Why I conceded my match against Corey Duel

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Danny Harriman

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For any of the fans or good aquintances I've made out on the tour,

The reason that I conceded my match at the upa tour championships is because of Frank Alvarez constantly hounding me for a membership fee, for those of you out there who are unclear I will explain. In order to be a "Touring Pro" (if you will) you simply have to pay a $100.00 membership fee, now in essence this fee is to protect you against phony promoters. So if the tournament is sanctioned by the upa then your money is in the bank right, wrong or at least it was for me. I competed in the Brady Behrmans master tournament and am still owed well over $2000.00 dollars this tournament was sanctioned by the upa, I wasn't the only player who did not get paid while the promoter admits to owing me this money. The upa has been in Court over this matter for the past two years and that's not the only time I have had (the whammy) as I like to call it. This also happened in a tournament in Queens, New York and Bin Min failed to pay also. So now when the Leading Rep. for the upa (frank alvarez) asked me for my yearly due as a touring pro I told him that I was still owed $ from two different tournaments that were sanctioned by the upa. He simply stated that it was not the upa's fault and that I would still have to pay my membership fee. I said fine just take it out of the $2400.00 that is owed to me, to which he replied "that wont work if you want to continue to be a pro you will have to pay the fee." I could'nt believe it. In closing I appreciate the chance to have competed at the Grand Central Station this was a wonderful event and it has always been an honer to compete against the best players in the world The Bicycle Club Tournament was my last upa event for a while or at least untill they pay.
To whom it may concern I will still be competing in Florida at the 10-ball tournaments but no longer will I compete or be affiliated with the upa thanks for reading sincerely The "Springfield Kid" Danny Harriman.
 
Danny Harriman said:
For any of the fans or good aquintances I've made out on the tour,

The reason that I conceded my match at the upa tour championships is because of Frank Alvarez constantly hounding me for a membership fee, for those of you out there who are unclear I will explain. In order to be a "Touring Pro" (if you will) you simply have to pay a $100.00 membership fee, now in essence this fee is to protect you against phony promoters. So if the tournament is sanctioned by the upa then your money is in the bank right, wrong or at least it was for me. I competed in the Brady Behrmans master tournament and am still owed well over $2000.00 dollars this tournament was sanctioned by the upa, I wasn't the only player who did not get paid while the promoter admits to owing me this money. The upa has been in Court over this matter for the past two years and that's not the only time I have had (the whammy) as I like to call it. This also happened in a tournament in Queens, New York and Bin Min failed to pay also. So now when the Leading Rep. for the upa (frank alvarez) asked me for my yearly due as a touring pro I told him that I was still owed $ from two different tournaments that were sanctioned by the upa. He simply stated that it was not the upa's fault and that I would still have to pay my membership fee. I said fine just take it out of the $2400.00 that is owed to me, to which he replied "that wont work if you want to continue to be a pro you will have to pay the fee." I could'nt believe it. In closing I appreciate the chance to have competed at the Grand Central Station this was a wonderful event and it has always been an honer to compete against the best players in the world The Bicycle Club Tournament was my last upa event for a while or at least untill they pay.
To whom it may concern I will still be competing in Florida at the 10-ball tournaments but no longer will I compete or be affiliated with the upa thanks for reading sincerely The "Springfield Kid" Danny Harriman.
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Thanks for clearing that up danny, i had wondered what the reason was for months, just because i was watching the match when you conceaded and was a little disapointed. Hopefully you will get what is owed to you.

Mack
 
Thanks, Danny. It shows a lot of class to share your frustrations in a public forum. I must count myself among those who found your actions very regrettable, but as you are now noting, there were some extenuating circumstances.

I can really relate, too. I sponsored a player on the PBT for three years in the late 1990's, and our deal was that I paid all his expenses and he got to keep a certain percentage of his prizes. Our procedure was that after each event, he would sign his prize check over to me, and I would simultaneously write him a check for his share. It all worked very well until the PBT went into finacially tough times.

Things got a little crazy when one of the prize checks bounced! Though I had already paid the player I sponsored, I wasn't concerned about that. I remember being on the phone with Diane Mackey (Don's wife) often in the weeks following the prize check having bounced, and she actually told me which day she would make a deposit to cover some of the prizes. I was lucky, for by redepositing the check on that same day, it actually cleared and no losses occurred.

