Ballbreakers

"Ballbreakers" was a pocket billiards (pool) game show that began on the Game Show Network on July 18, 2005. The hosts were Ewa Mataya Laurance, Sal Masekela and Adrianne Curry. GSN cancelled the show in 2006.

Play

The show featured four people who first auditioned for the show in both categories of personality and pool skill. They then played played games of nine ball against one another for bets. At the beginning of the show, each contestant was given US$5,000 for use in betting.

First round

During warm-ups, a player was selected for control of the table. He decided who to play against for the first game. The minimum bet in the first round was $1,000 per game. The first round continued until all players had played at least once, at which point the two players with the least money were pitted against one another in an elimination round.

ide betting

Any player with money was allowed to place a side bet on the current game (even one of the competing players). Anything could be bet on, e.g.: who would win, whether a particular ball would be made or missed, or whether one player would 'run out the table.' All side bets were in $500 increments, but the bettor was required to find a taker for a bet to be official.

Elimination round

The two players with the smallest bankrolls at the end of a round were forced to play one game to survive. Whoever had the smaller bankroll was of necessity all-in, and the opponent put in an equal amount. The winner of the game survived to move on to the next round, and collected winnings as usual. If the "all-in" player moved on, that meant some leftover money was in contention. The winner of the "Table Control" game collected all of this contended money.

econd round

In round two, minimum bets were $2,000, and the challenged player could not back down. The challenged player could either accept the stakes or raise. Side bets were still bottomed at $500, and the winner of the first game played against the other player in the round. After two games, the two low scorers played in the Elimination game as in round one.

Final round

In the final round, the two remaining players played for all of the money. The first three games were 'all-in' affairs; if the player with more money could win any of them, the show was over and the $20,000 won. If the round went three games with no player having all $20,000, the fourth game was played for all of the cash, regardless of each player's bankroll at that time.

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