The pro billiard tour consists of a series tournaments that include the world championships as well as major events. In its inaugural year, the tour held the largest billiards tournament. The tour became financially troubled in 2006 and stopped holding major events. The IPT Ultimate 8 Ball was held in 2007 to revive the tour.
Stauch's involvement with billiards
Shari Stauch, a professional pool player for twenty years, retired in 2004. In addition to her playing career, Stauch helped develop the billiards industry by co-founding Pool & Billiard Magazine with Harold Simonsen. She was the Women's Professional Billiard Association's Sportspersons of the Year in 1995. In addition, she is a five-time winner of the WPBA President's Award. In 2007, she was inducted into the WPBA Hall of Fame.
Billiards is a game with a rich history. It has been played by many people, from commoners to royalty, hustlers and presidents. The game was originally played on a northern European lawn in the 15th century. It evolved into the modern style that we know today.
IPT Ultimate 8 ball
The first event of the IPT Ultimate 8-Ball was held in Los Angeles in June of 2008. Initial plans called for a match between Alex Pagulayan, a Filipino player, and Karl Boyes, an English player. However, Pagulayan's manager contacted the IPT's management for an alternative player. As a result, Tony Robles was invited to fill in for Pagulayan. Robles accepted the invitation and flew to L.A. during the night. In thrilling and close matches, he defeated Karl Boyes. The prizes for both players were $5,000 and $1,000. Plus expenses.
The IPT Ultimate 8-Ball pool tour is the largest in the world. It will take place in five cities in 2006. The IPT will offer more than $8 million worth of prize money in 2006. The record-breaking prize money for the North American Open 8-Ball Championship is $2 million. There will also be a unprecedented first-place prize of $350,000.
Women's Professional Billiards Association
The Women's Professional Billiards Association is a professional pool tour for women. WPBA, which was originally the Women's Professional Billiard Alliance in 1976, features female pool players. Madelyn Willow, Palmer Byrd, Larry Miller are the founding members.
WPBA was founded in Britain as a billiards club. It sponsored tournaments for both amateurs and professionals. The association hosted amateur and junior competitions in the beginning. Joyce Gardner, Thelma Carter and Ruth Harrison were its members. Gardner won seven of the fourteen tournaments she entered, while Carpenter and Harrison won four and three, respectively. Harrison broke the 1937 record of 197, which is still a record in women's billiards.
Jim Bakula's influence upon women's pro-billiards teams
Jim Bakula is a pioneer of women in billiards. His influence goes back to the 1980s. Bakula was the General manager of Brunswick's Billiard Division. He advocated for inclusion of women in all events. Later, he was elected president of the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) and appealed to them to support the WPBA with grant funding. The Women's Pro Billiard Tour was eventually created.
Future of the pro billiards tour
The future of pro billiard is uncertain. The PBT, a fringe professional sport, is looking for stability, and Don Mackey is one of the people attempting to help it get there. Camel cigarettes, the sponsor of PBT's 1996 Tour, was recently sued by Don Mackey. They later split and created their own tour.
It has been ten years since the first event, the Gulf Coast Women's Regional Billiard Tour, paid out $12,330 in prizes. Since then, the tour has added events to the Gulf Coast. Venues must have at minimum twenty tables. Many Texas-area rooms were left out of contention. However, the new tour was a good addition to both the game as well as the venues.