Top Level Snooker vs Pool?

[J.S.]

Ronnie is a big fish in a small pond,he should be glad the top pool players dont want a piece of his action,or else he wouldnt dominate like he does. My question is why dont they want a piece of his action,if you can make a living doing it,or can you. I have heard the payouts are decent in snooker,can you make a living as good or better than pool,if so why arent the pool players converting over.

Well, you got the big fish part right, the small pond not so much. Snooker is highly competitive, and many experts think that the level of competition among the pros has never been higher. Although many claim that the level of play at the absolute top of the pack has declined from, say, late 90' to early 2000s when you had the likes of Hendry, O'Sullivan, Williams, Higgins etc. at the top of their game, the top players today are still more than capable of playing at very high level. For example, Neil Robertson has produced in excess of 80 centuries (100+ breaks) this season and is expected to reach 100 by the end of the season. There have been numerous 147's, etc.

Ronnie has dominated the events he has played in for a few years, I'll give you that. But has he dominated snooker as a whole? IMO, no. If anyone has been the top player this season, it has to be Ding Junhui. Four titles so far this season with only two or three games lost out of something like 50 games played. Against some pretty stiff competition. Ronnie seems to be the one he has serious trouble with.

As for making it as a snooker pro, you should listen to DGilb147. If the person behind the handle is who I think it is, he may actually know what he's talking about.

To sum up, I'm with Ratta on the original question. In pool, Ronnie might have a shot, in snooker Shane doesn't.

My two (euro) cents,
J.S.

 

[mista335]

What about O'Sullivan and SVB playing straight pool?

Neither player plays the game. It evens it out a bit.

 

[Scaramouche]

Here is a neat statistical site.
Lots of hot links to give more information, including division of the prize money in each tournament, players lifetime winnings.
Accuracy on some stuff???

http://www.snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventList.aspx

 

[shinobi]

There is a lot of "Let's ignore history" in this thread.

By that I mean, speculating hypothetically about how top pool players could make the transition to snooker for more money if they worked at it, when the evidence is already there. Every time that it has been attempted it was met with complete failure.

So far, statistically, the results are holding steady at 0%.

If you look at the most recent attempt by Corey Deuel... Even though he won the US National Snooker Championship his next outing was a bloodbath against virtual unknowns.

Here is a list of all the previous champions of the US National Snooker Championship. Have you ever seen a US Champion go overseas and even qualify?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Snooker_Association

So, history = 0% success rate. Recent attempt = 0% success.

Things can change, that's a given. But the history lesson is hard to ignore.

 

[pt109]

There is a lot of "Let's ignore history" in this thread.

By that I mean, speculating hypothetically about how top pool players could make the transition to snooker for more money if they worked at it, when the evidence is already there. Every time that it has been attempted it was met with complete failure.

So far, statistically, the results are holding steady at 0%.

If you look at the most recent attempt by Corey Deuel... Even though he won the US National Snooker Championship his next outing was a bloodbath against virtual unknowns.

Here is a list of all the previous champions of the US National Snooker Championship. Have you ever seen a US Champion go overseas and even qualify?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Snooker_Association

So, history = 0% success rate. Recent attempt = 0% success.

Things can change, that's a given. But the history lesson is hard to ignore.

Speaking of history.....some people can be victims of timing.
When the US of A had snooker players that could have been competitive
on the world stage....there was FAR more money at gambling in America.
The money in World class snooker was far too little for an out-of country
player to go to Britain until 1977.

Ronnie Allen beat world # 8 three times on a 6x12 at payball, and
gave him small weight on a 5x10...Ronnie won all four meetings.
And I can think of a few players that Ronnie couldn't beat....
...Sam Blumenthal of Jacksonville FL
...Dick Huntzinger of Pensacola FL
...Freddy Salem of Detroit MI
...Norman Hitchcock of Oklahoma City
...Denny Searcy
...Jimmy Moore, who lost to no American on a 6x12

They would have had trouble on the extremely thick nap cloth back then...
...but today's snooker cloth would suit their games.

There was a lot of snooker action in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Alas, it's all supposition on my part, but not beyond the imagination
to have had an all-round pool player to have had success at snooker.

 

[Slasher]

Speaking of history.....some people can be victims of timing.
When the US of A had snooker players that could have been competitive
on the world stage....there was FAR more money at gambling in America.
The money in World class snooker was far too little for an out-of country
player to go to Britain until 1977.

Ronnie Allen beat world # 8 three times on a 6x12 at payball, and
gave him small weight on a 5x10...Ronnie won all four meetings.
And I can think of a few players that Ronnie couldn't beat....
...Sam Blumenthal of Jacksonville FL
...Dick Huntzinger of Pensacola FL
...Freddy Salem of Detroit MI
...Norman Hitchcock of Oklahoma City
...Denny Searcy
...Jimmy Moore, who lost to no American on a 6x12

They would have had trouble on the extremely thick nap cloth back then...
...but today's snooker cloth would suit their games.

There was a lot of snooker action in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Alas, it's all supposition on my part, but not beyond the imagination
to have had an all-round pool player to have had success at snooker.

What happened 40 years ago is not even relevant, we are talking the current standard of play. Pool players couldn't even live with current club amateurs let lone pro ranked players.