I have to side with you on this one, Danny. The UPA must be held fully accountable for ensuring that players are paid. If, in the UPA's judgment, moneys used to fund tournament prizes need to be escrowed in advance to protect the interests of the players, then the UPA should feel compelled to arrange it.

A bad scene for sure, Danny, but I hope you and the UPA work it out, for you are a fine player and somebody who makes pro pool better.
 
DDKoop said:
Great to hear from you and best of luck going forward.

Regards,
Dave
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Man i'm sorry to hear that, The Upa is doing people wrong if u'r not getting payed .. .And I undrestand y some people don't want to go pro .U'll be broke looking for the Upa to pay . And that is y pool will never go No were.So good luck Danny H.. Hope to see ya soon in a poolroom ..Or on the TV.... :mad:
 
I have never met you Danny, but you seem like one of the better guys in the game, never heard a bad word about you, that said you are in a tough profession, one that has never had things go well for any particlular organization for an extended period of time. If I were in your shoes I would very seriously consider just playing in the two Reno tourneys, the US Open, and other independant tourneys like the Carolinas Open and play in a regional tour like the Joss Northeast tour or Tommy Kennedys tour in the south. I have only heard good things about both of these tours. I have played in a TK event and he runs a great one, and is the NICEST PRO in the country. Hands Down. I would also just try to be a house pro in an area of the country you like and play events that are run by people you know and trust.

That is Just My Opinion & best of luck getting your money, and I would have told them to do the same thing, just take it out of what is owed to me.

Also, just out of curiosity do you gamble, if so do you gamble a lot, for a lot, or just sets for $20 or $100 just for good practice?
 
Well Danny though I sympathize with your struggle with the UPA and the lying promoters of the events that fleeced you-but you walked out on not just the tournament promoters at the Bicycle, but your fans. You agreed to play at the Bicycle and you seemed happy to do so when you were winning but as soon as you were losing to Corey you jump up and quit. You should not have agreed to appear until the mess was cleared up. If you did agree you should fulfil your commitment. What about some of your fans who were sweating bets on you or cheering for you? How do you think we felt?
 
Why travel, pay the expenses and play just to quit? If you were still owed thousands of dollars from previous events why did you choose to play in this one across country? I pity your situation in regards to playing and not getting paid. Is the money in pool that good that keeps players comming back?

I would be real interested to know the other outlets of income for pool players where they can spend alot of $$ then be able to afford quit and not get paid. Best of luck
 
Can understand your frustration regarding organizations so unstable that they are unable to pay their players their prize monies. Was having a conversation in another thread with a TAP representative where their organization reneged on their payouts to its players at their National Event. For the player, it's usually never about the money, but rather the principle. It's a reflection of dysfunctional organizations like UPA and TAP, when they can't manage their basic financial accounting. Hopefully, they can get their affairs in order, so that they can eventually elevate themselves to legitimate organizations for the players they represent.
 
A few years ago Danny Harriman came into my pool hall in St. Louis, identified himself as a "good player", and asked if anyone would be willing to match up. Now, I know that people may have recognized him (and some did) but I thought this was a very classy move on Danny's part and since then I have always rooted for Danny and had a favorable opinion of him.

Who knows what the UPA will try and say about Danny, so before they try, I thought everyone should know that it appears as if Danny conducts himself well in public and in the pool hall.

kollegedave

Danny Harriman said:
For any of the fans or good aquintances I've made out on the tour,

The reason that I conceded my match at the upa tour championships is because of Frank Alvarez constantly hounding me for a membership fee, for those of you out there who are unclear I will explain. In order to be a "Touring Pro" (if you will) you simply have to pay a $100.00 membership fee, now in essence this fee is to protect you against phony promoters. So if the tournament is sanctioned by the upa then your money is in the bank right, wrong or at least it was for me. I competed in the Brady Behrmans master tournament and am still owed well over $2000.00 dollars this tournament was sanctioned by the upa, I wasn't the only player who did not get paid while the promoter admits to owing me this money. The upa has been in Court over this matter for the past two years and that's not the only time I have had (the whammy) as I like to call it. This also happened in a tournament in Queens, New York and Bin Min failed to pay also. So now when the Leading Rep. for the upa (frank alvarez) asked me for my yearly due as a touring pro I told him that I was still owed $ from two different tournaments that were sanctioned by the upa. He simply stated that it was not the upa's fault and that I would still have to pay my membership fee. I said fine just take it out of the $2400.00 that is owed to me, to which he replied "that wont work if you want to continue to be a pro you will have to pay the fee." I could'nt believe it. In closing I appreciate the chance to have competed at the Grand Central Station this was a wonderful event and it has always been an honer to compete against the best players in the world The Bicycle Club Tournament was my last upa event for a while or at least untill they pay.
To whom it may concern I will still be competing in Florida at the 10-ball tournaments but no longer will I compete or be affiliated with the upa thanks for reading sincerely The "Springfield Kid" Danny Harriman.
Click to expand...
 
