W W W. B I L L I A R D S D I G E S T. C O M
JUNE 2011
$ 5.95
THE LEGACY OF JOHNSTON CITY Fif F Fifty iiffty years years later, later, R.A. R.A. Dyer Dyer examines examines the pool’s modern age. the birth th birth bi th of of p ool’ l’s m odern a ge.
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CONTENTS
Vol. 33, No. 7 J U N E
2 0 1 1
Features 30 THE LONE STAR Mike Dechaine plants himself among the nation’s upper echelon with an Ultimate victory. by Skip Maloney
PHILIPPINE OPEN: RAYA SPORTS
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32 THE VEGAS INVASION The APA National Singles Championship doles out $450,000 in eight divisions. by BD Staff
34 HAPPY BIRTHDAY Fifty years ago, the Jansco brothers organized a tournament in Johnston City that marked a new age for pool.
40
by R.A. Dyer
40 MANIC IN MANILA Hohmann ekes out his Philippine Open title, while Chen dominates the women’s field. by Ted Lerner
46 TOTAL ACCESS(ORIES) Check out the latest add-ons that could complete your game. by BD Staff
Columns
On the Cover
10 FROM THE PUBLISHER Pool’s Real “Shrine” Mike Panozzo
64 TIPS & SHAFTS
OK, so this photo was from a subsequent Johnston City event, but there’s still no denying that 1961’s tournament spelled the dawning of a new day in billiards.
With Apologies to Albert Morris George Fels
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CONTENTS
Vol. 33, No. 7
J U N E
2 0 1 1
Departments
BD
The Premier Billiards Magazine since 1978
FOUNDER
PUBLISHER
MORT LUBY JR.
MIKE PANOZ ZO
MANAGING EDITOR
NICHOL AS LEIDER
6 YESTERYEAR Mosconi survives a scary incident on the way to the golf course.
8 BD NEWS
ART DIRECTOR
JENNY BR ADLE Y PRODUCTION MANAGER
L AUR A VINCI
Viking Cue hopes to locate a buyer for remaining assets.
CONSULTING EDITOR
GEORGE F ELS
10 AD INDEX Your guide to BD’s advertisers.
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
ROBERT BYRNE MIK E SHAMOS
12 WINGSHOTS Wondering when pool will get mainstream exposure? “Poolball” can’t hurt. Also, check out You Make the Call and CueZilla.
SENIOR WRITER
MIK E GEF F NER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
15 STROKE OF GENIUS Semih Sayginer slices up a real piece of work against Sang Lee.
16 CALENDAR The rundown of events and tournaments all over the world.
50 TOURNAMENT SPECIAL: BEIJING OPEN Taiwan’s Chang, China’s Chen thrive under pressure.
DAVID ALCIATORE R. A . DYER JAY HELF ERT BOB JE WE T T SK IP MALONE Y TED LERNER L ARRY SCHWART Z ANDY SEG AL NICK VARNER MARK WILSON N AT ION A L A DV E R T ISING RE P.
CARL A BONNER
52 CHRONICLES by Mike Shamos The poolhall can’t escape its reputation as a dangerous place.
PRESIDENT KEITH HAMILTON
56 TOURNAMENTS Mitch Ellerman torched a talented field at the 2011 debut of the Seminole Pro Tour; Ouschan dominates the Euros — again.
BUSINESS MANAGER
ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATE
NANCY DUDZINSK I
QUIAN A MAYS
60 TOUR SPOTTING Kim Jones looks to combine her business and billiards ventures, while Jared McGee tastes victory at a strom-battered GSBT stop.
63 MARKETPLACE Check out some great offers. LUBY PUBLISHING INC.
Practice Table Instruction 18 Quick Hits: Robles removes the fear behind the rail shot. 20 22 24 26 28
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Plus, Straight Talk and Jeremy Jones is put On the Spot. Nick Varner • Strategies Larry Schwartz • Solids & Stripes David Alciatore • Illustrated Principles Bob Jewett • Tech Talk Andy Segal • Trick Shots BILLIARDS DIGEST
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122 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 1506 Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 341-1110 FA X : (312) 341-1469 w w w.billiardsdigest.com email @ billiardsdigest.com BILLIARDS DIGEST (ISSN 0164-761X) is published monthly by Luby Publishing, Inc., 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1506, Chicago, IL 60603 USA. Telephone 312-341-1110, Fax 312-341-1469. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and additional offices. SUBSCRIPTION RATES in the U.S. and possessions, one year (12 issues) for $48; two years, $80; three years, $115. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Send new as well as old address. If possible, furnish label from recent issue. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Billiards Digest, 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1506, Chicago, IL 60603.
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YESTERYEAR
Willie’s Rough Day + 10 YEARS AGO +
+ 20 YEARS AGO +
Allison Fisher’s five-year run atop the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s rankings ended when Karen Corr topped her at the 2001 Carolina Classic. Corr’s run to No. 1 began months before, when she won the year’s first two events. Jeanette Lee then ended the Corr-Fisher title streak at eight consecutive events, leaving Corr within striking distance of the top spot. In Fisher’s backyard of Charlotte, N.C., Corr cruised to an easy 7-3 win in the championship match to overtake the Duchess of Doom. After playing with Schon Cues for a number of years, Johnny Archer joined with CueStix International to launch Scorpion Cues.
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Earl Strickland didn’t do anything new in 1991 when he won the WPA World Championship title. He’d already taken the crown the year before. But what was groundbreaking about the Pearl’s romp to victory was that his mug ended up on ESPN’s SportCenter. Up 7-4 in the race to 9, he faced a tough spot, thanks to a safety from opponent Nick Varner. Strickland kicked the cue ball off two rails and into the 4, which then made a beeline for the 9 ball on the opposite side of the table. As the 9 fell into the corner, Strickland unleashed a celebratory dance with plenty of fistpumping that was chosen as an ESPN Play of the Week (see the clip at www. billiardsdigest.com/new_strokeofgenius).
AFTER BEING KNOCKED TO THE GROUND, MOSCONI WATCHED TWO MEN DRIVE OFF IN HIS CADILLAC.
+ 30 YEARS AGO + Three decades ago, on his way to the local golf course for a relaxing day on the links, Willie Mosconi faced bigger problems than any offered by a lateral hazard. The legend, then 68, was mugged as he got out of his car. Two assailants knocked the 15-time world champion to the ground, before they made off with $300, Mosconi’s golf clubs and shoes, and his 1979 Cadillac. Mosconi was not injured in the incident. Just 13 years old at the time, JoAnn Mason captured the Women’s Professional Pool Players Association’s Amateur National Championship. Trailing 5-3 to Terry Besch in the race-to-7 final, Mason claimed the next four racks for the win.
June 2011
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Breaking
News
VIKING SEEKS BUYER
Wisconsin cuemaker looks to sell assets; Taiwan’s Wu to represent China.
Madison, Wis.
MORE THAN seven months after news of Viking Cue’s demise began swirling around the industry, a buyer for the Madison, Wis.-based company’s name and assets still has not emerged. In March, Erik Eidem, a senior director with Corporate Financial Advisors, a Milwaukee-based firm representing Viking Cue, corresponded with several manufacturers and industry leaders in an attempt to find a buyer. “We are currently in the process of selling the assets of Viking, and are seeking buyers for any or all of the following assets,” he wrote, listing the Viking brand name, related trademarks, machinery, equipment and inventory of cue blanks. When reached by phone in late April, however, Eidem had “no comment” on the sale and refused to indicate whether or not negotiations were taking place with potential buyers. Similarly, Viking Cue execs have not responded to e-mail queries and the company’s phone number has been disconnected for months. News that Viking was going out of business first surfaced last November, when Viking’s founder, Gordon Hart, confirmed that he had stopped cue production while he negotiated a sale of the company. When the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contacted him to ask about the company, he only said, “It’s nobody’s business other than that we’re shut down right now and in the process of selling.” Although dealers haven’t been able to reach Viking personnel since then, the company’s website (www.vikingcue. com) is still live. Hart, who started making two-piece cues in the 1960s in the basement of his Stoughton, Wis., poolroom, initially sold his cues at tournaments. He incorporated Viking in 1965, and by the end of the decade, the cue business was so successful that he sold his poolroom and moved the cue manufacturing operation to its current location in Madison. Sales soared in 1986 when ”The Color of Money” was released, starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. And by the mid-1990s, Viking hired a sales staff to handle the needs of their constantly growing list of distributors and dealers throughout the world. In 1994, Hart was honored with the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Cuemakers Association. In the 2000s, Barry became active in the Billiard Congress of America, serving on its board
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of directors. Since the quality of import cues has improved, madein-America companies like Viking have come under increasing financial pressures, even before the recession. Although players and industry observers readily admit that Viking made some of the best cues on the market, they often sold for at least twice as much as comparable imports. — Alan Sanderfoot
WU CHIA-CHING HEADED TO CHINA? Taipei, Taiwan
THANKS TO an ongoing feud with pool officials in his home country of Taiwan, two-time world champion Wu Chia-Ching has been conspicuously absent from international competition for more than two full years. But that sabbatical is now over. On April 20, Taiwan’s Sports Affairs Council announced that Wu plans to accept Chinese citizenship, allowing him to play under China in international competition, which he did at April’s Beijing Open and May’s World 10-Ball Championship in Manila. At the prospect of giving up his Taiwanese citizenship, Wu said it was understandable that the decision would be controversial, but that it was made to further career. “I am a pool player,” Wu, 22, told Taiwan’s Central News Agency. “If I let go of my cues, I am nothing. What I need is a stage on which to compete.” The row between Taiwanese officials and the young star dates back to 2009, when Wu, who won both the 9-ball and 8-ball world titles in 2005 at the age of 16, considered a lucrative offer from Singapore’s pool association. But that deal eventual fell apart, and he began looking elsewhere. While Wu is currently competing under the Chinese flag, Taiwan’s Sports Affairs Council is exploring what action, if any, can be taken in response. “[Wu’s] action could have violated regulations in Taiwan, given the complicated cross-strait situation,” the council said in a statement. Wu is currently living in Shenzhen in southern China, while coaching Beijing Open champion Chen Siming. (Look for an update on the Wu Chia-Ching story in next month’s issue, as BD reports from the World 10-Ball Championship in Manila.)
June 2011
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From the Publisher
ADVERTISER
OH, TO BE OLD AGAIN!
INDEX COMPANY
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WWW.TIGERPRODUCTS.COM TWEETEN FIBRE
Mike Panozzo
11
’M ALWAYS hesitant to bring up “the old days” because it just plain makes me feel, well, old! But I’ve now found a loophole! I find that if I discuss “old days” that preceded my grown-up job days, I actually feel younger! (Try it sometime.) Which brings me to Johnston City, the legacy of which is wonderfully chronicled this month by R.A. Dyer. The dusty hamlet in southern Illinois was, for a decade, the epicenter of the pool universe, thanks to the brothers Jansco, who loved both pool and action. George and Paulie owned a roadhouse called the J&J Ranch, and also a members-only poolroom, the Cue Club. In 1961, at the urging of a few pool-hustling acquaintances, they hosted the first “World’s Billiard Tournament,” which featured one-pocket and drew only 14 competitors. By most standards, a 10-day, 14-player one-pocket event wouldn’t justify much attention. Luckily for the Janscos (and pool!), a young sports columnist from the Evansville Courier and Express saw beyond “most standards.” Tom Fox, young and curious and always interested in a good story, barreled over to the Cue Club to check out the Janscos’ first event. As Dyer rightfully notes, the young writer paid little attention to match results. He was, instead, fascinated by the characters who lit up the tiny, dark poolroom with braggadocio, wit, street smarts and daring. Fox then did something for which not enough credit has ever been given. He packed his encounters and observations into a nice little feature story and pitched the story, “Hustlers’ Holiday in the Lion’s Den,” to Sports Illustrated. The timing was absolutely perfect. The movie “The Hustler” had been released exactly one month before the Janscos’ first tournament began. The film, depicting the dark side of pool with its gambling and hustlers, was fresh in the public’s mind.
I
And Fox’s classic piece in SI set the New York media machine into high gear. For the next half-dozen years, television crews and storytellers from around the country descended on Johnston City like locust, and all the hustlers showed up for their cameos. Legends were made…Fats switched his identity from “New York” to “Minnesota,” Ronnie Allen became “Fast Eddie” and Danny Jones became “Handsome.” ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” aired the final matches. I never had a chance to witness the annual month-long “Hustler’s Jamboree,” as the event came to be known. That was before my time. (See that? I feel younger already!) But I never tire of the stories that came out of those events. Fox went on to write numerous profiles from Johnston City for Bowlers Journal and Billiard Revue, the precursor to Billiards Digest. He was a great storyteller, and no one brought the characters of that era to life like he did. I envy Fox and my old boss, Mort Luby, Jr. They used to spend weeks in Johnston City watching the action, but mostly following the players in and out of the tournament arena. Al Miller, Tommy Cosmo, “Cornbread Red,” Fatty, Allen, “Weenie Beenie,” “Shorty,” Jones, Tugboat Whaley… You can’t make up people like that. Mort always told me the best stuff he got was following the players around the golf course the Janscos carved into the countryside around the Cue Club. They’d tell tales and skewer one another with barbs for hours on end. Mort used to come back to the office with several spiral notebooks filled with stories and quotes, enough material to keep the magazine’s editorial well filled for almost a year. When I first started with Billiards Digest, I spent all my free time poring over those old issues from the ’60s. What a great era. Darn! I wish I was older!
WWW.TWEETEN.US
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+ QUOTABLE+
“When I was down, 8-5, I just had to wake up. It’s like it was meant to be.” THORSTEN HOHMANN, ON HIS 9-8 VICTORY OVER LIU HAITAO AT THE PHILIPPINE OPEN (PG. 40).
Dear
Jeanette
THE KICKING GAME
‘Poolball,’ a marketing lark from Budweiser, captures our attention.
HEN IT comes to rabid pool fans, the Argentineans aren’t exactly confused with the residents of, say, Manila. Regardless, our friends south of the Equator have come up with an interesting take on our sport. Thanks to Ogilvy Argentina’s recent marketing campaign for Budweiser Beer, “poolball” is the latest craze to hit the Buenos Aires bar scene. Equal parts soccer and billiards, the game — which was created as a way of uniting the day-time activity of soccer with the night-time activity of socializing — features two teams of two players on a massive 23by-10-foot playing surface. (It stops being a pool table when you’re standing on it, right?) The rack consists of 16 soccer balls that have been painted to resemble corresponding billiard balls. But instead of using baseball bats or cricket paddles for cues, the players kick the white cue ball around the table. Besides the slight variation in playing equipment, the standard rules for 8-ball apply. So for all you pool fans searching for that “Alice in Wonderland” moment, where you’re staring at an oversized stretch of cloth in front of a bank on the winning 8 ball, this is your sport. With the current trend of American bar owners ridding themselves of pool tables because of the spatial requirements, it’s not likely you’ll see a poolball court at Bob’s Country Bunker anytime soon. But the advertising campaign has garnered an impressive amount of attention on the Internet, which at least exposes viewers to something related to the
(Q)
There are a couple of guys at my poolhall that give me a hard time, I think because I’m a girl. When did you feel like everyone respected you and your game? Becca D.; Dallas, Texas
W
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THE BLACK WIDOW ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT POOL LIFE, LOVE AND ETIQUETTE.
(A)
cue sports. And poolball is being played at a number of clubs throughout Buenos Aires, so there’s at least a chance the craze could spread to your local watering hole. Just make sure you leave your giant brick of chalk at home.
When the guys give you a hard time, it just means they like you! Don’t let it bother you. I know that it didn’t take long before I got the respect of the guys around me because I worked so hard on my game. There was no stopping me. I worked on every kind of shot, I worked on my mental game, I was in that room every minute I could, just absorbing everything I could. Who can resisting respecting that level of dedication? I personally found being a woman to be an advantage, because they often didn’t take me seriously enough and it gave me an edge to beat them. I also found that men were more likely to help me and answer my questions in a very competitive “man’s world” — and I was never too proud to ask for advice. Honestly, just focus less on what they think and more on what you want to accomplish. It will all work out in the end. A positive attitude will take you very far.
WRITE JEANETTE AT BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM
June 2011
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numbers
BD IN BRIEF U.S. BAR TABLES ON THE MOVE The U.S. Bar Table Championships, the annual multi-discipline event produced and promoted by CueSports International, is on the move — but its new home is not entirely unfamiliar. The 2010 USBTC, set for Feb. 12-19, will be held at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nev., which last hosted the tournament in 1996. After spending recent years at the Sands Regency, the U.S. Bar Table event, which has steadily grown into one of the nation’s larger tournaments in its 19 year run, will have plenty of room to expand in its new digs. The Grand Sierra offers the CSI team as much as 40,000 square feet of space, as opposed to the Sands Regency’s 8,000. Players and spectators will also have plenty of entertainment options at the
# G A M E #
new host location. The Grand Sierra boasts 11 restaurants and seven bars. Additionally, the resort has an 18-hole miniature golf course, an indoor virtual golf course, a driving range, 50-lane bowling alley and full-size movie theatre. For more information, call (702) 7197665 or visit www.playcsipool.com.
SEMINOLE PRO TOUR’S NEW WEBSITE Considering the growth the Seminole Pro Tour has seen in the past few seasons, a new website is only fitting. The now-nation-wide tour (which kicked off its 2011 season in Mountain View, Calif., in May, see pg. 56) has a newly restyled virtual home. Check out www.seminoleprotour.com for exclusive tour-related content including photos, rankings and news updates.
50
Years since the Jansco brothers put on their first pool tournament in Johnston City, Illinois (pg. 34).
3
Consecutive hill-hill sets won by Thorsten Hohmann enroute to the Philippine Open title (pg. 40).
13
Accessories in this month’s showcase of the little things that can complete your game (pg. 46).
YOU MAKE THE CALL: SETTLING IN With Mike Shamos
QUESTION: You’re the referee in a tournament game of 8-ball under World Standardized Rules. You have just declared the 13, 10 and 3 balls frozen to the rail. Player A, who has stripes, realizes that if he plays softly off the left side of the 10, there won’t be enough room between the 13 and 10 for his cue ball to hit the cushion. Instead, he makes use of the fact that a small valley has been worn in the cloth near the rail. He hits the 10 full, but very softly. The 10 leaves the rail and then plops back in to the rail as it hits the ridge of the valley. His opponent, Player B complains: “No rail. It has to hit another ball before coming back to the same rail. I get ball in hand.” What’s your ruling? ANSWER: Under World Standardized Rule 8.4, it’s a good hit: “A ball touching at the start of a shot (said to be ‘frozen’ to the rail) is not considered driven to that rail unless it leaves the rail and returns.” The 10 left and returned, which is all that is needed. It’s different in the BCA Pool League. Its rule 1.9.2, which I like better, says that if an object ball “is declared frozen to a cushion at the beginning of the shot, then that ball must leave the cushion it is frozen to and then: (a) contact a cushion other than the one to which it was frozen, or; (b) contact another ball before it contacts the cushion to which it was frozen.” Since neither of those things happened, the shot would be a foul in the BCAPL. June 2011
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CUE CRITIQUE: CRAIG PETERSEN Almost two decades old, this eight-point cue is highly collectible. this cue is how it takes a traditional element like the diamond and mixes it with more modern inlay shapes. It’s the sort of cue that bridges eras — in a good way. Monster.
Craig Petersen was a journeyman Chicago-area cuemaker whose work spanned from the early 1960s through 1992. Petersen was able to produce tight tolerances using rudimentary equipment. He was a perfectionist ahead of his time, evidenced by his sharp, even point work, perfect inlay and ring alignment, and his treatment of wraps and shafts. This cue is an ebony and ivory eight-point Ginacue-inspired design that Petersen built in the early 1990s, shortly before his untimely death at the age of 46.
