Straight Pool Record Challenge

60inchcueguy

60inchcueguy

I buy 60" cues!
Silver Member
Hello,

My name is Josh Adkins. I live in Franklin, Ohio and I’m a member of AZBilliards.com (Ohplayer).
I would like to offer all of you an opportunity to become involved with a Straight Pool challenge that I am creating after getting the idea from one of the topics here on AZBilliards.com.

The challenge will be for players to attempt to break Willie Mosconi’s world record 526 Straight pool mark. I am in the process of creating a website (www.beat526.com) that will explain the rules and regulations for those attempting to break the record. To provide incentive for players to attempt the record, I will offer up a reward of whatever we have collected up to the point of when the record is broken. I will keep a running tab of the amount on the website. The reward will come from Straight pool fans who donate to our fund to help promote Straight Pool. 100% of the donations (minus administration costs, which will be minimal) will go to the person who officially breaks the record. I will do all of the work on the website for free forever* to minimize the administration costs.

You may ask what will make people want to make a donation. Well, I’m hoping just the love of Straight Pool will be incentive enough. However, I thought about making everyone who donates $100 or more an official member with recognition on the website and possibly special discount opportunities from hopeful sponsors. I also thought about offering sponsorship opportunities to businesses for a donation of $1000 or more.

I have run the idea past some Straight Pool heavyweights and some believe for the record to be official it would have to take place at an advertised exhibition or match with multiple witnesses. So, that will be the rule. The record can take place on an 8 foot or 9 foot table as long as it is witnessed and pre-advertised.

I am open to all suggestions on this. I'm just a big fan of straight pool who can't play a lick, but would like to help promote the sport. The Paypal account that I’ve set up to get this started is beat526@gmail.com. I will have it changed soon to an email related to the beat526.com domain. I have also setup an Etrade savings account to transfer the money into so that it will incur interest to help pay for any administration costs until the record is broken. I'm not doing this for the money, so please don't think this is a scam. You can email me at beat526@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions. I welcome them all.

Thanks,
Josh Adkins
 
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i like the idea but the prices are bit high, but after you get enough traffic then you might get $1000 from a business
 
You could sell the rights to the 15 balls used to break the record for $1000 apiece...

Plus... will you retain rights to the video of the run? I assume that the person that makes the record run could make some good cash just from the video.

I like the idea, but it seems like it will be tough to validate the run from the equipment standpoint unless you conduct the exhibitions after hours at pro tournaments.

Plus, is there any dishonor to Willie by breaking his record? I always thought the record stood because people respected what he had done for the game.
 
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You Really Should Have All The Entry's To This Videotaped, I Mean Come On Witnesses!!lol. This Ain't The 1930's Alot Of People Are Scammers Out There...great Idea, I Just Think You Need To Have The Proof. Good Luck.
 
Great concept. I really think if you could get some major billiard backing from some of the big companies it could get some legs. Something else to think about would be recreating the table in which mosconi set the record. I think this would be ideal and if at all possible you could possibly do a us tour with the table, providing you can get the appropriate funding. This could really be the start of something great if things could fall in line for you.
 
teambizy said:
Great concept. I really think if you could get some major billiard backing from some of the big companies it could get some legs. Something else to think about would be recreating the table in which mosconi set the record. I think this would be ideal and if at all possible you could possibly do a us tour with the table, providing you can get the appropriate funding. This could really be the start of something great if things could fall in line for you.
Click to expand...

Travel with the original table...

Gather some pros that want to hit the road...

Charge admission for exhibitions...

Break the record...

Sell the video...

Retire in Boca! (Ok, that was a bit much!)
 
Anything that would promote 14.1 is ok in my book , here is what I would do with the idea , though completely different.

*hold a once a year event , maybe at a hall with top notch equipment.

*this event would consist of inviting the top 14.1 players in the world by invitation.

*put a list of the players on the website at least 3 months before hand to create a buzz.

*each player gets 12 or 15 chances to start with a break ball setup and try reak the record.

*half the prize pool gets paid out to anyone that breaks the record , if nobody breaks it then that half carries over into the next year event and keeps building, the other half of the money gets paid out in prizes , like the highest run 1st 2nd 3rd 4th spots.

*take small donations through your website from enthusiasts, sell T-shirts or anything else that would raise funds to add to the prize pool.

