Vulnerable at The Venetian

P

pro9dg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Picking the winners is one thing but how about some big name losers?
Jim Rempe - Hjorleifson and Matlock in his group the King may not pass Goh and collect $2000.
Mike Massey - Mike may need every trick in his book to emerge against Pagulyan, Mladenovic and Harper.
Jimmy White - Lack of experience and committment in a group featuring Alcaide, Alcano and Putnik could give the Whirlwind problems. It also includes......
Quentin Hann - who could be joining White on an early trip to McCarron
Charlie Bryant - The Hillbilly might need a shotgun to fire his way through one of the toughest groups. It includes Ortmann, Immonen and Valle.
Tom Storm better be blowing gale force to survive against Peach, Takahashi and John Schmidt.

Players to watch, who are not picking up much poll support include
Wei Liu, Anthony Ginn, Markus Juva and Andreas Klasavic.
 
Wow! That's a very enlightening post, pro9dg! :)

Another vulnerability to SOME, but not all, players will be the "lights, cameras, and ACTION." The whole set-up may be a very foreign environment to a few as well. Focus and concentration will be an important trait in addition to being able to execute. I'm getting very excited and can't wait to get on the road again! :D

This is going to be the tournament of the century, and win or lose, each one of the 200 players will be afforded an opportunity to shine in a professional setting. The rest, as they say, will be history. ;)

See you next week! :p

JAM
 
Yep, tournament of the Century and the sad fact is that the general public does not even know about it.

Sure, all the players who are in it, and all the players who want to be in it, and a few of their very close friends know about it, and people on forums know about it, but the regular league players, and non-players, the general public, do not.

Sad to say, but other than the billiards magazines I have not seen one commercial touting this event. Nothing on TV about this event. No flyers put up in billiard rooms. Perhaps I just missed them.

This is going to be the best kept secret in pool.

Well, maybe after this tournament the IPT will be sold and the new owners will publicize it better when they move it to Europe or somewhere overseas.

I wonder how much that powerful advertizing company is being paid to promote this event.

Jake
 
jjinfla said:
Yep, tournament of the Century and the sad fact is that the general public does not even know about it.

Sure, all the players who are in it, and all the players who want to be in it, and a few of their very close friends know about it, and people on forums know about it, but the regular league players, and non-players, the general public, do not.

Sad to say, but other than the billiards magazines I have not seen one commercial touting this event. Nothing on TV about this event. No flyers put up in billiard rooms. Perhaps I just missed them.

This is going to be the best kept secret in pool.

Well, maybe after this tournament the IPT will be sold and the new owners will publicize it better when they move it to Europe or somewhere overseas.

I wonder how much that powerful advertizing company is being paid to promote this event.

Jake
Click to expand...

Large purses in pool will never be supported by attendance at the events so I don't think there is much point in spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising an event which might not be televised for three six or nine months.

The World Series of Poker doesn't get much promotion for the live event(the series is happening now even though the main event hasn't started yet) it starts with news coverage of someone winning 7 to 10 million dollars and then they promote the television coverage when they have been scheduled.
 
Keith Buck said:
Large purses in pool will never be supported by attendance at the events so I don't think there is much point in spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising an event which might not be televised for three six or nine months.

The World Series of Poker doesn't get much promotion for the live event(the series is happening now even though the main event hasn't started yet) it starts with news coverage of someone winning 7 to 10 million dollars and then they promote the television coverage when they have been scheduled.
Click to expand...

Professional Pool can draw crowds to watch. It has been demonstrated quite a few times (i.e U.S. Open, Los Angeles Open, New York and Chicago 14.1 events). A big tournament held in a population center, with adequate advetising and publicity, will bring out a crowd.

My belief is that if the players ever became well known (i.e. The Black Widow) and the prize money was considerable (the IPT), very large crowds could be attracted.

Pool IS a good spectator sport. I've been watching for 40 years and no one walks out on a hill-hill match. Countless times, I've seen a crowded room get quiet as a tomb when a player had to make a key shot at a critical point in a match.

I have long envisioned the day when Pool was played in arenas seating 5,000 or more people, with giant TV screens above the table so everyone could see. It could happen.
 
jjinfla said:
I wonder why matches have never been set up on basketball courts?

They do that for table tennis.
Click to expand...


We did do it once in Palm Springs at the College Of The Desert (a JC) in their gym. Unfortunately we couldn't attract much of a crowd out there.
 
In both Taipei and Kaohsiung the fans would queue for hours before WPC matches to ensure a seat. At both finals it was standing room only.
I suspect that if there was a 5000 seater arena in Manila this November and the final of the WPC should happen to feature Efren against Django, Alex or any other Filipino player then the Full House signs might be required.
 
jay helfert said:
Professional Pool can draw crowds to watch. It has been demonstrated quite a few times (i.e U.S. Open, Los Angeles Open, New York and Chicago 14.1 events). A big tournament held in a population center, with adequate advetising and publicity, will bring out a crowd.

My belief is that if the players ever became well known (i.e. The Black Widow) and the prize money was considerable (the IPT), very large crowds could be attracted.

Pool IS a good spectator sport. I've been watching for 40 years and no one walks out on a hill-hill match. Countless times, I've seen a crowded room get quiet as a tomb when a player had to make a key shot at a critical point in a match.

I have long envisioned the day when Pool was played in arenas seating 5,000 or more people, with giant TV screens above the table so everyone could see. It could happen.
Click to expand...

