What Tours Are Left For US Top Pros?

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
Looking around the US I don't see too many (if any) regional tours that the top pros could play in and get a $1000 pay day out of it. Most pay under $1000 for the win. I would have to believe that some of these tours do not let the top 16 pros play in them. With Shane already taking down at least 15-20% of the available US purses (and he's probably going to win at least 20% more this year) how will even the top ten pros win even $30,000 for the year? My point is why in the world would the ABP make demands of promoters at this time? You can't get water out of stone but you can chase the stone away. Johnnyt
 
Joss tour

Mike Zuglans Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, the pros can still play and the winner always gets at least $1,000 as far as I remember.
 
Mike Zuglans Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, the pros can still play and the winner always gets at least $1,000 as far as I remember.

I may be wrong about this, because I haven't been to a Joss event in a long while, but I think they raised the entry fee for so-called pros to compete in Joss regional tour events.

If I am wrong, I know I will be receiving an e-mail or PM later today! ;)
 
Joss Tour

Yes J.A.M. you are correct about Mike raising the entry fee for a professional player from 100.00 to 120.00. all other level players are to pay 70.00, which is very fair considering a professional player wins this event 90% of the time, i myself am right in between an open player and pro player, the difference being that I WORK A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, while a pro player practices a 60 hour week. Last year i happened to be fortunate to win this event at Raxx Pool room, and after playing in the Joss Tour for more than 10 years, was immediatley bumped up to 120.00, so i pay the same as a professional player, WHICH I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH, and i refuse to play on these tours in my area until there is a fair rating system. I work a 40 hour work week, dont practice more than 3-4 hours a week, have to pay the same entry fee as say Mika or Dennis Hatch, no, sorry, i truely love the game to death, but don't NEED THE " FIX " as bad as they do, IMO of course. I'm all for promoting this wonderful game, but some things HAVE TO CHANGE!
 
Yes J.A.M. you are correct about Mike raising the entry fee for a professional player from 100.00 to 120.00. all other level players are to pay 70.00, which is very fair considering a professional player wins this event 90% of the time, i myself am right in between an open player and pro player, the difference being that I WORK A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, while a pro player practices a 60 hour week. Last year i happened to be fortunate to win this event at Raxx Pool room, and after playing in the Joss Tour for more than 10 years, was immediatley bumped up to 120.00, so i pay the same as a professional player, WHICH I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH, and i refuse to play on these tours in my area until there is a fair rating system. I work a 40 hour work week, dont practice more than 3-4 hours a week, have to pay the same entry fee as say Mika or Dennis Hatch, no, sorry, i truely love the game to death, but don't NEED THE " FIX " as bad as they do, IMO of course. I'm all for promoting this wonderful game, but some things HAVE TO CHANGE!
But you did prove that you can get there...
And, no good deed goes unpunished!
 
Yes J.A.M. you are correct about Mike raising the entry fee for a professional player from 100.00 to 120.00. all other level players are to pay 70.00, which is very fair considering a professional player wins this event 90% of the time, i myself am right in between an open player and pro player, the difference being that I WORK A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, while a pro player practices a 60 hour week. Last year i happened to be fortunate to win this event at Raxx Pool room, and after playing in the Joss Tour for more than 10 years, was immediatley bumped up to 120.00, so i pay the same as a professional player, WHICH I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH, and i refuse to play on these tours in my area until there is a fair rating system. I work a 40 hour work week, dont practice more than 3-4 hours a week, have to pay the same entry fee as say Mika or Dennis Hatch, no, sorry, i truely love the game to death, but don't NEED THE " FIX " as bad as they do, IMO of course. I'm all for promoting this wonderful game, but some things HAVE TO CHANGE!

Your dilemma with ''''''''''''KNOWN ABILITY''''''''' for now, and most likely the rest of your life, will always be with you since you Won. Pool at its amateur/semi amateur levels often punish you when you win by eiher handicapping you till its impossible to win, charging you more or won't allow you to compete if you win too often, not many other sports do this. They say good players ''kill'' tournaments which they can if not managed properly but, bad players do the same in the long run because ball bangers don't increase player interest, like Efren and don't work at improving.
 
Your dilemma with ''''''''''''KNOWN ABILITY''''''''' for now, and most likely the rest of your life, will always be with you since you Won. Pool at its amateur/semi amateur levels often punish you when you win by eiher handicapping you till its impossible to win, charging you more or won't allow you to compete if you win too often, not many other sports do this. They say good players ''kill'' tournaments which they can if not managed properly but, bad players do the same in the long run because ball bangers don't increase player interest, like Efren and don't work at improving.

PErhaps the problem- and speaking in general terms here- is that pool players are in it for the money.

