The pro billiard tour consists of a series tournaments that include the world championships as well as major events. The tour hosted the first ever billiards tournament. But, by 2006, the tour had fallen into serious financial trouble, and was forced to cease hosting major events. In 2007, the tour revived itself by staging the IPT Ultimate 8-Ball.
Stauch's involvement at billiards
Shari Stauch, a professional pool player for twenty years, retired in 2004. Stauch, along with Harold Simonsen, helped to develop the billiards market by co-founding Pool & Billiard Magazine. She was named Sportsperson of the Year by the Women's Professional Billiard Association in 1995 and is a five-time WPBA President's Award winner. In 2007, she was inducted in the WPBA Hall of Fame.
Billiards has a long tradition. Players have included royalty, commoners, hustlers, and 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
The IPT Ultimate 8-Ball's first event was held in Los Angeles, California in June 2008. The original plan was to have a match between Alex Pagulayan of the Philippines and Karl Boyes of England. Pagulayan's manager approached the IPT to find an alternative player. Tony Robles was invited as a replacement for Pagulayan. Robles accepted the invitation to fly to L.A. that night. He defeated Karl Boyes and won in thrilling, close match. The prizes for both players were $5,000 and $1,000. Plus expenses.
The IPT Ultimate 8-Ball will be held worldwide in 2006 in five cities. The IPT will offer more than $8 million worth of prize money in 2006. The North American Open 8-Ball Championship will boast a record-breaking prize pool of $2 Million and a first-place award of $350,000.
Women's Professional Billiards Association
Women's Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) is a professional pool tour that caters to women. Founded in 1976 as the Women's Professional Billiard Alliance, the WPBA features competitive women's pool players. Its founders include Madelyn Whitlow, Palmer Byrd and Larry Miller.
WPBA was founded in Britain as a billiards club. It sponsored tournaments for both amateurs and professionals. In its early years, the association sponsored amateur competitions and junior contests. Joyce Gardner and Ruth Harrison were members of the association. Gardner won seven out of fourteen tournaments, while Carpenter won four and Harrison three, respectively. Harrison broke the record of 719 in 1937, which still stands as a record for women’s billiards.
Jim Bakula's influence over women's pro-billiards
Jim Bakula's influence on women in billiards goes back to the 1980s. While he was General Manager of Brunswick's Billiard Division, Bakula championed the inclusion of women's divisions in events. Later, he was elected president of the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) and appealed to them to support the WPBA with grant funding. This led eventually to the creation the Women's Pro Billiard Tour.
Future of the pro billiards tour
Pro billiard tours are in flux. Don Mackey, a fringe professional sports, is working to ensure stability for the PBT. He recently filed a federal lawsuit against Camel cigarettes, who had sponsored the PBT's 1996 tour, and later split with it 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. During this time, the tour added more events to the Gulf Coast area, requiring venues with at least twenty tables. This left many Texas-area rooms out of the running. However, the new tour was a good addition to both the game as well as the venues.