UPA Sanctioning - Q&A

U

UPA President

Registered
Greetings everyone,

First let me thank Mr. Howerton for the ability to post on azbilliards.com. As you may or may not know, this is my first time posting on any forum and I thank you for your gracious acceptance. Please know that I would request that you contact the UPA directly for questions or concerns, however, I am willing to field questions.

I hope this post provides clarity.

UPA Sanctioning Guidelines/Points of Fact:

1. Guaranteed prize money is and always has been at the top of our agenda.

2. Sanctioning guidelines are ultimately determined by our players. Players have not yet made prize fund in escrow a ?mandate? for UPA sanctioning. Until then, the UPA (players) will continue to deal with such issues. Please know that the UPA board is very much for this requirement. However, this is not yet the will of the players. Perhaps this will change in the future.

3. As President of the UPA, in regards to this specific event, I personally witnessed the account with the prize fund available. However, I reminded players and all other parties involved that this witnessing did not equal actual control of the monies.

4. When and if prize money is not paid, the administration of the UPA is left to doing what it can in order to obtain all prize money owed (within the bounds of what is both legal and ethical).

5. Currently it is the UPA's understanding that, Mr. Bobbit, is working diligently on making good to the players. I personally do my best to stay in contact on an hourly basis.

My personal feeling on the matter? A new promoter did not have the expertise of major tournament promotion and has found himself in a bad situation. I do know also that, Mr. Bobbit, had plans of future tournament promotion before this situation. This fact further illustrates,to myself, that he did not see this coming.

Lastly, the UPA is not required to pay missing prize fund as it known by the players that the UPA cannot be held accountable for something the association never had actual control of.

Players have been my personal friends for many years, and I as their president, I consider myself their primary servant.

If I can be of service to you please let me know. If any further posts by me are infrequent, I am sure you will understand in light of all that is taking place in our industry.

Respectfully,

Frank Alvarez III
UPA, President
 
UPA President said:
Greetings everyone,

First let me thank Mr. Howerton for the ability to post on azbilliards.com. As you may or may not know, this is my first time posting on any forum and I thank you for your gracious acceptance. Please know that I would request that you contact the UPA directly for questions or concerns, however, I am willing to field questions.

I hope this post provides clarity.

UPA Sanctioning Guidelines/Points of Fact:

1. Guaranteed prize money is and always has been at the top of our agenda.

2. Sanctioning guidelines are ultimately determined by our players. Players have not yet made prize fund in escrow a ?mandate? for UPA sanctioning. Until then, the UPA (players) will continue to deal with such issues. Please know that the UPA board is very much for this requirement. However, this is not yet the will of the players. Perhaps this will change in the future.

3. As President of the UPA, in regards to this specific event, I personally witnessed the account with the prize fund available. However, I reminded players and all other parties involved that this witnessing did not equal actual control of the monies.

4. When and if prize money is not paid, the administration of the UPA is left to doing what it can in order to obtain all prize money owed (within the bounds of what is both legal and ethical).

5. Currently it is the UPA's understanding that, Mr. Bobbit, is working diligently on making good to the players. I personally do my best to stay in contact on an hourly basis.

My personal feeling on the matter? A new promoter did not have the expertise of major tournament promotion and has found himself in a bad situation. I do know also that, Mr. Bobbit, had plans of future tournament promotion before this situation. This fact further illustrates,to myself, that he did not see this coming.

Lastly, the UPA is not required to pay missing prize fund as it known by the players that the UPA cannot be held accountable for something the association never had actual control of.

Players have been my personal friends for many years, and I as their president, I consider myself their primary servant.

If I can be of service to you please let me know. If any further posts by me are infrequent, I am sure you will understand in light of all that is taking place in our industry.

Respectfully,

Frank Alvarez III
UPA, President
Click to expand...
Im just going to get me a bowl of ice cream and watch it melt. ;)
 
Besides bothering CB, what is the UPA going to do for the players who are owed money? I can call CB for free... What can the UPA do for their members that I can't do?
 
The short answer is file lawsuit on behalf of the players. Winning we do not believe is the problem. The issue is collection.

Thank you.