*of course try to get sponsors within the industry.

*sell spectator seating.

just my thoughts, good luck!
 
Good idea. Will this be limited to pros only? Or can 'amateurs' take a video and submit it to you?
 
Ohplayer said:
Hello,

My name is Josh Adkins. I live in Franklin, Ohio and I’m a member of AZBilliards.com (Ohplayer).
I would like to offer all of you an opportunity to become involved with a Straight Pool challenge that I am creating after getting the idea from one of the topics here on AZBilliards.com.

The challenge will be for players to attempt to break Willie Mosconi’s world record 526 Straight pool mark. I am in the process of creating a website (www.beat526.com) that will explain the rules and regulations for those attempting to break the record. To provide incentive for players to attempt the record, I will offer up a reward of whatever we have collected up to the point of when the record is broken. I will keep a running tab of the amount on the website. The reward will come from Straight pool fans who donate to our fund to help promote Straight Pool. 100% of the donations (minus administration costs, which will be minimal) will go to the person who officially breaks the record. I will do all of the work on the website for free forever* to minimize the administration costs.

You may ask what will make people want to make a donation. Well, I’m hoping just the love of Straight Pool will be incentive enough. However, I thought about making everyone who donates $100 or more an official member with recognition on the website and possibly special discount opportunities from hopeful sponsors. I also thought about offering sponsorship opportunities to businesses for a donation of $1000 or more.

I have run the idea past some Straight Pool heavyweights and some believe for the record to be official it would have to take place at an advertised exhibition or match with multiple witnesses. So, that will be the rule. The record can take place on an 8 foot or 9 foot table as long as it is witnessed and pre-advertised.

I am open to all suggestions on this. I'm just a big fan of straight pool who can't play a lick, but would like to help promote the sport. The Paypal account that I’ve set up to get this started is beat526@gmail.com. I will have it changed soon to an email related to the beat526.com domain. I have also setup an Etrade savings account to transfer the money into so that it will incur interest to help pay for any administration costs until the record is broken. I'm not doing this for the money, so please don't think this is a scam. You can email me at beat526@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions. I welcome them all.

Thanks,
Josh Adkins
Click to expand...


"Pre-advertised"? Um, wow.
 
belmicah said:
I ran 969 balls last night. But nobody saw me do it:( :( :( Guess I need to get out my camera next time.
Click to expand...

I ran 970 last night. Thankfully, I did have my camera with me and was able to take a picture of each shot. I will send in all 970 pictures for verification.
 
Ohplayer said:
Hello,

My name is Josh Adkins. I live in Franklin, Ohio and I’m a member of AZBilliards.com (Ohplayer).
I would like to offer all of you an opportunity to become involved with a Straight Pool challenge that I am creating after getting the idea from one of the topics here on AZBilliards.com.

The challenge will be for players to attempt to break Willie Mosconi’s world record 526 Straight pool mark. I am in the process of creating a website (www.beat526.com) that will explain the rules and regulations for those attempting to break the record. To provide incentive for players to attempt the record, I will offer up a reward of whatever we have collected up to the point of when the record is broken. I will keep a running tab of the amount on the website. The reward will come from Straight pool fans who donate to our fund to help promote Straight Pool. 100% of the donations (minus administration costs, which will be minimal) will go to the person who officially breaks the record. I will do all of the work on the website for free forever* to minimize the administration costs.

You may ask what will make people want to make a donation. Well, I’m hoping just the love of Straight Pool will be incentive enough. However, I thought about making everyone who donates $100 or more an official member with recognition on the website and possibly special discount opportunities from hopeful sponsors. I also thought about offering sponsorship opportunities to businesses for a donation of $1000 or more.

I have run the idea past some Straight Pool heavyweights and some believe for the record to be official it would have to take place at an advertised exhibition or match with multiple witnesses. So, that will be the rule. The record can take place on an 8 foot or 9 foot table as long as it is witnessed and pre-advertised.

I am open to all suggestions on this. I'm just a big fan of straight pool who can't play a lick, but would like to help promote the sport. The Paypal account that I’ve set up to get this started is beat526@gmail.com. I will have it changed soon to an email related to the beat526.com domain. I have also setup an Etrade savings account to transfer the money into so that it will incur interest to help pay for any administration costs until the record is broken. I'm not doing this for the money, so please don't think this is a scam. You can email me at beat526@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions. I welcome them all.

