To traffic in understatement, the sport of pool -- and let's be clear up front: it is a sport -- had struggled to capitalize on its popularity. Pool is played semi-regularly by 50 million Americans, making it a bigger participatory sport than golf. Yet, until lately anyway, thewinnerof a run-of-the-mill pro pool tournament might take home $7,500 and a top player might be lucky to make $50,000 a year in prize money. For perspective, the No. 100 player on the 2006 PGA Tour money list has already banked more than $500,000. Some of pool's problems are inherent. The sport has never translated particularly well to television -- too many lulls in the action; too hard to discern spin and ball configurations through cathode rays -- and broadcast rights fees are, of course, the lifeblood of contemporarysports.