DICK ABBOTT: This gorgeous example from Petersen is an example of cuemaking at its highest level. I especially like the look of the eight ebony prongs without veneers; they create a clean look that doesn’t overpower the ivory inlays. The inlay pattern is very tasteful and not overdone. Any knowledgeable cue collector should desire this cue as an addition to their collection. A cue absolutely deserving of monster status. JIM BRENNAN: I love the butt design and it’s uniqueness. The points have a Ginacue feel to me, but they work well with the overall simplistic design. The execution looks flawless, and the fact that this cue is so collectible puts it over the top for me. I vote monster. CONCLUSION: Monster.
DENO ANDREWS: Petersen produced so few cues in his career that I fear he won’t be remembered as well as some of his contemporaries who were more prolific. This particular example displays a refined elegance rarely seen on cues from the early 1990s. The work is clean and balanced. What I like most about
POOL ON TV
All times EST; check local listings
CueZilla.com offers expert critique of custom cues from the perspectives of the cuemaker, historian, collector and dealer. The goal is to determine whether or not a cue is a “monster.” Visit CueZilla.com to read reviews and join the discussion.
JUNE FOR COMPLETE LISTINGS, SEE THE TV SCHEDULE AT WWW.BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM
AT PRESS TIME, ESPN HAS NO BILLIARD-RELATED PROGRAMMING FOR JUNE (Any updates, if made, can be found at www.BilliardsDigest.com)
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9-BALL’S NEW INTERPRETATION Accu-Stats founder Pat Fleming has introduced a new set of rules that are bent on bringing viewers to the game. Not so much intended for international tournament competition, the modifications, which will be used in m the t Simonis Arena at Accu-Stats’ studio d in Clifton, N.J., are aimed at maximizing the drama of every match. i The updates include: Mandatory Push-Out: The player who is at the table after the break shot must push out or force his opponent to push out. This assures that both players are involved in every rack. (In case of a scratch, the incoming player has ball in hand.) Optional Push-Out: If a player can’t “see” the object ball at the start of a turn, he may push out (unless it is the result of a push-out). Fleming’s though process? “The game is lacking great shots. A player will think twice before playing a snooker, knowing that he may be looking at a push out. He may shoot that tough shot which may now yield better results. “It also eliminates unforeseen snookers where the incoming player suffers.” Sudden Sudden Death: In a race to 11, if the score is tied at seven, eight, nine or 10, the ensuing rack will determine the winner. After 14 racks are played, with both players at the table in each game, each has had opportunities to win. So why not increase the number of hill-hill racks? No call shot: While many pros may prefer to call every ball, the result is a restriction on two-way shots, some that are incredibly creative and brilliant. No Jump Cues, No Extensions: Ironic coming from Fleming, who was an early pioneer in the field of jump cues, but your playing cue is all you’ve got (well, that and the mechanical bridge). Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Share your thoughts on the new set of rules from Accu-Stats with us at the Billiards Digest Facebook page or by e-mailing nickl@billiardsdigest.com.
June 2011
5/11/11 10:48:05 AM
STROKE OF GENIUS Recounting the greatest shots in pool history V i de o pr ov i de d by Ac c u - S t at s
PLAYER: Semih Sayginer EVENT: Sang Lee Open DATE: May 14, 1994
Y THE time Semih Sayginer made his way to the 1994 Sang Lee Open in Elmhurst, N.Y., the 30-year-old Turk was well-known to three-cushion aficionados as a dynamic shot-maker who rocketed from nowhere to the top of the sport in just two years. But with a creative brilliance and a showman’s personality, Sayginer electrified hardened billiard fans when he battled Lee in the opening match of the tournament. At the time, BD resident threecushion expert Robert Byrne commented that Sayginer’s only weakness appeared to be an “occasional impatience and perhaps too great a fondness for shots he knows will electrify the grandstand.” Maybe not great for his game, this proclivity is exactly what Stroke of Genius is all about. On his way to blistering the event’s
B
Spy Sayginer doubling the rail at BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM
host, 60-26, in just 18 innings (then a U.S. record), Sayginer unleashed this tricky force-follow shot that left Lee laughing in disbelief. With the yellow just a ball’s width off the rail, Sayginer loaded up on follow with a touch of left English. He drilled the cue ball with a short, rather punchy stroke, sending the yellow rattling around the top of the table. The cue ball obeyed the Turkish Prince’s command, doubling the long rail before spinning off the short rail on its way toward the red near mid-table. Just missing the yellow on its way across the table for the fourth time, the cue ball just barely glanced off the left side of the red before coming to a stop on the short rail on the other side of the table. Unfortunately for Lee, Sayginer turned in another brilliant performance in the next round, as he won a 50-32 match that finished in just 14 innings — as the two paired for an eye-popping combined average of 5.857.
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BILLIARDS DIGEST
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CALENDAR APA
INDEPENDENT EVENTS
Drexeline Billiards
Fiddlestix Billiards
APA National Team Championships
Maryland State 14.1 Open
July 24 Drexel Hill, Pa. (610) 259-9144
Aug. 19-21 Canton, Ohio www.semprotour.com
MIDWEST 9-BALL TOUR
Steve Mizerak Championship
Magoo’s
Strokers II Billiards Sept. 16-18 Tampa, Fla. www.semprotour.com
July 23-24 Big Daddy’s Billiards Glen Burnie, Md. (410) 760-1332
Aug. 18-27 Riviera Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nev. www.poolplayers.com
INDUSTRY EVENTS
APA
BCA Billiard & Home Recreation Expo
APA National Team Championships
July 13-15 Sands Expo Convention Center Las Vegas, Nev. www.bcaexpo.com
Aug. 18-27 Riviera Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nev. www.poolplayers.com
Int’l Pool-Spa-Patio Expo
BAY AREA AMATEUR TOUR The Corner Pocket July 23 Largo, Fla. (727) 330-7822
BILL. CONGRESS OF WIS. The Brass Ring June 11-12 Madison, Wis. (608) 256-9359
DESERT CLASSIC TOUR Kolby’s Corner Pocket June 18-19 Tempe, Ariz. (480) 829-7344
Bullshooters July 9-10 Phoenix, Ariz. (602) 441-2447
DISHAW CNY TOUR Kory’s Pool Room June 25-26 Syracuse, N.Y. (315) 488-4888
EUROTOUR Dynamic Nine Austria Open July 7-9 Sankt Johann, Austria www.eurotouronline.eu
Dynamic Nine German Open Aug. 25-27 Brandenburg, Germany www.eurotouronline.eu
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Oct. 30-Nov. 4 Mandalay Bay Convention Center Las Vegas, Nev. www.poolspapatio.com
June 11-12 Tulsa, Okla. (918) 663-3364
Shooters July 7-11 Olathe, Kan. (913) 780-5740
NWPA Malarkey’s
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
June 11-12 Tacoma, Wash. www.nwpatour.com
China Open
Black Diamond Billiards
June 6-12 Shanghai, China www.wpa-pool.com
JOSS NORTHEAST TOUR Bison Billiards June 4-5 Williamsville, N.Y. (716) 632-0281
Snookers Billiards June 11-12 Providence, R.I. (401) 351-7665
Turning Stone Classic XVII Turning Stone Casino Sept. 8-11 Verona, N.Y. (800) 771-7711
LONE STAR TOUR Crazy 8’s Pool Hall June 11 Port Arthur, Texas www.lonestarbilliardstour.com
The Grand June 25 Austin, Texas www.lonestarbilliardstour.com
Big Wig’s Billiards Aug. 13-14 Newmarket, Ontario (905) 868-9500
OB CUES LADIES 9-BALL
June 11-12 Brooklyn, N.Y. (718) 714-1002
Billiard Den June 11-12 Richardson, Tex. (972) 792-7665
PLANET POOL TOUR Top Hat Cue Club July 16-17 Parkville, Md. www.planetpooltour.com
Drexeline Billiard Club Sept. 17-18 Drexel Hill, Pa. www.planetpooltour.com
PREDATOR 9-BALL Raxx Pool Room June 4-5 West Hempstead, N.Y. (516) 538-9896
Amsterdam Billiard Club June 18-19 New York, N.Y. (212) 995-0333
Park Billiards
Q-Stix Billiards
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Eger City, Hungary www.eurotouronline.eu
July 9 Houston, Texas www.lonestarbilliardstour.com
GSBT
MEZZ PRO-AM TOUR
Classic Billiards
Rockaway Billiards
June 11-12 Conyers, Ga. (770) 679-5278
June 12 Rockaway, N.J. (973) 625-5777
July 8-10 Spring Hill, Fla. www.semprotour.com
Michael’s Billiards
Raxx Pool Room
Snookers Billiards
June 18-19 Fairfield, Ohio (513) 860-0044
July 10 West Hempstead, N.Y. (516) 538-9896
Aug. 5-7 Providence, R.I. www.semprotour.com
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July 16-17 Newmarket, Ontario (905) 868-9500
TRI-STATE TOUR
Dynamic Nine Hungary Open
BILLIARDS DIGEST
Big Wig’s Billiards
July 9-10 Spokane, Wash. www.nwpatour.com
Men’s World 9-Ball Champ. June 25-Aug. 4 www.wpa-pool.com
TIGER CANADIAN WOMEN’S
July 23-24 Bronx, N.Y. (718) 829-3051
SEMINOLE PRO TOUR Capone’s Billiards
Gotham City Billiards
Sandcastle Billiards June 18 Edison, N.J. (732) 632-9277
Amsterdam Billiards June 25-26 New York, NY (212) 496-8180
USBA Tacoma Elks Aug. 19-21 Tacoma, Wash. www.usba.net
VALLEY NAT’L EIGHT BALL VNEA International Championships June 1-4 Bally’s Las Vegas, Nev. www.vnea.com
WPBA CLASSIC TOUR WPBA U.S. Open June 16-19 River Spirit Casino Tulsa, Okla. www.wpba.com
WPBA Tour Championship Nov. 10-13 Chinook Winds Casino & Resort Lincoln City, Ore. www.wpba.com
June 2011
5/9/11 2:12:04 PM
IN I NSST TRRUUCCT TI O I ONNAAL LSS
Practice Table
HOW DO YOU AIM? THE TEXAS TORNADO SIGHTS ALONG HER CUE (PG. 24).
INSIDE
22 SOLIDS & STRIPES +
26 TECH TALK +
If you want to avoid a scratch, try practicing the opposite. By LARRY SCHWARTZ
Get a new perspective on the game by looking at pool in 4D. By BOB JEWETT
20 STRATEGIES +
24 ILLUSTRATED PRINCIPLES +
24 TRICK SHOTS +
Keep your eyes open for caroms. By NICK VARNER
Closely examining how we aim. By DAVID ALCIATORE
18 QUICK HITS + Bite-sized bits to upgrade your game. By BD STAFF
You can do great things with a cue ball and plenty of follow. By ANDY SEGAL
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INSTRUCTIONALS
Bite-sized bits of top-notch instruction
BD HOUSE PRO: TONY ROBLES
OpeningShot Q)
I’ve heard that an open bridge is preferable over a closed. What is the easiest way to know when it’s OK to close my bridge? Amanda H.; Des Moines, Iowa
A)
When I first began, the common perception was that you had to use a closed bridge or you would not become a good player. And because I witnessed the better players do so, I concluded that this must be true. The closed bridge will provide some remedy for a slightly crude or jerky stroke by minimizing the lateral tip motion caused from a quick or abrupt transition from the backswing into the foreswing. This transition holds the key to great play and is seldom highlighted in discussions about stroke technique. The timing of this transition separates the good player’s rate of consistency from the average player — and a closed bridge will help. However, this bridge must be snugger around the shaft than most suspect, since a loose closed bridge (with enough space to see through it) is really the same as an open bridge. Such a bridge is OK if your transition into your foreswing is like all of the great snooker players who always use open bridge. But for those of us who falter with our stroke, using a closed bridge for power shots will help provide some extra accuracy.
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UKNOWN NO MORE LAWRENCE LUSTIG
with Mark Wilson
to move the object ball — first to the NE REASON playright, then to the left. Create an angle ers struggle with so you can get a feel for cutting the ball a particular shot to the corner pocket. is because they are, When cueing the ball off the rail, it’s entering, as I call it, important to remember a few things. “the land of the unFirst, the rail prevents you from keepknown.” When you’re ing your cue totally level, so you have up against an unfamilto hit at an angle. Because this can be iar situation, you’re likely to miss beuncomfortable, players have a tendency cause you can’t trust your fundamento bring the cue back at one angle and tals and your stroke. then stroke forward at another. Keep it This month, I want to discuss shots consistent. where the cue ball is frozen to a rail — Secondly, never use English when a situation that can be terrifying for you’re in this spot. The shot is difficult developing players. But with a little enough, so stick to hitting the ball on practice, you shouldn’t have any reaits vertical axis. son to fear. Once you get a hang of the shot into Back when I was practicing 12 hours the corner pocket, try the shot in Figa day, seven days a week, I had a coach ure 2. It’s the same setup, only now show me this exercise. It is really built your going from that first diamond a foundation for me, to the point where to the side pocket. You’ll be surprised I would go months without missing a how quickly you’ll get a feel for these shot with the cue ball up against a rail. shots. As you can see in Figure 1, freeze the cue ball to the long rail against the first diamond from the corner pocket. Now, in a direct line to the opposite corner pocket, place an object ball about a foot from the cue ball. Drill this shot until you feel like you can’t miss. When you’re able Fig. 1 Fig. 2 to make it multiple times in a row, start
O
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Drill Bits-
DUCK & COVER + WHY DO IT +
It won’t be long before you’ve got to hide the cue ball, so get to work.
Shot A
+ HOW TO DO IT +
Set up these two shots with the goal of leaving the cue ball as close to the 7 ball as possible. As you master a shot from a particular spot, make it more difficult by moving the appropriate ball (the 1 ball in Shot A, the cue ball in Shot B) as shown. [Bob Jewett]
Shot B
YOU THINK it’s tough to be a pro pool player? Well, it is — but it’s still better than what these legends did for their first jobs: • When Danny DiLiberto turned 16, he went to work in a factory applying tar paper to the backs of wood roofing shingles; • Earl Strickland labored away at the Oxring Chemical Company in Houston; • Steve Mizerak, before becoming a history teacher, worked in a butcher shop; • Mike Sigel had a paper route when he was in his early teens, until he was introduced to and fell for pool; • At 14 years old, Belinda Calhoun was a file clerk for the Old Age Assistance Offices in Austin, Tex.
LAWRENCE LUSTIG-MATCHROOM SPORT
Working Stiffs
“
The best preparation is to pay all your bills.
”
— Lou Butera
New View
STRAIGHT
No doubt you’ve heard, read and seen plenty relating to the stroke. Robert Byrne simplifies things by taking a different perspective: “The cue ball moves down the table with a certain speed, spin and direction, which can be applied to it with almost any kind of stroke or grip. The cue ball doesn’t care what you are thinking about when you hit it, or whether or not your wrist is tight or relaxed — all it “knows” is where the tip hits it and how hard. Whether or not you twist the cue or check your stroke or lock your wrist or follow through makes no difference to the cue ball at all.”
GURU GEORGE FELS HELPS YOU RUN 100
TALK
IF YOU’RE an advanced player, you are probably aiming perfectly, or damn near, right now; accuracy and consistency then become a matter of how well you control your body. You probably won’t make too many physical changes in your stroke as the changes you make in your head. Stop worrying yourself over balls and pockets, and start thinking about how fluid and perfect you can make that little 13- to 17-inch universe immediately in front of you. Everything else will fall into place.
On the Spot JEREMY JONES DETAILS HIS MENTAL PREPARATION + What is your mindset when you approach an open table? Generally, I kind of like to play the game where the game itself will make it as easy as possible on me, to inspect what I’m doing so I don’t have to do more. I play to my strengths. + What is your mindset when you prepare for a match as a whole? I like to play every game like it’s hill-hill. It’s important to have that mentality when you’re in a short race, when you really can’t afford to give away racks. + What’s one thing that pros share in their approach to the game? We all have a little bit of something that pushes us; something in there that makes us want to strive. Most great players are a little bit arrogant. You have to have a sense that you are capable of playing great no matter the circumstances. June 2011
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+ STRATEGIES + BY Nick Varner
HANDLE WITH CAROM This nifty shot on the 8 ball got me out of a difficult situation.
RECENTLY went out to Lincoln, Neb., to watch the Bad Blood Challenge Match between Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland. The host location was Drifters Billiards. Organized by Mark Cantrill and Bob Finke, the all-around match included segments of 8-ball, 10-ball and straight pool. The format was arranged with the premium placed on the straight pool; winning the 8-ball and 10-ball sets was worth one point each, while the straight-pool competition was worth two points. It ended up coming down to 14.1, with Earl winning the 8-ball and Johnny winning the 10-ball. The straight pool match — played to 200 points — was an absolute classic. After just two innings, the score was Earl leading 178 to 171. Johnny had run 144 and Earl came back with a run of 138. It was a high-octane match with Earl ending up on top by a margin of 200-196. Straight-pool aficionados won’t want to miss this one. (The match will soon be available on DVD.) It was great to watch two legendary players play all three disciplines. Next on the agenda was an exhibition at Millay’s, a location in the small town of Knottsville, Ky., just about 10 miles outside my hometown of Owensboro. After the trick shots, I took a few challenge matches, during which an interesting situation arose in a game of 8-ball, which is shown in Diagram 1. I got on the wrong side of the 12 ball for pocket E. The 8 ball only went into pocket A. All other pockets were blocked. I missed position at C-2 and ended up at C-1 on the wrong side of the 12 ball. There was too much angle on the 12 ball to draw back for the 8 ball for pocket A; also, there was too much angle to draw the cue ball into the 8 ball. From cue ball position C-2 it would’ve been easy to play position
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1
F
E
A Diagram 1
C-3
C-2
Lin
eA
C-1 Fig. 1 D on the 8 ball for pocket A. But at C-1, this option was no longer feasible. Finally, I came up with an option to win the game: I soft rolled the 12 ball into pocket E and tried to stop the cue ball as soon as possible. I was able to stop the cue ball at position C-3. Look at the line between the centers of the 8 ball and 2 ball. Notice that the line perpendicular to this line is pointed at the diamond (marked 1) to the left of corner pocket A. To make the 8 ball into that pocket, it needs to follow the arrow marked A. The big question is, how can I send the 8 ball along this path? To start, you need to cut the 8 ball the right amount into the 2 ball as shown in Diagram 2. You want the 8 ball to contact the 2 right where the yellow spot is in the diagram. It’s hard to cut the 8 ball too much. If you hit the 2 ball too thinly, it might hit the end rail. But on this one, the critical thought is to cut it enough. Another thought is to look at the dotted line. This is about the right
B
C
amount to cut the 8 ball. Because you have to cut the 8 ball so much, it won’t be flying toward the corner pocket. It will have enough speed, but you will have to use a firm stroke on the cue ball — too light and the 8 ball might not reach the corner pocket. Another thought to consider is where the cue ball will go after impact. You don’t want to scratch and lose the game. I tried to get the cue ball to go back and forth between the two middle diamonds. To do this, I contacted the cue ball along the horizontal axis with a little left English (see Fig. 1). This helps the cue ball go back and forth between the diamonds. As you can guess, the 8 ball made it into pocket A and the cue ball didn’t scratch. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be a very interesting story. It doesn’t mean you can always escape a tough situation, but it shows you that it is possible to grasp victory out of what looks like defeat. Keep your eyes open for creative solutions, and I’ll see you in the winner’s circle.
Diagram 2
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+ SOLIDS & STRIPES + BY Larry Schwartz
START FROM SCRATCH Hone your skills by learning how to scratch in various pockets.
