let's hope it doesn't come to that (again). i applaude this new endeavor but strongly dislike predator's strive to crush the competition and take over the entire industry. who would like a formula 1 race with only one team/brand allowed? competition breeds inventions. both the predator CLP and the predator world 10b championship were too much branding for my taste
PREDATOR AND CUESPORTS INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH THE US PRO BILLIARD SERIES
- Thread starter bb9ball
- Start date
let's hope it doesn't come to that (again). i applaude this new endeavor but strongly dislike predator's strive to crush the competition and take over the entire industry. who would like a formula 1 race with only one team/brand allowed? competition breeds inventions. both the predator CLP and the predator world 10b championship were too much branding for my taste
A couple of things that stood out to me:
• Several events are held in the Midwest rather than everything in Vegas. One in Puerto Rico!
• In 2021 the big CSI event was rescheduled from March to September, and so there’s both the Diamond event and then the World 10-ball during that two-week period. In the future it looks like they’re going to put the World 10-ball in March at their big event and separate the Diamond event. Is there another big state championship that the Diamond will go to in 2022? The World 10-ball is not part of the US Pro Billiard series. They describe the 2022 World 10-ball in March as kind of the culmination of the series, and don’t really talk about the 2021 World 10-ball.
• The official website of the US Pro Billiard series says it’s a “subset of the World Pro Billiard series,” which is not discussed further. I assume Matchroom events like World Pool (9-ball) Championship? When is that piece going to drop? Predator is heavily involved in both. Why 10-ball in the US tour and 9-ball in the Matchroom events? And where does the US Open 9-ball fit in? It’s a little hard to believe that the US Open isn’t part of the US Pro Billiard series.
• I like the short-race, two-set format. The spot-shot tie-breaker sounds kind of gimmicky, but I think it worked well in Darren Appleton’s series.
• How rich is Predator? Rich enough to sponsor all these great events, I guess. Let’s not complain any more about all those expensive cues they sell.
• Several events are held in the Midwest rather than everything in Vegas. One in Puerto Rico!
• In 2021 the big CSI event was rescheduled from March to September, and so there’s both the Diamond event and then the World 10-ball during that two-week period. In the future it looks like they’re going to put the World 10-ball in March at their big event and separate the Diamond event. Is there another big state championship that the Diamond will go to in 2022? The World 10-ball is not part of the US Pro Billiard series. They describe the 2022 World 10-ball in March as kind of the culmination of the series, and don’t really talk about the 2021 World 10-ball.
• The official website of the US Pro Billiard series says it’s a “subset of the World Pro Billiard series,” which is not discussed further. I assume Matchroom events like World Pool (9-ball) Championship? When is that piece going to drop? Predator is heavily involved in both. Why 10-ball in the US tour and 9-ball in the Matchroom events? And where does the US Open 9-ball fit in? It’s a little hard to believe that the US Open isn’t part of the US Pro Billiard series.
• I like the short-race, two-set format. The spot-shot tie-breaker sounds kind of gimmicky, but I think it worked well in Darren Appleton’s series.
• How rich is Predator? Rich enough to sponsor all these great events, I guess. Let’s not complain any more about all those expensive cues they sell.
It’s got to be a streaming service and not something a cable provide will carry. “Currently available?”
Pretty cool they are having a PR tournament. When I was at the USAPL/BCA nationals there was a decent amount of PR payers there, I like the fact they are thinking of them.
Although sad that the closest thing to the east coast they have is Michigan.
Although sad that the closest thing to the east coast they have is Michigan.
All very exciting. I've never been a fan of the two-set approach. That basically means that the winner of the first set needs to win TWO sets to take the match. But if you lose the first set you need to win one set and a spot shot shoot out.
Ohio is way further east.
HURRAY for Predator !! They have been a major factor in pool and billiards for sometime and this is just another step in sharing their success with the Pool World . . .Since no one on the forums seems to have noticed this posting on the main page, ..
Predator and CueSports International Launch the US Pro Billiard Series - News - AZBILLIARDS.COM
Predator Group and CueSports International (CSI) are proud to announce the official launch of the US Pro Billiard Series. The 2021 inaugural season features five open/pro events between July and the end of the calendar year, each held alongside a CSI Leagues amateur event attended by hundreds and sowww.azbilliards.com
It looks like we need to start applauding more organizations than just Matchroom for promoting the game we love. I think this might be the biggest thing since the IPT.
That's kind of a funny way to say it. If you are going to go back and say the winner of the first set (we'll call him Pete) had to win two sets to win the match, don't you think you should acknowledge that Pete actually had another path to win the match? In other words, your "to win the match" should be qualified as "to win the match as a first-set winner."
The winner of the first set wins the match by EITHER winning the next set OR winning the shootout
The loser of the first set wins the match by BOTH winning the next set AND winning the shootout
Hey look at that. All those Revo sales just bought the professionals their very own tour.
mikepage it looks like you’re going to have a FargoRate-like system as part of the rankings for this series. In theory, could a player who wins the tournament get fewer points than another player who played better but gets knocked out? Or maybe a player who wins a tournament by crushing top players will get more points than a player who wins another tournament by squeaking by and getting a good draw.
I get that the option is available to both players. My problem has always been to equating a tiebreaker to a full set. In any other sport that I am aware of that uses them, the tiebreaker is used to give both players a chance to win the set, not the match (unless they were playing the deciding set).
Then why sponsor a player if they can't wear a patch on their shirt to promote the brand sponsoring them? Defeats the purpose.
There are lots of other ways to advertise and use sponsorship. I’d say little patches on the shirt during play are a pretty poor way of doing it. And fights and petty rules over it are a super-poor and self-destructive way of doing it. CSI and Predator’s “for any reason” rule goes too far IMO.
Wow a proper tour? Was Camel the last one? 20 years ago?
Where are all the predator haters again?
Sorry not sorry to be facetious.
Where are all the predator haters again?
Sorry not sorry to be facetious.
Players who are sponsored by companies that are in competition with Predator and their advertisers won't be allowed to promote it anyway. Predator already tried to force players to wear a Predator patch during a Predator sponsored event and players like Shane couldn't play because it violated the terms of their contract with their sponsors. Eliminate the sponsor patches altogether and there are no issues.
As the Wolf said in Pulp Fiction, "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks yet." If this is enforced, it will alienate many players and their fans: