Stephen Lee enters next GB9 event!

[ian046]

heard it from a reliable source (someone who runs the event.)

Don't know if this has already been posted but he is going to have a go at 9ball. I think he is one of a few snooker players who could adapt to play the game at a high level.

[ferret]

I think the question should be "Should he be allowed to participate in other cue sports when currently suspended by The WPBSA?" especially considering the allegations.

[Gerry Armstrong]

I think the most appropriate questions should be:

1) Why are they still "investiagting" 4 years later?
2) Why was Stephen suspended pending the outcome of the "investigation" when no-one else has been suspended pending an investigation and everyone else has been presumed innocent until proven guilty? Seems to be the other way round in Stephen's case.

[frazz]

As far as i know gerry there are 2matches under investigation with stephen which is why he was suspended, there is a match from a few years ago, maybe 4years as you mentioned then a match from premier league last year i think. Joe jogia was also banned pending a hearing am sure

[ian046]

I think the question should be "Should he be allowed to participate in other cue sports when currently suspended by The WPBSA?" especially considering the allegations.

thats simple, gb9 is not the wpbsa and has nothing to to with it :S

[sberry]

the question is why are they taking so long?

maybe they have boxed themselves into a corner and must find him guilty now as if they cannot the repercussion for wpbsa would be huge - lost earnings in six figures and awarding notional ranking points to restore his ranking to top 6

it's difficult without the facts and speculating is pointless but alleged dodgy betting patterns isn't as bad as agreeing on video to chuck games for money, surprised he hasn't used the Russian mafia excuse yet anyway

as for adapting to pool, any snooker player can as it is not harder to pot balls or play position on a much smaller table

[ADR147]

the question is why are they taking so long?

maybe they have boxed themselves into a corner and must find him guilty now as if they cannot the repercussion for wpbsa would be huge - lost earnings in six figures and awarding notional ranking points to restore his ranking to top 6

it's difficult without the facts and speculating is pointless but alleged dodgy betting patterns isn't as bad as agreeing on video to chuck games for money, surprised he hasn't used the Russian mafia excuse yet anyway

as for adapting to pool, any snooker player can as it is not harder to pot balls or play position on a much smaller table

there is a massive difference between saying you will do something and doing it. if i say in the heat of the moment 'i am going to kill you!' should i get the same sentence that i would get if i killed you? Lee has been banned for something that has actually happened not for something theoretical.

[ace man]

If true, I hope he's only doing it for fun. Carrer in 9ball would definitely be a major step down for a snooker champion like Lee. Money offered is very poor compared to snooker.

[ian046]

If true, I hope he's only doing it for fun. Carrer in 9ball would definitely be a major step down for a snooker champion like Lee. Money offered is very poor compared to snooker.

what are you crazy? im pretty sure there is more money in american pool then snooker... there is a tournement like every week somewhere in the world..... you can also play different variants ie 8 ball, 9 ball, 10 ball, 1 pocket, banks, straight pool, bonus ball and a few others

[wildJONESEYE]

what are you crazy? im pretty sure there is more money in american pool then snooker... there is a tournement like every week somewhere in the world..... you can also play different variants ie 8 ball, 9 ball, 10 ball, 1 pocket, banks, straight pool, bonus ball and a few others

compared to woman's snooker then pool pays well but there's not the money in it some seems to think.

i like you thought it was thriving cash wise but ive been told on good authority snooker pays more.

[ste bed]

Bustamante was febs top earner with 38000 USD for the month that's not bad earnings the top 9 ball guys earn more than but a few of the top snooker players. And substantially more than women's snooker players.

[narl]

Pool tournaments and coverage all have very amateur setups to say the least. Barely gets any tv coverage in America so a lot of the tournaments are live streams set up by sites like inside pool. More often than not there's not even a referee. It has got more interesting with the introduction of the 10 feet tables though.

[ian046]

in pool tournaments there are referees its just there might only be 4 or 5 for like 30 tables lol. the top64 players are making a real gd living off pool. i dont think you can say the same for the snooker players. infact i dare say the top 100-150 aint doing too bad but i cant back that up.

[ADR147]

there is nowhere near as much money in pool - when you consider they are playing virtually all the time the real money comes from cash games. even the very best players are only on £60/£70k a year and the money available is falling all the time. http://www.billiardsforum.info/forum...rds_income.png

[Csmith]

Pool is highly disorganized and a lot of poor choices have been made which keeps the game down. I think Daryl Peach won $100,000 at the 2006 world 9 ball championships, but the WPA's decision to create a world title for just about every game devalued Matchroom Sports product (the World Pool Championship) so they pulled out and focused on the World Pool Masters as well as the Mosconi Cup. None of the pool world championships have been able to recover.

The top players can make a decent amount of money, but they play constantly. Where snooker professionals have been complaining about a hectic calender (28 tournaments is it?), top pool players are playing tournaments almost every weekend and playing challenge matches just to nickle and dime their way up to 50-100,000 for the year.

Without an organisation to bring all of the professional pool events together, I really don't see things getting much better. Although my preference is snooker, I love all cue sports and ideally I'd love to see them all succeed. It's a shame to see top level events with 20-30 people in the stands.