AVE YOU ever been plagued by a shot that comes up again and again, and it seems that every time you confront it, you scratch? Recently, a student of mine, Tom McElroy, brought this very situation to my attention, because he kept scratching the cue ball in the corner when facing a particular type of shot in the side pocket. I had him set up a similar shot, shown in Diagram 1. I know we have all encountered this shot at one time or another. After Tom set up the shot, I asked him to demonstrate the exact scratch that was recurring in this situation. Specifically, I asked him to take the shot so that he sent the cue ball into the top right corner. To his amazement, when asked to do it on cue, he had trouble reenacting the scratch. To help him reproduce the scratch, I then placed a ball hanging in corner pocket where he intended to scratch, and asked him to make both balls in one shot. Once he got the feel for this, he was able to scratch at will. As soon as he was consistently scratching the cue ball on the shot, I had him repeat the shot again and again until he had a very good feel in his hands and arms for the scratch. I then had him hit it with different speeds, to show him how this affected the path of the cue ball on the carom off the 2 ball by the side pocket. The whole point of this exercise was to learn what to do by first learning what not to do. If you have a good feel for the wrong way to take the shot, it should be very easy to make the necessary adjustments so you avoid the undesirable result. Once we moved on to how to correctly take the shot without scratching, I first reminded Tom that every pocket on most tables will fit more than two object balls in them. Knowing this, you can actually aim for different parts of
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Diagram 1
the same pocket and still pocket the object ball. Using this information will allow you to hit the same Diagram 2 exact shot fuller or thinner, so you can still sink the object ball, while significantly changing the path of the cue ball. For this shot on the 2 in the side, you can make the cue ball hit either the short rail or the long rail just by adjusting how you cue the cue ball, the speed with which you hit the shot and how you aim at the object ball. When contacting the object ball, you can change the fullness of the hit to “cheat the pocket” — hitting the 2 to the left, center or right of the side pocket (shown in Diagram 2). To hit the short rail, you want to cue the cue ball with center-ball, hit the object ball more fully, and utilize a little more speed to affect the path after the carom. We can also easily get to the short rail by hitting the cue ball below center, so it draws away from the corner pocket. When practicing this shot, I like to send the cue ball to the first diamond, the second diamond and
the third diamond on the short rail (shown by the three arrows). This really helps me understand the nuances of the shot. On the other hand, to send the cue ball to the long rail, you need to cut the 2 ball more thinly, and pull back on the speed of the shot. In Diagram 3, I have shown another situation where knowing how to scratch the cue ball will really give you a much better understanding of how you can change the direction of the cue ball by adjusting how and how hard you hit the cue ball. The shot I have shown on the 5 ball into the corner pocket is a fairly simple shot. What I would like you to learn about this shot is how it is possible to make the 5 ball and scratch the cue ball in any one of the other five pockets. First, scratching the cue ball in side pocket B, requires an approximately center-ball hit, and the speed will depend on your individual stroke. Before moving to the next shot, make the cue ball scratch in pocket B three times in a row. The next pocket you are going
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to scratch to is corner pocket C. This shot requires that you hit the cue ball a little below center. Practice the shot until you develop a feel for exactly what is needed to send the cue ball that far down the table. Every time you take a stroke on all of these shots, pay attention to exactly where the cue ball goes and make the needed adjustments for your next attempt. Because scratching in pocket C is more difficult, doing so one or two times successfully is sufficient before moving on to the next shot. To scratch the cue ball in corner pocket D, you must draw the cue ball, hitting it at six o’clock. You will need to hit the shot over and over, fine-tuning your stroke along the way, until you successfully make this scratch. Let’s move along to the scratch of the cue ball in side pocket E, which is quite a bit easier than sending the cue ball into the corner pockets on the opposite end of the table. On this shot, all you need to do is hit the cue ball at 12 o’clock with just enough speed to bank the cue ball back across the table. Fi-
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C
B
A
E
F
Diagram 3
D
nally, to scratch the cue ball in corner pocket F, hit the cue ball at about one or two o’clock, and again make adjustments in both speed and English until you are able to scratch a couple of times in a row. All of these shots will greatly improve your awareness of how the cue ball reacts after hitting the object ball. It will also show you the numerous number of
options that you have on each shot, so you can select the one that will be most advantageous at any given time, depending on the layout of the rest of the table. It’s a little funny, but by perfecting where not to send the cue ball, you will learn where you can and should send it. And once you become a master of cue-ball control, you will be left with no excuse for scratching. Good luck.
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+ I L L U S T R AT E D P R I N C I P L E S + BY David Alciatore Ph.D.
THE AIM GAME
Don’t get spooked when using a ghost ball to line up a shot.
HIS IS my first article in a series dealing with the important topics of aiming, alignment and sighting. Let’s start with some definitions: Aiming: determining the line of the cue necessary to send the cue ball (CB) to the desired ghost-ball (GB) position to cut the object ball (OB) the required amount for the shot. Alignment: how you position your body and head to best enable you to place and stroke the cue along the desired line. Sighting: eye alignment and line of focus used to best visualize and achieve the desired aiming line. Over the next few months, I will look at each of these topics in detail. This month, we will focus on the basics of aiming. Diagram 1 illustrates some important terminology. The “ghost ball” is the imaginary CB position at OB impact that would send the OB in the desired “target direction.” The “line of centers” through the GB and OB defines the necessary contact point for the shot. The required “aiming line” of the shot defines the alignment for the cue, assuming a center-ball hit (i.e., no English). Shown in the bottom-left of Diagram 1 is the overlap of the balls as seen from the shooter’s point of view. This illustrates an important fact concerning aiming: From the shooter’s perspective, the contact point is always in the center of the lens-shaped area defined by the projection of the CB onto the OB. Before continuing, I should mention that the target direction shown in Diagram 1 is the ideal path of the OB in a frictionless world. In reality, the OB will be thrown off this path slightly by an effect called cut-induced throw (CIT). Regardless of how you aim cut shots, you need to compensate for CIT (especially with slow stun shots at cut
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Diagram 1
Diagram 2
angles close to 30 degrees, where throw is at a maximum). Also, when using English, your aim must be adjusted for squirt, swerve and spin-induced throw (SIT). Diagram 2 illustrates three common reference shots often cited in discussions about aiming. The dotted lines on the CB and OB represent quarter divisions of the balls. Ball-hit fraction is one approach used to describe the amount of cut needed on a particular shot. This number represents the percentage of ball-overlap. With a quarter-ball hit, the CB overlaps one-fourth (25 percent) of the OB, creating a 48.6-degree cut angle. A half-ball hit overlaps one-
half (50 percent), resulting in a 30-degree cut angle. And a three-quarter-ball hit overlaps three-fourths (75 percent), resulting in a 14.5-degree cut. Again, with center-ball hits, the actual angles created at the table will be a little less than reported due to CIT. The red lines in Diagram 2 represent alternative quarter-point sighting lines. For example, to create a half-ball hit, you can aim the inside edge of the CB at the center of the OB, or you can aim the center of the CB at the outside edge of the OB. You can also aim contact point to contact point, aligning the inside quarter of the CB with the outside quarter of the OB. The half-ball hit is a good reference shot, because it’s very easy to visualize a line through the CB’s center and the OB’s edge, especially when sighting directly over the cue. This useful alignment is often referred to as the CTE (center-to-edge) line. Notice that with a half- or three-quarter-ball hit, there is a clear aiming line through the center of the CB and one of the quarter reference points on the OB. However, with a quarter-ball hit, the line through the center of the CB is outside of the OB, which can be difficult to visualize. This can make the other reference lines (red lines) attractive alternatives for
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Diagram 3
some people. However, as we’ll discuss next month, if you sight along an offcenter line, your perception of the cue’s direction might be misleading. An alternative is to sight through the center of the CB while attempting to visualize and target the entire GB. Another is to imagine and target the resting point of the GB on the cloth. When using this approach, it can help to try to find a visual marker on the cloth at or near the GB resting point (for example, a chalk mark, discoloration or a piece of dirt). Alternatively, you can target a point in line with the GB center on a distant rail, or perhaps even another ball. If you would like to practice visualizing and executing fractional-ball hits, Diagram 3 illustrates ball layouts creating each of the three cuts angles in Diagram 2. The 1 ball is centered on the bottom diamond line, the bottom edge of the 2 ball is about half a ball above the middle diamond line, and the bottom edge of the 3 ball is right on the top diamond line. As indicated, with the CB positioned as shown, the three balls can be pocketed with quarter-, half- and three-quarter-ball hits. But remember, the actual OB direction will vary slightly with speed, spin and conditions because of throw. Approaches to aiming vary from person to person. Commonly cited examples include: • Visualize the GB and align to send the CB to that position. • Visualize the angle of the shot and the line of aim necessary to create that angle. • Visualize the amount of ball overlap necessary for the amount of cut you need. • Visualize the required contact point on the OB and aim the CB to contact the OB at this point. Some people might also use a combination of these approaches, maybe even choosing different visualizations for different types of shots. Obviously, whatever approach you choose, the key to success is practice. A more formal approach to aiming is to use an “aiming system,” which prescribes a clear and unambiguous set of steps to help you arrive at the necessary line of aim. One example is the cue-pivot method, based on the ghostball concept, where you place the tip at
Diagram 4
A) parallel-lines, CP-to-CP aiming method
B) double-thedistance method
the center of the GB position with the cue pointing in the direction you want to send the OB. Keeping the cue tip in place, you then pivot the butt of the cue until the cue is aligned with the center of the CB. Diagram 4 illustrates two other well known systems. The first (Diagram 4a) is the parallel-lines contact-point-tocontact-point system, which works as follows: 1. Visualize a line through the center of the OB in the target direction. This locates the contact point on the OB. 2. Shift this line to the CB, keeping it parallel to the line in step one (see the blue lines). This defines the contact point on the CB. 3. Visualize a line through the CB contact point and the OB contact point (see the red line). 4. Parallel shift this line to the center of the CB. The result is the required aiming direction (neglecting CIT, of course). The second system (Diagram 4b) is called “double the distance,” and it works as follows: 1. Visualize the distance “d” from the center of the OB to the desired contact point on the OB. 2. Double this distance by adding it
to the other side of the contact point. This locates the required line of aim through the center of the GB. Also shown in Diagram 4b, for thinner cuts, it can be easier to visualize the smaller distance “x” from the contact point to the outside edge of the OB, which is doubled to locate the inner edge of the GB relative to the contact point. Some aiming systems are based on aligning and sighting to/from the different CB and/or OB quarter-ball reference points illustrated in Diagram 2. Any system based on a limited number of lines of aim will obviously not cover a wide range of shots without adjustment. However, these systems can still be of value to some people. If nothing else, these systems can foster a consistent pre-shot routine, focus attention on proper alignment and promote concentration. Here’s the bottom line: Aiming ain’t easy! If it were, pool wouldn’t be as challenging and fun as it is. Please resist the temptation to buy into the snakeoil sales pitches common with aiming systems. There is no silver bullet! All we can really do is practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more. We can probably all agree that the best “aiming system” of them all is HAMB (“Hit A Million Balls”). It’s certainly the most promising to produce consistent results. I hope you enjoy my series of articles dealing with aiming, alignment and sighting. Next month, we’ll look at aiming issues related to visual alignment. David Alciatore is author of the book, DVD and CD-ROM, “The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards”; the DVD series, “The Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots”; and the DVD, “High-speed Video Magic.” June 2011
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+ TECH TALK + BY Bob Jewett
CLOCKING IN
Here’s the long (and short) of it when it comes to keeping time.
E OFTEN think of pool as a twodimensional game. Most of the shot diagrams in books and this magazine squeeze shots down flat. If you start to consider jump shots, then we enter into 3D. Let’s go one step further, into the fourth dimension — time. How long do the various events on the table take? 10 microseconds — The shortest practical time in billiards that I could think of is how quickly a small gap in a rack is closed up when the rack is struck by a cue ball. With a break speed of 10 meters per second (22 mph) and a gap of a tenth of a millimeter (the thickness of a sheet of paper), the gap will close in 10 millionths of a second or 10 microseconds. 16 microseconds — Collisions between balls are not instantaneous; the event takes time. The balls compress while in contact and spring back. One part of the compression is that the wave travels at the speed of sound from the contact point through the balls. The speed of sound is about 10 times higher in phenolic plastic than in air, so it only takes 16 microseconds for the back of the ball to learn that the front of the ball has been struck. Similarly, it took about 20 minutes for the shock from the recent earthquake in Japan to travel through the Earth to the opposite side. 200 microseconds — Two colliding balls are in contact for 100 to 300 microseconds. The total collision, including compression and rebound, is determined by the density and hardness of the balls. While the theory is pretty clear on what should happen, we have an actual measurement confirming the contact time. In 1994, Wayland Marlow published “The Physics of Pocket Billiards,” in which he describes the experiment shown in Diagram 1. The two balls that will collide are partly covered
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with very thin aluminum strips that have been glued to the balls. The balls rest on separate metal sheets. While the balls are in contact, they complete an electric circuit that will charge a capacitor (think: very small battery) through a resistor (think: light bulb) from a real battery. The capacitor starts with no charge and is left with a charge that depends on how long the balls are in contact. After the collision, the voltage on the capacitor is read out with a meter, and after a little calculation the contact time is determined. It turns out that the nature of the col-
lision is such that the contact time for slow and fast shots is nearly the same, with fast shots having a shorter contact time. Marlow measured over the normal range of shot speeds and observed close to the expected variation. 350 microseconds — Just as a compression wave travels through the ball, a compression wave travels down the length of the stick during tip-to-ball contact. In maple, the speed of sound results in the compression not appearing at the end of the butt until the cue tip has been on the ball for about 350 microseconds. It is important that this time be short compared to the time that the tip is on the ball so that the energy that’s stored in the motion of the back end of the cue stick can be transferred
to the cue ball. 800 microseconds to 2 milliseconds — The contact time between tip and ball covers a range of times that depends on the hardness of the tip, the speed of the shot and the amount of spin being used. Most shots fit into a range around a millisecond (or a thousandth of a second). 3 milliseconds — Due to the speed of sound in air, it will take three milliseconds for news of the tip-to-ball collision to arrive at your ears. But see below about reaction/perception times. 40 milliseconds — While the cue stick compresses and expands along its length in a few milliseconds, the sideways wiggle of the stick is at a much slower rate of perhaps 25 vibrations per second, which is one vibration every 40 milliseconds. Because this time is much slower than the tip contact time, the stiffness of all but the front few inches of the cue stick is unimportant to the shot. It may be important to how the cue stick feels to you, though. 100 milliseconds — The reaction speed of the human brain is remarkably slow compared to the times listed so far. An experiment to see if people could determine the order of two events was done using both visual (two flashing lights) and audible (two different tones) stimuli. The time was varied and the accuracy for multiple subjects was measured. It turns out that for a 90 percent success rate, the events had to be 100 milliseconds (a tenth of a second) apart. From this, it’s easy to conclude that for a lot of nearly simultaneous hits, it’s not possible for the referee to actually determine which ball was struck first just by the order of events, and the referee must depend on his experience and the
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reaction of the balls. 200 milliseconds — For a jump shot in which the cue ball just clears the full object ball, the cue ball is in the air for one-fifth of a second. Surprisingly, this time is independent of the speed of the ball as long as the cue ball passes over the object ball at the peak of its arc. 5 seconds — According to the rules, if a ball appears motionless near the brink of a pocket for five seconds, the shot is over. If it falls in later, it will be replaced. This is the only time (other than shot clock usage) that the referee needs to keep track of time. 10 seconds — The speed of the cloth can be measured by how long it takes the ball to roll the length of the table and stop just before hitting the cushion. The longest such “free flight” of a ball on fast cloth is about 10 seconds, which limits the maximum duration of any shot to about 20 seconds. The exception is when a ball is spinning in place, and I’ve seen that go on for 45 seconds. 20 to 50 seconds — This is the range of times in use for shot clocks. Twenty seconds without extensions was recent-
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200 milliseconds — For a jump shot in which the cue ball just clears the full object ball, the cue ball is in the air for just onefifth of a second. ly used in a special snooker event, and it was remarkable to see how quickly the players could get shots off even when using the bridge (or “rest” as the snooker players would say). Fifty seconds is standard at carom, with a few 50-second extensions. 1 hour to 5 days — Matches have had a fairly wide range of durations. Most major events will schedule a minimum of an hour for a match. In the old days, some challenge matches were held in multiple cities and they could go on for over a month. 5 years — The current World Standardized Rules are on a five-year update cycle. The next revision is scheduled for 2013, and if you have any suggestions, corrections or complaints, please let me
know and I’ll pass them on. 50 years — There are a few players who have won championships over a half-century span, and I think this is about the upper limit for competitive career length. Think Mosconi, Crane, Lassiter, Hoppe and maybe Reyes. 400 years — Billiard games have been on indoor tables for about 400 years. I almost called them cue sports, but the cue did not enter the game until about 200 years after the start of billiards — earlier than that the mace was used, making the game more like shuffleboard. 400 million years — The slate that’s the foundation of the games we play was deposited as sediment before the first dinosaurs appeared.
5/9/11 11:04:30 AM
+ TRICKSHOTS + BY Andy Segal
FOLLOW MY LEAD
Loading up on topspin can lead to some interesting results.
N THIS article, we are going to look at some shots that require extreme topspin, some more than others. You may be surprised by what you can do by loading up on follow. The shot in Diagram 1 is a shot that requires you to hit the cue ball about two full tips above center. The object here is to pocket both balls, but there’s a catch. After pocketing the 1 ball in the side pocket, the cue ball must hit the long cushion, and it must hit it before passing the side pocket (otherwise, it would be a simple carom shot). The cue ball can be placed anywhere behind the red line, one diamond off the long rail. When setting up your shot on the 1 ball, you need a slight angle, so you have to cut the object ball into the side pocket and send the cue ball into the long rail afterward. Be careful not to have too much of an angle, though; I normally place the 1 ball centered with the pocket point, and about a half inch off the rail. The cue ball is on the head string, about two balls off the head spot. This setup should give you the desired angle. Hit the cue ball with top left English (at about 11 o’clock). The cue ball should cut the object ball in, hit the long rail, bounce out a little, and then follow down the rail to make the hanging 2 ball in the corner pocket. The most common difficulty is getting the cue ball to follow down the rail. This is usually the result of either not putting enough follow on the ball, or more likely, cutting the object
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ball too much. You need to be almost straight-in on the 1, with a very slight angle as described earlier. The next shot, shown in Diagram 2 is one of the first trick shots that I learned from a guy named Monty back in Queens, N.Y. The object ball is just out of the corner, with the edge even
Diagram 1
Diagram 2
Diagram 3
with the pocket point. It should be a half to three quarters of an inch off the cushion. The cue ball should be at the third diamond, just behind the long center line. For this shot, topspin isn’t enough. You need a little right English, which will “pull” the cue ball back away from the short rail. The cue ball should be hit at about one o’clock with a firm stroke. The cue ball should spin off the side cushion, back around the line of balls, and then the topspin will force the cue ball around them and into the 8-9 combination. This is a much harder shot than the first, but believe it or not, it actually has a practical application in a game. Diagram 3 is an 8-ball situation where you have one solid ball remaining and your opponent has two stripes. As you can see, you have an easy shot on the 1 ball, but the 10 ball is blocking the cue ball from coming straight up-table for a shot on the 8 ball. You may decide to draw the ball off the long cushion and back out for the 8, but the 11 ball could get in the way. The shot here is to use top right English. The right sidespin will pull the cue ball back away from the 10 ball, at which point the top will then kick in and push the cue ball forward, following the path shown in the diagram. This needs to be hit firmly, but not too hard (not as hard as the shot in Diagram 2). This is a nice shot to have in your bag when playing, and it isn’t all that difficult. Practice it a few times, and then put it away until you need it.
