AUD$30,000 prize money for Australian Pro-Am, would some Pro's come?

[telinoz]

There is some serious talk of a AUD$30,000 prize money for Australian Pro-Am here in Sydney.
It would be Pro-Am, 96-128 entries.
Naturally a preference to get Australias best and provisional world #3 Neil Robertson to take part would be great, but one more would be ideal.

Now, is this enough prize money to get 1 or 2 Professionals to come over from UK?

The venue in mind already has 4 tables, but more can be brought in and 2 would be competition standard (that the top players would use for their matches) and these could be setup for filming for local TV/internet streaming options.

Dates would have to be in off-season from main tour. It could be sanctioned by Australian association for ranking points but not 100% required as it will be run by different promoters.

Beyond the prize money, what other problems could there be that would stop some of the professionals from taking part?

[magicman]

I think the biggest problem is that it's in AUSTRALIA. There's no other problem other than it being in AUSTRALIA that would really worry the pro's I think. I mean it's not like popping down the M1 or phoning a mate up and crashing at his house cause he lives locally. You have to travel to the other side of the WORLD as the competition is in AUSTRALIA!

Best of luck though!

[jrc750]

There is some serious talk of a AUD$30,000 prize money for Australian Pro-Am here in Sydney.......

Now, is this enough prize money to get 1 or 2 Professionals to come over from the UK.....

Is that the total pot or for the winner ??
If its the pot then winners prize would be much lower and so i cant see it would make financial sense to travel that far

[telinoz]

Is that the total pot or for the winner ??
If its the pot then winners prize would be much lower and so i cant see it would make financial sense to travel that far

Thats the pot.

First prize and runners up would more than cover flights and expenses though to make it worthwhile.
To be honest, it is more for promoting the game down-under and it would take a pro who says "Well, I may come out with $2-3000 in my pocket but it will help the game in a new market"

Neil Robertson does play here in the off season at a venue called Kings down in Melbourne who have a decent snooker tournament each year.
He has also done several exhibitions here when he is back home.
But, to make this more viable and to get this type of money from the venue that has put it's hand up would require at least 2 Pro's as they would like to see a top quality final (they would be seeded in opposite halves, barring a local player knocking them off they would play in the final)

[snookerpat]

Did this tournament ever happen?