I only have exposure to pool and cycling (it appears I do not 'play well with others'!). In cycling, the goal is to move from beginner classes to the higher levels. Races see winners get paid in cash, but you don't see people doing it for the money per se, and participant turnout is way better:
I have mentioned it before,

I have often wanted to bring to light the comparison between bike racing and pool tournaments. The payout in pool is much better than that of cycling.
Ex. in a 100 person race, about $20-30 to get in, 1st palce will pay $200-300 and only 8-12 get paid. racing is also divided into classes and the general goal is upward movement. Those who sandbag get bumped up, though there are always grumblings about winners. A typical road bike race (in DC, aka:d20) will draw 500+ participants and run 7am-3 or 4pm.
 
Yes J.A.M. you are correct about Mike raising the entry fee for a professional player from 100.00 to 120.00. all other level players are to pay 70.00, which is very fair considering a professional player wins this event 90% of the time, i myself am right in between an open player and pro player, the difference being that I WORK A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, while a pro player practices a 60 hour week. Last year i happened to be fortunate to win this event at Raxx Pool room, and after playing in the Joss Tour for more than 10 years, was immediatley bumped up to 120.00, so i pay the same as a professional player, WHICH I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH, and i refuse to play on these tours in my area until there is a fair rating system. I work a 40 hour work week, dont practice more than 3-4 hours a week, have to pay the same entry fee as say Mika or Dennis Hatch, no, sorry, i truely love the game to death, but don't NEED THE " FIX " as bad as they do, IMO of course. I'm all for promoting this wonderful game, but some things HAVE TO CHANGE!

Bobby, I think you should feel honored....
..pay the extra $50 and take their watches.
 
The predator tour is pretty good for pros, 1st place is usually around $1000. The field is very small too, sometimes a player only needs 4 matches to win. The pros start out with an advantage, too. They pay more than the few amateurs who donate, but also get to feast on them first round(instead of each other).
 
Yes J.A.M. you are correct about Mike raising the entry fee for a professional player from 100.00 to 120.00. all other level players are to pay 70.00, which is very fair considering a professional player wins this event 90% of the time, i myself am right in between an open player and pro player, the difference being that I WORK A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, while a pro player practices a 60 hour week. Last year i happened to be fortunate to win this event at Raxx Pool room, and after playing in the Joss Tour for more than 10 years, was immediatley bumped up to 120.00, so i pay the same as a professional player, WHICH I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH, and i refuse to play on these tours in my area until there is a fair rating system. I work a 40 hour work week, dont practice more than 3-4 hours a week, have to pay the same entry fee as say Mika or Dennis Hatch, no, sorry, i truely love the game to death, but don't NEED THE " FIX " as bad as they do, IMO of course. I'm all for promoting this wonderful game, but some things HAVE TO CHANGE!

bobbypro...woops, I mean bobbyamateur :) You gotta chill dog. You play too good to worry about all that. Now come to Stienway tonight and take my money!
 
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Yes J.A.M. you are correct about Mike raising the entry fee for a professional player from 100.00 to 120.00. all other level players are to pay 70.00, which is very fair considering a professional player wins this event 90% of the time, i myself am right in between an open player and pro player, the difference being that I WORK A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK, while a pro player practices a 60 hour week. Last year i happened to be fortunate to win this event at Raxx Pool room, and after playing in the Joss Tour for more than 10 years, was immediatley bumped up to 120.00, so i pay the same as a professional player, WHICH I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH, and i refuse to play on these tours in my area until there is a fair rating system. I work a 40 hour work week, dont practice more than 3-4 hours a week, have to pay the same entry fee as say Mika or Dennis Hatch, no, sorry, i truely love the game to death, but don't NEED THE " FIX " as bad as they do, IMO of course. I'm all for promoting this wonderful game, but some things HAVE TO CHANGE!

But for real... Only two entry fees. $70 and $120. You complain that you shouldn't have to pay the same as Mika... but you think you should pay the same as me? hmmmm You're much closer to a professional speed player than an amateur banger. $70 is for the people who donate and don't have a prayer of winning or really cashing. You not only have a shot to win, you have won. Just food for thought, cause I'm hungry.
 
pro tours

There are alot of tournaments across the nation that offer good payouts. Unfortunately, there isn't a really good pro tour. White Diamonds has at least 2 tournaments a year where first place pays out close to 20k. Louisiana also has 5 to 8 other tournaments yearly that pay out well over 1k. Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas have tournaments that pay out several k. I'm sure there are other states too but the Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi connection is the best places for pros to go if they want a chance at a nice pay day. Unfortunately most are on Bar Boxes, but money is money. The tourneys are out there. between Shreveport, Lafayette, New Iberia, Houma, Baton ROuge and New Orleans and several other small towns in louisiana, there is close to 100k in first place prize money. All in Louisiana. Yes, Louisiana. The best bar box tourney state in the nation. It's not an exaggeration.
 
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