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2 011 U LT I M AT E 10 - B A L L C H A M P I O N S H I P S
N THE morning of April 18, Mike Dechaine packed up his car in Providence, R.I., preparing for a road trip that would eventually take him to the Pacific Ocean. The 23-year-old, who has emerged as a promising young pro on the American circuit, was taking advantage of a spring schedule that had major events across the western U.S. “I decided to drive to Texas, San Francisco and Las Vegas instead of flying,” he wrote on his blog, “so I could see the sights and sounds of rural America.” His initial destination? The Ultimate 10-Ball Championship, a secondyear event held April 21-24, making its American debut in Frisco, Texas, after last year’s edition in Aruba. On that first day, Dechaine drove to Bristol, Tenn., a 14-hour trek that covered nearly 750 miles. On the second day, though, the native of Waterville, Maine, had his journey interrupted by tornadoes in Arkansas. Wind, rain, hail and repeated tornado warnings on the radio forced him to pull into a motel in Benton, a little town outside of Little Rock, where in spite of the tornadoes that ravaged the area, Dechaine managed to get a “nice, peaceful night’s sleep,” and wake up refreshed enough to complete the first leg of his journey. Dechaine was joined in Frisco, in suburban Dallas, by 90 other hopefuls in search of a piece of the Ultimate 10-Ball’s $35,000-added prize fund. Shane Van Boening, who topped the tournament in 2010, returned to defend his title, alongside international stars such as Ralf Souquet, Mika Immonen and Darren Appleton. The U.S. had a strong contingent as well, with locals Jeremy Jones and Gabe Owen joined by out-of-towners including Corey Deuel, Dennis Hatch and Johnny Archer. Among such supremely talented players, Dechaine had proven capable of collecting titles over the last two or three years. He won the 2009 World Summit of Pool Championship, finished third at the 2009 Galveston World 10-Ball Classic and won the 2010 Empire State Championship. More recently, just prior to his appearance in Frisco, Dechaine capped an April in
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Dechaine collected the biggest payday of his career.
JOURNEY’S
END Road-tripping across the country, 23-year-old Mike Dechaine pockets the biggest title in a promising young career at the Ultimate 10-Ball Championship, while Fisher gets back in the winner’s circle in the women’s division. Story by Skip Maloney 30
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Photos by Jeff Smith
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Hot-seat winner Jones (left) fell a set short in his home state, while Allison Fisher twice ran away from Kelly Fisher.
which he’d won New England’s Clash of Champions and the New England Billiards Hall of Fame Championships a week later. Now, though, he hit the tables with a couple of thousand traveling miles under his belt, a bit of time lag and a strong international field of opponents. Opening with a hat-trick of wins over Roel Pasetes, Curtis Caldwell and Naoki Wakimoto, he won three out of every four games. But when he’d reached Saturday night, still unchallenged, Dechaine stepped to the table to take on Johnny Archer. “It was my best match of the tournament,” he said, from San Francisco. He downed Archer, 8-3, and then teen talent Jesse Engel by the same score. He moved among the winnersside final four, and ran into the man he’d eventually face in the final, Jeremy Jones. He came into the match with some confidence, noting that he had past success against Jones, but by Sunday, his actual journey had started to catch up with him. “The time difference, the lack of sleep, it was pretty rough,” he said. To that point, Dechaine had allowed just one opponent past four on the wire. Jones, though, had been battling the entire tournament. After a double-hill struggle against Johnathan Pinegar in the first round, Jones put together four effortless wins to meet Dechaine among the final four unbeat-
ens. In a thrilling double-hill set, Jones advanced to the final, while Dechaine bounced over to the one-loss side. Joining Jones in the hot-seat match was Canada’s Jason Klatt, who’d just sent Darren Appleton west, 8-6, for his sixth straight victory. Jones took another hill-hill set for a spot in the final. Klatt, meanwhile, matched up with Dechaine, who had thumped Jeremy Sossei, 8-4, and Charlie Williams, 8-3. In a tight set between the two of North America’s top twenty-somethings, Dechaine prevailed in the extended race to 10 by taking the case game. “Whew, it got down to the last rack, and I got lucky,” Dechaine said. “You need a little luck at these kinds of events.” The single-set final between Jones and Dechaine was a study in contrasts, with a young gun taking on a more studied player nearly twice his age. The shot clock, instituted for the raceto-12 final, was a detriment to the 40year-old Texan. “I hadn’t anticipated the shot clock in the finals,” Jones said afterward. “It favored [Dechaine], because he doesn’t look at much.” They battled back and forth to a 3-3 tie, before Dechaine pulled out in front with three racks in a row. Jones fought back to tie it, 6-6, as the two traded racks to meet at 10-10. Dechaine then reached the hill, but Jones had the ensuing break. Jones ran through to the 4
ball, which, in a surprise to both players, failed to drop. Dechaine stepped to the table, and though tested on a tricky shot at the 9 ball, he maintained his composure, made the shot, and faced the championship ball. He called for an extension, took a deep breath and won the championship. “He’s a great player,” Jones said. “He’s got mad skills, that’s for sure, and he’ll do nothing but get better.” The $15,000-added women’s division, which drew 53 entrants, had a strong contingent of U.S.-based talent, including Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Monica Webb and Vivian Villareal, while the Asian and European pros were largely absent. Allison Fisher breezed through the winners bracket, giving up only six racks over four matches to move among the winners-side final four, where she met Kelly Fisher. Allison turned a 5-1 deficit into a 7-5 win that sent Kelly to the one-loss side. Allison Fisher went on to gain the hot-seat with a 7-2 victory over upstart Angel Paglia. Kelly Fisher, who had edged Monica Webb and Line Kjorsvik on the left side, then downed Paglia, 8-2, for a second chance at Allison, this time in the race-to-10 final. The Fishers traded racks to a 3-3 tie, at which point Kelly jumped ahead, 7-4. Allison, though, duplicated her earlier six-rack streak to walk away with the women’s Ultimate 10-Ball Challenge title. June 2011
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L E A G U E S : A PA N AT I O N A L S I N G L E S C H A M P I O N S H I P S
THE MONEY BALL The American Poolplayers Association attracted hundreds of league players to Las Vegas, where a Nashville duo captured the cash with a fortunate roll of the 8 ball. Story by BD Staff UNNING ALONGSIDE American Poolplayers Association National Singles Championships in 8-ball and 9-ball — held April 27-30 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas — the Jack & Jill Championship attracted a full contingent of 256 teams in pursuit of the $5,000 top prize. As can always be found in such a rotund bracket, some interesting names popped up, thanks in large part to the pool players’ well-honed sense of innuendo. But none was as straightforward — and prophetic — as Here for the Money, the hot-shooting pairing of Keira Graves and Daryl Lane Jr. from Nashville, Tenn. In the competition that paired male and female teammates with a combined handicap no higher than 10, Lane (a top-rated skill-level 7) and Graves (SL 3) survived single-elimination play and found themselves in the event’s championship with seven consecutive wins.
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PHOTOS COURTESY THE APA
R
With two 8 balls on the break, Lane turned the tide in the final.
But early in the race-to-4 final, Here for the Money was overwhelmed by Jason Fortun and Louisiana Le, aka Beastmode, an aptly named pair of skill-level 5s from Terrytown, La. Fortun and Le collected the first three racks to get on the hill, 3-0. But Here for the Money fought back, thanks in part to Lane dropping the 8
on the break in the fifth game to close within a game at 3-2. The Tennessee tandem then took the next rack to force a decisive final game. So with $5,000 in cash and prizes awarded to the champions, Lane cracked open the final rack with a thunderous break that sent the 8 ball rushing up-table. With plenty of oomph, it ricocheted off the head rail, then off the long rail and back toward the foot spot. With a fortuitous carom off the 4 ball, the 8 then dropped in the corner — sealing the deal for Here for the Money. “At the beginning, I was a little worried when we were down, 3-0.” Graves said. “But we came back and pulled it out, especially because of my partner.” No doubt with a bit of help from Sin City’s Lady Luck, Lane knew he had been close to dropping the 8 on the break — and his timing couldn’t have been better. “It was pretty amazing,” Lane said, about winning the title on the snap. “I’ve had a number of close calls all week. But to get two in the final, it was just what we needed.” The APA National Singles Championships attracted more than 1,200 players, who competited in a number of events for $450,000 in cash and prizes.
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8-BALL: PURPLE TIER (6-7)
8-BALL: RED TIER (5) Winner: Michael Jaeck Prize Money: $15,000 Hometown: Whitehouse,
Winner: Steve Knoll Prize Money: $15,000 Hometown: Sarasota, Fla.
2nd: James Silva (Los Angeles, Calif.) $9,000 Tied for 3rd: Jeff Anderson (Shelbyville, Tenn.), Dale Fazenbaker Jr. (Lonaconing, Md.) $4,000
Tied for 5th: Randall Linton (Coldwater, Mich.), Miguel Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas), Andrew Sheppart (Pickering, Ont.), Mitchell Flores (. Richard Hills, Texas) $2,000
8-BALL: YELLOW TIER (4)
Ohio
2nd: Sait Gurer (Irwin, Pa.) $9,000 Tied for 3rd: William Simmons (Drummons, Tenn.), Mark Pfahler (Davenport, Fla.) $4,000
8-BALL: BLUE TIER (2-3)
Winner: Patrick Wheeler Prize Money: $15,000 Hometown: Manhattan, Ill.
2nd: Julio Delvalle (Trenton, N.J.) $9,000 Tied for 3rd: Robbie Engesether (Fridley, Minn.), Alfredo Garcia (Tuckahoe, N.Y.) $4,000
Tied for 5th: Sheila Brock (Orange, Texas), Christopher Cawthon (Midwest, Okla.), Cynthia Vansickle (Arlington, Texas), Irene Pfefferman (Arlington, Va.) $2,000
9-BALL: BLACK TIER (6-9)
Winner: Duane Green Prize Money: $15,000 Hometown: Willingboro, N.J.
2nd: Kevin Belue (Athens, Ala.) $9,000 Tied for 3rd: Chris Gloerson (Stratford, Conn.), James Rockwell (Columbus, N.J.) $4,000
Tied for 3rd: Omar Gutierrez (Whittier, Calif.), Andrew Lawson (Fairmount, Ill.) $3,000
Tied for 5th: Ritchie Idrovo (Tinley Park, Ill.), David Smith (Round Rock, Texas), Jim Legothetis (Pekin, Ill.), Daniel Luke (Portland, Ore.) $1,500
JACK & JILL DOUBLES
Winner: Troy Cooper Prize Money: $10,000 Hometown: Anoka, Minn.
2nd: Kyle Coleman (Niles, Mich.) $5,000 Tied for 3rd: Liming Luan (Nashville, Tenn.), Gloria Villa (Seattle, Wash.) $3,000
Tied for 5th: Ken Atkinson (Gardner, Mass.), Cindy Birse (Poway, Calif.), Michael Venclauskas (Tallahassee, Fla.), Heath Fields (Splendora, Texas) $1,500
9-BALL: GREEN TIER (1-3) 2nd: Veronica Ovens-Head (Largo, Fla.) $5,000
Winner: Keira Graves &
Tied for 3rd: Megan Fraser (Fletcher, N.C.), Apryl Green-Wilds (Kansas City, Mo.) $3,000
Daryl Lane Jr. Prize Money: $5,000 Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.
2nd: Jason Fortun & Louisiana Le (Terrytown, La.) $3,000
Tied for 5th: Cynthia Ainsworth (Belton, Texas), Michele Millard (Swansea, Ill.), Sue Peden (Oxnard, Calif.), Sam Breshers (San Antonio, Texas) $2,000
9-BALL: WHITE TIER (4-5)
Winner: Alex Olinger Prize Money: $10,000 Hometown: Kettering, Ohio
2nd: Nick Chirco (Fort Hood, Texas) $5,000
Tied for 5th: Greg Deyo (Lindale, Texas), Joseph Kirkland Jr. (Watkinsville, Ga.), Jonathon Doner (Van Wert, Ohio), Otto Chan (Toronto, Ont.) $2,000
Winner: Nicole Goin Prize Money: $10,000 Hometown: Danville, Ill.
Tied for 5th: Marsha GallowayClay (Arlington, Texas), Christine Pierce (Fox River Grove, Ill.), Lisa Negrete (Converse, Texas), Maurice Branch (Philadelphia, Pa.) $11,500
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U N T O L D S T O R I E S: J O H N S T O N C I T Y T U R N S 5 0
CROSSROADS THE LEGACY OF
JOHNSTON CITY STORY BY R.A. DYER
T WASN’T much more than a backwoods beer shed. There was a green felt pool table, the smell of booze and cigarettes. The building was 100 percent concrete, with a neon “Members Only” sign posted outside. But the Cue Club, George and Paulie Jansco’s downand-out tournament venue in Johnston City, Illinois, was just four hours drive from Indianapolis, three and half from Louisville and two from Kansas City. It sat at a crossroads.
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This month’s column I devote to the famous tournaments held in that backwoods dive on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The First Annual World’s One-Pocket Tournament in 1961 attracted only 14 players. The public was largely absent. Later ones were a circus. For more than a decade, from 1961 to 1972, hustlers, tournament players, the media and the public descended upon Johnston City, a town of less than 4,000. It was a pool tournament that never should have been.
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George (left) and Paulie (right) Jansco (with Eddie Taylor) turned a quiet farm town into the epicenter of pool in the ’60s.
Why care about Johnston City? The reasons are many. First, they helped put one-pocket and 9-ball on the map, and marked the beginning of the end for straight pool. Rudolf Wanderone — aka Minnesota Fats — also came to the world’s attention thanks to Johnston City. And perhaps most important of all, the tournaments were the first in America to embrace the sport’s gambling culture. In the process, the Johnston City tournaments perfectly embodied the resurgence of the sport during the 1960s. Some may complain about Johnston City, especially its celebration of gambling. But gambling has always been a part of pool. It just took the radical forward thinking of George and Paulie Jansco to recognize this truth, to embrace it and to make money off its promotion. The brothers were the first important promoters to understand instinctively what the pool establishment did not: that for many of those trapped
inside the comfortable purgatory of American suburbia, pool hustling and the gambling life symbolized the fantasy of escape. The Johnston City tournaments brought together hustlers from all over, men traveling from town to town, winning what they could — but without the heavy responsibility of family or home. In their secret conThe annual contests weren’t so easy to find. gress, these men proclaimed the sort of freedom that only Civil Rights movement was in full swing, those adrift in society can enjoy. They with boycotts and sit-ins across Ameriinspired the imagination of many. ca. The anti-hero was in literary vogue, A Game in Transition with both Vonnegut’s “SlaughterhouseJohnston City was not simply located Five” and Heller’s “Catch-22” published at a geographical crossroads, but also that year. And pool too — a game that at a symbolic, cultural and historic one. until then had denied its anti-heroes — Nineteen sixty-one was a tumultuous was in the middle of transition. year. The Russians had delivered the What do I mean by this? Consider first human into space, setting off a rethat pool, as measured by the public’s newed wave of Cold War paranoia. The interest and participation, had been in June 2011
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U N T O L D S T O R I E S: J O H N S T O N C I T Y T U R N S 5 0
In later years, Johnston City drew large crowds to see hustling greats, such Boston Shorty (right) and Luther Lassiter.
decline after World War II. The Billiard Congress of America had stopped holding tournaments. Willie Mosconi, the sport’s then leading draw, had retired from the sport. But in 1961, pool’s fortunes dramatically changed. It was in that year, the year of the first Johnston City tournament, that 20th Century Fox released “The Hustler,” a film that captured the imagination of a new generation of players, including women. It sparked a pool craze the likes of which has not been seen since. As critic David Thompson put it, “The Hustler” was a film about “small-time Charlies whose aspirations rise and die in the shadowy world of poolrooms.” “The Hustler” was not about tournament players, about fancy men in tuxedos — but rather about hustlers. This was the aspect of poolroom culture that the billiards industry had always tried to hide, and yet “The Hustler” proved it was exactly what the public found most appealing. Responding to the public’s new-
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found interest, a writer by the name of Tom Fox pitched a story about the first Johnston City tournament to Sports Illustrated. His stellar piece, “Hustlers’ Holiday in the Lion’s Den,” attracted more media attention, including, eventually, both ABC Wide World of Sports and CBS Sports Spectacular. Fox’s piece also introduced the world to Rudolf Wanderone, the man who assumed the character of Minnesota Fats. Pool’s official image, so jealously guarded by the industry, collapsed under the weight of it all. The sport had sprung back to life, but not like it was before. Johnston City marked the beginning of pool’s modern era. The fuse was lit.
The Beginnings As is often the case with both big ideas and bad ones, there was beer involved. Earl Shriver and Marshall Carpenter (the Tuscaloosa Squirrel) had just sidled up to the bar at George Jansco’s bar in Johnston City, the J & J Ranch.
Shriver and Carpenter were road players, just passing through. Jansco, an old friend of Shriver’s, was serving the drinks. This would have been sometime during the long hot summer of 1961, a bad time all around. Shriver and The Squirrel were bored. “Hold a tournament,” someone finally suggested, probably Shriver. “Make it one-pocket,” said someone else. “Why not?” The exact details of that casual conversation, peppered with big talk and bad language, have been lost to time. What’s clear, however, is that George Jansco, a lover of big ideas, embraced this one in particular. “We were drinking beer and I remember Earl telling [George] that he would call a few people and there would be a lot of action,” recalled Carpenter, the last of the 14 original Johnston City competitors. According to the story, Shriver got on the phone with Wanderone, who lived down the road. Wanderone then called Hubert Cokes,
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PHOTO COURTESY KAREN FOX
Fox had the good sense not to write about the tournament, but rather the personalities. Boston Shorty made an appearance in his article, of course, as did Handsome Danny Jones and Johnny Irish. There were the shady stake-horses and hangers on. But it was Wanderone, then going by the handle New York Fats, who stole the show. Here’s an excerpt from that original Sports Illustrated article: The spokesman for the Loyal Fraternal Order of Pool Sharks was a roly-poly 250-pounder called New York Fats (Rudolf Wanderone) who thrives on high stakes and egotism but lives not in shadows nor speaks in whispers. Fat Man is short (5 Tom Fox (left) and Wanderone, shown here feet 8), with a shock of brown hair, in 1966, cowrote Fats’ biography. a 52-inch waist and a philosophy to fit all occasions. He announced that who lived in Evansville, Ill. Cokes had the Johnston City promotion drew 14 of the deep pockets and was willing to gamble. “best one-pocket players in the world,” and Eventually more players came. added modestly that he was once the best The first tournament ran from Oct. of the best. 25 through Nov. 15 and featured even“I was automatic champion one-pocket tual Hall of Fame players Boston Shorty, player of the world,” Fat Man proclaimed. Cowboy Jimmy Moore and Eddie Tay“They never had any tournaments. I always lor. The Janscos put up $5,000 in prizes. had to give great odds, most of the time two They also oversaw the construction of a balls. The great champions would never $25,000 building, the Cue Club. The first play me. They dodged me at all times.” tournament was won by Johnny Vevis, of The hustlers listened when the Fat Man Connecticut, with Moore placing second talked. They laughed and poked fun at him. and Cokes placing third. But when an outsider asked questions about But who won and who lost was entirely the hustlers, they let the Fat Man do the talkbeside the point. Without the media to ing. He’s the sharks’ public relations man. bring life to the characters in attendance, Johnston City’s Legacy the Johnston City tournaments would George Jansco, a former minor-league have been nothing, just the sound of a baseball player and bookmaker, was just tree falling alone in a forest. It was only 46 years old during that first tournabecause Fox pitched his story to Sports ment. His brother Paulie, who was said Illustrated that the Frankenstein monster to be more excitable and have less sense came alive. Karen Fox, the widow of Tom than George, was a few years younger. Fox, said the two had just started dating They grew their tournament each year, when they and several colleagues from starting with 14 players, then going to 50, the Evansville newspaper started making then to more than 80. They constructed the drives to Johnston City. She recalled a new building in 1964, a 4,000-square Tom was driving an old station wagon. foot concrete structure with a sunken “When Tom started going over there, floor. It cost more than $60,000. Later he took a bunch of us the 90 miles from they expanded to Las Vegas, where they Evansville. It was a long drive … and we sponsored the Stardust tournaments, couldn’t believe that out in the middle of then the richest in pool. The Janscos did nowhere, in Southern Illinois, were all big things for pool and it’s high time that these incredible pool players. They had both were inducted into the BCA Hall of this really good tournament room, with Fame. No matter what you think of their good acoustics, and bleachers, in the legacy, it’s undeniable that their tournaback. There was a concrete block room ments marked a new day for our sport. where, after the tournament was over, Consider, for example, that it was the they were heavy-duty gambling. Tom Janscos’ tournaments that first elevated knew it was a national story.”
