What DO pro players earn?

[Roy Steffensen]

Below is the list of Ralf Souquet's winnings in 2006.

However, everyone knows that he isn't just playing that few tournaments a year, I guess he plays at least 2 times more tournaments. For example he finished 3rd in a tournament in Taiwan just recently, and also high in the All Japan Championship if I am not correct.

For example Mika Immonen played The Norwegian 9-ball Challenge 2006, when he won about 10 000 $, that's not listed on his winnings because I didn't send in the money winners, only top 2. Guess there is a lot of tournament not listed here, so what do you guys think a pro player make in an average year?

To make it easier we do not count IPT-winnings, and we consider players that are good enough for Team Mosconi as pros... (yes, know there are others too)

What do they win in an average year, and what do you think (or know) that pro players get from sponsors/bankers? Flights covered, hotels covered? Do they get all expenses paid on some tournaments from the organizer?

How much money is it in there for a top pro player, when the expences are paid?


Ralf Souquet

2006 Winnings: $219,350.00

2006 Tournament Results:
$250.00 40th place Derby City One Pocket Division
$100.00 72nd place Derby City Bank Division
$16,000.00 1st place Derby City 9-Ball Division
$3,600.00 3rd place Turning Stone Classic VI
$5,000.00 3rd place Gabriels Open 8 Ball Professional Players Championship
$600.00 13th place Relay for Life 9-Ball Invitational Charity Benefit
$20,000.00 1st place Enjoypool.com 9-Ball Championship Open Division
$1,500.00 9th place World 14.1 Straight Pool Championships
$20,000.00 1st place World Pool Masters
$50,000.00 5th place IPT North American Open Championship
$38,725.00 10th place IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship
$7,000.00 3rd place World Pool League
$40,000.00 2nd place World Pool Championship
$1,575.00 7th place Florida Predator Open
$15,000.00 Team Europe Mosconi Cup

 

[StormHotRod300]

I would say that if a Pro Pool Player made over 75,000 this year that would be on the good side.

I do know some pro's have thier Traveling expenses payed for which is a very big deal more than anything else to a pro.

I'm not going to mention her name but one of the ladies on the WPBA told me that one year she made about 12,000$ i believe. But her traveling expenses was something like 12-14,000$ too.

AZB does have a list of the top money makers on thier home page too.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Depends on what you're calling a "pro player." Contrary to popular belief those guys on tour aren't the "best" players in the world, nor do they make more money than many of the lesser-knowns...and the lesser-knowns prefer to keep it that way

Rick P.

 

[acedotcom]

Snookered again!

For comparison, here are career earnings for some top European snooker players:

Stephen Hendry: (up to 2005-2006): £8,007,635 ($15,722,808)
Peter Ebdon: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,363,795 ($4,641,257)
Steve Davis: (up to season 2004-2005): £5,320,950 ($10,447,564)
Ken Doherty: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,960,460 ($5,812,795)
John Higgins: (up to season 2005-2006): £3,758,505 ($7,379,738)



I found the info here.

 

[Craig Fales]

For comparison, here are career earnings for some top European snooker players:

Stephen Hendry: (up to 2005-2006): ??8,007,635 ($15,722,808)
Peter Ebdon: (up to season 2005-2006): ??2,363,795 ($4,641,257)
Steve Davis: (up to season 2004-2005): ??5,320,950 ($10,447,564)
Ken Doherty: (up to season 2005-2006): ??2,960,460 ($5,812,795)
John Higgins: (up to season 2005-2006): ??3,758,505 ($7,379,738)



I found the info here.

I never researched it but I knew snooker players made some mad cash....
________

 

[JAM]

For comparison, here are career earnings for some top European snooker players:

Stephen Hendry: (up to 2005-2006): £8,007,635 ($15,722,808)
Peter Ebdon: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,363,795 ($4,641,257)
Steve Davis: (up to season 2004-2005): £5,320,950 ($10,447,564)
Ken Doherty: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,960,460 ($5,812,795)
John Higgins: (up to season 2005-2006): £3,758,505 ($7,379,738)



I found the info here.

That is really incredible! WOW!

Speaking from my very limited experience traveling the American tournament trail only, the expenses far outweigh the pool payouts at most tournaments I have attended. The week-long events are brutally expensive, unless you win, place, or show. Even then, any winnings must be spent to attend the next event.

I remember speaking to a UPA touring pro a few years ago who was getting ready to head for Florida to get a 9-to-5 job helping out with the aftermath of a hurricane. Fortunately, he came in second place in a tournament on the UPA tour which enabled him to continue playing.

