Pool, Poker & Pain: Won't B'Long Now

From a launch standpoint, they should have the website finished and polished when they send out a press release. Many people will see the news and check that site only one time- if it gives a bad impression, that's the only impression they'll have. The site is very rough, IMO.

I agree. Blair needs to update that website, so that it is easy to navigate and pulls up quickly. As it stands now, it hangs and pauses, and it would be so much better if it had a little polishing. I am not a Web techie, but I know with a little tweaking with templates, et cetera, the website could be quite attractive with a little polish.
 
I just had an image of the demographic for the show. 18-35 yr old white male in a knock off Affliction shirt (knock off cause hes a pool player and pool players dont buy $50 tshirts) wearing a Full Tilt hat cocked 30 degrees in both the X and Z axis wearing a jacket covered in 8 on the break patches.

It will truly be a higher form of douchebag.


<-----loves to stereotype

If Blair can make some money with it more power to him but I don't see it doing anything for pool besides making it even more of a sideshow bar game than it is now.

You are going to get two out of the three disciplines performed on a pretty low level by complete amateurs. Watching amateur poker wouldnt be so terrible cause poker is always boring no matter who plays but watching bad MMA and bad pool is just no fun at all.

Besides if I know pool and poker players they will have it all nicely chopped up before hand and mysteriously suffer an injury in "training" that keeps them from entering the ring. :D

The idea Blair had that I thought made the most sense was following a group of players around the country on a bus. The name "Hustle Bus" isn't my cup of tea but there is a lot that could be done with the concept.

The sad thing about this post Justin, is it's right on the money.

I love poker, I love MMA and I certainly love pool, but I don't see the need to mix the three.

To those who say that it can't hurt pool's image, I think you're wrong. There is finally some money being invested into pool (albeit indirectly) and it's going to this. How will this hurt future corporate investment? Hard to say, but I don't think it will help.

I HOPE I'm wrong and Blair has mad success and pool benefits. Blair seems very nice and has sent my PMs in the past when I posted my negative thoughts about PP&P and he is very respectful and positive towards his project.

So, my fingers are crossed but not with much enthusiasm.

MM
 
To all of those that think that this will "hurt" the image of pool. Look at the last "boom" we had gotten. The Color Of Money. Gambling, Drinking, Twirling a Cue Around, Werewolves in London, Hustles, Blah Blah Blah. It worked.

While I wont say whether I personally will enjoy the show, watch the show, because my personal opinions do not matter...Here is an opportunity to get pool on peoples minds again.

I think all will be fine and worse case scenario...whats gonna happen...Pool won't be mainstream? lol.

BLACKJACK...thanks for an addition to my sig line...
"I hope somebody approaches you, sets, pivots, and kicks your nuts off CTE style."

Carl
 
ONETIME FLORIDA KEYS NINE BALL CHAMP BLAIR THEIN COMBINES THE ACTION PACKED WORLDS OF POOL, POKER AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS (MMA) TO CREATE THE NEXT SUPER HIT REALITY SHOW “POOL POKER & PAIN”

Can you tell us more about the "Florida Keys 9 ball Championship".

I'm not really in the know about Florida pool tournaments anymore though I did live in FL for 13 years and never heard of it.

Is it a pro tournament?

The only reference I can find to it links to the article you posted.

Thanks for the info.
 
It's not hard to think of a concept that would certainly outscore PPP in the ratings. How about BBB - Brains, Bikinis and Beatdowns? Female contestants only, of course.

Brains - a quiz contest filled with hard questions ("What world war came after World War I?")

Bikinis - a bikini-clad dance contest set in a raucous bar filled with happy and inebriated male "judges"

Beatdowns - in case of a tie after the first two B's, and there would probably be many (if not, we can arrange some), a clothes-ripping, hair-pulling catfight to settle the issue.

I'll only charge $5 million for a 25% stake in this revolutionary concept.

On second thought, you can have it for free because I'd like to see it myself.
 
I just had an image of the demographic for the show. 18-35 yr old white male in a knock off Affliction shirt (knock off cause hes a pool player and pool players dont buy $50 tshirts) wearing a Full Tilt hat cocked 30 degrees in both the X and Z axis wearing a jacket covered in 8 on the break patches.

It will truly be a higher form of douchebag.


<-----loves to stereotype

If Blair can make some money with it more power to him but I don't see it doing anything for pool besides making it even more of a sideshow bar game than it is now.

You are going to get two out of the three disciplines performed on a pretty low level by complete amateurs. Watching amateur poker wouldnt be so terrible cause poker is always boring no matter who plays but watching bad MMA and bad pool is just no fun at all.

Besides if I know pool and poker players they will have it all nicely chopped up before hand and mysteriously suffer an injury in "training" that keeps them from entering the ring. :D

The idea Blair had that I thought made the most sense was following a group of players around the country on a bus. The name "Hustle Bus" isn't my cup of tea but there is a lot that could be done with the concept.

When you are right, you are right. Sadly that demographic is the one reason why somebody might even think about doing this. But if it ever gets air time anywhere it's surely a sign the apocalypse is upon us.
 
from yikes to hmmm....maybe

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I seriously won't watch it IF it makes it past the pilot...

Pool has enough tushhogs without broadcasting the behavior as legitimate. I hope Tony Crosby does well in all disciplines but I cannot help but think the level of play will be horrendous in both the poker and pool as most people dainbramaged enough to sign up for PPP will be the ones with a MMA background and no skills to bring to the other disciplines.

Watching guys that CAN'T run out or play the percentages on the poker table will be as painful as watching guys that CAN do those things try to fight.