Frank Alvarez III
 
Frank, thank you for taking the time to to offer this Q&A session. I am sure you are working very dilligently to rectify the situation.


I have a few question.

According to everything I read, the Desert Shoot-Out Classic was a UPA sanctioned event. As seen on the UPA schedule and a flyer for the event

In this section of the UPA's website, "ABOUT THE UPA" it states:
"UPA Current Agenda" it states "To provide unsurpassed levels of leadership, guidance, and organization that will benefit professional pool players in the United States through a published schedule of events complete with tournament promotion, guaranteed prize funds, and a fair and uniform ranking system."

Question #1
I want to know what happened to the Guaranteed Funds. My belief about the UPA in part was that they would not sanction an event unless they had verification about the funding for UPA sanctioned events. Isn't that in part what the Pros pay their membership fees for and why in part they agreed to be a UPA member and why the UPA was formed in the 1st place?

Question #2

Re: UPA Accepts Disassociation - By UPA Tour - May 15, 2004
http://azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=1786

The UPA has released the following statement on their website regarding the 'disassociation' between the upcoming Western Canadian Open and the UPA...

"Unfortunately, the Great Western Open is no longer a UPA sanctioned event. Tournament Director Paul Hansen is unable to meet his financial promises to the UPA. We regret that he did not inform the UPA of this before issuing a press release; however, we are pleased that he has agreed to refund the entry fees of any players who have already paid."

- Frank Alvarez III, UPA Lead Representative

In the above statement from you, you stated "Tournament Director Paul Hansen is unable to meet his financial promises to the UPA." Was this related to the promoter not being able to verify the guaranteed added monies to the UPA event?

Question #3
If the answer to the above is YES then why wasn't Mr. Bobbit held to the same standards ?

Question #4
Mr. Alvarez, can you state for a fact that the UPA has never mandated that a promoter post the guaranteed added monies with the UPA or in Escrow or a shared bank account prior to receiving the UPA sanctioning for an event ?



edited to include question #4
 
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CaptiveBred said:
Besides bothering CB, what is the UPA going to do for the players who are owed money? I can call CB for free... What can the UPA do for their members that I can't do?
Click to expand...

Mr. Alvarez clearly stated that the UPA has been very much in favor of assuring prize money as a condition of sanctioning but that the PLAYERS have not been inclined to mandate the UPA to perform that service.

I would ASSUME that the players have expressed disinterest in that service because they fear that there would be fewer tournaments if advance prize money guarantees were required and instead, are WILLING to take their chances.

There is the old joke the punchline of which is "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up" and I have to say that my sympathy for the players who got stiffed has gone down a notch because their sanctioning organization has TRIED to obtain a mandate to obtain prize money guarantees but the players have shown no interest in obtaining it.

So, hey, if the players want to go around picking up snakes and don't mind being bitten once in a while then that's their business.

Conversely, had it come to light that the players have been trying to get the UPA to assure prize money but the organization refused to do so, then the contents of this post would be quite different.

Regards,
Jim
 
av84fun said:
Mr. Alvarez clearly stated that the UPA has been very much in favor of assuring prize money as a condition of sanctioning but that the PLAYERS have not been inclined to mandate the UPA to perform that service.

I would ASSUME that the players have expressed disinterest in that service because they fear that there would be fewer tournaments if advance prize money guarantees were required and instead, are WILLING to take their chances.

There is the old joke the punchline of which is "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up" and I have to say that my sympathy for the players who got stiffed has gone down a notch because their sanctioning organization has TRIED to obtain a mandate to obtain prize money guarantees but the players have shown no interest in obtaining it.

So, hey, if the players want to go around picking up snakes and don't mind being bitten once in a while then that's their business.

Conversely, had it come to light that the players have been trying to get the UPA to assure prize money but the organization refused to do so, then the contents of this post would be quite different.

Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...

You are correct. I, as president, notify the players that they are in essence "gambling."

Thank you.

Frank
 
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UPA President said:
Someone please tell me how to reply to specific message. Thank you for the help.

Frank
Click to expand...

Hit the QUOTE button on the bottom right. As a hint. If you write within the quote it is a good idea to change the color of what you write. You can simply do this by highlighting the words then clicking on the BIG A with the underline above and chosing a color.