Thanks,
Josh Adkins
Click to expand...

Hi Josh:

I like the basic idea of gathering donation from the public to encourage a better performance in our sport.

Here is the best I can do without disappointing your great effort:

I hereby pledge to send you $100 when there is a new official record. You can deduct your promotion/web serivice costs from the $100 I send and give the remaining amount the new record holder.

You can keep this post as my words and you don't have to put my name on your list.

I am trying to be positive here and would love to hear more interesting ideas...
:)
 
Keep the ideas coming guys. This effort is obviously in it's infancy.

I like the idea of video as well, but it can be manipulated.

The donation amount can be anything. I just thought I would put it at $100 for official membership.

I've also thought about awarding the money collected to whoever has the high run at the end of the year if nobody gets the record in a advertised event/exhibition. The only problem would be someone willing to commit fraud to get it.

I'm up for any ideas that people can give me to help this along. It's not about me, it's about the game.

Thanks
 
Great idea you have here, but you might want to set up a few rules about equipment. What if someone sets up a nice 8'er with super buckets and super fast cloth? makes it easier than a guy trying it on a Diamond for instance. I know Mosconis run was on an easy 8'er, but he wasn't trying to go 526 it just happened.....this is different, it's an open challenge and I'd hate to see a record with an asterisk.....ya know?

you seem very genuine to me, and I think this will have great results with some surprising turns.

Gerry
 
Neil said:
... I just can't see someone doing it on-demand on an unfamiliar table with that kind of pressure. ...
Click to expand...
In Derby City this year Mika averaged about 60. In the European 14.1 championships last year, Thorsten averaged 50 for the tournament, and nearly half his innings were stopped by the end of the game. If a player averages 50-60, he has a reasonable chance to get to 500 according to statistics, if not according to psychology.
 
Bob Jewett said:
In Derby City this year Mika averaged about 60. In the European 14.1 championships last year, Thorsten averaged 50 for the tournament, and nearly half his innings were stopped by the end of the game. If a player averages 50-60, he has a reasonable chance to get to 500 according to statistics, if not according to psychology.
Click to expand...

Just to add the fact that running >500 balls is also quite a challenge for the mental/physical stamina. Running balls for 2-4h with gradually getting tired while the possibility of a mental lapse slowly increases. How well one shoots while getting physically tired has a major influence if one can break the record imho.
 
Love the IDEA - wish I had thought of it.

Here are some things that come to mind -

1. try to get "milestone" sponsors. for example you could a company to sponsor some cash or prizes for the first person who submits a video of themselves breaking 200 balls. 250, 300 and so on.

2. try and organize a road show where people get to swing at it Bob Jewett style, a'la a small amount to try. Have bonuses for the high runs.

3. have a ranking list with current runs. Offer a ladder for people of all skill levels to compete even if they have no chance to break the record.

4. host the user videos somewhere - YouTube? ProPool Videos.com?

5. Sell stuff on the site. Either do Adsense and restrict the ads shown to billiards or tie it a store. Many wholesalers will drop ship for you, all you do is take the order and pass it to the wholesaler and they ship it out for you.
( we give you all the data on a disk for example, items and pics ready to upload)

The subject of the website is great so you might as well monetize it. You could specialize in straight pool and instructional stuff, like the Straight Pool Bible by Capelle, and Straight Pool videos by Accustats. Of course you MUST sell "Willie's Game" :-)

That's just off the top of my head for now.

Great Idea great domain name.
 
Videofraud:

Just get with some qualified folks and see if they will volunteer their time to review the videos. Pat Fleming, Bob Jewett, SJM and many others on this forum are qualified to watch a video and determine whether it has been doctored or not.

Perhaps one rule ought to be that the video ust be a single camera in a fixed position. You could determine the best position for the frame and give an example on the website. Video not submitted in this format won't even be looked at.

Besides the volunteer panel you would also have tons of reviewers in us.

I am pretty sure it would be difficult to doctor a video run of several hundred balls using a single fixed camera. The effort would probably outweigh the reward.

Also you could make people sign an affadavit that submitted video who were trying for a prize. That gives some form of legal protection and recourse.
 
Thank you

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

I thought of the website being mainly for Straight Pool like someone suggested.

Thanks
 
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