JOHNSTON CITY OVER THE YEARS 1961 (ONE-POCKET ONLY) FIRST PLACE: Johnny Vevis SECOND PLACE: Jimmy Moore THIRD PLACE: Hubert Cokes FOURTH PLACE: Rudolf Wanderone
1962 ONE POCKET: Marshall Carpenter 9-BALL: Luther Lassiter STRAIGHT POOL: Luther Lassiter ALL AROUND: Luther Lassiter
1963 ONE-POCKET: Eddie Taylor 9-BALL: Luther Lassiter STRAIGHT POOL: Luther Lassiter ALL AROUND: Luther Lassiter
1964 ONE POCKET: Eddie Taylor 9-BALL: Luther Lassiter STRAIGHT POOL: Luther Lassiter ALL AROUND: Luther Lassiter
1965 ONE POCKET: Larry Johnson 9-BALL: Harold Worst STRAIGHT POOL: Harold Worst ALL AROUND: Harold Worst
1966: ONE POCKET: Eddie Kelly 9-BALL: Eddie Kelly STRAIGHT POOL: Joe Balsis ALL AROUND: Joe Balsis
1967 ONE POCKET: Larry Johnson 9-BALL: Luther Lassiter STRAIGHT POOL: Irving Crane ALL AROUND: Luther Lassiter
1968 ONE POCKET: Larry Johnson 9-BALL: Danny Jones STRAIGHT POOL: Al Coslosky ALL AROUND: Danny Jones
1969 ONE POCKET: Luther Lassiter 9-BALL: Luther Lassiter STRAIGHT POOL: Joe Russo ALL AROUND: Luther Lassiter
1970 ONE POCKET: Ronnie Allen 9-BALL: Keith Thompson STRAIGHT POOL: Luther Lassiter ALL AROUND: Keith Thompson
1971 ONE POCKET: Jim Rempe 9-BALL: Jimmy Marino STRAIGHT POOL: Luther Lassiter ALL AROUND: Jimmy Marino
1972: ONE POCKET: Larry Johnson 9-BALL: Billy Incardona STRAIGHT POOL: Danny Diliberto ALL AROUND: Danny DiLiberto
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U N T O L D S T O R I E S: J O H N S T O N C I T Y T U R N S 5 0 one-pocket from a “hustler’s gimmick” (as Mosconi once called it) into a bona fide tournament game. Although the Janscos eventually added other games to the tournaments, they especially nurtured one-pocket and created what was, in effect, the national one-pocket championship. In this way, the Johnston City events of the 1960s were much like the Derby City Classic events of today. The Jansco tournaments also bridged the old straight-pool era to that of modern 9-ball. George and Paulie Jansco were always disdainful of straight pool, considering it the most boring of all pool games. They became the first important tournament promoters to heretically condemn that game. The Jancos included straight pool in their post-1961 Johnston City events, but only grudgingly so, and Paulie dropped it completely from later Stardust events. Straight pool, once considered the game of champions, has nearly died off since then. The Janscos also sponsored some of the earliest high-profile tournaments to feature 9-ball. This, too, had an impact. Before the Janscos’ tournaments, the only pool events that ever made it to TV were 14.1 contests. Nowadays it’s 9-ball and only 9-ball. The Janscos even changed the 9-ball rules to better comport with the needs of TV. The one foul ball-in-hand rule? That’s all George and Paulie Jansco. Of course, I’m not arguing that these are necessarily positive developments; I’m just saying they’re important ones. Nor am I blaming the Jancos completely for straight pool’s demise, although I do think it’s likely that their tournaments helped turn attention away from the game. And as I noted earlier, the Jansco events were the first significant tournaments to exalt pool gamblers and to promote their way of life. But Steve Booth, founder of OnePocket.org and the OnePocket Hall of Fame, makes another more subtle distinction. He believes the Johnston City tournaments were not only about gambling, but rather the first to marry both sides of pool: that of the respectable tournament players and the darker side. “This is why they were so significant,” he said. “If you think about pool, it always had two sides, two faces: it’s had the clean image that the BCA likes to promote, and it had the gambling and the hustling image. They’re both real, and they both have their own following. What was so significant about
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The Janscos handed plenty of hardware to Lassiter (center) over the years.
The Janscos did big things for pool and it’s high time that both were inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame. No matter what you think of their legacy, it’s undeniable that their tournaments marked a new day for our sport. Johnston City was that George Jansco brought those two elements together. They co-existed. They thrived. And they attracted huge media attention.” Paulie took over in 1969, after George Jansco was struck dead by a massive stroke. Poor George was just 53 years old. Then came 1972, the bad year. There was a fatal shooting at the Show Bar on Oct. 8, and a major gambling bust 18 days later, on Oct. 26. Scores of federal agents swooped down a little past midnight, arresting what hustlers they could and scattering the rest. Several handguns were found stashed in the bleachers and a wastebasket. Hubert Cokes avoided jail time by paying a $500 cash bond on the spot. Paulie was issued a warrant for holding bets. Minnesota Fats was dismissive of the entire affair. “I can’t see why they are making such a big stink out of it,” he reportedly told a grand jury shortly afterward. “[This raid] is the most ridiculous thing you ever heard of. There’s
gambling everywhere on earth, you understand. Those kinds of things happen everyday.” But the damage was done. The raid, the shooting, the temporary suspension of Paulie’s liquor license — all of it effectively killed the Johnston City Hustlers Jamborees. The tournament in 1972 would be the last, the end of an era. The hustlers left Johnston City, never to return. But for a short while, it was beautiful to behold. “And we got to see it firsthand,” said Karen Fox, the widow of the writer. “You know, television has a way of sterilizing stuff like that. ... But what we saw was pure, and raw, and real. There was a moment in time, a freeze-frame, that we had that privilege to see. Those guys were incredible characters. And oh my God, it was awesome.” R.A. Dyer is the author of “Hustler Days” and “The Hustler & The Champ.” You can read his blog at poolhistory.com.
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Enter Today! Every year, the BILLIARDS DIGEST ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN AWARDS recognize the design, construction and modernization of billiard rooms — both private and public. Does your new or remodeled poolroom dazzle, amaze and inspire people to play the game? If so, enter the 23rd Annual Billiards Digest Architecture & Design Awards!
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TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Hohmann (right) kept Souquet seated in the case game.
PHOTOS BY JOSEPH VENTURA-RAYA SPORTS
After scrambling halfway across the world and into the Philippine Open, Thorsten Hohmann captures his first title in Manila with a series of thrilling victories. Story by Ted Lerner HORSTEN HOHMANN doesn’t normally turn down a chance to play big tournaments in the Philippines. The 31-year-old German great considers the Philippines his second home. And, like most pro pool players, he regards the island nation as the spiritual home of the game. To beat the best and win a big event in the Philippines is a feather all players everywhere want to wear in their caps. But now Hohmann is ecstatic that he declined an invitation to participate in the 2011 Philippine Open 10-Ball Championship this past April in Manila. That’s because his decision not to
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play in the tournament set off a series of improbable events that, once they started rolling, led to him raising the Philippine Open trophy in triumph after a mad dash across the globe, a hairraising run through the 64-man field — including three hill-hill matches at the end — and a nail biting 11-10 championship win over fellow German Ralf Souquet. It was Hohmann’s first ever victory in the Philippines. “To win in the Philippines, it’s a dream come true,” a clearly overjoyed Hohmann said after completing his incredible journey to the winners circle and claiming the $30,000 purse. “Win-
ning the World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales, was the sweetest thing for me, and I won several other events like the IPT. But nothing else is more special than winning my first championship in Manila. Everyone wants to win a championship here because this is the home of pool.” Hohmann had turned down a chance to compete in Manila because he had made an earlier commitment with his sponsor to do an exhibition in the United States before the Manila tournament dates were announced. As the exhibition approached, though, there were problems with the organizer, so his sponsor asked him to try and get a spot back in the Philippine Open. After some phone calls, Hohmann was told that the field was full. Then the day before the Open, he received a text message from a friend in the Philippines saying that a space had opened up. Hohmann, at home in
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Jacksonville, Fla., at the time, quickly grabbed the spot, and was at the airport three hours later after booking a flight online. Thanks to being on the right side of the international dateline, Hohmann arrived in Manila at midnight just hours before the tournament began. Even then, though, Hohmann had limited hopes. Because he hadn’t expected to play in Manila, Hohmann was just coming off a two-week break from pool where he never even touched a cue. He had practiced for a few days after his hiatus, but the long layoff led to limited expectations. It led to another in a series of happy surprises for Hohmann. “I wasn’t sure how I’d play,” Hohmann said. “But the layoff seemed to help my game.” The field was top heavy with Asian players, including 19 from the Philippines. Only six Europeans made the trip to Manila. Canadians John Morra and Jason Klatt made the trip. Shane Van Boening was the only American in the field. The low attendance of non-Asian players was credited to the fact that the total prize money on offer was just short of $100,000, which would make it difficult for players from Europe and North America to recoup their expenses. Much of the talk at the player’s meeting the day before the tournament, however, suggested yet another reason: would the players who did win money even get paid? Everyone was well aware of the payment troubles that organizer Raya Sports faced when they hosted their previous event, the 2009 World 10Ball Championship in Manila. Many players, including champion Mika Immonen, didn’t receive their prize money until a year later. Seeking to allay fears of a non-payment repeat, Raya had promised to put the prize fund in an escrow account before the tournament began. The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) agreed to the plan and even promised to take that money and pay the players themselves. The day prior to the opening rack, though, nobody could give a confirmation as to whether the money was secure or not. WPA president Ian Anderson assured Billiards Digest that
Before edging Souquet (above), Hohmann topped Baido (bottom right) and Liu.
everything would be OK. But it wasn’t until the last day of the tournament that the WPA posted a message outside the media room stating that the money was indeed in its bank account in the Netherlands. The prize-fund issue, and the lack of European and North American players, certainly didn’t take away from the talent on hand, however. Europe was represented by powerhouses Mika Immonen, Darren Appleton, Souquet, Hohmann and Marcus Chamat. Taiwan had Kuo Po Cheng and Chang JungLin. And of course the Philippines entered a host of greats, including Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Ronnie Alcano, Antonio Lining and Marlon Manalo. (Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante once again did not enter the tournament due to an ongoing feud between their manager, Aristeo Puyat, and Raya Sports.)
The tournament began with some big upsets and continued with surprises throughout. On Day One, Lo Li-Wen of Japan beat Immonen, 9-6, while compatriot Naoyuki Oi handily defeated Van Boening, 9-4. Both Immonen and Van Boening never saw the weekend. Souquet, who like Hohmann had never won a tournament in the Philippines, emerged as an early favorite. After surviving a 9-8 scare to the Philippines’ Carlo Biado in the first round, he went on to crush Dennis Orcollo, 9-2, then outlast Appleton, 9-8. In the match to see who would reach the semifinals, Souquet came up against Hohmann. Souquet stamped his mark on the German rivalry by trouncing Hohmann 9-2. Hohmann then headed over to the losers bracket where he faced Biado. Biado had reached this point the hard way, having won a brutal qualifier earJune 2011
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hmann would utter that lier in the week. After losphrase. In the race-to-11 ing to Souquet, Biado went final that followed soon to the losers bracket where after, Hohmann jumped won seven straight. Along out to a quick 3-0 lead, the way he took down debut both players appeared fending champion Ricky slightly shaky early on. Yang of Indonesia, and From there, the quality then eliminated tournaof play steadily picked up ment favorite Orcollo in until the thrilling fina tense back-and-forth ish. Souquet tied up the battle, 9-7. match at 5-5, but HohmAgainst Hohmann, ann kicked it up a gear however, Biado looked to and took the lead at 7-5. have run out of gas early Neither player could get as the German cruised a clear advantage, and the out to a 6-0 lead. Biado, match would be tied four though, stormed back Hohmann — aka “Toasti” — and Chen raised their cups. more times until the end. with eight straight racks As the match headed to get within one of vicinto the second hour, Souquet apthe Filipino refused to wilt under the tory at 8-5. But as they had done just peared to be on the rise, and it looked heavy pressure, outlasting Appleton before the tournament, the hands of like he would get his first-ever victory 9-6. fate intervened once again for Hohmin the Philippines. After knocking on Souquet, though, would dash the ann. He took rack 14, then overcame a the door the entire match, Souquet hopes of the hometown fans of havnear-catastrophic foul to win the next took his first lead right when it counting a Filipino in the final match with rack and move to 8-7. Hohmann then ed most, going up 10-9 on the back of a bruising performance on Monday’s won the last two racks, including the some incredibly clutch shot-making. semifinal. Taking advantage of his safety-filled final rack that took 40 Breaking for the title, Souquet sank solid breaking, and some early misminutes to complete. a ball on the break and easily pocktakes by Lining, Souquet jumped out “It’s nice to be in the semifinals. It’s eted the one ball. Just when everyone quickly and never looked back. The always fun for me competing in the thought the match was over, Souquet match was over soon after it began, Philippines, and until now, I have yet over-thinned a shot on the two, leavwith Souquet winning easily 9-0. to win a title here,” said Hohmann. ing Hohmann a runout. The other semifinal proved much There he would be up against Liu At 10 apiece, Hohmann sank two more exciting. Liu took the first three Haitao, the steely nerved 28-year-old balls on the break. After a nervy bank racks, and for the next hour continfrom Beijing, who had yet to taste deon the one ball, the path was clear and ued to repel a sustained attack from feat in the Philippine Open. Liu had Hohmann, who would continually get been knocking on victory’s door in Hohmann ran the table for an unlikewithin one, only to see Liu go ahead recent big tournaments, with a thirdly victory. by two. Once again, just when things place finish in the 2010 China Open, Afterwards Hohmann searched looked bleak, the pool gods came to and a fifth-place finish at the 2009 for words to describe the incredible Hohmann’s rescue. Down 8-5 and on World 10-Ball Championship. events that had just happened. Not the verge of elimination, everything In the match for a place in the semionly did he win a big tournament in started to come together. Hohmann finals from the winners side, Liu faced the Philippines which he shouldn’t brought it to 8-6, then looked finished Filipino veteran Antonio Lining. As is have even played in, he beat a fellow after missing the five ball. Fortunately often the case lately with Lining, he countryman whom he worshipped as for him, though, the cue ball collided quietly worked his way through the a kid. with the ten ball, and left Liu with a field, all the while looking cool, calm “He’s my hero,” Hohmann said of tricky safety, from which he scratched. and rather unbeatable. Liu went up Souquet. “When I was just 12 years Hohmann cleared, then broke and ran early 4-0, but Lining slowly took conold, my friends used to drive me to the next rack to tie the match. In the trol of the match and found himself on the different cities to watch him play. final rack, he sank four balls on the the hill, 8-5. Lining, though, couldn’t He’s still the greatest player. I know he break and ran the table for a 9-8 win. close the deal, and Liu showed he will win in the Philippines.” “I wasn’t tense enough at the begincould perform under pressure. Liu But for now it was Hohmann enning,” Hohmann said. “All the fans fought back, running the last two joying the sweet taste of success. were watching the other match with racks and taking the match 9-8 for a And looking back at how it all came Ralf and Lining. When I was down spot in the semis. together, he knew he had just been a 8-5, I had to wake up. It’s like it was The loss sent Lining to the one-loss part of something very special. meant to be.” bracket, where he would face Appleton “This victory was really meant to It wouldn’t be the last time Hofor the last slot in the semis. This time be.”
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HIGHER LEARNING
Under the tutelage of a two-time world champ, 17-year-old Chen Siming elevatesher her game gameand and Simingelevates dominates the Philippine Open. Story by Ted Lerner
PHOTOS BY JOSEPH VENTURA-RAYA SPORTS
NYONE WHO follows women’s professional pool these days understands how difficult it can be to connect personally with the awesome talent emerging out of China. With the obvious language barriers and foreign — to our ears — sounding names, combined with the fact that many of the players have a difficult time getting permission to travel outside of China, tournament reports from the Far East can all sound like one big confused muddle. But there’s one particular name and face that fans everywhere will surely be speaking about with an easy familiarity. Her name is Chen Siming and she hails from Beijing. This past April in Manila, the demure 17-year-old handily cruised through the 32-player women’s division
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at the Philippine Open, utterly dominating Kelly Fisher, 9-3, in the final. With so much top women’s talent coming out of China these days, it would be easy to label Chen as just another in a long list being churned out by the Chinese Billiards Association. But so much about Chen speaks of a rare talent in our midst. Her impressive victory in Manila was her second straight final in a World Pool-Billiard Association-sanctioned tournament. (She lost to Korea’s Ga Young Kim at March’s Amway Cup.) Her win in Manila follows an impressive campaign in 2010, where she won the China Open by defeating legend Allison Fisher. That same year she heeded a request by the CBA to forgo playing pool in the Asian
Games, yet still went on to won a gold medal — in snooker. Perhaps even more impressive, or ominous if you take the perspective of other women pros, was a little-known fact that Chen revealed soon after crushing Fisher for the Philippine Open title: For the last year and a half, she’s been training under the guidance of Taiwan’s great Wu Chia-Ching. You remember Wu, right? He was the chubby 16-year-old who, in 2005, made one of the great pressure comebacks in pool history, stringing together five straight racks to capture the World Pool (9-Ball) Championship. That same year he went on to win the World 8-Ball Championship, despite having never played the discipline.
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Over the next few years, Wu slimmed down but kept winning tournaments, proving he was not just a teenage flash in the pan. His sensational stroke and shot-making ability, combined with a brutal killer instinct and steely nerve, made him one of the greats of this era. Wu hasn’t seen professional action in two years, due to a falling out with the Taiwan association. Now, however, it’s clear he hasn’t been entirely idle. “Wu gave me tips on how to play,” Chen, who wore a patch with his name on her shirt, said after her victory. “Of course, I have to practice over and over. It’s been a great help to me. If he’s not here, I’m not here now.” What has Wu Chia-Ching wrought upon women’s pool? What was clear, watching Chen play over five days in Manila, was that she has many of the same traits that Wu has always exhibited: a perfect cueing stroke, a quiet and humble demeanor, an ability to stay calm amid immense pressure, and a knack for being able to close with a fortitude so strong it’s downright scary. While cruising to a semifinal birth at the Philippine Open, Chen was hardly touched, and even took down Jasmin Ouschan along the way. There she met Taiwan’s Lin Yuan Chun, the 26-yearold 2008 Amway Cup champion who came into the match on a roll. Lin had lost her second match of the tournament but then won five straight from the one-loss side. One of those victories was a clutch come-from-behind victory over Ga Young Kim. Lin was down, 8-6, but took three straight racks to knock the Korean star out of the tournament. The veteran-versus-teenage-star promised a good story line, and as expected the race-to-9, semifinal was tight and nervy. Chen held a 4-2 lead, but Lin, who lists her nickname as the “Murderess,” grabbed the momentum and went ahead, 6-5. Chen, however, exhibited that winning trait that all great players have; she stepped on the gas in crunch time, winning four straight racks for a spot in the final. Chen would go up against Britain’s Kelly Fisher for the title. Fisher was one of a handful of non-Asian players who made the trip to Manila. The outgoing Brit, who now makes her home in North Carolina, readily expresses her desire to reach the top of the sport,
Fisher walked away from the disappointing final with yet another strong performance on the international stage.
and knows that long plane trips, big expense bills and low odds of a financial reward are sacrifices that come with the territory. “I want to be the best and that’s what you have to do to get there,” Fisher said. Fisher had reason to be buoyed, as her recent efforts in Asia had been fruitful. In 2009 she reached the semifinals in the China Open and the Women’s Word 10-Ball Championship in Manila. This time Fisher did it the hard way, as she lost her second match of the tournament. She battled back from the left side, winning five straight, including a 9-8 thriller over current World Women’s 9-Ball titlist Fu Xiao-Fang of China. By the time the semifinals rolled around on Sunday, Fisher found herself the only non-Asian player left standing. She had already played three grueling matches that afternoon, and then faced a formidable hurdle in Liu Shasha, the 17-year-old Chinese sensation who came out of nowhere in 2009 to win the Women’s World 9-Ball Championship. Liu, by contrast, was well rested, as she hadn’t yet lost a match. The tense match saw both players missing shots early, but it was Fisher who was able to find her focus first. From 4-4, Fisher took the lead and never looked back, winning the match, 9-6. Monday’s championship match would be her first final appearance in Asia. Unfortunately for Fisher, however, she got waylaid by a fresh-faced freight
train from Beijing. Fisher won the first rack in the televised final, but became a mere afterthought from there. Chen was just too good. Playing the kind of pool that her master Wu would surely approve of — taking quick advantage of even the smallest of mistakes with steady and smart shot-making — Chen sprinted past Fisher to capture the $20,000 first prize by a 9-3 count. “This is my first time in the Philippines,” Chen said through an interpreter after the win. “I was very nervous. The competition here is very high. I have to play my best.” That she did. And it’s a level we can expect to see more of soon. Chen still attends high school in China, but said that her plans are to compete and win at the highest levels for years to come. With her mother by her side, she said she wants to try playing in America, but conceded that that path was uncertain, as she is at the mercy of the Chinese authorities. What she was sure of was that she would definitely be playing in all the big tournaments in Asia, where most of the women’s majors are held anyway. “Liu Shasha and Wu Chia-Ching won the world championship when they were 16,” Chen said. “I want to join the company of those teenage world champions.” With her impressive accomplishments already at such a young age, that dream doesn’t appear to be too long in coming. June 2011
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ACCESSORIES SHOWCASE
GET IN GEAR For those who think that pool’s as simple as putting tip to ball, we present the Accessories Showcase. These products may not be directly involved in spinning whitey around the table, but they’ll no doubt make an impact on what you bring to the table.
