The pro billiard tour is a series of tournaments, including the world championships and major events. The tour's first year saw it stage the largest billiards tournament in history. But, by 2006, the tour had fallen into serious financial trouble, and was forced to cease hosting major events. The IPT Ultimate 8 Ball was organized in 2007, and the tour resurrected itself.
Stauch's involvement in billiards
Shari Stauch was a professional pool player for 20 years before retiring in 2004. In addition to her playing career, Stauch helped develop the billiards industry by co-founding Pool & Billiard Magazine with Harold Simonsen. In 1995, she was named Sportsperson-of-the Year by Women's Professional Billiard Association. She is also a five time winner of the WPBA President's Award. In 2007, she was inducted into the WPBA Hall of Fame.
Billiards has a long history, with players ranging from royalty to commoners, hustlers to presidents. It was developed into the style we now know from the first time it was played in Northern Europe, in the 15th Century.
IPT Ultimate 8 Ball
In June 2008, Los Angeles hosted the first IPT Ultimate 8-Ball event. An original match was set up between Alex Pagulayan (Filipino player) and Karl Boyes (English player). Pagulayan’s manager called the IPT management to seek out an alternative player. As a result, Tony Robles was invited to fill in for Pagulayan. Robles accepted the invite and flew to L.A. in the middle of the night. In a thrilling match, Robles beat Karl Boyes to win the match. The prize money for each player was $5,000 and $1,000.
The IPT Ultimate 8-Ball, the world's largest pool tour, will be held across five cities in 2006. In 2006, the IPT will award more than $8,000,000 in prize money. The North American Open 8-Ball Championship's record-breaking prize fund will be $2 million. It will also offer a $350,000 first-place bonus.
Women's Professional Billiards Association
Women's Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) is a professional pool tour that caters to women. WPBA was established in 1976 by the Women's Professional Billiard Alliance. It features women pool players. Madelyn Whitlow (founder), Palmer Byrd (founder), and Larry Miller are its members.
The WPBA was originally a British billiards association. It sponsored tournaments for both amateurs and professionals. In its early years, it ran junior and amateur competitions. Joyce Gardner, Thelma Carver and Ruth Harrison were the members. Gardner won seven of the fourteen tournaments she entered, while Carpenter and Harrison won four and three, respectively. Harrison broke the record of 719 in 1937, which still stands as a record for women’s billiards.
Jim Bakula's influence upon women's pro-billiards teams
Jim Bakula's influence over women in billiards dates back to 1980. Bakula, the General Manager of Brunswick’s Billiard Division was a strong advocate for including women’s divisions in events. Later, Bakula was elected president to the Billiard Congress in America (BCA). In an appeal to them to provide grant funding for WPBA, he won. This led eventually to the creation the Women's Pro Billiard Tour.
Future of pro billiards tour
The future of pro billiard is uncertain. Don Mackey, a fringe professional sports, is working to ensure stability for the PBT. Camel cigarettes, which sponsored the PBT's 1996 touring, was sued by Mackey. It later split with Mackey and started its own tour.
It's been ten year since the inaugural event, the Gulf Coast Women's Regional Billiard Tour. The prize pool was $12,330. The tour has added additional events to the Gulf Coast and required venues with at most twenty tables. Unfortunately, many Texas-area venues were not eligible for the tour. However, the new tour was a good addition to both the game as well as the venues.