Mark Allen will play a nerve-shredding match for £156,500 on Friday evening – the biggest single-game incentive he has ever faced.
The current player of the season takes on Robert Milkins in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open in Llandudno at the Venue Cymru. World No 3 Allen, this year’s winner of the UK Championship, Northern Ireland Open and World Grand Prix, has a great shot at the huge BetVictor European series bonus of £150,000.
And if he beats Milkins he will leapfrog ‘clubhouse leader’ Ali Carter, end Milkins’ own hopes of the bumper prize and put himself out of reach of Leicester pro Joe O’Connor. Defeat though will see the prize as well as the extra £6,500 for reaching the semi-finals slip away and left to be fought out between Carter, Milkins and O’Connor.
This season Allen, 36, won the UK Championship first prize of £250,000 when the runner-up cheque was just £100,000 – a difference of £150,000. And he also recalled thoughts of the money slipping in at the 2018 Masters final where he beat Kyren Wilson – pocketing £200,000 instead of £90,000.
Allen has incredibly earned almost £540,000 before this tournament this season. And if he is left holding the trophy on Sunday that will rise to around £770,000. But former bankruptcy and strict controls on his income after self-admitted “past mistakes” mean that Allen these days does not get to see all of that money anyway.
Allen said: “It is weird when the amount in the background is almost double the first prize for the actual tournament itself. You can’t help but be aware of it but you just have to block it out as much as you can. If you think about it too much, you are taking your eye off the ball.
“I remember I had a chance before going to the Gibraltar Open and I was looking around me seeing how John Higgins was doing on the other table. And that’s no good for your own game. I am playing Rob Milkins and obviously he is someone else who could still win it ahead of myself and Ali Carter if he beats me. Don’t tell me how much this game is for – I don’t want to hear! Seriously, a difference between winning and losing of £156,000…it has only happened anywhere near that twice.
“In the UK Championship final this season, and when I won the Masters back five years ago. In that Masters I remember thinking at around 6-6 ‘there’s a difference of £110,000 here’. So it will be interesting to see how I handle it on Friday evening. It is one of the biggest matches of my life for that reason."
Allen, who beat Belgium's Luca Brecel in the last round, did insist that the result was his primary motivation though: “But first and foremost I want to win the title and add to my CV, and also to the list of titles that I have won this season," he added. "If I achieve that objective, happy days. And anything else would be an unbelievable bonus for my management company and stuff.
“Of course I was aware of it in the match against Luca Brecel on Thursday night because he was one of the rivals for the bonus. But you just have to try and do your job. I am here to try and win the Welsh Open and if I do that then everything else including the bonus takes care of itself."
And regardless, Allen explained he wouldn't be seeing all of the prize money if he does prevail: “Because of mistakes I have made in the past my finances are structured very strictly," he said. "Perhaps the amount I receive might be a bit negotiable if I keep earning on the table like I have this season. But that is out of my hands and in many ways that has taken a bit of pressure off me this season. I am guaranteed a certain income and I am not playing snooker for money.
“I will probably never reach the dizzy heights of having lots of money in the bank because of those past mistakes. But that has meant I am enjoying the game much more.”
