Ronnie O'Sullivan to play pool this year

Fred Agnir said:
Because snooker is too different for a modern pool player's persona. It's boring. You have to love what you're doing to excel. It can't just be about the money.

Fred
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No kidding. Imagine starting every tournament in the same place, a huge private hall where you also practice. Only the qualifiers get to travel to the 'tournament', with most staying home to practice some more. It sounds like a real grind, and very different from the tournament trail in the US.

Dave
 
DaveK said:
No kidding. Imagine starting every tournament in the same place, a huge private hall where you also practice. Only the qualifiers get to travel to the 'tournament', with most staying home to practice some more. It sounds like a real grind, and very different from the tournament trail in the US.

Dave
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Huh? Is it against the law to have a table at home?
 
Colin Colenso said:
He will be a sight to behold when he gets an open table.
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What pro isn't a sight to behold on an open table? Open tables are a joke, it is when he has 4 tied up clusters in different areas of the table that we will see how good he is.
 
Fred Agnir said:
Because snooker is too different for a modern pool player's persona. It's boring. You have to love what you're doing to excel. It can't just be about the money.

Fred
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In what way is an 8ball or 9ball game more exciting than a snooker one? Because the pockets are so huge (compared to snooker) that the players can play with powerful strokes and lots of english to take flashy position routes?

Because in snooker you can run 36 balls while on pool you'd have to take breaks to rack them?
 
Fred Agnir said:
This is the whole key. Would he commit? He would have to change his entire life. Like Karen and Allison. It wouldn't be worth it for him, would it?

Fred
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$200,000 first place events, $500,000 first place open events. Pool finally getting money into the sport putting it on an even keel with snooker which is the ONLY thing snooker had keeping it alive. Yeah I think it is well worth it for Ronnie O to switch over. If the IPT really does take off and become popular I think you can expect snooker to plummet in popularity and eventually go the way of the dinosaur much as the Women's snooker already did. Snooker stayed big because it always had the money advantage on pool, people always saw snooker as the real top players because they were making the real money. Now with that no longer true I think snooker will fade and in 10-20 years it will be the secondary sport with less money, less exposure, and less respect.
 
pinkisntwell said:
In what way is an 8ball or 9ball game more exciting than a snooker one? Because the pockets are so huge (compared to snooker) that the players can play with powerful strokes and lots of english to take flashy position routes?

Because in snooker you can run 36 balls while on pool you'd have to take breaks to rack them?
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Hey, you asked. If the answer was going to get you upset, maybe you should have considered it before asking.

Nevertheless, American pool games like 14.1 has lost favor in the US for the same reason. Modern pool players find it boring, though there is still a contingent that play it. Same for 3C, another terribly difficult game that used to be popular a half century ago. It doesn't have the scoring potential to captivate most pool players, and most find it boring. And 1-pocket, another low scoring game, though it is regaining popularity among players will never gain an audience or following among common pool players.

A few years ago, I had an opportunity to chat with Allison over a pizza. She said she had gone back to England and played some snooker. She said she couldn't get into it. Why not? Because it was boring. It's a simple reality. It's boring to the modern pool player. Ask her yourself, and tell me when you got all bitchy at her when she tells you that it bores her now.

Fred
 
Ronnie is playing live on tv at the moment here in the UK, in his interview before the match he confirmed he would be going to the States to play, shall be interesting to see how he gets on.

For those that don't know, the snooker circuit this year really has gone down a notch, only 5 ranking events, which is partly the reason why Ronnie is making the move, although he will still play the big events such as the Worlds and the UK Championship.
 
pinkisntwell said:
Huh? Is it against the law to have a table at home?
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I believe that the pro's have a huge practice facility. It is where most, if not all (UK) tournaments start with the qualifying rounds. Most players who enter a given tournament, lets say the "Wherever Snooker Tournament", do not get out of qualifying, so they stay behind while Ronnie, Steve, Stephen and the other top dogs who survive the qualifying stages get to travel to Wherever for the "Wherever Snooker Tournament". Most low level snooker pros never leave the city where that practice/qualifying hall is located, even though they enter a bunch of tournaments.

Maybe one of our UK members can elaborate or explain it better or tell me I'm full of youknowwhat.

Dave
 
Buckster_uk said:
Ronnie is playing live on tv at the moment here in the UK, in his interview before the match he confirmed he would be going to the States to play, shall be interesting to see how he gets on.

For those that don't know, the snooker circuit this year really has gone down a notch, only 5 ranking events, which is partly the reason why Ronnie is making the move, although he will still play the big events such as the Worlds and the UK Championship.
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Thanks for the report Buckster, could be an interesting turn of events ahead.

World Snooker certainly seems to be skating on thin ice.
 
