildhall, Southampton

Betfair European Tour 2
October 5-7
Gdynia, Poland

Premier League
October 11
Malvern Theatres

Premier League
October 18
Penzance Leisure Centre

Betfair European Tour 3
October 18-21
Antwerp, Belgium

Premier League
October 25
Guildford Spectrum

Seniors World Championship
October 27-28
Mountbatton Centre, Portsmouth

International Championship
October 28 to November 4
Chengdu, China

NOVEMBER

Asian PTC3
November 5-9
Zhengzhou, China

Premier League
November 8
The Dome, Doncaster

iSnookerPro Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup
November 10-14
South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester

Premier League
November 15
Spennymoor Leisure Centre, Durham

Betfair European Tour 4
November 15-18
Sofia, Bulgaria

williamhill.com UK Championship qualifiers
November 20-23
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

Premier League Final
November 24-25
Grimsby Auditorium

Betfair European Tour 6 pre-qualifier
November 26-27
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

Betfair German Masters qualifiers
November 28-30
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

DECEMBER

williamhill.com UK Championship
December 1-9
York Barbican

Betfair European Tour 5
December 13-16
Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility, Scotland

Haikou World Open qualifiers
December 18-21
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

2013

JANUARY

Betfair European Tour 6
January 4-6
Munich, Germany

Championship League 1
January 7-10
Crondon Park

China Open qualifiers
January 9-12
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

The Betfair Masters
January 13-20
Alexandra Palace

Championship League 2
January 21-24
Crondon Park

Betfair Snooker Shoot-Out
January 25-27
Circus Arena, Blackpool Tower

Betfair German Masters
January 30 to February 3
Tempodrom, Berlin

FEBRUARY

Championship League 3
February 4-7
Crondon Park

Welsh Open qualifiers
February 6-9
World Snooker Academy, Sheffield

Welsh Open
February 11-17
Newport Centre

Haikou World Open
February 25 to March 3
Hainan, China

MARCH

PTC Grand Finals
March 12-17
National University of Ireland, Galway

Championship League 4
March 18-21
Crondon Park

China Open
March 25-31
Beijing, China

APRIL/MAY

World Championship qualifiers
April 3-14
World Snooker Academy / Badminton Hall Sheffield

World Championship
April 20 to May 6
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
 
Bob Jewett said:
Particularly interesting: 300,000,000 people will be watching the World Snooker Championships live. At least one cue sport draws spectators.
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You can't underplay the gambling being a draw. I was at the Crucible and you would think you were in a casino so much money was flying around being bet. The players are also identifiable, people know who they are. You may be driving down the road and see a pro snooker player on a billboard advertising a bank or something. Their names are household words. I can't think of one American pool player who does a single commercial. At best I remember Jean Balukas doing a nail polish commercial where they painted it on the balls to show how hard it was and she would hit the balls around.

I don't know if any do, but pool players need agents to get them gigs. You have to bang on a lot of doors to get one to open but if you never knock, good luck. Pool in my opinion really lends itself to advertising. It is a attention getter and will make someone stop and watch as the product is hawked. I honestly don't get it, everybody does commercials but pool players. They sit on their asses waiting for someone to hand them something.
 
macguy...I agree with this a LOT, especially having successfully been my own 'agent' for the past 20 years (I was taught how to do it successfully). Pool tables are in advertising everywhere you look, not to mention either as a backdrop, or prominent placement in many tv shows and movies. The agents need to be in marketing and advertising...NOT other poolplayers "acting" as an agent, imo. There is a lot of $$$ to be made in pool as entertainment...but, as you say, most professional players are too inexperienced or lazy to know how to find it. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

macguy said:
I don't know if any do, but pool players need agents to get them gigs. You have to bang on a lot of doors to get one to open but if you never knock, good luck. Pool in my opinion really lends itself to advertising. It is a attention getter and will make someone stop and watch as the product is hawked. I honestly don't get it, everybody does commercials but pool players. They sit on their asses waiting for someone to hand them something.
Click to expand...
 
If you really want to dial in your game for a tournament, practice some straight and slight angled setups from various distances on a 10 or 12 foot snooker table.

After some adjustments, your pocketing skills get awesome - and side pocket angled shots get Sooo much easier.
 
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