Pool today is a rich man's high. Even the sponsored players incur out-of-pocket expenses when traveling the globe, and I do not think they are getting rich in today's pool world.

Considering the payouts in pocket billiards is quite low compared to snooker, I think that a pool player's annual P&L statement would reveal that the profit margin is not very high.

JAM

 

[George]

For comparison, here are career earnings for some top European snooker players:

Stephen Hendry: (up to 2005-2006): £8,007,635 ($15,722,808)
Peter Ebdon: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,363,795 ($4,641,257)
Steve Davis: (up to season 2004-2005): £5,320,950 ($10,447,564)
Ken Doherty: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,960,460 ($5,812,795)
John Higgins: (up to season 2005-2006): £3,758,505 ($7,379,738)



I found the info here.

This makes 3 questions come to mind for me.
1. Are earnings like this still possible for snooker players? I remember reading somewhere that the snooker tours had lost a lot of sponsorship monies.
2. If they can make this money playing snooker why would so many snooker players change their focus to pool(or are they just playing both)?
3. Why aren't more pool players trying to play snooker and win some serious jellybeans?

George

 

[JAM]

This makes 3 questions come to mind for me.
1. Are earnings like this still possible for snooker players? I remember reading somewhere that the snooker tours had lost a lot of sponsorship monies.

I read the same thing.

2. If they can make this money playing snooker why would so many snooker players change their focus to pool(or are they just playing both)?

I think the IPT may have provided some incentive, but with the sponsorship dwindling, that may have been another reason.

3. Why aren't more pool players trying to play snooker and win some serious jellybeans?

Interestingly, I remember Alex Pagulayan, when he was living in Canada, decided to give snooker a try, competing in a couple events. A year later, though, he won the WPC!

JAM

 

[ShootingArts]

gross and net

The more events you enter, the more you gross. The more events you enter, the more expenses you incur. Seems like a simple equation but what it leads to is that a careful person can cherry pick, entering a lot fewer events and still have a higher net than most of the big money winners.

For most I think the truth is still the same as it was thirty years ago when I considered trying for a career in pool. You are really a career gambler, the pool events that you go to just provide the venues and the draw for the dead money people around the fringes. If you win as much in event purses as you spend on travel and entries you have had a good year. Without the easy money picked up that uncle sam doesn't get a split of, I doubt that there would be more than a tenth as many players surviving at pool. Take away the few with genuine big time sponsors and those with all travel paid and there probably are only a few dozen players who wouldn't net more at the end of the year if they had kept a full time job bagging groceries down at the supermarket all year.

Of course competitors choose the life and most wouldn't change for a guaranteed three times the net they are making now.

Hu

 

[jimmy-leggs]

NOT ENOUGH,thats why pool is a dying sport

 

[Scott Lee]

For most I think the truth is still the same as it was thirty years ago. You are really a career gambler, the pool events that you go to just provide the venues and the draw for the dead money people around the fringes. If you win as much in event purses as you spend on travel and entries you have had a good year. Without the easy money picked up that uncle sam doesn't get a split of, I doubt that there would be more than a tenth as many players surviving at pool. Take away the few with genuine big time sponsors and those with all travel paid and there probably are only a few dozen players who wouldn't net more at the end of the year if they had kept a full time job bagging groceries down at the supermarket all year.

Of course competitors choose the life and most wouldn't change for a guaranteed three times the net they are making now.

Hu

Well thought out answer, and imo, extremely accurate. I have said for years that the only real 'guaranteed' money in professional pool, was in the entertainment/teaching end. There could easily be 100+ men and/or women, like myself, Randyg, Mike Massey and Tom Rossman, making 6-figure incomes strictly from pool...provided they had the right attitude. Most are content to struggle with a gambling livelihood, maintaining an "I'm gonna beat the best" attitude, and as Hu mentioned, basically living at poverty level.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[ironman]

Below is the list of Ralf Souquet's winnings in 2006.

However, everyone knows that he isn't just playing that few tournaments a year, I guess he plays at least 2 times more tournaments. For example he finished 3rd in a tournament in Taiwan just recently, and also high in the All Japan Championship if I am not correct.

For example Mika Immonen played The Norwegian 9-ball Challenge 2006, when he won about 10 000 $, that's not listed on his winnings because I didn't send in the money winners, only top 2. Guess there is a lot of tournament not listed here, so what do you guys think a pro player make in an average year?

To make it easier we do not count IPT-winnings, and we consider players that are good enough for Team Mosconi as pros... (yes, know there are others too)

What do they win in an average year, and what do you think (or know) that pro players get from sponsors/bankers? Flights covered, hotels covered? Do they get all expenses paid on some tournaments from the organizer?

How much money is it in there for a top pro player, when the expences are paid?