I agree with you Jay.

Like in the old days the billiard players of England and Australia used to make a decent living from gate receipts.

Joe Davis even made a good living for years performing daily shows on a stage alongside comedy and sing and dance acts. He used a large mirror over the table.

Some of the big challenge matches in Europe also drew crowds akin to boxing events, though the matches would last a lot longer.

It's just a matter of finding / creating stars in the sport.

Colin
 
jjinfla said:
I wonder why matches have never been set up on basketball courts?

They do that for table tennis.
Click to expand...
The 2005 China Open was done on a basketball court. With Ding Jun Hui winning it the stands were sold out...several thousand viewers.

But that didn't come close to the over 100 million TV viewers that watched the event on the last day. A huge record for broadcasting of a cue sport event.

I think the previous record is around 18 million viewers in England for the Davis v Dennis Taylor World Championship Final match, which still stands as one of the highest ratings broadcasts in UK history.

Colin
 
Colin Colenso said:
I agree with you Jay.

Like in the old days the billiard players of England and Australia used to make a decent living from gate receipts.

Joe Davis even made a good living for years performing daily shows on a stage alongside comedy and sing and dance acts. He used a large mirror over the table.

Some of the big challenge matches in Europe also drew crowds akin to boxing events, though the matches would last a lot longer.

It's just a matter of finding / creating stars in the sport.

Colin
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I have been to the Crucible in England and it sells out weeks in advance for the whole tournament. I was very lucky to get tickets. Pool seems so perfectly suited for television it is almost crazy. I honestly thought when cable TV came out with a thousands hours of air time to fill pool would be on it's way but it just did not happen.

It has yet to be done well on TV. The IPT has just done the same old same old so far, not even as well as ESPN I'm sorry to say, nothing that really gives the felling of being there or part of it. There is just something missing that has yet to be discovered such as what showing the hole cards in poker has done for them. Without that forget it they would not be on TV.

I would like the see some split screen done and maybe a static overhead shot of the table in one corner so you could take in everything that was happening with some perspective rather then the chopped up camera shots and replays trying to put into context what just took place. I don't know, it is like what one supreme court justice said about pornography, "I can't define it but I know it when I see it". I can't define what exactly is wrong with TV coverage of pool but I know it when I see it.

Even the most loyal fan is hard pressed to sit through most TV coverage of pool and that includes the IPT. At some point someone will come along with an innovative idea and it will take off. Pool and TV are made for each other.
 
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Colin/Mac, despite the good points you both raise time and again you still get posters on here saying "pool will never attract a TV audience", "its not a spectator sport" etc. I cringe everytime as it shows an ignorance to what happens arround the world.

If Snooker can attract thousands in the stands and hundreds of millions on TV in Europe and Asia, and 9 ball can also attract similar interest then there is no reason pool can't work!

Please please stop saying this ridiculous statement. :mad:
 
jay helfert said:
Pool IS a good spectator sport. I've been watching for 40 years and no one walks out on a hill-hill match. Countless times, I've seen a crowded room get quiet as a tomb when a player had to make a key shot at a critical point in a match.

I have long envisioned the day when Pool was played in arenas seating 5,000 or more people, with giant TV screens above the table so everyone could see. It could happen.
Click to expand...

It's that "quiet as a tomb" part that the TV producers don't understand. When you have Mitch Lawrence or somebody telling stories during the critical games and shots it blows the whole mood. TV has got to capture the tension.

I think pool is a great spectator sport, and made for TV. If you could tell which ball is which it would be nice.

I started a thread a while back asking how many people can be seated with a good view of the table. I got small answers. How many are at the snooker finals? At the U.S. Open 9-ball they have large crowds (1000?) watching the finals. That's what I was getting at, how should the room be set up to let the most people have the best view. I was thinking tv screens over the table also, along with raised seats placed close. Players don't need 15 freakin feet around the table before the bleachers or seats start. I tried to get Camel to put the damned bleachers closer to the tables but they wouldn't. Maybe it's the fire codes or something.

unknownpro



unknownpro
 
Some of the best venues...

Crucible in England, World Snooker Champs
 

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jay helfert said:
Professional Pool can draw crowds to watch. It has been demonstrated quite a few times (i.e U.S. Open, Los Angeles Open, New York and Chicago 14.1 events). A big tournament held in a population center, with adequate advetising and publicity, will bring out a crowd.

My belief is that if the players ever became well known (i.e. The Black Widow) and the prize money was considerable (the IPT), very large crowds could be attracted.

Pool IS a good spectator sport. I've been watching for 40 years and no one walks out on a hill-hill match. Countless times, I've seen a crowded room get quiet as a tomb when a player had to make a key shot at a critical point in a match.

I have long envisioned the day when Pool was played in arenas seating 5,000 or more people, with giant TV screens above the table so everyone could see. It could happen.
Click to expand...

I never said that pool couldn't attract a large crowd. I said that large purses wouldn't be supported by attendance.

I am thinking more of the U.S. market than Asia where we already know they can draw large crowds. Television will have to be used to attract more casual fans to the game and that will result in larger crowds at the tournaments.

NASCAR gets hundreds of thousands of people to attend their races but the reason there is so much money in the sport is the billions of dollars in television contracts and the resulting endorsement deals. The paid attendance would be a small part of the total revenue.

They would have to draw 5,000 people at $70 each to next weeks tournament just to pay the first prize.
 
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