As an offside was Blair one of the 2 individuals that was going to do a $10,000 only one man leaves the room at the executive west when DCC was there? I think the money is right but I cannot recall the names. Someone was going to get a room that couldn't be traced back to anyone to pay for damages and the 2 guys were gonna go toe to toe but the Pool Player in the deal backed out..... I'll ask a few people who are better at remembering names and money details on things that never actually happened...
 
I seriously won't watch it IF it makes it past the pilot...

Pool has enough tushhogs without broadcasting the behavior as legitimate. I hope Tony Crosby does well in all disciplines but I cannot help but think the level of play will be horrendous in both the poker and pool as most people dainbramaged enough to sign up for PPP will be the ones with a MMA background and no skills to bring to the other disciplines.

Watching guys that CAN'T run out or play the percentages on the poker table will be as painful as watching guys that CAN do those things try to fight.

This is true.
 
What kind of message does this send to kids - younger players - so what if you lose on the pool table - we settle up outside to see who gets the $$$ - Suppose you own a poolrm and the kids take it outside - fights outside of your rm and you will get closed down .
 
Watching guys that CAN'T run out or play the percentages on the poker table will be as painful as watching guys that CAN do those things try to fight.

When this goes, I seriously doubt you or anyone else in this thread could beat any of the contestants in pool. I have a small hunch they all run out, and often.
 
What kind of message does this send to kids - younger players - so what if you lose on the pool table - we settle up outside to see who gets the $$$ - Suppose you own a poolrm and the kids take it outside - fights outside of your rm and you will get closed down .

Probably the same message boxing sends, or UFC sends, or wrestling sends.

I wonder what message rap sends, video games sends, rock & roll sends, etc.?

If you sweat the minutia, you'd never let kids out of the house with songs about drugs, killing cops, video games of banging whores and then killing them while stealing cars (or simulated wars)... I mean c'mon. All of that is OK but if there's a new reality show that's different---- people sweat the "message" that gets sent to kids while they wade through a cesspool of violence and drugs in every other area of life.

People who sweat "the message" are the same type of people who used to not let their daughter of the house because Elvis "shook his hips." C'mon.

"The message" is what comes from parents, not network TV.

Youtube is filled with kids jumping off high shit just to drop a "big leg" on their friend's head while they're laying on the grass. Does that mean WWE sends a bad message......OR, maybe, does it mean the kids are idiots and their parents are bigger idiots?
 
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Probably the same message boxing sends, or UFC sends, or wrestling sends.

I wonder what message rap sends, video games sends, rock & roll sends, etc.?

If you sweat the minutia, you'd never let kids out of the house with songs about drugs, killing cops, video games of banging whores and then killing them while stealing cars (or simulated wars)... I mean c'mon. All of that is OK but if there's a new reality show that's different---- people sweat the "message" that gets sent to kids while they wade through a cesspool of violence and drugs in every other area of life.

People who sweat "the message" are the same type of people who used to not let their daughter of the house because Elvis "shook his hips." C'mon.

"The message" is what comes from parents, not network TV.

Youtube is filled with kids jumping off high shit just to drop a "big leg" on their friend's head while they're laying on the grass. Does that mean WWE sends a bad message......OR, maybe, does it mean the kids are idiots and their parents are bigger idiots?

Boxing, wrestling are sports in their own right - violence filters into society at all levels - younger people are influenced by tv , media etc. -
but that does not mean we should have Pool ( a different sport ) to embrace and put the seal of approval on it by incorporating it into the game.
 
Hmmmm

What kind of message does this send to kids - younger players - so what if you lose on the pool table - we settle up outside to see who gets the $$$ - Suppose you own a poolrm and the kids take it outside - fights outside of your rm and you will get closed down .

Yes, because everything we see on TV we do in real life?? Yes, you can see into the future as well. Well, lets look at the present, pool rooms are already closing down right now, today. The pool biz is weak, folks have a lot of things to chose to do and pool is not on top of that list right now. And than top off the crappy economy and nobody is spending much money either. A double whammy for pool rooms, cue makers, etc.

So the folks here complaining have nothing to lose if this makes it on TV are angry...Lets see what some pool room owners, cue makers, etc think about this being on TV, and hoping it catches fire.

And the MMA industry is huge, and the same worries were about that when it started that some states even outlawed it !! Now states want the business, because the events sell out, money is spent on hotels, restaurants, etc.

And it was not the end of the world like they thought it would be. About the only folks pissed off about MMA is the boxing industry because MMA stole so much of its thunder and business.

I like boxing, but the MMA is much more exciting to watch. You get to see a combination of skills, martial arts, boxing and wrestling, and who really is the best street fighters in the world.
 
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Reality shows are here and have a huge audience. I personally have a life and don't need their drama in mine, but they're what sells on tv. You can't ignore what people want to see.

The idea of a challenge in today's market is hot. American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, The Great Race, etc. are on top of the Neilsen ratings. It's possible the PPP format can draw from three (two, anyway) popular activities/sports and peak some interest in our game.

I like the idea of the physical challenge, because I watch the mixed martial arts and so do a lot of others. If PPP was around 20 years ago, I would have tried to do it. It won't be everybody's choice to do this, but no matter what, it will definitely be a challenge.

Nobody associates pool and poker with any physical ability beyond being able to fade the long hours of action or tournaments. They'll make the distinction between a refereed bout and table games. When I fought No Holds Barred, there were no rules except, no biting, gouging, scratching, or small joint manipulation...and yes, the groin was open. This new version will be much better to watch, with a lot of rules for a mixed demographic of viewers.

And another thing nobody talked about is when you're playing somebody who is sharking you and being a general PITA, you can see if they're interested in the PPP format for the next set. Several people are on my "action" list right now. :grin-square:

Best,
Mike
 
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