Mj
 
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UPA President said:
Someone please tell me how to reply to specific message. Thank you for the help.

Frank
Click to expand...

Under the text box of the poster's message there are two buttons...QUOTE and QUICK REPLY.

If you click on QUOTE, the poster's text will added to your reply so that it will be clear to whom you are responding.

Regards,
Jim
 
UPA President said:
Someone please tell me how to reply to specific message. Thank you for the help.

Frank
Click to expand...

Click on the "Quote" button at the bottom of the specific post that you are interested in responding to.
 
MikeJanis said:
Frank, thank you for taking the time to to offer this Q&A session. I am sure you are working very dilligently to rectify the situation.


I have a few question.

According to everything I read, the Desert Shoot-Out Classic was a UPA sanctioned event. As seen on the UPA schedule and a flyer for the event

In this section of the UPA's website, "ABOUT THE UPA" it states:
"UPA Current Agenda" it states "To provide unsurpassed levels of leadership, guidance, and organization that will benefit professional pool players in the United States through a published schedule of events complete with tournament promotion, guaranteed prize funds, and a fair and uniform ranking system."

Question #1
I want to know what happened to the Guaranteed Funds. My belief about the UPA in part was that they would not sanction an event unless they had verification about the funding for UPA sanctioned events. Isn't that in part what the Pros pay their membership fees for and why in part they agreed to be a UPA member and why the UPA was formed in the 1st place?

Question #2

Re: UPA Accepts Disassociation - By UPA Tour - May 15, 2004
http://azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=1786

The UPA has released the following statement on their website regarding the 'disassociation' between the upcoming Western Canadian Open and the UPA...

"Unfortunately, the Great Western Open is no longer a UPA sanctioned event. Tournament Director Paul Hansen is unable to meet his financial promises to the UPA. We regret that he did not inform the UPA of this before issuing a press release; however, we are pleased that he has agreed to refund the entry fees of any players who have already paid."

- Frank Alvarez III, UPA Lead Representative

In the above statement from you, you stated "Tournament Director Paul Hansen is unable to meet his financial promises to the UPA." Was this related to the promoter not being able to verify the guaranteed added monies to the UPA event?

Question #3
If the answer to the above is YES then why wasn't Mr. Bobbit held to the same standards ?

Question #4
Mr. Alvarez, can you state for a fact that the UPA has never mandated that a promoter post the guaranteed added monies with the UPA or in Escrow or a shared bank account prior to receiving the UPA sanctioning for an event ?



edited to include question #4
Click to expand...

Question #1: What happend was the players voted against this and thus do not require the UPA to deal with this issue. Perhaps this will change after 3 instances. Please note Mr. Janis that this issue is indeed our current agenda, however it is not yet our mandate.

Question #2: Correct Mr. Hansen could not even demonstrate monies and would not return the few entries that were paid (including mine).

Question #3 Neither Mr. Hansen, nor Mr. Bobbit were obligated to escrow.

Question #4 No, I cannot state this. Obviously in the beginning the issue was in the UPA account (our means of "escrow), however we found that more and more promoters were reluctant. Thus the players made exceptions for promoters with positive history. We actually push for new promoters and escrow, and I have turned many promoters (unknown) away because of this matter.

I hope this helps...
 
MikeJanis said:
Frank, thank you for taking the time to to offer this Q&A session. I am sure you are working very dilligently to rectify the situation.


I have a few question.

According to everything I read, the Desert Shoot-Out Classic was a UPA sanctioned event. As seen on the UPA schedule and a flyer for the event

In this section of the UPA's website, "ABOUT THE UPA" it states:
"UPA Current Agenda" it states "To provide unsurpassed levels of leadership, guidance, and organization that will benefit professional pool players in the United States through a published schedule of events complete with tournament promotion, guaranteed prize funds, and a fair and uniform ranking system."

Question #1
I want to know what happened to the Guaranteed Funds. My belief about the UPA in part was that they would not sanction an event unless they had verification about the funding for UPA sanctioned events. Isn't that in part what the Pros pay their membership fees for and why in part they agreed to be a UPA member and why the UPA was formed in the 1st place?

