The New ABP Tour ( Just a fantasy thought)

[BrokenQBilliard]

Yup............I can agree with that. In fact I saw his F-150 that had over 1/2 a million miles on it. That was a lot of driving for events.
I never had or even heard of any problems with him or his tour. It has always been a well respected tour.

It would be nice to see him or someone like him put the resources together to make this fantasy a reality.

I have a long memory too and I don't remember that Mike has ever done any harm to this sport. Seems to me that he put an awful lot of miles on his truck over a lot of years just like many others beside him did to keep amateur level competition alive in the United States.

 

[cleary]

After further thought I think the payouts should be changed to:

$60,000 for 1st Place
$25,000 for 2nd Place
$18,00 for 3rd Place
$10,000 for 4th Place
$5,000 for 5/6 places
$2,500 for 7/8 places

With these payouts we can get some backers involved in putting up entry fees for the players.

So out of 96 players, 6 of them can break even or make a profit?

$2000 entry + hotel + travel + food = $3500min for a weeklong event.

Sounds like a plan... sign me up.

 

[justnum]

Better than a tour would be ABP player matchups, internet streamed and everything. Get a site for fans to vote on which player plays who.

And then broadcast that match.

I'd pay for a year subscription for real matchups with known and proven players competing against another.

The could call it favorite fan fights. They could do the matches in their homerooms or local billiard bars. It'd be like internet productions for pool players school, not just are they learning to play better pool but they are learning a trade in the film production professions. The roles they can learn are voice broadcasting, colored commentary, camera mounting and internet broadcasting tools. I am assuming they are interested in learning about different aspects of a sport profession, the entertainment production aspect.

Ideally I'd place a pink elephant as the background that remains constant each match. Or digitally impose an ABP logo on a pool table.

 

[geno]

Those payouts are based on 64 players not 96. Also, if you are spending $,1500 on a weeks of expenses at a pool tournament you are seriously doing it wrong. I easily get by on 1/3rd that amount.

So out of 96 players, 6 of them can break even or make a profit?

$2000 entry + hotel + travel + food = $3500min for a weeklong event.

Sounds like a plan... sign me up.

 

[cleary]

Those payouts are based on 64 players not 96. Also, if you are spending $,1500 on a weeks of expenses at a pool tournament you are seriously doing it wrong. I easily get by on 1/3rd that amount.

Geno, where do you live? I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say Georgia. No particular reason, just a 1 in 50 shot in the dark assuming you are an American.

So you live in Georgia and you're a 2nd or 3rd tier professional. Well, the next ABP tour event is in Seattle. Please tell me how you are going to get to Seattle, stay in a hotel for a week and eat for less than $1,500. God forbid you splurge a bit and have a beer or two after the 2nd day when you went 2 and out.

$2000 entry doesn't work in pool. The guy who will always come in 64th can't do it. Maybe the top 16 that all have a chance at winning, but some people REALLY don't have good odds to win.

 

[geno]

Geno, where do you live? I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say Georgia. No particular reason, just a 1 in 50 shot in the dark assuming you are an American.

So you live in Georgia and you're a 2nd or 3rd tier professional. Well, the next ABP tour event is in Seattle. Please tell me how you are going to get to Seattle, stay in a hotel for a week and eat for less than $1,500. God forbid you splurge a bit and have a beer or two after the 2nd day when you went 2 and out.

$2000 entry doesn't work in pool. The guy who will always come in 64th can't do it. Maybe the top 16 that all have a chance at winning, but some people REALLY don't have good odds to win.

The guy who comes in 64th has no shot of making ends meet regardless of it being a $10 entry fee or a $2,000 entry fee event. That is just the way the sport is.

If I am in GA and I know a few months in advance that I am heading to Seattle, WA then I would either plan a road trip around smaller events that I have a chance in and take a road partner or #2. look for cheap flights in advance and #3 in both cases I would definitely look to split a room with someone to reduce both of our expenses. #4 it I could not make 1 or 2 work I would skip the event and let an alternate get that spot. It is that simple. Players have been doing exactly that for years.

The other thing about the tour would be to make the events cohesive so you would not have to go from GA to WA and the to FL for the events. All of the events could be held in 1 location or several close states and/or they could be split into regions. These are things experienced coordinators look at when planning these types of schedules. They also look for cheap room rates and cheap flights for the players. It is done all the time.

