Prize money guarantee for tour players

https://wst.tv/tour-players-guaranteed- ... nitiative/

Seems good news.

Discuss.

SnookerFan wrote:https://wst.tv/tour-players-guaranteed-prize-money-under-new-wst-and-wpbsa-initiative/

Seems good news.

Discuss.

There are those on twitter saying its not enough money but I think its a decent start/safety net that not all equivalent sports will do.

A fair few on the tour won't earn that via prize money so may keep the wolf from the door for them.

Hendry and Jimmy will be happy.

Will it be enough to allow some of the foreign qualifiers who haven't turned up yet to give it a go?

So if you lose every game this season, or not even turn up to events, you’re guaranteed £20K.

Barry Hearn would turn in his grave.

SteveJJ wrote:

SnookerFan wrote:https://wst.tv/tour-players-guaranteed-prize-money-under-new-wst-and-wpbsa-initiative/

Seems good news.

Discuss.

There are those on twitter saying its not enough money but I think its a decent start/safety net that not all equivalent sports will do.

A fair few on the tour won't earn that via prize money so may keep the wolf from the door for them.

Hendry and Jimmy will be happy.

Will it be enough to allow some of the foreign qualifiers who haven't turned up yet to give it a go?

Some people are never happy. This is unequivocally a good thing.

You could argue that snooker would struggle to survive without this.

Players down the bottom, earning nothing would likely have to give up the game in this climate.

How could anybody come through?

a welcome development. if someone is able to qualify for tour they should be guaranteed to be able to earn a decent living from it.

just give ist round losers some money for each tournament.ist rd losers get money for the masters. champion of champions etc.there's brutal as hearn put it and there's just unfair.the likes of trump and o'sullivan can cope with ist rd defeats the lower ranked players can't.when you possibly have to get a second job to support your income there's something wrong with the sport your involved in.players should get at least enough to cover travel/hotel expenses etc.

It's very welcome and I'm delighted to see it.

I'd have included a caveat that players need to commit to playing (barring illness, visa issues etc.) but otherwise think it's much needed.

chengdufan wrote:I'd have included a caveat that players need to commit to playing (barring illness, visa issues etc.) but otherwise think it's much needed.

Yup, or need to hit a minimum quota of events at least. Seems silly (and unfair) that a Steve Mifsud type could sit at home all season, not play any events, yet still pick up £20K.

chengdufan wrote:It's very welcome and I'm delighted to see it.

I'd have included a caveat that players need to commit to playing (barring illness, visa issues etc.) but otherwise think it's much needed.

On Twitter, Mark Allen said - in between his predictable moaning about how it’s unfair to other players - that they need to play in every tournament to be eligible. Don’t know how true that is (or indeed if it affects players who have already skipped tournaments).

Great news.

I don't take any notice of Mark Allen when he calls wst tournaments ' bum tournaments ' and tweets ' you've got to laugh ' straight after the very decent player Farakh Ajaib beat him a few weeks ago.
Tbh he's only a tournament appendage anyway does anyone really give a hoot about him.
I'd just give the tour players the £20k without any need to enter a minimum number of events, same with the Q Tour I don't see why players should enter all 6 of those which amounts to £ 1800 entry fees for amateurs over a season, seems a bit prohibitive to me when they've got to pay for travel and accommodation as well.

1st half of the prize is set to be given this month and 95 out of the 130 players on the tour earn less than £10000 and are eligible. Allen, Selby, Higgins and Robertson should get a check....

The Likes of Jimmy, Ken and Stephen should not recieve anything they have not earned their place on tour as of right.


Im not a big fan of it at all it gives licence for players to earn £40,000 a tour card without doing anything, look At Reanne Evans she will never lose her spot on tour the way the Woman's Tour card works.

in 10 years she will make £200,000 without winning a frame.

Wildey wrote:The Likes of Jimmy, Ken and Stephen should not recieve anything they have not earned their place on tour as of right.


Im not a big fan of it at all it gives licence for players to earn £40,000 a tour card without doing anything, look At Reanne Evans she will never lose her spot on tour the way the Woman's Tour card works.

in 10 years she will make £200,000 without winning a frame.

You have to enter every ranking tournament to be eligible

I agree something needed to be done but you can get 20k for sitting in a chair a picking your nose all year. OK you could also do that in an office job or Tesco's but its not very rewarding.

But I guess nobody had any better ideas.

The_Abbott wrote:I agree something needed to be done but you can get 20k for sitting in a chair a picking your nose all year. OK you could also do that in an office job or Tesco's but its not very rewarding.

But I guess nobody had any better ideas.

Provide one

It’s great news. If you’ve earned your place on the tour, you deserve a safety net. If you’ve qualified by right, you should not face the risk of serious financial loss by giving it a go.

Iranu wrote:

The_Abbott wrote:I agree something needed to be done but you can get 20k for sitting in a chair a picking your nose all year. OK you could also do that in an office job or Tesco's but its not very rewarding.

But I guess nobody had any better ideas.

Provide one

A Trust fund that players can obtain and means tested so that the money goes to the right people, not to everyone.

Blackmailing people in to tournaments when they got other issues going on and cant enter everything players from Australia or China that just wants to spend time with Family after 2 years like happened with the pandemic.

Im all for helping players that start out if they have genuine case and Ambition to succeed but rewarding players that are Pros because they were Born in the right countries as a pose to the many English players we see in Q School that have the desire but the pool is too vast for all to make it because they were unfortunally to be Born with a English Passport.

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:

The_Abbott wrote:I agree something needed to be done but you can get 20k for sitting in a chair a picking your nose all year. OK you could also do that in an office job or Tesco's but its not very rewarding.

