Additional Pros Not Attending US Open: ABP Asks to Secure Funds

The ABP would like to address some of the issues that have surfaced during the recent negotiations with Barry Behrman. We would have preferred to keep the negotiations private but some of the issues raised by Barry Behrman are somewhat misleading and need to be addressed.

First we need to address Mr. Behrman's statement that the players listed in the original press release had been "blindsided" and did not support the ABP's stance. To date,  only one ABP pro member has changed their mind and has requested that their name be deleted. In fact, Darren Appleton, the defending US Open 9-Ball champion, contrary to statements made by Mr. Behrman has indicated that he still supports our position. In addition,  more professional players have joined the ABP's initiative to not attend the US Open 9-Ball Championship in the effort to provide financial security for all players worldwide. Notable players to be added include Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, and BCA Open Champion Tony Robles of the USA . The updated complete list of names follows at the bottom of this release.

The ABP has made it clear for more than a year that it wanted Barry Behrman to make sure that he would be able to pay the players the promised prizes at the conclusion of The US Open Nine Ball Tournament. Last year, after repeated promises by Mr. Behrman that he would pay everyone on time, the ABP relented and attended the event. However, as  has happened in previous years, not all of the players were paid as promised. In fact, it was much later that the players were finally paid. In 2007,  Shane Van Boening did not receive all his prize money until seven months after his win; in 2008 and 2009 Mika Immonen did not receive all his money until nine months after his wins; in 2010 Darren Appleton did not receive all his money until three months after his win.

Since then, Mr.Behrman promoted another event in March of 2011, the Masters 10-Ball for  which he advertised a prize fund of $35,000 added. He reduced the added money by $5000,  just before the event. At the start of the first day, he further reduced the added money another $5000. After the event ended, Mr.Behrman failed to pay many of the top finishers, and till this day still owes a balance of $10,000 to Mika Immonen, the winner of the event.

This year, the ABP has been telling Barry Behrman from the beginning that he needed to put the guaranteed prize money in escrow so that the players could count on being paid. Initially, he refused to discuss the matter, hanging up on representatives of the Board.  Since he would not guarantee the prize money, the ABP released the press release that they would not attend the event unless the prize money was, in fact, guaranteed.

Since that time, there have been discussions between representatives of the ABP and Barry Behrman.

The ABP indicated that it needed the added money in escrow 30 days before the event, and the entry fees in escrow, as the fees were paid by entrants.

Mr. Behrman agreed to do two things.

1) Put the added money of $50,000.00 in escrow 30 days before the event; and

2) Put up, as collateral, his corporate papers and rights to the US Open 9 ball Tournament.

The ABP indicated that it needed the rest of the entry fees in escrow before the members would commit to taking part in the tournament.  The collateral of the US Open Corporate papers was not something that the players organization wanted.  The ABP is not an entity set up to run tournaments, but an organization set up to help protect the players. They would not be in a position to auction off Corporate papers, should it become necessary, to make sure that the winners were paid on time. It was suggested to Mr. Behrman that if the Corporate  papers had that much value, perhaps they could be used as collateral and a third party could guaranty the funds. Any default in the obligation would result in that third party obtaining the rights that Mr. Behrman was willing to pledge.

After the position of the ABP was communicated to Mr. Behrman, no further effort was made by Mr. Behrman to negotiate and he issued a press release that negotiations had come to an impasse.

The ABP would like to reiterate its position that all it really wants is to be sure that the players will be paid as promised at the event. Nothing that Mr. Behrman has offered ensures the payment. His past history in this and other events does not give players much faith in his statement that the players will be paid at the event. In the event that Mr. Behrman cannot raise the necessary funds, perhaps another organization can step in and bid on Mr. Behrman's corporate papers to allow him to raise the necessary funds.

The ABP members will need to make their travel arrangements at least a month in advance of the tournament and are hopeful that Mr. Behrman will be able to come up with a creative solution in order to meet his obligation. The ABP has set a deadline of September 15, 2011 for all added monies and entry fees to be collected by a third party approved by the ABP pro players.

 ABP Pro Players Not Attending the US Open 9-Ball

    Johnny Archer USA
    Mika Immonen FIN
    Darren Appleton ENG
    Niels Feijen NED
    Tony Robles USA
    Adam Smith USA
    Frankie Hernandez USA
    Efren Reyes PHI
    Francisco Bustamante PHI
    Darren Appleton ENG
    Shane Van Boening USA
    Rodney Morris USA
    Alex Pagulayan PHI
    Dennis Orcullo PHI
    Thorsten Hohmann GER
    Lee Van Corteza PHI
    John Schmidt USA
    Corey Deuel USA
    Huidji See NED
    Mike Sigel USA
    Buddy Hall USA
    CJ Wiley USA
    Tony Drago MLT
    Raj Hundal IND
    Karl Boyes ENG
    Imran Majid ENG
    Marcus Chamat SWE
    Roberto Gomez PHI
    Carlo Biado PHI
    Warren Kiamco PHI
    Antonio Lining PHI
    Jundel Mazon PHI
    Shawn Putnam USA
    Mike Davis USA
    Stevie Moore USA
    Oscar Dominguez USA
    Charlie Williams USA
    Dennis Hatch USA
    Jeremy Jones USA
    Allen Hopkins USA
    Scott Frost USA
    Ernesto Dominguez MEX
    Kim Davenport USA
    Robb Saez USA
    Tony Crosby USA
    Art Wiggins USA
    Tommy Najar USA