Question #2

Re: UPA Accepts Disassociation - By UPA Tour - May 15, 2004
http://azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=1786

The UPA has released the following statement on their website regarding the 'disassociation' between the upcoming Western Canadian Open and the UPA...

"Unfortunately, the Great Western Open is no longer a UPA sanctioned event. Tournament Director Paul Hansen is unable to meet his financial promises to the UPA. We regret that he did not inform the UPA of this before issuing a press release; however, we are pleased that he has agreed to refund the entry fees of any players who have already paid."

- Frank Alvarez III, UPA Lead Representative

In the above statement from you, you stated "Tournament Director Paul Hansen is unable to meet his financial promises to the UPA." Was this related to the promoter not being able to verify the guaranteed added monies to the UPA event?

Question #3
If the answer to the above is YES then why wasn't Mr. Bobbit held to the same standards ?

Question #4
Mr. Alvarez, can you state for a fact that the UPA has never mandated that a promoter post the guaranteed added monies with the UPA or in Escrow or a shared bank account prior to receiving the UPA sanctioning for an event ?



edited to include question #4
Click to expand...

Mike, I don't have a dog in this hunt but in your other thread on this matter you said you would be interested in getting opinions...so here's mine.

The text of the UPA releases that you have now twice quoted clearly state that guaranteed prize money is an AGENDA item for the UPA.

"Agenda" means...A list or program of things to be done or considered:"

There is no basis upon which to assume that statement means that the UPA DOES guarantee prize money. If they did, then they would refer to that activity as a "service" or a "policy."

Mr. Alvarez has stated that the UPA has attempted to obtain a player mandate for prize money guarantee services but has not received approval from the players to do so.

Do you think that Mr. Alvarez is not being truthful about this matter?

Regards,
Jim
 
av84fun said:
Mike, I don't have a dog in this hunt but in your other thread on this matter you said you would be interested in getting opinions...so here's mine.

The text of the UPA releases that you have now twice quoted clearly state that guaranteed prize money is an AGENDA item for the UPA.

"Agenda" means...A list or program of things to be done or considered:"

There is no basis upon which to assume that statement means that the UPA DOES guarantee prize money. If they did, then they would refer to that activity as a "service" or a "policy."

Mr. Alvarez has stated that the UPA has attempted to obtain a player mandate for prize money guarantee services but has not received approval from the players to do so.

Do you think that Mr. Alvarez is not being truthful about this matter?
Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...


Nope and I never implied that either. I knew all the answers to my question except #1 before I posted them.

I just wanted to give Frank the opportunity to explain my question through his answers which he did so there would be no misconcepotions.
 
thebestpoolroom said:
hi frank,

what if you or the upa can't collect from the promoter, is the upa responsible for the owed money?
Click to expand...

No sir, the players and the UPA as an organization are in agreement. The players cannot obligate their own association to garauntee something when they (the players) do not afford the right to the association to cover itself.

I hope this helps...
 
UPA President said:
Question #1: What happend was the players voted against this and thus do not require the UPA to deal with this issue. Perhaps this will change after 3 instances. Please note Mr. Janis that this issue is indeed our current agenda, however it is not yet our mandate.

It was your mandate at one time wasn't it ?

Question #2: Correct Mr. Hansen could not even demonstrate monies and would not return the few entries that were paid (including mine).

So what verification were you looking for from him ?

Question #3 Neither Mr. Hansen, nor Mr. Bobbit were obligated to escrow.

Question #4 No, I cannot state this. Obviously in the beginning the issue was in the UPA account (our means of "escrow), however we found that more and more promoters were reluctant. Thus the players made exceptions for promoters with positive history. We actually push for new promoters and escrow, and I have turned many promoters (unknown) away because of this matter.

I hope this helps...
Click to expand...


Frank, to help you quote me I am typing the questions above in red below.

It was your mandate at one time wasn't it ?

So what verification were you looking for from him ?

When was the mandate regarding the up front funds from the promoters changed?
Was there a press release about this ?

Frank, I am sincere in my inquirey about a PR regarding the guaranteed funding change. The reason is, if I had known there was a change in agenda I would have sanctiond my SCO events and my Nationals with the UPA. In the past I was told that I had to post up front.
Mj
 
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