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The Hustler
and the Champ R.A. Dyer’s book tells the tales of Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi, of their bitter decadeslong rivalry, and the televised shoot-out that revealed pool to millions even as it exposed the sport’s deep contradictions. www.poolhistory.com
I WANT CANDY Cue Candy’s hand and shaft conditioner gives you all the feeling of a silky-smooth finish with no mess. Retailing for just a few bucks, this conditioner from Cue & Case is a non-glove users dream. (919) 554-1292 • www.cueandcase.com
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WATCH IT! An invaluable resource for developing players, the Accu-Stats video library has hundreds of matches from the world’s greatest players. Learn by watching the world’s best locked in competition. (800) 828-0397 www.accu-stats.com
DELTA FORCE Not sure what to get your pool-playing patriarch this Father’s Day? Try the Delta 13 Elite — a custommade aluminum rack that provides a high-quality and consistent rack. (866) 915-2058 • www.delta-13.com
KEEP IT CLEAN To maintain the surface of your table, look to a trusted name. The Simonis X-1 deeply extracts chalk dust and retains it in its revolutionary high-tech structure. (800) 746-6647 • www.simoniscloth.com
POWDER POWER
GET MADE The Eight Ball Mafia Cases by Action feature four different biker-inspired designs that will always provide you with the protection you desire. (800) 645-9803 www.cuestix.com
Whether its Master Velvet Glide Talc (above) for your hands or Master Chalk for your cue tip, Tweeten Fibre Co. has a full line of accessories that will keep your game at its absolute best. (312) 733-7878 • www.tweeten.us
June 2011
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ACCESSORIES SHOWCASE
LIKE A GLOVE? Keep the cue moving smoothly in your bridge hand with a glove from Sir Joseph. Lycra Spandex gloves are available in a variety of colors and sizes, so you’ll always look good and play better. (919) 554-1292 www.sirjoseph.com
THE GLEAMING CUBE The Cue Cube is a great tool that will keep you in playing shape. The solid metal and silicon carbide piece features both a scuffer and a shaper. (414) 541-5309 • www.cuecube.com
SEE HOW IT’S DONE In “Knack Pool & Billiards,” trick shot guru Bruce Barthelette covers all of the aspects of the sport in a visually-driven, step-by-step approach. (800) 820-2329 • www.knackbooks.com
GET SOME INK
THE RIGHT SIZE Small enough to fit on a keychain, the Brad Scuffer is the tool that’s always with you when you need it. Avoid disastrous miscues by properly lifting your cue’s fibers so it can hold enough chalk. (866) 843-3294 www.pooldawg.com
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From Castillo Leather Goods, the “Cue Tattoo” is a handcrafted leather wrap featuring a wide array of intricate designs. Each pattern is burned into the leather wrap by hand, giving your cue scorching-hot style. (773) 491-0018 www.castilloleathergoods.com
June 2011
5/11/11 9:20:06 AM
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2 011 B E I J I N G O P E N
RETURN TRIPS
Chang recaptures international glory, while Cha collects her second major title. Story by BD Staff
Photos by Michael Neumann
FTER FLYING under the radar for the past three years, Taiwan’s ultra-talented Chang Jung-Lin picked the perfect spot to reassert himself on the international stage. The 26-year-old cueist, who dominated the Guinness 9-Ball Tour to the tune of six titles in 2007-2008, pocketed the $40,000 top prize at the Beijing Open — but it was far from easy. The lanky sharpshooter survived a succession of tight matches, including an 11-10 thriller over Filipino Robert Gomez, to walk away with the men’s title. But before Chang made it to the championship table, he had his hands full from the get-go. Opening with a group stage that slotted 64 players in eight flights, the Beijing Open then flipped to a 32-player single-elimination bracket to determine the winner. Chang first faced Indonesia’s Muhammad Bewi Simanjuntak, who presented a surprisingly big problem, though the favorite captured the case game to advance. A match from securing his spot in the knockout phase, Chang then outlasted countryman Yang Ching-Shun in another 11-10 thriller. But the high drama continued into the one-and-done bracket. Chang quickly dismissed England’s Mark Gray, 11-6, before China’s Dang JinHu barely fell short of an upset, falling by a count of 11-9. With an 11-5 win over Zhao Feng Ban, Yang plowed his way into the semifinals, where he met Nick van den Berg, the last non-Asian shooter still chasing the title. The 31-year-old, currently ranked as the No. 1 player in Europe, has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, collecting EuroTour titles alongside
A
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Chang (above) and Cha were all smiles in Beijing.
a number of impressive finishes in international events. Just a set short of the final, though, the Netherlander was unable to get past Chang, who again prevailed by a narrow margin, 11-9. On the other side of the bracket, Filipino Roberto Gomez dispatched Fu Jianbo and Antonio Lining to earn a match against two-time world champion Wu Chia Ching. Just 22 years old, Wu has returned to international competition after a lengthy dispute with Taiwan’s pool elite. Unable to play under his home country’s flag, Wu made an abortive attempt to
represent Singapore, but more recently has returned to global competition — this time playing for China. In Beijing, Wu, the 2005 world champ in 8-ball and 9-ball, looked in prime shape, advancing to the final eight with an 11-4 win over David Alcaide. But there, Gomez outlasted Wu, 11-9, for a spot in the final four. Gomez then ousted another of China’s best, booking his spot in the final with an 11-9 win over Fu Che-Wei. In the final, the two traded racks in the race to 11, until the two were both on the doorstep of victory at hill-hill. But Chang took the decisive rack for the $40,000 title, leaving Gomez, who lost the heartbreaking final of the 2007 World Pool Championship, just short of his first major pro title. In the women’s division, 24-yearold Yu Ram Cha of South Korea survived an early scare from Kelly Fisher in the quarterfinal round of single elimination, 9-8, on her way to the $26,000 title. After outlasting Fisher, Cha then routed Taiwan’s Chang Shu-Han, 9-4, to earn a spot in the final. There, she faced China’s Chou Cheih-Yu. Just 25 years old, Chou rolled past Liu Shasha, 9-2, and recent Philippine Open champ Chen Siming, 9-3, for an impressive run to the championship. But Cha proved too much to handle, as she extended an early lead for a 9-6 title-clinching victory. For Cha, the Beijing victory is her second major championship in the past two years, after she clinched the 2010 Amway 9-Ball Championship.
June 2011
5/9/11 4:20:38 PM
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CHRONICLES
CRIME IN THE HALLS LIKE IT OR NOT, POOLROOMS ARE STILL DANGEROUS PLACES.
HAUNT the Internet looking for billiard material. In April I experimented by typing “poolhall” into Google News. Of the first 100 hits, 23 were stories about crimes that occurred in poolhalls. While I have believed for a long time that newspapers over-report violence in billiard venues, I thought that with the number of rooms declining and heavy municipal regulation, the crime rate ought to be going down. What I got instead was a rude surprise. While an article about a negative aspect of billiards is a downer to write and also to read, I think we have to come to grips with the problem if pool is ever to work its way out of the doldrums. Why should poolrooms be particularly susceptible to criminal activity? They’re open very late, often after bars are closed, they serve alcohol, some rooms wink at drug activity, and there are players who carry substantial amounts of cash for gambling. Furthermore, arguments over money are likely to turn violent, and rooms are loaded with potential weapons in the form of pool balls and cues. I don’t suppose the owner of Torchy’s Briar Patch in Tulsa, Okla., was happy to see video of his room on NewsOn6 TV showing flashing police lights after a brawl erupted that put four people in the hospital with bullet and knife wounds on April 22. (See Fig. 1.)
I
Fig. 1: Officers investigated a melee at Torchy’s in Tulsa on April 22.
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Why should poolrooms be particularly susceptible to criminal activity? They’re open very late, often after bars are closed, they serve alcohol, some rooms wink at drug activity, and there are players who carry substantial amounts of cash for gambling. Torchy’s tag line is “Don’t get caught in the briar patch or you’ll lose your balls.” That’s what almost happened to one of the victims. Unfortunately, billiard crime and its reporting have a very long history. The New York Times began publishing in 1851. However, during the 1850s, only a handful of billiard articles appeared. In March 1855, one of them carried this lurid title: “More Blood! — Two Men Shot!!” It was about a double homicide that occurred in the billiard room of the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans. Two men had words, one of which was overheard to be “liar.” Both were armed, and shooting started. One of them was hit, as was a doctor, who was an innocent bystander. Both victims died in the street after running from the room. The shooter surrendered to police and was identified as a well-known “sporting character” — that is, a gambler. Nine months later, in Savannah,
By Mike Shamos
Ga., the proprietor of Haywood’s Billiard Saloon was shot in the head and killed after he refused to serve more liquor to a patron who already owed a large amount on credit. The melee in the room was such that the perpetrator could not be identified, and the crime went unsolved. Such stories were typical. Aside from murders, billiard rooms could be counted on for theft, fighting, violation of Sunday laws and serving liquor to minors. This latter still continues today. In a story that went national in April 2011, a 12-year-old was served a beer in a room in suburban Chicago during a sting operation organized by the Cook County Sheriff’s office. I’m trying to imagine what benefit there could possibly be to serving minors. Surely the revenue that might be derived from selling alcohol to preteens cannot justify the potential consequences. Some criminals have gone so far as to blame billiards itself for their downfall. In January 1871, one Henry Welcome was hanged in Vermont for murder. He left a letter addressed to “My Dear Young Friends,” which said, “I got a good situation, but fell in with bad company, going to a billiard hall, and learning also the use of liquor, which I used to excess. When in liquor I was persuaded to try my hand at ‘seven up’ [a billiard game]. At first I refused, but being unchecked by home influences and exposed to all the desires of my corrupt heart, I plunged into all sorts of wickedness.” Try to envision the impression the regular citizens of American got from reading such stories. Who would want their child taking up a game that was played in such disreputable places? Rooms were a frequent target of female crusaders who wanted them closed for
June 2011
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IMAGES COURTESY OF THE BILLIARD ARCHIVE.
the double sin of alcohol and gambling. In 1874, they succeeded in closing all the saloons but one in Bluffton, Ind., the county seat of Wells County. (This was a small victory for the ladies since the whole county only had about 15,000 residents.) You might guess that the last holdout had a billiard table and something happened that allowed the women to say “we told you so.” In April 1874, a quarrel arose over a billiard game and one of the participants leveled his cue stick on the head of the other, crushing his skull and killing him. Not all of the lawlessness in billiard rooms involved violence. There was also the matter of civil rights, which were expanded after the Civil War by a federal law that made it a crime for hotels to deny service on the basis of race. In March 1876, the proprietor of the Trenton House Hotel in Trenton, N.J., was arrested for refusing to allow a black man to play billiards in the hotel’s billiard room. Within two weeks, a hearing was held that produced an unexpected result. The proprietor was found not guilty because the billiard room, though part of the hotel, was determined to be a separate facility. This was the reasoning: “If kept by a stranger, [the billiard room] would certainly not be considered one of the advantages of the hotel. Because kept by the proprietor of the hotel, its character is not changed; it is still a billiard saloon … only in the way of having it near at hand. May this billiard room be considered an accommodation or advantage, facility or privilege, in the sense in which the Civil Rights Act uses these words? … Such things are separate from the hotel business, although perhaps under the same roof. … In other words, keeping a billiard saloon is a private business with which the law does not and cannot interfere.” This logic surely went against the spirit of the statute, and did little to improve race relations in Trenton. The fact that arguments over billiard games often led to violence could even be used to cover up the real motive of a crime. In October 1880, in Charleston, S.C., Republican legislator Pem Guffin was shot to death in a billiard room. Less than a week earlier, he had given a speech that greatly offended the Democrats and he was warned to be on his
Fig. 2: Three-cushion champion Hugh Heal defended his title in Toledo in 1916.
guard. He was friendly with Campbell Martin, a Democrat, and went to play a game of billiards with him. He failed to see Martin hand a pistol to a third man, McClung, who then shot Guffin. Martin was arrested, but claimed that McClung and Guffin had gotten into an argument over the game, and that Guffin pulled a knife, so McClung shot in self-defense. The papers exposed this as a premeditated political plot to get rid of Guffin, who was black. The very next day a “cue murder” occurred in Dombrowski’s room in Brooklyn, N.Y. John Dwyer entered, already drunk, and began to insult two players, Jones and Secord, who failed to invite him to drink with them. They ignored him, and continued to their table to play. Dwyer followed them, and, unable to get their attention, picked up an 18ounce cue and swung it so hard at Jones that both Jones’s head and the butt of
the cue shattered. In 1885, another cue murder took place in Youngstown, Ohio, that was so violent the cue broke into three pieces. Poolroom murders continued after 1900. In November 1906, a hustler named Daniel “Kite” Mulvaney shot his opponent in a Brooklyn room. He was caught across the river in Chinatown when he was heard bragging about the incident. Two months later, another murder occurred over a pool game in a different room in Brooklyn. The police arrested 16 Italians for the crime (surely not all were guilty) but could not get enough evidence to charge even one of them. Only days after that, the black manager of a room in Manhattan was shot when he demanded table time from a patron who was trying to leave without paying. The manager lived only a few minutes. You would think that holding a tourJune 2011
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CHRONICLES
Pool was particularly vilified during the 1930s, when a crime wave swept the country. A legend began that John Dillinger (Fig. 4), Public Enemy Number One, learned to become a criminal by hanging out in a poolhall in Mooresville, Ind. A newspaper editorial from 1934 went on, “No one who has not lived in a small town knows just how baleful an eminence the poolhall occupies. … The poolhall is the traditional sink of iniquity where Satan finds all the idle hands that he needs. … Almost always it is controlled by or subservient to the local political boss. The poolhall was Dillinger’s first school of
It was said that if hoboes played pool and won, they would just move on, but if they lost they would commit robbery and just take the money.
Fig. 3: When Moore (shown) pulled ahead of Hugh Heal, police had to be called.
nament in a room would keep the patrons occupied and offer at least a temporary break from criminal activity. But sometimes the crowd itself became so unruly that police had to be called. Sometimes this even happened at world championship events. In September 1916, Hugh Heal of Toledo, Ohio (Fig. 2), won the world three-cushion title from Charles McCourt in a three-day challenge match in Pittsburgh. Former champion George Moore (Fig. 3) promptly challenged Heal. The rule at the time was that the reigning champion had the right to name a location. Heal chose Zenobia Shrine Hall in his
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hometown of Toledo. After two nights, Moore led, 100-93, but Heal had a chance. As the third night progressed, Moore pulled farther ahead and when it appeared that the Heal, the local, was about to lose, the crowd became unruly and threatening to Moore. Tournament organizers took the unusual step of completing the match under police supervision. It was reported nationally that “This is probably the first time in billiard history that the officers of the law took it upon themselves to interfere in a game of the green table.” Moore won, 150-125. Heal held the title for only 42 days and never won it again.
crime. There he fell in with the traditional evil influence, which resulted in the attempted hold-up of the local grocer. … Dillinger hit the old man with a piece of lead pipe, and his accomplice, who turned state’s evidence, got two years while Dillinger got from 10 to 20.” This was a low point for pool. The game was being held responsible for the most dangerous man in America. Just when it seemed that things couldn’t get worse, the police later in 1934 put out the word that marijuana was being sold through poolhalls and that traffic couldn’t be stopped because the Harrison Act, which gave the federal government power to make drug arrests, did not include “the poisonous weed.” Things hadn’t changed over 30 years later when drug authorities pinpointed poolhalls as retailers of amphetamines. As if the drug stories weren’t bad
June 2011
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enough, the word was put out in 1935 that hoboes were “infesting” the back rooms of poolhalls in small towns along the railroads. It was said that if they played pool and won, they would just move on, but if they lost they would commit robbery and just take the money. In 1963, not long after the film “The Hustler” was released, the New York City Planning Commission had to decide whether a billiard parlor was a “den of iniquity” or a “place for wholesome recreation.” The occasion was an application for a zoning adjustment to allow a poolroom in a Queens shopping center. Fifty mothers and the president of a local parents’ association came to the hearing to protest. They alleged that the room would “bring unsavory elements into the neighborhood” and that they feared for the safety of their children. Local merchants objected that it would “attract narcotics sellers, as well as gangs and bums from other areas.” (No merchant ever admits that his own neighborhood has gangs — they always come from somewhere else.) The room’s lawyer argued that the room would “discourage delinquency and crime by keeping young and old off the streets and engaging them in healthful and good recreation.” I assume no one believed him, since history was not on his side. As the current news stories show, crime in billiard rooms continues unabated. In 1995, a fight in a hall in Bronx, N.Y., led to gunplay, resulting in one body riddled with bullets and two bystanders injured in crossfire. Even Barry Behrman (a future Hall of Famer, in my view) isn’t immune to over-reporting, even exaggerated reporting, of billiard crime. On March 28, a shooting took place in the parking lot of the shopping mall where Behrman’s Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, Va., site of the annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, is located. The victim was running through the lot from the direction of a Burger King. Unfortunately, Behrman (Fig. 5) witnessed the event and told a reporter, “The next thing you know, two guys in a vehicle sped up, caught up with him while he was running and shot him once.” The incident did not involve Q-Master in any way.
Figs. 4 & 5: Dillinger (left) reportedly turned to crime by hanging out in a poolhall, while Behrman’s room made headlines thanks to its proximity to an incident.
