Johnnyt said:
You have no opinion.
Why don't Pro Players have jobs?
- Thread starter Johnnyt
- Start date
You have no opinion.
John Barton
New member
Professional pool players need to realize that they are their own business. I often hold up Ralf Souquet as the epitome of the professional player who conducts himself as a business.
I have counseled many pros and many are unwilling to take the steps they need to take in order to build a business around their talent.
At first a pro player must handle their business themselves because they are likely not going to make enough money to pay someone else to do it. And some players no matter how famous they get still handle all their business themselves and very nicely as well.
Allison Fisher is an example. She does all of her own business, even packing up the signed cues and getting them posted.
If Scott Lee, Mike Massey, and other non-pros can make a good living off of pool then there is no reason why a world class player cannot other than simple motivation. I don't know what it takes for players to get off the couch but I personally have spent up to $200 an hour for lessons.
Kelly Fisher charges $75 and hour and can stay as booked as she wants to.
As far as I know Allison's clinics in Vegas are booked solid.
Two lesser known female pros rented a table a few years back in Valley Forge and gave lessons for three days and from appearances they had a line the whole time.
I have almost never seen a male pro do anything so entrepenurial at the big events with thousands of eager customers.
Stefano Pelinga charged $10 a game to play him several years ago in Vegas and the list was endless of people forking over $10 to play him.
About the coolest thing I have seen in recent years was the Play a Pro booth in Vegas where you could pay like $50 or a $100 and play a set with the pro of your choice out of the roster and the match would be filmed with two cameras and commentary and you get a DVD afterwards. I thought that was freaking awesome. I haven't seen whether they ever did it again or heard whether it was profitable or not. Our own Aaron was the ringleader.
Anyway the point is that there ARE opportunities beyond the tournament trial and especially for champions. But they have to "work" at them and it's a job.
I have counseled many pros and many are unwilling to take the steps they need to take in order to build a business around their talent.
At first a pro player must handle their business themselves because they are likely not going to make enough money to pay someone else to do it. And some players no matter how famous they get still handle all their business themselves and very nicely as well.
Allison Fisher is an example. She does all of her own business, even packing up the signed cues and getting them posted.
If Scott Lee, Mike Massey, and other non-pros can make a good living off of pool then there is no reason why a world class player cannot other than simple motivation. I don't know what it takes for players to get off the couch but I personally have spent up to $200 an hour for lessons.
Kelly Fisher charges $75 and hour and can stay as booked as she wants to.
As far as I know Allison's clinics in Vegas are booked solid.
Two lesser known female pros rented a table a few years back in Valley Forge and gave lessons for three days and from appearances they had a line the whole time.
I have almost never seen a male pro do anything so entrepenurial at the big events with thousands of eager customers.
Stefano Pelinga charged $10 a game to play him several years ago in Vegas and the list was endless of people forking over $10 to play him.
About the coolest thing I have seen in recent years was the Play a Pro booth in Vegas where you could pay like $50 or a $100 and play a set with the pro of your choice out of the roster and the match would be filmed with two cameras and commentary and you get a DVD afterwards. I thought that was freaking awesome. I haven't seen whether they ever did it again or heard whether it was profitable or not. Our own Aaron was the ringleader.
Anyway the point is that there ARE opportunities beyond the tournament trial and especially for champions. But they have to "work" at them and it's a job.
cplayermagic said:
cplayermagic said:
You farted with your keyboard.
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The August article in Billiards Digest also mentioned that Rodney Morris Plan B is "trying to develop a new brand of tequila and line of sports beverages." I thought this Plan B was interesting as it is outside of his main profession of playing pool. Does anyone know how Rodney is doing with his new business?John Barton said:
gpeezy
for sale!
A shame
Its a shame that some of them need a job. You really have to love the game or hate to work to play pool for a living. Some I have to say do it for the simple fact that they don't want a 9 to 5 job. Others this is their dream. Either way I would love to see more players prosper from the game
Its a shame that some of them need a job. You really have to love the game or hate to work to play pool for a living. Some I have to say do it for the simple fact that they don't want a 9 to 5 job. Others this is their dream. Either way I would love to see more players prosper from the game
sjm said:
Being married to an English teacher, and seeing how much work that is, this fact astounds me. I had heard he used to be a teacher, but I didn't know he taught and won championships at the same time. I have that much more respect for him now.