Fred Agnir said:
A few years ago, I had an opportunity to chat with Allison over a pizza. She said she had gone back to England and played some snooker. She said she couldn't get into it. Why not? Because it was boring. It's a simple reality. It's boring to the modern pool player. Ask her yourself, and tell me when you got all bitchy at her when she tells you that it bores her now.

Fred
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I can see what you're saying. You're saying that people generally find 9ball or 8ball more entertaining than snooker. People also find WWE more exciting than snooker, porn more exciting than snooker, banging balls (playing with all those silly rules you can find in the other thread) more exciting than playing a good game of pool with calculated shots, safeties etc.

I agree with you that the average pool hall ball-banger finds 9ball or 8ball more entertaining than snooker. I wasn't talking about those people. I was talking about seasoned players who enjoy pool as a sport. I sure prefer watching snooker than 9ball, because snooker needs better technique, better aiming, less luck. That's just my personal opinion. I think that lots of people feel the same way I do though.

About your comment on Allison. Allison didn't quit snooker because it wasn't fun, she quit because there isn't any money in it. You know why there isn't any money in it? Because women play worse snooker than men do. Way worse.

I'm not trying to start a flame war here. I'm just stating my opinion and backing it with facts.
 
pinkisntwell said:
About your comment on Allison. Allison didn't quit snooker because it wasn't fun, she quit because there isn't any money in it. You know why there isn't any money in it? Because women play worse snooker than men do. Way worse.]
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And I'm not saying why Allison left. I'm saying how Allison felt about snooker after she dove into 9-ball. She found snooker boring. So do other pool players.

That was your question, afterall. You can jump ship for the money if the game you jump to is exciting. You won't jump ship for the money if you find the game boring.

Fred
 
Take these American opinions with a pinch of salt, most of them have never even seen a 6 x 12 snooker table.

Fred, guys like Earl don't compete on the snooker circuit simply because they can't compete. He even admitted this himself.
 
Fred Agnir said:
That was your question, afterall. You can jump ship for the money if the game you jump to is exciting. You won't jump ship for the money if you find the game boring.

Fred
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So, let me get this straight. You're saying that pool players didn't try to compete in the snooker pro tour because they found the game boring? They would rather stay in the US and play in tourneys which barely cover their expenses to get there and stay there?
 
pinkisntwell said:
So, let me get this straight. You're saying that pool players didn't try to compete in the snooker pro tour because they found the game boring? They would rather stay in the US and play in tourneys which barely cover their expenses to get there and stay there?
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Pretty loaded way to say it.

Pool players find snooker boring. To make the change just for the money obviously wasn't worth it. How many other ways do I need to say it?

Fred
 
14.1player said:
Take these American opinions with a pinch of salt, most of them have never even seen a 6 x 12 snooker table.
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Don't. Just don't. Don't imply it. It's crap that will not get you far. It's nearly a damned lie, if you follow these threads at all.

Fred, guys like Earl don't compete on the snooker circuit simply because they can't compete. He even admitted this himself.
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Do we have to go through this again? Unfounded and ignorant claims that have since been disproven? Even Colin Colenso seemed genuinely surprised to find out that pool players could actually play snooker if their hearts desired. Will you be just another diehard snooker fan that will go by hearsay rather than fact? Do we really need to go through this yet again?

Fred
 
As great as he is, it's still a different game with different nuances to master to become great.
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8-ball is a game universally acclaimed for being played by bar bangers and flares, and yet, suddenly, when a snooker vs. pool debate starts up, the game has nuances?! :D

Remember that O'Sullivan has been playing on slower nap cloth than the IPT will be using. Look at how easily Tony Drago adapted to 9-ball, 3rd place finish WPC 2003, runner-up Eurotour Austria 2005. O'Sullivan is a much better cueist than Drago ;).
 
Unfounded and ignorant claims that have since been disproven?
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Pool players find snooker boring. To make the change just for the money obviously wasn't worth it. How many other ways do I need to say it?
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Fred, you've just lost all credibility with that BS... Keep living in your deluded world :).

In the same way, O'Sullivan will get bored of 8-ball after a year due to its relative simplicity and lack of challenge.
 
14.1player said:
Fred, you've just lost all credibility with that BS... Keep living in your deluded world :).
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Right. I lost all credibility. Boohoo. Woe is me. What shall I do? I have clueless people like you to set me straight. Lucky me.

In the same way, O'Sullivan will get bored of 8-ball after a year due to its relative simplicity and lack of challenge.
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If he gets bored and it's a lack of a challenge, he should move on. No disagreement there. Ask him if he's bored with the challenge now. That is part of the question at hand. You're just speculating, and since you know little about the subject and the question asked, yours isn't even a decent guess. It's just chest thumping.

Did you actually understand that someone asked a question, and that I answered based on some facts and knowledge? You should try that some time. Gather facts and knowledge. The world becomes a more pleasing place. Blind loyalty makes people unable to comprehend these posts, I know.

Fred
 
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