But what was the headline the next day? “Shooting at billiard hall in Va. Beach.” Here’s a summary of my Google News experiment. Of the 23 crime articles, all the incidents happened in April 2011. There were 10 shootings, five assaults, two thefts, one drug bust and one alcohol offense. (They don’t add up to 23 because some were the subject of more than one article.) I say that having 23 percent of billiard news in the popular press be about crime in poolhalls is completely unacceptable. The result is that owners of legitimate rooms will be unable to obtain licenses, pool will be shunned as unsavory, and families will discourage young people from taking up the game, dooming its future. We have over 150 years of bad reputation to overcome. The cumulative effect of crime, alcohol and gambling in poolrooms over that length of time has branded the game as harmful to community values. That attitude won’t abate anytime soon. In the meantime, what can be done? It’s easy to complain, but much tougher to make constructive suggestions on how to solve the problem. Prominent surveillance cameras would help, and these should include a view of the exterior, including the parking lot. If the clearance rate for poolroom crime were very high, the criminals would take their work elsewhere. Video would
also cut down on nonviolent but illegal activity, such as drug dealing. Room operators can work with police so the authorities understand what is being done to discourage crime and the activities that lead to it. That relationship will pay off the next time the police chief appears at a licensing hearing. Another approach is to host an amateur league. I don’t have statistics to prove it, but I believe that crime is far less likely in rooms that sponsor American Poolplayers Association and/or BCA Pool League teams. The reasons are that first, the league players are there for a purpose, which is to compete. League play raises the population of a room, making illegal activity less likely. The owners of rooms that host leagues tend to be more serious about pool than their rivals, and that attitude trickles down to the patrons. It’s not enough for you, Mr. Proprietor, to run a clean room. The other owners in town have to do the same, or the reputations of all will be tarnished. The way our culture works, you really are your brother’s keeper, for if you don’t keep him, then the effect of a bad incident will reflect on everyone and ruin pool for all of us. Mike Shamos is curator of The Billiard Archive, a non-profit foundation set up to preserve billiard history. June 2011
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TOURNAMENTS
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Ellerman shocks field on Seminole Pro Tour; Ouschan nets three golds at Euros. Seminole Pro Tour California Billiard Club April 29-May 1; Mountain View, Calif.
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SEMINOLE PRO TOUR
A RECORD-BREAKING field of 107 players showed up for the first event of the year on the Seminole Pro Tour. And what a field it was — full of heavyweights both from here and abroad. For example, the newly minted version of Earl Strickland met fellow world champ Alex Pagulayan in the first round. Strickland laid a minor demo job on Pagulayan, bombing him into submission, 9-5. The Hall of Famer continued his onslaught for two days, until he ran into young Mike Dechaine on day three. Dechaine, just 23 years old, has been Strickland’s nemesis from the first time they met three years ago, reeling off eight straight wins. But this is the 2011 Earl, he of various weights and oversized cues and daily five-mile runs. He not only looks different, trim and healthy, but he plays different — somehow, when many believed him well over the hill, the 49-year-old has found a way to turn back the clock and play like he did two decades ago. All this said, Dechaine, who was fresh off winning the Ultimate 10-Ball Championship the week before (see story, pg. 30), was supremely confident. The two fought tooth and nail, trading runouts to meet at hill-hill, 8-8. In the final game, Dechaine ran to the 4 ball, but hooked himself on the 6. His safety was returned by Earl with an even better one. Dechaine failed to hit the 6, giving up ball in hand to Earl, who made quick work of the remaining five balls to take the match. This hard fought match must have taken the wind out of Strickland’s sails, as he looked weak in his next match with Raj Hundal, who dropped a 9-3 anvil on him. On the left side, as a part of an incredible 11-match run, Morris then bounced Strickland out in fifth
Ellerman (above) topped heavy hitters Hundal (middle) and Morris (right).
place. Morris kept rolling with a 9-1 thumping of Dechaine, who had also fought his way back through the losers bracket. On the other half of the chart, Mitch Ellerman was pounding out win after win, utilizing a no-nonsense, run-andgun style of play. Just 24 years old, the youthful Ellerman plays like a younger version of Morris, with little time wasted between shots — see ‘em, shoot ‘em, take no prisoners! He cruised into the winners-side semifinal against Louis Ulrich without a challenge. Facing his first real test, Ellerman emerged with a hard-fought 9-7 win, thanks in part to crucial mistakes by Ulrich in the later racks. In the hot-seat match, Ellerman faced red-hot Hundal, a last-minute entry af-
ter deciding to fly to Northern California from the Ultimate 10-Ball tournament in Texas on his way to the World 10-Ball Championship in Manila. For the hot-seat, the deadly accurate Ellerman destroyed rack after rack, while the coolly efficient Hundal hung tough. Ellerman reached the hill first at 8-7. Hundal had an open rack to go hill-hill, but a careless miss on the 8 down the rail was the stopper. Ellerman cleaned up for the 9-7 victory. In the one-loss final, Hundal regained his form and ended Morris’ amazing run with a 9-5 triumph. Now he had to face Ellerman again in a single-set final. Ellerman seemed to be playing better with each match and quickly ran out to a 9-3 lead. He was running out to reach the hill and only a careless miss on the 10 ball prevented him from getting there. An empty break by Hundal allowed Ellerman to atone for the missed 10 by running out yet again for a 10-4 lead. It looked to be all over now, especially after another good break by Ellerman. But a missed 2 ball brought Hundal back to the table. With his back square-
June 2011
5/11/11 1:45:38 PM
WPBA RANKINGS
TOTAL POINTS
WPBA MASTERS
WPBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
WPBA ATLANTA CLASSIC
WPBA U.S. OPEN
SAN DIEGO CLASSIC
WPBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH. Jan. 2011 $50,000
NIAGARA, N.Y. Dec. 2010 $73,500
DULUTH, GA. Oct. 2010 $75,720
NORMAN, OKLA. Aug. 2010 $89,100
ALPINE, CALIF. March 2010 $89,100
HOLLYWOOD, FLA. Nov. 2009 $98,000
TOTAL MONEY 2011
1
Jasmin Ouschan
82000
1 (19000)
17 (5000)
1 (20000)
5 (10000)
9 (8000)
1 (20000)
$7,500
2
Karen Corr
77000
2 (15000)
2 (15000)
5 (10000)
2 (15000)
3 (12000)
5 (10000)
$4,500
3
Ga Young Kim
68500
5 (10500)
3 (12000)
5 (10000)
1 (20000)
5 (9000)
9 (7000)
$2,000
4
Xiaoting Pan
63000
-
1 (20000)
9 (8000)
9 (8000)
3 (12000)
2 (15000)
-
5
Gerda Hofstatter
59000
- (10000)
9 (7000)
9 (7000)
5 (10000)
1 (20000)
17 (5000)
-
6
Kelly Fisher
58000
3 (12000)
17 (5000)
3 (11000)
9 (8000)
5 (10000)
3 (12000)
$2,750
7
Allison Fisher
54500
9 (8500)
5 (10000)
5 (10000)
9 (8000)
9 (8000)
5 (10000)
$1,500
8
Jeanette Lee
53833
5 (9500)
9 (7000)
- (8666)
- (8667)
5 (9000)
3 (11000)
$2,000
9
Monica Webb
53000
3 (11000)
9 (8000)
2 (15000)
9 (7000)
9 (7000)
17 (5000)
$2,750
10
Vivian Villarreal
44000
25 (5000)
9 (7000)
17 (5000)
3 (12000)
17 (5000)
5 (10000)
$750
11
Julie Kelly
39500
9 (8500)
5 (10000)
17 (5000)
3 (11000)
33 (2000)
25 (3000)
$1,500
12
Line Kjorsvik
39500
13 (7500)
17 (5000)
5 (9000)
25 (3000)
9 (8000)
9 (7000)
$1,250
13
Kyoko Sone
37000
-
17 (5000)
9 (8000)
5 (9000)
9 (7000)
9 (8000)
-
14
Melissa Little
34500
33 (500)
9 (8000)
17 (5000)
9 (7000)
9 (7000)
9 (7000)
-
15
Tamara Rademakers
33500
3 (10500)
33 (2000)
9 (7000)
17 (5000)
33 (2000)
9 (7000)
$2,750
30500
13 (7500)
9 (7000)
9 (7000)
33 (2000)
17 (5000)
33 (2000)
$1,250
9 (7000)
25 (3000)
9 (7000)
17 (5000)
$1,000
16 Helena Thornfeldt 17
Liz Ford
30000
17 (6000)
33 (2000)
18
Ewa Laurence
29500
9 (9500)
33 (2000)
9 (7000)
17 (5000)
25 (3000)
25 (3000)
$1,500
19
Kim Shaw
29000
-
-
3 (12000)
5 (9000)
25 (3000)
17 (5000)
-
20
Brittany Bryant
28000
25 (5000)
3 (11000)
33 (2000)
25 (3000)
17 (5000)
33 (2000)
$750
WPBA RANKINGS REFLECT A CONTINUOUS SIX-TOURNAMENT CYCLE.
ly against the wall, Hundal stepped to the plate and ran out. He then proceeded to break and run the next two racks to bring the score to 10-7. After winning a safety battle, Hundal edged within two, before an empty break brought Ellerman back to the table. The 1 and 2 balls went down for a long shot on the 3. A nervous Ellerman took a long look, fired and watched as the 3 wobbled in the corner before falling in the pocket. From there it was all but over, as Ellerman kept his cool to take the biggest win of his career, 11-8. Ellerman is an electrifying player to watch. With a win in the 2008 U.S. Bar Table and the 2009 Jay Swanson Memorial, Ellerman has been a parttime player who may be ready to break out on the national scene. Along with 19-year-old Jesse Engel and Dechaine, these are the rising young stars of American pool. Afterward Ellerman remarked, “I haven’t played enough. I want to play more this year. This one means so much more than the U.S. Bar
Table because it is on big tables.” For the Seminole Pro Tour, which has developed a nationwide series of stops, the 2011 debut represented a record number of players in what appears to be an encouraging year. “It’s a great way to start the year,” said tournament director Gerry Mayen. “We are very pleased with this showing.” — Jay Helfert
OUSCHAN GOLDEN AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS EPBF European Pool Championships Stahlpalast March 23-April 3; Brandenburg, Germany
AT THE 2011 European Championships — the grueling 10-day trudge that crowns the continent’s champions in four disciplines — Austrian sensation Jasmin Ouschan had a tough act to follow. She had won all four divisions the previous year, after winning two of three in 2009.
That’s seven tournaments leading to six golds and a silver medal — an unbelievable streak, even for arguably the greatest female pool player in the world. So when this year’s competition, held March 23- April 3, kicked off in Bradenburg, Germany, Ouschan knew how tough it would be to repeat her four-peat. “I am always happy when I win a title,” she said. “It’s much harder to defend a title than to win it once and then let go.” But when play opened in the straightpool division, perhaps Ouschan’s strongest discipline, she picked up right where she left off the year prior. The 25-year-old cruised into the 16-player single-elimination round without incident. There, she outlasted Ina Jentschura, 75-39, and Melissa Rademakers, 7529. In the semifinal, she trounced Anna Majirina, 75-13, to face Norway’s Line Kjorsvik for the title. Holding a small lead from the start, Ouschan pulled ahead for a 52-31 lead. Following a miss June 2011
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U.S. OPEN 9-BALL OCTOBER 2008 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.14 PLACE (POINTS)
MAY 2009 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.10 PLACE (POINTS)
SEPTEMBER 2009 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.01 PLACE (POINTS)
U.S. OPEN 9-BALL OCTOBER 2009 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.12 PLACE (POINTS)
WORLD 10-BALL CHAMPS. OCTOBER 2009 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.2 PLACE (POINTS)
1
Mika Immonen
971
1 (160)
17 (36)
1 (141)
1 (157)
2
Dennis Orcollo
637
-
1 (154)
25 (30)
-
9 (54)
3
Lee Vann Corteza
630
7 (68)
33 (28)
25 (30)
4 (90)
2 (144) 17 (39)
1 (168)
4
Ralf Souquet
590
17 (40)
2 (132)
-
2 (134)
5
Warren Kiamco
547
3 (103)
3 (99)
2 (121)
-
5 (78)
6
Johnny Archer
545
4 (91)
5 (72)
5 (71)
9 (56)
33 (27)
7
Darren Appleton
532
25 (34)
17 (36)
-
25 (34)
5 (78)
8
Franc. Bustamante
507
9 (51)
-
4 (80)
-
-
9
Shane Van Boening
490
17 (40)
33 (28)
5 (71)
9 (56)
97 (0)
10
Rodney Morris
480
5 (74)
9 (50)
25 (30)
5 (78)
-
11
Corey Deuel
473
5 (74)
9 (50)
9 (51)
17 (39)
33 (27)
12
Ronnie Alcano
445
2 (137)
-
13 (40)
65 (17)
33 (27)
13
Charlie Williams
413
25 (34)
5 (72)
33 (25)
13 (45)
33 (27)
14
David Alcaide
407
-
9 (50)
-
-
3 (108)
15
Thorsten Hohmann
353
7 (68)
17 (36)
-
49 (22)
17 (39)
16
Karl Boyes
298
-
5 (72)
-
7 (67)
33 (27)
17
Niels Feijen
292
65 (17)
49 (22)
-
25 (34)
33 (27)
18
Daryl Peach
287
9 (51)
17 (36)
-
65 (17)
9 (54)
19
Antonion Lining
283
-
-
-
-
3 (108)
20
Roberto Gomez
273
-
17 (36)
-
25 (34)
65 (15)
21
Imran Majid
266
25 (34)
5 (72)
-
9 (56)
17 (39)
22
Thomas Engert
261
-
-
-
-
9
23
Mike Dechaine
259
25 (34)
-
3 (101)
13 (45)
-
24
Raj Hundal
256
17 (40)
49 (22)
13 (40)
129 (0)
-
by Kjorsvik, she then ran 23-and-out for yet another European gold. But the winning streak, and the defense of one of her four titles, ended surprisingly early in the 8-ball division. In the quarterfinal against Marika Poikkijoki, Ouschan ran out to a 5-2 lead in the race to 6. But the young Finn pulled off a shocking upset by collecting the next four racks for a 6-5 victory. Poikkijoki then rolled over Kjorsvik in the semifinal, before Holland’s Kynthia Orfanidis ended her run in the final, 6-4. Ouschan, though, took her revenge in the 9-ball division. Coasting into the quarterfinals, she again faced Poikkijoki. And while the upstart Finn remained within striking distance, Ouschan took the set, 7-5. She then trounced Kjorsvik, 7-0, and Gerda Hofstatter, 7-2, for the title. The Austrian’s waltz to the 10-ball title wasn’t much more difficult. After her only scare in the quarterfinal round, where she edged Spain’s Silvia Lopez, 6-5, Ouschan was again unbeatable. She again blanked Kjorsvik, then topped the Russian pairing of Anna
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PHOTOS COURTESY EPBF
BD POWER INDEX
TOTAL POINTS
PREDATOR INT’L 10-BALL
Ouschan (left) took three more gold medals, while Van den Berg conquered 9-ball.
Majirina, 6-4, and Nataliya Seroshtan, 6-1, for her third gold. While one player has utterly dominated the women’s divisions for the past three years, the men’s events are as competitive as ever — thanks, in part,
to the EuroTour, the continental circuit that regularly collects hundreds of Europe’s best. The parity in talent was clearly evident at the European Championships, where no player won more than a single medal.
June 2011
5/9/11 4:25:51 PM
WORLD POOL MASTERS MAY 2010 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.05 PLACE (POINTS)
U.S. OPEN 10-BALL MAY 2010 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.1 PLACE (POINTS)
WORLD 9-BALL CHMPS. JULY 2010 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.25 PLACE (POINTS)
U.S. OPEN 9-BALL OCTOBER 2010 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.2 PLACE (POINTS)
WORLD 8-BALL CHAMPS. FEBRUARY 2011 TOURNAMENT FACTOR: 1.16 PLACE (POINTS)
TOP
Finishers
33 (26)
5 (77)
33 (28)
3 (120)
9 (58)
1 (147)
13 (44)
33 (28)
65 (18)
1 (162)
33 (26)
1 (140)
33 (28)
49 (24)
17 (38)
5 (68)
17 (39)
33 (28)
7 (72)
17 (38)
-
17 (39)
-
4 (96)
-
17 (34)
25 (33)
3 (113)
13 (48)
-
17 (34)
9 (55)
97 (0)
1 (168)
4 (93)
PHILIPPINE OPEN
33 (26)
4 (88)
1 (175)
9 (60)
57 (20)
33 (26)
3 (110)
17 (41)
9 (60)
9 (58)
9 (47)
7 (66)
65 (19)
7 (72)
17 (38)
49 (21)
49 (22)
65 (19)
2 (144)
57 (20)
49 (21)
33 (28)
5 (81)
25 (36)
9 (58)
5 (68)
7 (66)
33 (28)
13 (48)
-
49 (21)
97 (0)
33 (28)
5 (84)
3 (116)
Manila, Philippines + April 6-11 Men’s: 1. Thorsten Hohmann $30,000 2. Ralf Souquet $15,000 3. (tie) Liu Haitao, Antonio Lining $5,000 5. (tie) Carlo Biado, Darren Appleton $3,000 Women’s: 1. Chen Siming $20,000 2. Kelly Fisher $10,000 3. (tie) Liu Shasha, Lin Yuan-Chun $5,000
9 (47)
25 (33)
65 (19)
9 (60)
33 (29)
17 (34)
65 (17)
65 (19)
49 (24)
17 (38)
ULTIMATE 10-BALL
17 (34)
-
65 (19)
-
2 (139)
9 (47)
65 (17)
97 (0)
33 (30)
33 (29)
Frisco, Texas + April 21-24 Men’s: 1. Mike Dechaine $16,600 2. Jeremy Jones $9,500 3. Jason Klatt $6,200 4. Charlie Williams $4,500 5. (tie) Darren Appleton, Jeremy Sossei $3,800 Women’s: 1. Allison Fisher $5,600 2. Kelly Fisher $3,750 3. Angel Paglia $2,800
-
-
3 (113)
49 (24)
17 (38)
3 (90)
9 (55)
-
97 (0)
17 (38)
33 (26)
33 (28)
97 (0)
97 (0)
-
5 (68)
17 (39)
65
-
5 (81)
-
9 (55)
-
49 (24)
-
9 (47)
17 (39)
-
33 (30)
17 (38)
BEIJING OPEN In the opening straight-pool division, Poland’s Tomasz Kaplan pulled off a shocking run to the title. The 27-year-old put together runs of 56 and 66 in the final against Italy’s Fabio Petroni for a 125-17 win that marked the first medal ever won by a Polish cueist. “I am so happy, I cannot even find the right words to say,” Kaplan said. “This victory means a lot for me and my country.” In the 8-ball division, the fact two Germans advanced to the final wasn’t all that surprising, considering the depth of talent coming from that country. What was a bit of a shock was that Ralf Souquet fell to a 19-yearold wunderkind. Dominic Jentsch not only outplayed his legendary opponent; he trounced Souquet to the tune of an 8-1 victory. But in a return to the established powers of Europe, the 9-ball and 10ball titles went to previous champs with plenty of international hardware. The Netherlands’ Nick van den Berg, who has clawed his way to the top of the European rankings, took
Beijing, China + April Men’s: 1. Chang Jun-Lin $40,000 2. Roberto Gomez $20,000 3. (tie) Fu Che-Wei, Nick van den Berg $10,000 Women’s: 1. Yu Ram Cha $26,000 2. Chou Chieh-Yu $13,000 3. (tie) Chen Siming, Chang Shu-Han $6,500
SEMINOLE PRO TOUR Mountain View, Calif. + April 29-May 1 1. Mitch Ellerman $5,000 2. Raj Hundal $3,000 3. Rodney Morris $2,500 3. Mike Dechaine $1,800
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kaplan won Poland’s first gold in 14.1.
the 9-ball title with an 11-3 victory over Austria’s Mario He. In the 10ball finale, v, France’s first world titleist, kept Poland from its second gold. Cohen raced out to a 4-1 lead in the race to 8. Babica raced back to knot the match at 6-6, but the Frenchman collected the final two games for a thrilling conclusion to the European Championships.