-Andrew
You nailed it on the head.Most pro's (especially men) expect everything to fall on their lap.My friend Joanne ashton began her first full year on the w.p.b.a. and was worried how to survive because she wanted to play fulltime to get consistent.John Barton said:
She still works but has an (I think anyway for her first try) lucrutive sponsor.Now if she picked up a few more,she wouldnt have to work and could play fulltime.
Basically what i'm trying to say is exactly like John says.They are self employed and have to use all of their skills(whether pool or personality)to get the full benefit of being a pro pool player.I know i would.
There it is in a nutshell...Jeanette Lee is a good example of how to sell yourself also...John Barton said:
Black-Balled said:
cplayermagic seems to have a chronic condition and it is becoming more acute
http://forums.azbilliards.com/search.php?searchid=1074080
Also if efren or someone like that were to give lessons for let say $100-$200 a hour he would have his year booked solid.Not that he needs too.But they have to learn "you get what you put into it! And i don't mean just practice".Craig Fales said:
Well said John Barton
John, It's always nice to read the responses of people in the "business" along with all the very knowledgeable billiards folks here on AZ.
From what I've heard throughout the years, many of the older players had "real jobs" along with their billiards career. The Miz comes to mind and if I'm not mistaken he was a school teacher.
I would say it's most likely easier nowadays for a top professional billiards player to make a comfortable living solely from the billiards industry than it was back in the early days.
Just to name a few income opportunities: sponsorships, special appearances, lessons, along with the many tournaments that offer fairly substantial payouts.
Best wishes on a good week for everyone.
Jeffery
John, It's always nice to read the responses of people in the "business" along with all the very knowledgeable billiards folks here on AZ.
From what I've heard throughout the years, many of the older players had "real jobs" along with their billiards career. The Miz comes to mind and if I'm not mistaken he was a school teacher.
I would say it's most likely easier nowadays for a top professional billiards player to make a comfortable living solely from the billiards industry than it was back in the early days.
Just to name a few income opportunities: sponsorships, special appearances, lessons, along with the many tournaments that offer fairly substantial payouts.
Best wishes on a good week for everyone.
Jeffery
lodini said:
This depends on the sport and the league. I don't think that many NFL football players have other jobs, but for sure many CFL football players have winter jobs. A closer comparison would be professional curlers, most of whom have jobs. These folks take considerable time off work to practice and compete, which makes it essential that the job and employer are suitable for this type of often-absent employee, however if curlers can do it then why can't pool players (they can, imo)
Only in the high-paying professional sports is the lodini sentiment correct, but in the multitude of second and third tier professional sports a second job is common if not essential.
Dave
cuechick said:
All the Americans you mentioned are women. That is significant because they appear somewhat regularly on television. Sponsers like to see their logon on somebody's shirt on TV. Unless something changes drastically in men's pool, they will still either have to have a "real job" or keep on "hustling". Personally, I don't see it happening, pool just isn't interesting enough on TV to draw non-poolplayers to watch it. It's T&A that makes it work for women, not the pool.
JoeyA said:
Yo, I curl like nobody else. Even when I was a kid, people would just look at me and say, "Look at him, he's just built for curling." I would get asked all the time if I played. I'd tell them, "Only at the playground" and they just knew that I was a player. It's in my blood. My brother is a pro curler. My father was an Olympic Curler and my grandfather is in the Curling Hall of Fame. We'd curl all day until mom made us go home for supper and then we'd curl all night until we'd have to go to sleep.
I dreamt about curling. I'd think about nothing else when I was in school. Curl, curl, curl. I was addicted. I would never let anything come between me and my curling. Even Sally, my high school sweetheart, she got so upset when I had to miss our Junior Prom because there was a big curling match on ESPN Classic from 1972 Olympics. I couldn't miss it. It was the most exciting thing ever in sports and she just didn't understand.
