Pro Billiards similiarities to pro fishing

[logical]

Both Major League Fishing and Bassmasters regularly host tournaments that pay $100k for first, big drop to $30k or so after that, but the payout is pretty good.

World Championship in fishing is worth $300k.

The top pros all wear shirts with logos so sponsorship is also a big deal.

Overall, the very best bass fisherman do much better than almost all pro pool players. Doing poorly on the pro fishing tour has the same realities as pro pool though. Broke, sleeping in your car, get a damn job unless you can find backers.

What?...you mean they don't just wear whatever tank top they rolled out of bed with that morning?

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[8cree]

Both Major League Fishing and Bassmasters regularly host tournaments that pay $100k for first, big drop to $30k or so after that, but the payout is pretty good.

World Championship in fishing is worth $300k.

The top pros all wear shirts with logos so sponsorship is also a big deal.

Overall, the very best bass fisherman do much better than almost all pro pool players. Doing poorly on the pro fishing tour has the same realities as pro pool though. Broke, sleeping in your car, get a damn job unless you can find backers.

Also, bass fishing is the #1 targeted fish in America, by pretty far too I think. So that kind of money isn't difficult to pay out I don't think. Especially with giant corporate sponsors and such.

 

[Z-Nole]

Also, bass fishing is the #1 targeted fish in America, by pretty far too I think. So that kind of money isn't difficult to pay out I don't think. Especially with giant corporate sponsors and such.

The founder of Bass Pro Shops is worth 4 Billion. Maybe there's a few more fishermen out there.

 

[bud green]

Anyone who thinks winning pro bass fishing events is mostly luck doesn't know pro bass fishing.

Some guys like Justin Lucas will spend 16 hrs a day fishing during practice for events. Pros like Edwin Evers do thorough research with Google Earth on lakes, seeing how they look with low water vs high water. When they get to a lake, sometimes they map the entire lake with electronics and then later on develop a game plan.

Check out Majorleaguefishing.com or videos on youtube by Evers, etc... to get a better idea of the sport.

 

[HNTFSH]

Anyone who thinks winning pro bass fishing events is mostly luck doesn't know pro bass fishing.

Some guys like Justin Lucas will spend 16 hrs a day fishing during practice for events. Pros like Edwin Evers do thorough research with Google Earth on lakes, seeing how they look with low water vs high water. When they get to a lake, sometimes they map the entire lake with electronics and then later on develop a game plan.

Check out Majorleaguefishing.com or videos on youtube by Evers, etc... to get a better idea of the sport.

If you're addressing my post you completely missed the point. No one said pro fishing was easy. Yet, it's not man versus man either, really. Luck can easily determine a tournament, would you say professional pool does as well to the same degree?

 

[bud green]

"Pool is pure skill with a little luck and fishing is almost the opposite to some degree".

I do disagree with that statement. If opposite means it's more luck than skill overall, I don't think so. They work their ass off to get where they are on the top level.

Pool has less luck of course, you're the one hitting the damn ball, its only luck in the sense of low percentages.

Here's a paste from this site about a major event that just happened just for perspective:

“This final had so many ups and downs,” said Filler, who shares the $60,000 winner’s prize with Reintjes. “We both missed a 9-ball and made it and without these two 9-balls I don’t think we would have won the tournament because these two gentleman played so unbelievable throughout the tournament. They put in a great final and in the end we were the lucky guys.

 

[HNTFSH]

"Pool is pure skill with a little luck and fishing is almost the opposite to some degree".

I do disagree with that statement. If opposite means it's more luck than skill overall, I don't think so. They work their ass off to get where they are on the top level.

Pool has less luck of course, you're the one hitting the damn ball, its only luck in the sense of low percentages.

Here's a paste from this site about a major event that just happened just for perspective:

“This final had so many ups and downs,” said Filler, who shares the $60,000 winner’s prize with Reintjes. “We both missed a 9-ball and made it and without these two 9-balls I don’t think we would have won the tournament because these two gentleman played so unbelievable throughout the tournament. They put in a great final and in the end we were the lucky guys.

You read too much into the post. The "to some extent" was supposed to be the clue. No one said they don't work hard but you keep trying to justify your comments with that? And in reality the two activities are night and day different to begin with. Your quote is just an example of a winner humility.

Bottom line is I did not say fishing is lucky or infer that it's all luck. Yet in comparison "tournament wise" with pool it plays a bigger factor. The luck factor in fishing is due to things no human can control, in pool it is far more so under ones control, skill set, focus.

You're preaching to the wrong guy.

 

[DelawareDogs]

So I just watched a video by Pro Angler, Randy Blaukat.

video by Randy Blaukat on pro fishing

In the video, he makes some points that I believe carry over into pool/billiards as well. The cost of travel and events is cost prohibitive without sponsorship. Without additional revenue streams, the money made from events alone is not enough to live a middle-class lifestyle while being a pro.

I’ve watched plenty of bass fishing videos over the last year.
Brandon Palaniuk, Brian Latimer and others.
One can say money made on events alone is not enough to live a middle-class lifestyle, but I’m watching these guys pull well kept $80,000 boats with new $60,000 trucks, while their spouses are in tow in $100,000 campers. At the end of the week, Brian Latimer goes home to a sizable home with his personal pond and cuts his rather large lawn on his brand new zero turn mower.
However many pool players are living that lifestyle…? I’m not sure. You’d have to name them for me, please.
I can tell you the median Salary for a pro bass fisherman is $62,000. With much more than some making well over 100k consistently.

 

[livemusic]

Anyone who thinks winning pro bass fishing events is mostly luck doesn't know pro bass fishing.

Some guys like Justin Lucas will spend 16 hrs a day fishing during practice for events. Pros like Edwin Evers do thorough research with Google Earth on lakes, seeing how they look with low water vs high water. When they get to a lake, sometimes they map the entire lake with electronics and then later on develop a game plan.

Check out Majorleaguefishing.com or videos on youtube by Evers, etc... to get a better idea of the sport.

With the operative word being "winning" in your post above, luck is def involved. Every one of those pro fishermen are super-human good. Luck is involved in WINNING the tourney because you cannot control which fish are going to bite. All of the top guys in big tourneys are similar skillsets. Every once in awhile, somebody surfaces who is particularly talented/skilled, such as Roland Martin, Keven van Dam and wins an inordinate amount of times.

I have a friend who tried the local prize money circuit, local being a couple hundred mile radius, and he couldn't make any money. Cashed checks, yes, but without sponsors, it's a no-go. He is the best fisherman I've ever seen. I'm a decent fisherman but he always beats me. He can pitch a bait into a coffecup with a regular cast, backhand, sidearm, underhand, whatever. With zero splash. It's amazing to watch. And that's just one aspect of the sport.

 

[SlateMan]

I think the video was interesting on a few points. Like this guy said, the wraps for both the boats and the trucks made a HUGE difference in sponsorship. This is something that pool players will never have. We have shirts with small patches. Even then, think about the controversy Shane had where he was not going to be allowed to wear his sponsors patch to a match. Now, lots of pool players do drive all over the country to tournaments and to hustle. The hustlers don't want to announce to the world they are good at this game with a wrap on their car and the sponsors won't pay the pros to put wraps on their 1995 Ford Fiesta.

 

[bud green]

Jacob Wheeler just won two events in a row, took second in the one before that. He's won 3 out of 8 tournaments and dominated in a couple of them.

Luck had almost zero to do with any of that. He beat the second place guy by over 30 lbs last event.

He has a great youtube channel you can check out.