What is a professional?
From what I have seen most definitions of a professional indicate you are a professional when you make your primary living by doing something. I realize that definitions of words can change over time based upon how a culture uses the words. I know that when a person asks me what I do for a living I would reply with the position that I make the most money (take home) from if I had more than one source of income.
With that being said then only probably the top players in the United States are making enough money to support themselves and maybe a small family if they are really high up on that list. There is simply not enough money in tournament prizes to the individuals to make a decent living after expenses.
Now even some of the “Open” events with larger prizes want to limit players to only participating in their events or worse yet imposing penalty fines upon player who simply may not be making enough to support the trip from one tournament to the next. With all this talk about contracts for players where is the talk about sponsorship and monetary compensation? If the US Open did not beef up the prize money this year they would not have been attractive to players overseas.
There are a lot of different amateur pool leagues and league based tournaments across this country. Most of which will kick you out if they determine you play pool at a level higher than an amateur. Granted there are some special types of leagues like the TAP X league or maybe the UPA that will work with higher skill level players. It seems to me that these amateur pool leagues have different skill standards based upon the local players where a person plays pool as well. Basically a person might be deemed to have professional skills in Nome, Alaska and that same person might be a few levels lower with the same skill set if they were playing in Chicago, IL. I have heard stories over the years of skilled players going to national level amateur tournaments and being disqualified for putting together a large package of 6 or 8 racks. Then when they got home they were kicked out of their league entirely as they were deemed to be professional.
By those kind of standards it is possible for a person to play pool at home. Practice and improve their game through watching the internet, dvds, books, drills and maybe even private instruction or coaching. Then one day go out and join a local bar league only to find they get disqualified for being too good at the game. Even though they never made a dime from it, won a tournament, or were handicapped or rated prior to that. On top of that they may have a hard time qualifying for pro tournaments as they have no history of winning amateur tournaments.
Granted, most players will never attain those kind of skills. Many will not even aspire to. Some people only play pool to pass time while out with friends hanging out relaxing and having a few drinks.
From what I have seen most definitions of a professional indicate you are a professional when you make your primary living by doing something. I realize that definitions of words can change over time based upon how a culture uses the words. I know that when a person asks me what I do for a living I would reply with the position that I make the most money (take home) from if I had more than one source of income.
With that being said then only probably the top players in the United States are making enough money to support themselves and maybe a small family if they are really high up on that list. There is simply not enough money in tournament prizes to the individuals to make a decent living after expenses.
Now even some of the “Open” events with larger prizes want to limit players to only participating in their events or worse yet imposing penalty fines upon player who simply may not be making enough to support the trip from one tournament to the next. With all this talk about contracts for players where is the talk about sponsorship and monetary compensation? If the US Open did not beef up the prize money this year they would not have been attractive to players overseas.
There are a lot of different amateur pool leagues and league based tournaments across this country. Most of which will kick you out if they determine you play pool at a level higher than an amateur. Granted there are some special types of leagues like the TAP X league or maybe the UPA that will work with higher skill level players. It seems to me that these amateur pool leagues have different skill standards based upon the local players where a person plays pool as well. Basically a person might be deemed to have professional skills in Nome, Alaska and that same person might be a few levels lower with the same skill set if they were playing in Chicago, IL. I have heard stories over the years of skilled players going to national level amateur tournaments and being disqualified for putting together a large package of 6 or 8 racks. Then when they got home they were kicked out of their league entirely as they were deemed to be professional.
By those kind of standards it is possible for a person to play pool at home. Practice and improve their game through watching the internet, dvds, books, drills and maybe even private instruction or coaching. Then one day go out and join a local bar league only to find they get disqualified for being too good at the game. Even though they never made a dime from it, won a tournament, or were handicapped or rated prior to that. On top of that they may have a hard time qualifying for pro tournaments as they have no history of winning amateur tournaments.
Granted, most players will never attain those kind of skills. Many will not even aspire to. Some people only play pool to pass time while out with friends hanging out relaxing and having a few drinks.
