Tougher tables did not help USA pros for 20 years

[garczar]

what sent pool into the dumps in the u.s. is the opening of casinos all over. pool players took to them in droves and keep themselves broke and out of action.

also many took up poker where you had a chance of winning more and had constant action.

the young players had internet and phones to entertain them and were more social which doesn't fit into pool.

we have had some resurgence with leagues but most of those are occasional players and bangers from what ive seen.

I live in Okla and the casinos had a huge effect on pool, especially the action part of it. Soon after that they changed the smoking laws to where you had to have a full bar to smoke and that killed a lot of places too. Its not just one thing but a bunch of little things that killed big table pool.

 

[garczar]

The challenge as i see it is getting all the FR bar-table players to at least 'sniff' a big table. There's tons of players out there but most of them wouldn't get out of the electric chair to play on a 9ft. Making the pockets smaller-n-smaller is 180degrees opposite of what needs to be done to attract folks to the big box.

 

[King T]

Circling back to this. It's not that I bemoan Fargo tournaments in general. It's that I want more opportunities to play in open tournaments. Open tournaments are more rewarding to me for sure. I understand that they are harder to win and cash in. Could pay deeper to encourage participation? Not that I care, I just want more opportunities for heads up play. There are only 3 open tournaments all year in my city. That is too few. That is all.

I've made the adjustment, but like you I much prefer the open tournaments. They have become

Having lived in the Phillipines, I can tell you that being "broke" there is NOTHING like being broke in the USA.

In the USA, if you are broke you maybe can go sleep over at someone's house or get some kind of public assistance.

In the Philippines, the people who are around you are broker than you are and public assistance doesn't exist.

I'm talking about Pool players not the unfortunate side of the society that the general public is suffering through, and that still doesn't explain the superior play of the other nations that dominant Pool. Not every player from Philippines came from adject poverty, especially these new young guys that are already playing as good as any of the USA's best.

 

[garczar]

I've made the adjustment, but like you I much prefer the open tournaments. They have become

I'm talking about Pool players not the unfortunate side of the society that the general public is suffering through, and that still doesn't explain the superior play of the other nations that dominant Pool. Not every player from Philippines came from adject poverty, especially these new young guys that are already playing as good as any of the USA's best.

Pool in the 'pines is like baseball was in the US in the 50's-60's, its a cultural deal and everyone plays. Also they have no history of barboxes. Neither has Europe for that matter. If i was put on the spot and asked will big table pool make a big comeback in the US i'd have to say no.

 

[King T]

Pool in the 'pines is like baseball was in the US in the 50's-60's, its a cultural deal and everyone plays. Also they have no history of barboxes. Neither has Europe for that matter. If i was put on the spot and asked will big table pool make a big comeback in the US i'd have to say no.

I understand that the barbox might effect the ameture player, but all the pro's have 9' tables and thats what the practice on all day every day so I dont think barbox play is the reason for the decline of play in the pro ranks. Will big table play make a comeback...,

 

[HawaiianEye]

I've made the adjustment, but like you I much prefer the open tournaments. They have become

I'm talking about Pool players not the unfortunate side of the society that the general public is suffering through, and that still doesn't explain the superior play of the other nations that dominant Pool. Not every player from Philippines came from adject poverty, especially these new young guys that are already playing as good as any of the USA's best.

Many of the Philippines best players come from the "unfortunate" side.

 

[garczar]

I understand that the barbox might effect the ameture player, but all the pro's have 9' tables and thats what the practice on all day every day so I dont think barbox play is the reason for the decline of play in the pro ranks. Will big table play make a comeback...,

The barbox IS the reason there's so few world-class big table players in the US. That's what i was saying. You don't become a pro overnite and if you don't start on big tables or at least fairly early on you are WAY behind players from countries that have big tables only. Bar tables dominate US pool and many players never get on 9fts, they have no reason too. They aren't set on being pros in the first place, pool is a hobby and they don't have the time/desire to play on 9ft tables. SVB and Sky made the move to big tables but they were dead-set on being pros early on. They are the exception to the norm here.

 

[Frosty]

I understand that the barbox might effect the ameture player, but all the pro's have 9' tables and thats what the practice on all day every day so I dont think barbox play is the reason for the decline of play in the pro ranks. Will big table play make a comeback...,

Alter your perception a moment. There’s a good number of European players that DON’T make their team, that are better players than Americans that make the USA team. If Tyler Styer is anywhere near your team, then it’s clear the talent available to pick from is slim. That is due to bar box culture, less players of a talent level to pick from that is needed to compete at that level.