I briefly met Danny years ago when we played in a 9-ball tournament in Oklahoma City (I lost 9-8; had a chance on the hill and blew it which is why I remember it distinctly). He seemed like a stand up guy to me, and everybody else there seemed to think highly of him as well.
 
I just find it unbelievable that there have been 2 UPA events now (at minimum) where players have been stiffed. I't was pretty much the stated purpose of the organization to protect the players from the shyster promoters right?

The UPA took so much heat for not sanctioning the US open as the prize money wasn't posted-They went through all that- survived it somehow. Then they abandoned the principle??

IM just baffled.
 
If that $100 membership is to join an organization whose sole purpose is to make sure people get paid and that membership guarentees that then the UPA is IMO liable legally for any money that their tour sponsers after they take your $100. Seems to me that the UPA is not doing what they set up to do, and that is making sure the money is in escro ready to be paid out to the winners at the conclusion of the tournament. This is the UPA's fault because by sanctioning an event they are in effect giving the green light of safety to their members. It is a lie to those members if the money in the end is not there for them and that $100 membership is going to what if not the protection of the players?

I would have walked out as well, but unless you were being hounded DURING the match for the $100 membeship it seems an odd time to bail out. If you got hounded before the match the classy thing would have been to simply walk out before the match, that would have been alot more of a obvious message to the powers that be of the UPA then walking out on a match after you start losing. You had to know that would not look like a thing about money and more of a thing about getting your ass kicked on the table at that time.
 
Danny, if you walked out during the match then you are dead wrong.If thats not the case then you have a legit gripe.
 
Hello Danny

HELLO DANNY,EARL STRICKLAND HERE,Thanks for the positive comments about the straight pool.You are smart to see that it is a good way to play pool.If we can get the conditions right ,I think this could be a better game then 9-ball.I'm sorry about your misfortune with the UPA,I've had my differences too when I was World Champion,imagine that.Sincerely EARL
 
bobroberts said:
Danny, if you walked out during the match then you are dead wrong.If thats not the case then you have a legit gripe.
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Why??? Because someone bought him in the calcutta? I'm giggling.
 
earl

Earl Strickland said:
HELLO DANNY,EARL STRICKLAND HERE,Thanks for the positive comments about the straight pool.You are smart to see that it is a good way to play pool.If we can get the conditions right ,I think this could be a better game then 9-ball.I'm sorry about your misfortune with the UPA,I've had my differences too when I was World Champion,imagine that.Sincerely EARL
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HEY EARL,WILL U BE AT THE MASTERS IN VA. IN JULY WHEN THEY RESHEDULED,HATE TO WASTE MY MONEY GOING AND NOT SEE THE BEST!
 
Danny, I certainly understand

:p Danny, doing the 1990s I had the pleasure of running some of the best bar table tournaments in the country as owner of Racketeers and I assure you
every single nickle in added money and all entry fees were always paid back to the players 100% and the Behrmans and the other guy should have paid what they owe to all of you too. The UPA obviously is just another pitiful attempt at a players "union" that does not have the balls to do what they promised all the players who joined. I always felt that you are an excellent role model for the sport, and I support your position 100% and I think your fellow UPA members should too, but obviously they didn't. You are always number one in my book, good luck, and keep sticking to your principles, which
will prevail in the long run......Humphrey, New Orleans :D :cool: :D
 
Earl what do you mean "was". You are and always will be a world champ. Anyone who attains that status is IMHO one. Like Ali for example.
 
Something interesting I heard...

Danny (or anyone else), I have heard that the top 8 ranked players on the UPA tour get their entries paid into the next event, and either some, or all, of their traveling expenses (flight and/or hotel), paid by the UPA.

Do you know if this is true? If it is, what do you think about it?
 
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