To make a long story short, I dumped her and took a fellow sweeper to the prom the following year. I've never been happier and all I do is watch curling DVDs whenever I get the chance. If you guys want, we can start a forum together!
JoeyA said:
I wouldn't compare professional curling to professional pool.
An amateur sport
While Canadian bonspiels (tournaments) offer cash prizes, there are no full-time professional curlers. However, some curlers make a considerable portion of their income from curling. Still, curling survives as a people's sport, returning to the Winter Olympics in 1998 with men's and women's tournaments after not having been on the official Olympic program since 1924 (that year's curling competition, for men only, was confirmed as official by the IOC in 2006). Because accuracy, strategy, skill, and experience are more valuable in curling than traditional sports virtues of speed, stamina, and strength, most competitive curlers are older than their counterparts in other sports. However, there are many young teams who turn heads, and junior curling is quite popular, with national finals being televised nationwide in Canada.
This is from Wikipedia, which I know itsn't the best resource... but I have experience promoting winter sports and this is a fairly accurate assessment. Professional pool players have the opportunity to make a LOT of money... and pool is a much more marketable and popular sport, in my opinion.
Jude Rosenstock said:
Your contributions are slipping a bit there Jude, although maybe it's just your mind that's going.
Curling was a demonstration sport in the 1988 and 1992 games, and became an official medal sport in 1998. It was also in the 1924 and 1934 Olympics, so it is possible that your grandpapy was in one of those, but somehow I doubt it as your post was likely just a feeble attempt at humour, eh.
The funny thing is that pool is not in any way an Olympic sport , and they are both games that you can play while drinking and smoking and telling dirty jokes !Here is some text from http://ca.askmen.com/sports/business_100/122_sports_business.html :
------------------------
League: World Curling Tour (WCT)
It's hard to believe that one can make any kind of a living sliding a large puck on ice then chasing after it with a broom. Believe it.
Like tennis, curling has its own Grand Slam, comprised of four major events: the BDO Curling Classic, the M&M Meat Shops Masters of Curling, the Canadian Open of Curling, and the PharmAssist Players Championship. Each of these tournaments offers a purse of $100,000 Canadian (roughly $83,000), except the PharmAssist Championship, which offers $150,000 Canadian ($125,000).
Kevin Martin is the current leader on this season's earnings list, having pulled in more than $85,000. In the 2004 TSN Skins Game alone, his team's winnings topped $75,000. As of January 2005, the median winnings among the World Curling Tour's top 10 earners was about $55,000.
How much do you get paid for fishing? Next >>
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Pool is not a top paying professional sport, and neither is curling, and neither is squash, and neither is darts, and I hope you get the idea.
Dave
DaveK said:Your contributions are slipping a bit there Jude, although maybe it's just your mind that's going.
Curling was a demonstration sport in the 1988 and 1992 games, and became an official medal sport in 1998. It was also in the 1924 and 1934 Olympics, so it is possible that your grandpapy was in one of those, but somehow I doubt it as your post was likely just a feeble attempt at humour, eh.
Here is some text from http://ca.askmen.com/sports/business_100/122_sports_business.html :
------------------------
League: World Curling Tour (WCT)
It's hard to believe that one can make any kind of a living sliding a large puck on ice then chasing after it with a broom. Believe it.
Like tennis, curling has its own Grand Slam, comprised of four major events: the BDO Curling Classic, the M&M Meat Shops Masters of Curling, the Canadian Open of Curling, and the PharmAssist Players Championship. Each of these tournaments offers a purse of $100,000 Canadian (roughly $83,000), except the PharmAssist Championship, which offers $150,000 Canadian ($125,000).
Kevin Martin is the current leader on this season's earnings list, having pulled in more than $85,000. In the 2004 TSN Skins Game alone, his team's winnings topped $75,000. As of January 2005, the median winnings among the World Curling Tour's top 10 earners was about $55,000.
How much do you get paid for fishing? Next >>
-------------------
Pool is not a top paying professional sport, and neither is curling, and neither is squash, and neither is darts, and I hope you get the idea.
Dave
Damn, I was having so much fun. Now I feel guilty. I hope you're happy. I didn't think I'd run into any curling enthusiasts here but lo and behold, I stand corrected.