But I guess nobody had any better ideas.

Provide one

A Trust fund that players can obtain and means tested so that the money goes to the right people, not to everyone.

Blackmailing people in to tournaments when they got other issues going on and cant enter everything players from Australia or China that just wants to spend time with Family after 2 years like happened with the pandemic.

Im all for helping players that start out if they have genuine case and Ambition to succeed but rewarding players that are Pros because they were Born in the right countries as a pose to the many English players we see in Q School that have the desire but the pool is too vast for all to make it because they were unfortunally to be Born with a English Passport.

You've made some great points there. Maybe a 'minimum' number of tournaments might be better than forcing everyone to play everything if they want to qualify for this money. It would seem extremely harsh on someone who made a totally genuine effort to fulfil their card but missed one tournament due to whatever valid reason.

I think you're in the right ballpark with your third paragraph as well, but that's an issue with the qualification system rather than the safety net itself.

I don't know why they are so insistent on 1st round losers receiving nothing. Obviously this change is a good thing for lower ranked players but I still think it's embarrassing that a Professional tour has more than 128 Professional players this season, and only 64 get prize money at most tournaments.

Instead of a fixed amount, just give "prize money" to first round losers, for example half the amount that the first round winners receive.

If this was applied last season, we would have:

£250 ShootOut
£500 Championship League
£1,000 Gibraltar
£1,500 each for British, NI, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, European
£1,750 Turkey
£2,500 World Championships
£3,250 UK Championship

That would give £19,750 in total! Not too far off the intented amount.

Of course, the proviso would be entering and playing at a tournament, as not to guarentee an award for not showing up. It will also allow TopUp and Wild Card players the opportunity to cover their expenses.

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:

The_Abbott wrote:I agree something needed to be done but you can get 20k for sitting in a chair a picking your nose all year. OK you could also do that in an office job or Tesco's but its not very rewarding.

But I guess nobody had any better ideas.

Provide one

A Trust fund that players can obtain and means tested so that the money goes to the right people, not to everyone.

Blackmailing people in to tournaments when they got other issues going on and cant enter everything players from Australia or China that just wants to spend time with Family after 2 years like happened with the pandemic.

Im all for helping players that start out if they have genuine case and Ambition to succeed but rewarding players that are Pros because they were Born in the right countries as a pose to the many English players we see in Q School that have the desire but the pool is too vast for all to make it because they were unfortunally to be Born with a English Passport.

That’s a good idea actually.

I guess the main issue would be the means testing - it would take time to determine who’s eligible whereas this is an instant ‘solution’.

Presumably, legitimate tournament misses won’t discount players from the loan because that would be very harsh.

Minimum Break wrote:I don't know why they are so insistent on 1st round losers receiving nothing. Obviously this change is a good thing for lower ranked players but I still think it's embarrassing that a Professional tour has more than 128 Professional players this season, and only 64 get prize money at most tournaments.

This is the main crux. I’ve posted this before, but imagine taking on a new job - your employers say : “you’ll work five days out of seven, but you’ll only get paid for four of those days”.

Excuse me? There’s a word for that, and it isn’t complimentary

Iranu wrote:

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:

The_Abbott wrote:I agree something needed to be done but you can get 20k for sitting in a chair a picking your nose all year. OK you could also do that in an office job or Tesco's but its not very rewarding.

But I guess nobody had any better ideas.

Provide one

A Trust fund that players can obtain and means tested so that the money goes to the right people, not to everyone.

Blackmailing people in to tournaments when they got other issues going on and cant enter everything players from Australia or China that just wants to spend time with Family after 2 years like happened with the pandemic.

Im all for helping players that start out if they have genuine case and Ambition to succeed but rewarding players that are Pros because they were Born in the right countries as a pose to the many English players we see in Q School that have the desire but the pool is too vast for all to make it because they were unfortunally to be Born with a English Passport.

That’s a good idea actually.

I guess the main issue would be the means testing - it would take time to determine who’s eligible whereas this is an instant ‘solution’.

Presumably, legitimate tournament misses won’t discount players from the loan because that would be very harsh.

My point is some have the capability to make money in Exhibitions others has great bank balances i bet Jimmy can make that amount easily in exhibitions and public appearances even. What im also against the lkes of Itaro Santos earning a tour card and winning no match and picking up £40,000 yes it will encourage him to enter everything but the result would be the same he was rubbish

Personally I would prefer to pay 1st round losers, hopefully this initiative proves to be a stepping stone in that direction.

However, as the cost of that would exceed £1M it is unsurprising that WST/WPBSA have chosen a less expensive proposition.

The maximum cost of the WST/WPBSA guaranteed minimum as-is last season would have been £305000, reduced by whatever WST/WPBSA rules state for non-participation in tournaments. Accompanyting the WST postings of self-congratulation it would have been nice to have been transparently presented with the full details of the package.

If WST/WPBSA are to pursue this route then I would hope to see a modification such as, whilst £20000 stays a minimum guarantee, players retain the relative financial position for the season that they have acquired on the baize. Implementing the £20000 clawback less brutally would achieve that.

As example run the clawback from £0 to £40000 by retrieving £1 for every £2 earned up to £40000. If earning £0 (ex Reanne Evans) receive the full extra £20000. If earning £6000 (ex Jimmy White) receive extra £17000 instead of £14000. If earning £20000 (ex Louis Heathcote) receive extra £10000 instead of nothing. If earning £39000 (ex Lu Haotian) receive extra £500 instead of nothing. The maximum cost of implementing this last season would have been £675250.