Predator Wisconsin 10 Ball

StraitishShoote said:
I drove over to watch this. It was my first time watching pros in real life besides when I went to Tin Man's MN Pool Boot Camp. I was there from 11 am to 4:45. I feel a little weird about it because while it was awesome to watch the last set of the Gorst vs. Kaci match all the other matches I watched were subpar compared to watching the super elite on youtube.

They were good matches but I was surprised by the amount of misses I saw. There was a game during the Appleton vs. Konrad J. match where it took 5 shots on the 10 ball before it went it. None of them were safes.

One other thing that I saw that won't show up on the stream happened during the last break of the Kaci/Gorst match. While the players were sitting there in the middle waiting to start the final rack a lady walked up behind Kaci and poked him in the shoulder. He ignored her. She poked him again and asked him to sign a cue with a marker. You could tell he was annoyed but just said "Later." and turned back around. She walked over to Gorst after the match for him to sign the same cue. Before he signed it he talked to her about how she should not have went up to Kaci like she did during the match. Kaci did eventually sign the cue for her.

I will definitely be going to a pro event again in the future but may look at the field ahead of time to pick which one I go to. It was interesting watching players only a few feet away deal with the ups and downs of the matches which isn't always apparent on video.
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I've tried to tell people that they overestimate the ability of the pros. You only see the top pros in matches when they are typically in top form and back in the day when it was truly televised, they edited out as many of the mistakes as they could.

Jaden
 
skogstokig said:
the euros bunk and travel together to minimize costs + most have sponsors. many of them are sponsored by predator but i don't know what to believe there, seems to be a lot of bs. fedor and mario are not predator sponsored and they're playing.

overall i think that many american players don't play the sponsor game as good as the euros. dress well, behave well, be active on social media and always represent your sponsor. look at tyler styer, he is (obviously) doing it right.
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SVB, Tyler, Reinhold, Sky are all guys worthy of sponsoring imo.
 
This is the photo on the WPA site from the last event. (wpa-pool.com)
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skogstokig said:
true. i think reinhold is playing this event
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Thorpe would be a good guy to hook up with Jack Daniels and a dispensary. ;) Just funnin'. Hope he gets right and starts playing good again. Looked good at DCC.
 
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VVP said:
Looks like you know what you are saying. Yes, trap shooters are generally more well off than pool players because it is an expensive sport.

My point is those pool players who decide to play pool for a living must make a true assessment of their capabilities and maybe should get full-time jobs to back them up. Watering down the payout might hurt everyone because the good guys that draw the crowd might not show up and the tournaments will fail.
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Pool players making a living are roaming cats....
 
9ballhasbeen said:
From what I have heard, it has to do with comments made by Predator leadership about certain players, trying to force their patch on people (last year's PLP), creating conflicts for players with multiple sponsors (Predator and Diamond are now like oil and water), and doing low-class things like covering non-predator player patches in photos, and not providing non-predator players with the same level of media coverage, also not allowing external photographers to cover the events. This is just what I have been told, but when I look at the press release image they sent out today and the cover of AZB, its Kaci (Predator), whom Gorst (non-Predator) defeated handily.
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You have anything to back up your allegations about Predator or are you just shooting the breeze? Just cos they are called "Predator" doesn't mean they are predator 😁
 
Tin Man said:
I know some of the top US players don't travel often. When people get on them saying "You should play that event!" the only fair response is "Do you want to back me?" If you don't like backing them, why would they like playing?

I know. For the love of the challenge, and the opportunity to grow by playing the world's best players. But going into debt to run the roads for years is like taking out large student loans and spending years for a theater arts degree. [...]
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It goes both ways. You're right I shouldn't expect that just because a player plays at a high level, he or she should make sacrifices to fit my vision. Some just don't share the vision.

But as much as I want to build a bridge over a river of s**t to support top players having the opportunity to compete against the world's best, I'm most interested in supporting those who would be willing to swim through that river of s**t for the opportunity.
 
I know for SVB and Shaw it's more about the format (short race, shootout) than it is about the top heavy payouts.
 
garczar said:
I was just messin' around. I think he's getting back on track. Hate to see that talent wasted.
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I think the penalty/ban was waaaaay too harsh on him. Earl is 100% correct about Billy's punishment when he said that no one should get that sort of punishment for smoking a joint. The pool rooms reek of that stuff nowadays.
 
VVP said:
I think the penalty/ban was waaaaay too harsh on him. Earl is 100% correct about Billy's punishment when he said that no one should get that sort of punishment for smoking a joint. The pool rooms reek of that stuff nowadays.
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the problem is the threshold, not the policy. it picks up on a joint smoked days before and that just isn't right. idk if that was the case with billy.
 
Here is an idea to increase the "payouts" at these events like is done at major trap shoots.

The organizer holds side purses where players can bet on themselves if they CHOOSE to. The $ amounts and "categories" are just an examples.

Champion - bet is $200 and the eventual Champion takes all.

2nd to 4th - bet is $100 and pot is split equally between the winners.

5th to 10th - bet is $50 and pot is split equally between winners.

There are lots of different side purses trap shoot and the best shooters usually make enough to cover their expenses plus some. However, at trap shoots have couple hundreds to couple thousands at the larger shoots.

Can this work in pool tournaments?
 
VVP said:
Here is an idea to increase the "payouts" at these events like is done at major trap shoots.

The organizer holds side purses where players can bet on themselves if they CHOOSE to. The $ amounts and "categories" are just an examples.

Champion - bet is $200 and the eventual Champion takes all.

2nd to 4th - bet is $100 and pot is split equally between the winners.

5th to 10th - bet is $50 and pot is split equally between winners.

There are lots of different side purses at trap shoot and the best shooters usually make enough to cover their expenses plus some. However, at trap shoots have couple hundreds to couple thousands at the larger shoots.

Can this work in pool tournaments?
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Most trap shooters would show up if there was no money. They want the trophy more than anything. Can't compare a rich boy game to guys eking out a paychek. BTW, what you're referring to is a Calcutta and at most/all pro events they are not allowed. They just need to pay better, deeper.
 
garczar said:
Most trap shooters would show up if there was no money. They want the trophy more than anything. Can't compare a rich boy game to guys eking out a paychek. BTW, what you're referring to is a Calcutta and at most/all pro events they are not allowed. They just need to pay better, deeper.
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After a time trophies do not mean much except the very big ones like the championship. Every trapshooter's dream that goes to the Grand American is to win the Grand American Handicap where an average Joe can beat the pros because of the handicap.
Anyway, what I am talking about are purses that are printed in the programs and run by the shoot management. Sometimes there are Calcuttas on the side run by individuals and anyone can bid on a shooter. What I am talking about is more structured/legit.
 
Nostroke said:
Just a note- GYK got 3k "show up money" at the challenge of Champions and i would assume a free room.
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Yes, I knew of the stipend (was $2,500 when I heard about it about twenty years ago) but that's not prize money.
 
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