Ralf Souquet

2006 Winnings: $219,350.00

2006 Tournament Results:
$250.00 40th place Derby City One Pocket Division
$100.00 72nd place Derby City Bank Division
$16,000.00 1st place Derby City 9-Ball Division
$3,600.00 3rd place Turning Stone Classic VI
$5,000.00 3rd place Gabriels Open 8 Ball Professional Players Championship
$600.00 13th place Relay for Life 9-Ball Invitational Charity Benefit
$20,000.00 1st place Enjoypool.com 9-Ball Championship Open Division
$1,500.00 9th place World 14.1 Straight Pool Championships
$20,000.00 1st place World Pool Masters
$50,000.00 5th place IPT North American Open Championship
$38,725.00 10th place IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship
$7,000.00 3rd place World Pool League
$40,000.00 2nd place World Pool Championship
$1,575.00 7th place Florida Predator Open
$15,000.00 Team Europe Mosconi Cup

Birdseed for a Cukoo Clock!

 

[AuntyDan]

Most are content to struggle with a gambling livelihood, maintaining an "I'm gonna beat the best" attitude, and as Hu mentioned, basically living at poverty level.

There's a reason for this, and it is linked to a very important word that a lot of people tend to miss when they discuss this. I will emphasise it to make it clear. For some people it does not matter one jot if at the end of the day they have a net profit on their expenses. They are PLAYING Pool for a living. They get to PLAY instead of WORKING. All that matters is that they can keep covering their costs so that they can keep PLAYING.

Pool is a GAME. That's why it's fun. (Or should be!) We all played games as children, and as adults most of us are forced to put aside the ways of children to function in the adult world and fulfill adult obligations like providing for our families. But all of us secretely long to go back to PLAYING all day long. A few of us actually go out and do it.

 

[sniper]

This makes 3 questions come to mind for me.
1. Are earnings like this still possible for snooker players? I remember reading somewhere that the snooker tours had lost a lot of sponsorship monies.
2. If they can make this money playing snooker why would so many snooker players change their focus to pool(or are they just playing both)?
3. Why aren't more pool players trying to play snooker and win some serious jellybeans?

George

I'll do my best but someone here surely knows more about this than me

1. The number of events has dropped due to sponsorship money drying
up from tobacco companies.

2. Not all players can make it at snooker, it is very competitive (much
more than pool) and not everyone can be a pro. Events aren't open
to all players, in order to qualify one must make it through a grueling
qualification system.

3. See #2.

 

[Scaramouche]

Well thought out answer, and imo, extremely accurate. I have said for years that the only real 'guaranteed' money in professional pool, was in the entertainment/teaching end. There could easily be 100+ men and/or women, like myself, Randyg, Mike Massey and Tom Rossman, making 6-figure incomes strictly from pool...provided they had the right attitude. Most are content to struggle with a gambling livelihood, maintaining an "I'm gonna beat the best" attitude, and as Hu mentioned, basically living at poverty level.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Before U.K. snooker hit the the motherlode of sponsorship money, the objective was to win a major tournament so that the player would have the name recognition to go on a trickshot exhibiton tour.

So a question:

Are trickshots more lucrative than pool tournament play?

 

[Scott Lee]

Before U.K. snooker hit the the motherlode of sponsorship money, the objective was to win a major tournament so that the player would have the name recognition to go on a trickshot exhibiton tour.

So a question:

Are trickshots more lucrative than pool tournament play?

To strictly answer your question...no. However, applying trickshots to an entertaining pool 'routine' or 'show' can be very lucrative, depending on the marketing objective. A few of us have figured out how to tap into that market.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[Gramps]

Pizza ?

This question brings to mind another question recently going around.

Question : What does a pro pool player and a medium pizza have in common ?

Answer : Neither one can feed a family of four.

 

[teko454]

I was told that anyone who played for money was a pro-player. In that case I made $100.00 in 2006.

 

[sjm]

For comparison, here are career earnings for some top European snooker players:

Stephen Hendry: (up to 2005-2006): £8,007,635 ($15,722,808)
Peter Ebdon: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,363,795 ($4,641,257)
Steve Davis: (up to season 2004-2005): £5,320,950 ($10,447,564)
Ken Doherty: (up to season 2005-2006): £2,960,460 ($5,812,795)
John Higgins: (up to season 2005-2006): £3,758,505 ($7,379,738)



I found the info here.

Wow! Nice piece of change, huh?

 

[Black-Balled]

There's a reason for this...They get to PLAY instead of WORK...

I would add:
-True that getting good at pool does require work- still under the 'game' header though.
-Income gained through pool is exactly what it should be.