Brandenburg, Germany + March 24-April 2 Men’s 8-B: 1. Dominic Jentsch (GER) 2. Ralf Souquet (GER) Women’s 8-B: 1. Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) 2. Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) Men’s 9-B: 1. Nick van den Berg (HOL) 2. Mario He (AUT) Women’s 9-B: Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 2. Gerda Hofstatter (AUT) Men’s 10-B: 1. Stephan Cohen (FRA) 2. Radoslaw Babica (FRA) Women’s 10-B: 1. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 2. Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) Men’s 14.1: 1. Tomasz Kaplan (POL) 2. Fabio Petroni (ITA) Women’s 14.1: 1. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 2. Line Kjorsvik (NOR)
June 2011
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5/9/11 4:26:02 PM
BD’S MONTHLY WRAP OF REGIONAL TOUR ACTION
New Joss King IN NEARLY a decade’s worth of occasional appearances on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, Greg Antonakos has had his share of solid performances, topped by a few third-place finishes. But nothing can compare to his performance at the New York tour’s April stop in Albany, N.Y. Antonakos ran unbeaten through a 49player field to take his first Joss title. Not only that, he did so in impressive fashion. Antonakos escaped a 9-8 set against Dave Pinkston to move into the hot-seat match. At that point, he was absolutely untouchable. He thumped Chance Chin, 9-4, for a seat in the final, where he would meet fellow tour vet Dave Grau. Antonakos finished his performance with an exclamation point by obliterating Grau, 9-1, to take the $1,100 title.
Joss Northeaast 9-Ball Tour Golden Cue April 16-17 + Albany, N.Y. 1st: Greg Antonakos $1,100 2nd: Dave Grau $800 3rd: Chance Chin $600 4th: Dave Pinkston $450
Maidhof, Smith Claim Planet Titles Planet Pool Tour Drexeline Billiards AprilCha 16-17 + Drexel Hill, Pa. had no
diffi difficulties taking Men’s Division the RTC crown.
1st: Bob Maidhof $875 2nd: Brian Deska $490 3rd: Shaun Wilkie $350 4th: Matt Krah $220
Women’s Division DORMANT FOR the past year and a half, the Planet Pool Tour has jumped back into the conversation among the East Coast’s top players in early 2011. In its third stop of the year, the tour rolled into Drexeline Billiards. In the 35-player men’s division, room owner Bob Maidhof wasn’t much of a host for his opponents. On the way to the hot-seat match, he easily dispatched a quartet of challengers, with only Joe Hong managing to get close at 8-4. Opposite Maidhof, Brian Deska had no trouble in his five matches, ousting Andy Lincoln, 8-5, and Shaun Wilkie, 8-0. But Maidhof ended the smooth sailing for Deska by a count of 8-3. On the one-loss side, Wilkie rebounded after his earlier loss, but he didn’t have
1st: Megan Smith $400 2nd: Nicole Vincent $250 3rd: Judie Wilson $130
an answer for Deska, who booked a spot in the final, 7-3. In the true double-elimination final, Deska managed to keep things close, but Maidhof pulled ahead late for an 8-6 win. In the eight-player women’s division, WPBA pro Megan Smith eased into the hot-seat with wins over Megan Fort, 6-0; Pauline Mattes, 6-2; and Nicole Vincent, 6-4. Vincent found her way back to the final via the left side by eliminating Judie Wilson in third place by a count of 5-1. But Smith dropped another 6-4 decision on Vincent for the title.
McGee Wins GSBT Event Shaken by Deadly Storms ACCORDING TO the National Weather Service, the April 16 storms that ravaged North Carolina and left 25 dead represented the largest outbreak of tornadoes in the state’s history — and Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar in Goldsboro, N.C., was directly along the front’s path. On that Saturday evening, as the Great Southern Billiard Tour stop approached the end of its opening day, the extreme weather hit Goldsboro. “At one time, there was no doubt in my mind that one of them passed right over us,” said GSBT tour director Shannon Daulton. “It almost took the roof off. The lights over the tables were shaking.” It stopped play for about 15 minutes, as players examined shelter options, including the space under the tables. “It sounded like the building was going to leave here,” Daulton said.
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Play resumed that night, and continued through Sunday without further incident under clear blue skies. By weekend’s end, Jared McGee had come back from the one-loss side to capture the top prize in the $1,500-added event that drew 60 entrants to Fast Eddie’s. McGee met Larry Faulk among the winners’ side final four, where Faulk prevailed in a double hill battle. Joining him in the hot-seat match was Jeff Abernathy, who’d just defeated Delton Howard, 11-6. With Abernathy needing to reach 11 games and Faulk only nine, Faulk survived another double hill battle, 9-10, for his spot in the final. First up for McGee in the west bracket was Brad Shearer, whom McGee dropped into fifth place, 9-5. McGee then ended Vernon Rogers’ run, 9-4, and Abernathy’s, 9-5, in the in the left-
Great Southern Billiard Fast Eddie’s April 16-17 + Goldsboro, N.C. 1st: Jared McGee $1,000 2nd: Larry Faulk $600 3rd: Jeff Abernathy $400 4th: Vernon Rogers $250
side final for a second chance at Faulk. McGee took full advantage in the true double-elimination final. He won the opening set, 9-4, then followed with an 9-6 win to capture the event. But vastly more important than any $1,000 top prize, those inside Fast Eddie’s — and Fast Eddie’s itself — escaped the havoc wrought by the historic storms outside. — Skip Maloney
June 2011
5/9/11 4:26:32 PM
PRESENTED BY
Jones Sets Sights on Making Pool Work for Her ANNE CRAIG
Jones intends to become a fixture on the national and international levels. TWO YEARS ago, when Kim Jones trekked to the 2009 Women’s World 10Ball Championships in Manila, she stated that her goal was to establish herself among the world’s elite. With a business degree and 12 years as a project manager for IBM, however, Jones was keenly aware that the path to professional pool was not exactly a road to riches. “Of course, I’ll need finances, too,” she said. “My dream is to be able to compete, but also work on the business side of the billiard industry.” Now, two years later, she’s on the verge of fulfilling both sides of that equation. This month, as she prepares to launch a website that combines her data management vocation with her pool-playing avocation, she’s ready to get back into the swing of competition. Her career as a pool professional has been brief, dating back to 2006, when she received an invitation to the WPBA National 9-Ball Championships. She was playing on the Northwest Women’s Pool Association (NWPA) Tour at the time, and though Joanne Ashton had finished
June11 T-Spotting.indd 61
ahead of her in tour rankings and received an official invitation to the event, Jones got a phone call from NWPA President Tamre Rogers. “Tamre told me that there was a space available,” said Jones, “and within six or seven hours, I was in Oregon on the pro tour.” She turned in a strong performance in her debut, finishing just a match from the 16-player knockout round. But she then waited three years to take her next major step forward. One of only seven American women to qualify for the 2009 Women’s World 10-Ball Championships, she became the first black woman to compete in a world-title event. Jones came from a family of pool players that included her father, his brothers and a few players on her mother’s side of the family as well. “One of whom, my father’s brother Richard, was deaf, and he taught by example,” she said. “ I learned to love the game.” Growing up in the Seattle area, Jones went to Howard University in Washington, D.C., and earned a degree in business,
while maintaining her interest in pool. After graduation, her attention shifted to the business world, where she was one of 30,000 consultants hired by IBM and eventually advanced to become a project manager. By 2006, she was able to move home back to Seattle. She remained active in local leagues, and eventually started to appear on the NWPA Tour, from where she earned her invitations to that ’06 WPBA event and 2009 World Championship in Manila. “The goal has always been to see what things looked like after a full year on the [WPBA Classic Tour],” she said. It’s a goal that’s eluded her so far, in part, because she’s taken time off to pursue some business interests. She’s already received an invitation to the WPBA U.S. Open, set for later this month in Tulsa, Okla., which will more or less coincide with the launching of her new business venture, designed to enhance not only her own pool career, but that of other pool players and competitors in other sports as well. Once launched, Jones expects to devote more of her time to developing her skills at the pool table. She’s been receiving coaching assistance from onepocket legend Ron Williams, known to many as “The Bus Driver.” “He’s truly helped me with my mental game,” she said. “I’m learning how to be more of a well-rounded player. I’ve been spending as much time on my mental game as I have been on my physical game, and I’m learning how to win.” Jones figures that by 2012, she’ll be back in full swing, and well on her way to accomplishing her latest goal – “to be among the top 10 women pool players in the world.” — Skip Maloney
5/9/11 4:26:45 PM
TOUR RANKINGS (AS OF 5/9/10) Mosconi Cup Rankings AREA: International
(The top three finishers for each team receive automatic bids for the 2011 Mosconi Cup.) 1. Mike Dechaine 399 2. Dennis Hatch 320 3. Shawn Putnam 310.5 4. Earl Strickland 290 5. Corey Deuel 265 6. Charlie Williams 238.5 7. Mike Davis 233 8. Stevie Moore 229.5 9. Rodney Morris 225.5 10. Shane Van Boening 221.5 TEAM EUROPE
1. Nick van den Berg 66 2. Niels Feijen 49 3. Chris Melling 48 4. Ralf Souquet 48 5. Darren Appleton 46 6. David Alcaide 45 7. Konstantin Stepanov 30 8. Thomas Engert 30 9. Carlo Dalmatin 27 10. Oliver Ortmann 26
Bay Area Amateur Tour AREA: Tampa Bay, Fla. TOUR DIRECTOR:
Stephanie Mitchell WEB: www.baattour.com
1. Kelly Cavanaugh 365 2. Sabra MacArthur Beahn 365 3. Chris Fields 320 4. Leslee Davis Blaikie 280 5. Alice Parnell 250 6. Stephanie Mitchell 230 7. Tracey Mullen 205 8. Jamie Toennies 175 9. Jessica Barnes 170 10. Valerie Dukick 140
Desert Classic Tour AREA: Ariz. DIRECTOR: Dennis Orender WEB: www.desertclassic
tour.com 1. Mitch Ellerman 280 2. Mike Sandoval 225 3. Ken Gouso 210 4. Chuck Evans 200 5. Bobby Emmons 155 6. Pete Lhotka 150 7. Nick Deleon 145 8. George Teyechea 130 9. Brett Huth 105 10. Dennis Orender 100
EuroTour AREA: Europe TOUR DIRECTOR: Gre Leenders WEB: www.eurotouronline.eu
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
62
Nick van den Berg 2,485 Chris Melling 2,390 Karl Boyes 2,390 Ralf Souquet 2,300 Darren Appleton 2,110 Sascha Tege 2,045 David Alcaide 2,030
BILLIARDS DIGEST
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Flamingo Billiards Tour AREA: Fla. DIRECTOR: Mimi McAndrews WEB: www.flamingobilliards
MissCues 9-Ball Tour AREA: Ky., Tenn., Ohio TOUR DIRECTOR: Becky Todd WEB: www.wix.com/misscuestour
tour.com 1. JoAnn Mason Parker 200 2. Chris Ann Fields 140 3. Helene Caukin 120 4. Vanessa Seaver 120 5. Christie Cloke 100 6. Jeannie Seaver 100 7. Jessica Barnes 90 8. Robin Boggs 90 9. Amy Poulter 80 10. Kelly Cavanaugh 80
1. Janet Atwell 5,000 2. Teruko Cucculelli 4,250 3. Samantha Patton 3,750 4. Shannon Croathwaite 3,500 5. Karole Schnapp 3,250 6. Christina Henson 3,250 7. Jodi Burnau 3,000 8. Stephanie Goens 3,000 9. Dawn Fox 2,750 10. Krystle Hoover 2,750
GB 9-Ball Tour AREA: United Kingdom DIRECTOR: Lee Rigby WEB: www.gb9balltour.com
NW Women’s Pool Assn. AREA: Ore., Wash. TOUR DIRECTOR: Tamré Rogers WEB: nwpatour.wordpress.com
1. Mark Gray 61 2. Daryl Peach 56 3. Karl Boyes 52 4. Chris Melling 52 5. Imran Majid 50 6. Darren Appleton 50 7. James Kay 49 8. Craig Osbourne 48 9. Jayson Shaw 45 10. Phil Buford 42
1. Mona Remedios 265 2. Liz Cole 230 3. Andrea Saenz-Maes 225 4. Deby Welfringer 210 5. Kim Jones 185 6. Kimberly Kirk 145 7. Jana Montour 125 8. Shelby Locati 110 9. Alisha Rogers 105 10. Eve Stockstill 105
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour AREA: Maine, N.Y., R.I. TOUR DIRECTOR: Mike Zuglan WEB: www.joss9balltour.com
1. Bucky Souvanthong 865 2. Dennis Hatch 820 3. Mike Zuglan 590 4. Dave Grau 450 5. Ron Casanzio 420 6. Jeremy Sossei 385 7. Dave Fernandez 370 8. Spencer Auigbelle 365 9. Tom D’Alfonso 335 10. Mika Immonen 335
Lone Star Tour AREA: Texas DIRECTOR: Kim White WEB: www.lonestar
OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball AREA: Texas, Okla. TOUR DIRECTOR: Julie Stephenson WEB: www.obcuestour.com BETHAN SAGE-EPBF
TEAM USA
5. Robyn Petrosino 300 6. Darci Whatley 275 7. Amber Stone 200 8. Teresa Garland 200 9. Loretta Lindgren 175 10. Kim Pierce 125
8. Daryl Peach 2,000 9. Francisco Diaz-Pizarro 1,985 10. Mark Gray 1,980
Sascha Tege vaulted into Europe’s top five.
1. Lisa Marr 200 2. Amanda Lampert 160 3. Belinda Lee 125 4. Jennifer Kraber 100 5. Ashley Nandrasy 80 6. Orietta Strickland 80 7. Tara Williams 65 8. Corina Campbell 65 9. Julie Stephenson 50 10. Lisa Henderson-Major 50
Predator 9-Ball Tour AREA: N.Y., N.J., Pa. DIRECTOR: Tony Robles WEB: www.predator9balltour.com A-PLUS CLASS
1. Victor Nau 390 2. Phil Davis 240 3. Michael Yednak 240 4. Jerry Tarantola 130 5. Scott Simonetti 80 6. Greg McAndrews 60 7. Mike Panzarella 50 8. Barry Banks 40 9. Yesid Garibello 20 10. Rob Omen 20
Tri-State Tour AREA: N.Y., N.J., Conn. TOUR DIRECTOR: John Leyman WEB: www.thetristatetour.com A DIVISION
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Daniel Cintron 585 Daniel Dagotbot 380 Scott Simonetti 315 Mark Pantovic 230 Stewart Warnock 215 Justin Muller 215 Geoffrey Bauer 185 Tim Cahill 180 Raymond Romanski 170 10. Wali Muhammed 150 WOMEN’S DIVISION
1. Yomaylin Feliz 375 2. Sandie Patarino 355 3. Rhio Anne Flores 265 4. Tran Tran 180 5. Minnie Trobiano 95 6. Gail Glazebrook 85 7. Debra Prichett 70 8. Cyndi Haefner 70 9. Michelle Li 70 10. Neslihan Gurel 65
billiardstour.com MEN’S DIVISION
USBA Tour
1. Sylver Ochoa 375 2. Brent Thomas 325 3. Jason Brown 275 4. Marco Tschudi 250 5. Rick Castillo 200 6. Brian Hickman 200 7. Rafael Martinez 200 8. David Gutierrez 175 9. Brian Rosenbaum 150 10. Yoko Joe 150
AREA: U.S. TOUR DIRECTOR: Jim
WOMEN’S DIVISION
1. 2. 3. 4.
Ming Ng 500 Courtney Peters 350 Belinda Lee 325 Terry Petrosino 325
Shovak WEB: www.usba.net 1. Jae Hyung Cho 417 2. Pedro Piedrabuena 382 3. Hugo Patino 244 4. Sonny Cho 244 5. Miguel Torres 206 6. Mazin Shooni 196 7. Luis Avila 179 8. Luis Aveiga 169 9. Michael Kang 160 10. Jim Shovak 156
June 2011
5/9/11 11:56:52 AM
MARKETPLACE
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Tips & Shafts
George Fels
APOLOGIES TO MORRIS ALBERT EELINGS. Of course it remains one of the sappiest
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songs of the half-century; according to vicious rumor, diabetics were frequently warned to leave any room in which the ditty was performed. But since this isn’t Rolling Stone, let’s consider the mighty effect feelings have on the cue games. For starters, we’ll stipulate that it feels better to win than it does to lose, at least for most. The good Rudyard Kipling, of course, has counseled us, “If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same….” But the fellow who can indeed bring that off would be perceived a gibbering imbecile by most of us. Further, if unkindly, while Kipling did write some dandy kids’ fiction, when it comes to poetry he gets the wild-6 and the crack from just about every writer who ever published a poem. So that particular set of feelings is a given. Suppose we consider how any particular shot feels to you. Do you even think about that, or are you too wrapped up in the results (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing)? If your playing experience includes both metal-joined and wood- or syntheticjointed cues, the chances are you noticed some difference in the hit (at one level of consciousness or another), otherwise why would you have experimented with more than one category of cue? Even before cuemaking reached today’s glorious state of its art, the conventional wisdom held that cues with joints of stainless steel (or its forerunner, brass), had a more “mellow” or absorbent-feeling hit; synthetic joints produced something that felt a bit stiffer. It’s sheer folly to speculate as to which plays better. But it’s also worth noting that almost all the great 14.1 players of the East Coast, in an earlier era, used metal-jointed cues, most often Balabushkas. 9-Ball experts seem to favor synthetic joints. And at that, we’re terribly spoiled compared to the enthusiasts of other individual sports where you hit a ball with something. Tennis’ oversized rackets, and golf’s so-called “compensated” clubs, themselves represent good-sized industries within their own industries — and every last dollar of those industries is invested in rewarding the player with a “sweet-spot hit.” The very reason the first large-head tennis racket, the Prince, was invented at all was to increase the sweet-spot area, where the player “feels” the ball best. (Winning tennis players invariably report they were “really feeling the ball well” after their matches.) In golf, the irony is that a perfect sweet-spot hit is one where the golfer doesn’t feel the ball at all; instead he hears a wondrous “click” and gets the rest of his feedback visually. But as pool or billiards players, unless we miscue, we get to experience the sweet-spot hit on virtually every shot — if we allow ourselves to perceive it. Which isn’t quite as easy as it seems. When you consider all the ways we at least occasionally
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allow ourselves to lose focus other than how the shot feels, you can see why it’s such a stepchild. We indulge ourselves in the wretched “mind chatter” that even allows us to accurately predict our own misses. There are diabolically whispered thoughts of winning or losing, making or missing, what spectators will think; above all, we worry about the behavior of spheres over which we have no control. The truth is, almost that mental effort ought to go into managing our bodies and our cues, because that’s where the control potentially is. But you could do a whole lot worse than focus on how the shot feels to you. And that’s just how the cue ball feels against the tip of your cue. More subtly than that, when things are going well, don’t you have a peculiar sense of how the cue ball/object ball “feels”, even though it’s several feet away from you? Doesn’t a straight-in shot, with its full-ball hit, feel different somehow from a shot where you slice part, or even most, of the object ball? Needless to say, you’re not doomed if these things don’t occur to you. But they’re definitely your allies — especially since they can help you achieve dead stroke. So can playing by sound; like playing by feel, it’s a technique for bypassing all those negatives. Every successful pool shot has three distinct sounds: cue tip against cue ball, cue ball against object ball, object ball into pocket. (Any given successful shot in three-cushion billiards, by contrast, has at least six if you count the murmurs of the cue ball against the requisite rails.) The intervals between those sounds, of course, vary with each shot. But to focus successfully on those sounds, and as little else as possible, is to get closer to losing yourself in your game. How about how slick your shaft feels in your hand? Today most thorough billiard-supply houses offer an entire category of shaft accessories; keeping your shaft slick is billiards’ cottage industry of its own. After that, there are all the seemingly inexplicable things we do to which we have ceased to give much thought. Fastidious players constantly manicure the table free of lint, hair (in my case, a loss I could ill afford), and those strange little yellow specks that look like they fell out of a phantom pygmy’s whiskbroom. Players’ ring fingers flutter in forming their bridges, as though waving a happy hi to the shot (really just a very simple example of right-brain activity, but clearly the kind of thing you feel much more clearly than you can explain). They “air-stroke” before shots, and/or slip-stroke on most if not all shots; both have to do with the same thing, a player’s subconscious attempt to capture his inner rhythm in preparing his stroke production. But all that gets back to, you guessed it, feelings. And the ones we’re not aware of can count just as much as the ones we recognize. It might be a kids’ game. But nobody said it was easy. Not to play well, anyhow.
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