| Hosts | |
| Sal Masekela Ewa Mataya Laurance | |
| Referee/Ball Girl | |
| Adrianne Curry | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| SokoLobl Entertainment | |
"Tonight, there's $20,000 on the line and four pool hustlers is out to get it! All it takes is talent, focus, and plenty of guts! THIS IS BALLBREAKERS!"
Ballbreakers was a short-lived GSN original that featured four amateur pool players competing for $20,000.
Gameplay[]
The show featured four people who first auditioned for the show in both categories of personality and pool skill. They then played a series of games of 9-Ball against one another for bets. At the beginning of the show, the $20,000 prize was divided among each contestant (¼ or $5,000 for each player) for use in betting.
Round 1[]
During warm-ups, a player was selected for control of the table. He/She decided who to play against for the first game. The minimum bet in the first round was $1,000 per game. The 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.
Side 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.
Round 2[]
In Round 2, minimum bets were $2,000, and the challenged player could not back down; he/she had to 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. In this round, if no ball went into any hole on the "break" (the first shot of the game), the opponent would get "ball in hand" (the right to place the cue ball anywhere on the table). After two games, the two low scorers played in the Elimination game as in Round 1 unless someone went all-in & lost.
Elimination Round/Table Control Game[]
The two players with the smallest bankrolls at the end of each of the first two rounds 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 advanced to the next round, which started with a "Table Control" game, and collected winnings as usual. If the "all-in" player advanced, this meant some leftover money was in contention. The winner of the "Table Control" game collected all of this contended money.
Final Round[]
In this round, the final two players played up to four games for all the money. In this round, missing any shot (except the 9-Ball) gave the opponent ball-in-hand. 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 was won by that player. If the round went three games with no player having all $20,000, the final game was played for all the cash, regardless of each player's bankroll at that point.
Celebrity shows[]
For celebrity shows, the rules were altered. There were no eliminations throughout the competition (except in the final round). In Round 1, each player automatically risked $1,000 and no higher during each game, and side bets were limited to $500. In Round 2, betting was just like in Round 1 on regular shows (including the minimum bet of $1,000). The final round consisted of three sudden death games, with the player in 4th Place facing 3rd, the winner playing against 2nd Place, and finally, the winner of the second game playing against the 1st Place player. The winner received the $20,000 for his/her charity, while the losers each received $10,000 for their charities, and all four celebrities also received certificate redeemable for a Brunswick pool table for themselves.
Two celebrity shows were broadcast.
Rating[]
Press Photos[]
Links[]
YouTube Videos[]
Full Episode from 9/17/05