"Zhou Yuelong of China becomes the World Champion here at Daugavpils, Latvia. 15 years old Zhou Yuelong reached to new heights routing his compatriot Zhao Xintong, another 16 years old teenager from China 8-4 in the best of 15 frames final of 2013 IBSF World Championship. By winning the title, he becomes the youngest ever cueist and the first ever Chinese player to win the world amateur snooker title."

 

[Celtic]

let Shane or any of the top pool players play snooker for a couple years and watch the best players play,or have a snooker coach for that time and i say they will compete with any top snooker player

If they could then they would. There is millions of rea$ons to do it. They cannot do it, they know this, so they don't try.

 

[Matt]

If they could then they would. There is millions of rea$ons to do it. They cannot do it, they know this, so they don't try.

I don't agree with this reasoning. There are a lot of people that are well qualified for higher paying jobs than the one they currently have that choose to stay where they are for reasons other than money. The top pool players may be happy with what they are doing even if they aren't making as much as a top snooker player.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that a pool pro would have a harder time adapting to snooker than the other way around. I just don't think that the money argument proves anything. Having played both games, I enjoy snooker as a break from the ordinary, but only in small doses. Between the variety of games and the creative possibilities that exist when there's not such an emphasis on precision shotmaking, I just find pool games more fun to play for extended periods.

 

[naji]

If they could then they would. There is millions of rea$ons to do it. They cannot do it, they know this, so they don't try.

I know Alex is good at snooker, but not sure how he does in long races he might loose his touch after six or 7 games? He would be 1st i would think he should convert? and change jobs! But i guess you hit it right on the nail! They cannot do it! and know it, i would love to hear from Cory D. I saw this youtube for him being coached, i wonder what he thinks of it? can someone asks him and let us know?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVI2oaNq6E8

 

[DGilb147]

I know Alex is good at snooker, but not sure how he does in long races he might loose his touch after six or 7 games? He would be 1st i would think he should convert? and change jobs! But i guess you hit it right on the nail! They cannot do it! and know it, i would love to hear from Cory D. I saw this youtube for him being coached, i wonder what he thinks of it? can someone asks him and let us know?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVI2oaNq6E8

I hope Corey coninues to play snooker

Credit to him for having a go.

 

[Jaden]

don't know how much you know about statistics...

There is a lot of "Let's ignore history" in this thread.

By that I mean, speculating hypothetically about how top pool players could make the transition to snooker for more money if they worked at it, when the evidence is already there. Every time that it has been attempted it was met with complete failure.

So far, statistically, the results are holding steady at 0%.

If you look at the most recent attempt by Corey Deuel... Even though he won the US National Snooker Championship his next outing was a bloodbath against virtual unknowns.

Here is a list of all the previous champions of the US National Snooker Championship. Have you ever seen a US Champion go overseas and even qualify?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Snooker_Association

So, history = 0% success rate. Recent attempt = 0% success.

Things can change, that's a given. But the history lesson is hard to ignore.

Three subjects is no where near enough to get a reasonable result...

And Corey has played in ONE competition...so you can't even count him...

Let's see if Corey makes any more attempts and see how he does....

Jaden

 

[DangerousDave]

Three subjects is no where near enough to get a reasonable result...

And Corey has played in ONE competition...so you can't even count him...

Let's see if Corey makes any more attempts and see how he does....

Jaden

They are the only examples that appear to exist, and they don't show near-misses. They show a total failure to compete with anything like a top snooker player. That is significant. That's what's being discussed...

 

[CJRackley]

In the SVB vs Ronnie scenario, lets talk spots: What would SVB need to compete with Ronnie in snooker, and what would Ronnie need to be competitive with Shane in 10b?

 

[Johnson]

In the SVB vs Ronnie scenario, lets talk spots: What would SVB need to compete with Ronnie in snooker, and what would Ronnie need to be competitive with Shane in 10b?

all ronnie needs is a week or 2 of practice and a designated breaker, i dunno if any points spot would do shane much of any good

 

[bounoun]

What would SVB need to compete with Ronnie in snooker.

Impossible. Lets say a race to 25, even with 20 games ahead he wouldnt win.

Even if he would practice 10 hours for the next 10 years he wouldn't get close to Ronnie. But hell, not even the top 16 players at the snooker rankings can get anywhere near Ronnie at the moment.

Ronnie is 2.5 at the bookmakers to win this years WC.

He won the masters tournament (only top 16 players) with 6 frames lost over the whole tournament. He won 32 frames. ( total of 4 matches)

He won the welsh open, losing a total of 10 frames over 7 matches. He won a total of 36 frames. The final he won with 9-3 against Ding. Ding won 4 ranking events this season and is ranked number 2 in the world. Lets not forget he also beat Selby in the masters (currently number 3 in the world). If the those players cant give Ronnie a good game nobody can.

 

[Double-Dave]

In the SVB vs Ronnie scenario, lets talk spots: What would SVB need to compete with Ronnie in snooker, and what would Ronnie need to be competitive with Shane in 10b?

With their skill levels so far apart it is hard to handicap. But I will take a shot.
If they played tomorrow (as in, get a few hours of practice in today) I think Shane
would need 7 on the wire going to 9 and Ronnie would need 20 on the wire going to 30.

If they trained for a week or 2 Shane would probably need 6 on the wire and Ronnie 15.

gr. Dave