With the prize money on offer at the Champion of Champions, Stuart Bingham could be due a drink this week from certainly John Higgins and maybe also Ali Carter.
Bingham’s win at the Haining Open guaranteed Higgins a place at the Ricoh Arena and in an exclusive field of just 16, where the minimum he will earn is £5,000 even for finishing third or fourth in the initial group.
Finishing second in Coventry will be worth £10,000, winning the group £20,000, reaching the final £50,000 and lifting the trophy £100,000.
Bingham had already qualified on more than one count, but a win for his final opponent Oliver Lines would have knocked out Carter and left Higgins at risk of not making it, dependent on results in Chengdu at the International Championship.
Higgins and Bingham will both be in south-west China this week, when the favour could be called in at the bar.