 

[cleary]

The guy who comes in 64th has no shot of making ends meet regardless of it being a $10 entry fee or a $2,000 entry fee event. That is just the way the sport is.

Just because I think you're crazy and this is getting funny, explain to me how 64 players will pay $2000 8x a year and only 6 will profit per event?

You could get 10th place in all 8 events, spend $16,000 in entry fees + travel, hotel, food, etc and not make a penny. Not one penny. 10th of 64 in 8 straight events... that pretty damn sporty. You gotta be a top tier guy to do that. And still, you are very much in the hole.

 

[geno]

Just because I think you're crazy and this is getting funny, explain to me how 64 players will pay $2000 8x a year and only 6 will profit per event?

You could get 10th place in all 8 events, spend $16,000 in entry fees + travel, hotel, food, etc and not make a penny. Not one penny. 10th of 64 in 8 straight events... that pretty damn sporty. You gotta be a top tier guy to do that. And still, you are very much in the hole.

Well, if you are a a player and you take 1st place 1 in 8 tries you are doing pretty good. Do that twice and you are doing great. Same with 2nd place. But simply look at the events out there and tell me if it is any different. It has always been mostly like this and will continue to be like this until corporate America steps up to the plate and I wouldn't hold my breath on that happening anytime soon. And yes, you do need to be a top tier player to win.

I guess the question is, do you want to spend $2,000 for a chance at $60K or do you want to spend $300 at a chance for $10K. If a players doesn't think they have any chance at all then maybe that player should stay home.

I mean honestly, A shot a $60K for 1st and then the rest of the payouts on a $0 added 64 player event -vs- what the US Open paid last year with a field 4 times that size. I would much rather take that $2K shot on a 64 player bracket any day.

http://www.insidepoolmag.com/tournament_brackets/US_Open_8-player_DE_brackets.pdf


OH and lets not forget the feasibility of this. The IPT qualifiers were $2K to enter with ZERO payouts to 3rd-the rest of the field and only $5K guaranteed to the top 2. So yes, the players and the money is out there.

 

[cleary]

But simply look at the events out there and tell me if it is any different.

Its very different now... $2000 entry!!!!! ONLY 6 MAKE THEIR MONEY BACK! You got a better shot at the craps table. To fire $300-500 at at tournament is hard for some players to swing, PLUS travel/lodging/food...

$2000PLUS travel/lodging/food, you're taking crazy pills if you think a field would fill up 8times a year.

 

[geno]

Its very different now... $2000 entry!!!!! ONLY 6 MAKE THEIR MONEY BACK! You got a better shot at the craps table. To fire $300-500 at at tournament is hard for some players to swing, PLUS travel/lodging/food...

$2000PLUS travel/lodging/food, you're taking crazy pills if you think a field would fill up 8times a year.

How did we get from 8 to only 6 making money back? Personally I think it has a shot to fill up 12 times a year but I really don't want to work that hard as I enjoy spending time at home. In fact with the NRTS in full swing these events could actually fill 24 or more times a year but that would simply require way too many different entities to work together for the betterment of or sport and we all know that ain't gonna happen and remember, this is just a Fantasy or a dream if you will.

Oh and BTW, the players can vote on whatever they want the payouts to be. Heck, they could even vote that the entry fees are $2,100 with $,8,400 to 1st place and every player in the event getting paid $2K each if they want. Is that something you would like better???

 

[cleary]

How did we get from 8 to only 6 making money back? Personally I think it has a shot to fill up 12 times a year but I really don't want to work that hard as I enjoy spending time at home. In fact with the NRTS in full swing these events could actually fill 24 or more times a year but that would simply require way too many different entities to work together for the betterment of or sport and we all know that ain't gonna happen and remember, this is just a Fantasy or a dream if you will.

Oh and BTW, the players can vote on whatever they want the payouts to be. Heck, they could even vote that the entry fees are $2,100 with $,8,400 to 1st place and every player in the event getting paid $2K each if they want. Is that something you would like better???

Only 6 make money because 7th/8th don't even break even. Unless you sleep in your car and literally pushed your car to save gas and ate the crumbs from under your seat... Which IS normally a great way to finish high in a tournament.