March 2022

INSTRUCTION ISSUE

The Pool Whisperers André 'Sharivari' Schickling Leads A Trio of Surprise Teaching Sensations

MARCH 2022

$ 5.95

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PLUS MASTER CLASS: Gorst Takes Surprising Route to Derby Title BIG LEAGUE: Ouschan Again Wins War of Attrition

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CONTENTS

Vol. 44, No. 3 M A R C H

2 0 2 2

34

Features 30 SHOOTOUT SURVIVOR It was never easy, but Alex Kazakis held his nerve to win the Wisconsin Open.

by Keith Paradise

34 NO ROTATION NEEDED Russian Fedor Gorst took an unexpected route to the Master of the Table crown at the Derby City Classic.

46

by Keith Paradise

30

40 BATTLE TESTED POY Albin Ouschan withstood an arduous round robin gauntlet to win the Premier League Pool title.

by Phil Yates

46 THE TEACHERS A trio of unlikely teachers lead the way with pool instruction on YouTube.

by Nick Leider

Columns 10 FROM THE PUBLISHER Another Bonus

by Mike Panozzo

56 TIPS & SHAFTS

On the Cover Andre “Sharivari” Schickling is one of a troika of teaching sensations who have made a huge impact on YouTube with their instruction videos.

Cover photo by Sabrina Braun

Close Calls

by George Fels

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March 2022

2/24/22 3:12 PM

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CONTENTS

M A R C H

Vol. 44, No. 3 2 0 2 2

Departments

BD

The Premier Billiards Magazine since 1978

FOUNDER

PUBLISHER

MORT LUBY JR.

MIKE PANOZ ZO EDITOR

MIK E PANOZ ZO

6 FREEZE FRAME Pool through the camera’s lens.

ART DIRECTOR

MARK TATAR A CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

MIK E SHAMOS

8 YESTERYEAR

SENIOR WRITER

Chang takes down World 8-Ball Championship

NICK LEIDER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

J P PARMEN TIER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

12 WING SHOTS Orcollo, Aranas chased from U.S.; “60 Minutes” pops in.

13 YOU MAKE THE CALL Jump stick.

DAVID ALCIATORE DARREN A PPLE TON R. A . DYER JAY HELF ERT BOB JE WE T T JE ANE T TE LEE TED LERNER SK IP MALONE Y K EITH PAR ADISE TON Y ROBLES L ARRY SCHWART Z NICK VARNER MARK WILSON

14 CUEZILLA Getting butterflies.

PRESIDENT

KEITH HAMILTON

15 STROKE OF GENIUS Alcaide locks up Lechner.

CIRCULATION MANAGER

K EITH HAMILTON

52 CHRONICLES by Mike Shamos Don’t rack your brain.

Practice Table Instruction 16

Quick Hits: Tidbits to Up Your Game

18

Nick Varner • Strategies

20

Larry Schwartz • Stripes & Solids

22

Darren Appleton • Perfect Practice

24

Bob Jewett • Tech Talk

26

David Alciatore • Illustrated Principles

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LUBY PUBLISHING INC.

47 W. Polk St., Suite 319 Chicago, IL 60605 (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., 47 W. Polk St., Suite 319, Chicago, IL 60605 USA. Telephone 312-341-1110, Fax 312-341-1469.

Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and additional offices.

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[

] FREEZE FRAME

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March 2022

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Stare Down Something’s got to give.

Sometimes pool seems to defy physics, as Japanese ace Naoyuki Oi discovered during the recent Premier League Pool event in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. No matter how long or hard the normally jocular Oi stared at the pesky 1 ball, it sat defiantly on the lip of the corner pocket, refusing to budge.

PHOTO BY TAKA WU/MATCHROOM MULTI SPORT

March 2022

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YESTERYEAR

Well Schooled + 5 Y E ARS AGO +

+ 10 Y E ARS AGO +

Bolstered by a boisterous partisan crowd in Gibraltar on Spain’s south coast, Spaniard David Alcaide captured his first major title, topping Scotland’s Jayson Shaw in the final to win the World Pool Masters.

The longest-running pool event in the Matchroom portfolio (launched in 1993 as the European Masters, a year ahead of the first Mosconi Cup), the Masters was being staged for the first time in the Britsh-contolled territory.

In the title match, the 38-year-old Alcaide, winner of numerous European titles but never on the international stage, recovered from a 7-6 deficit to upend Shaw, 8-7. The title earned Alcaide $20,000.

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The student became the teacher when 26-year-old Taiwanese budding star Jung-Lin Chang topped longtime mentor Che-Wei Fu in the title match to capture the World 8-Ball Championship in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

Chang outlasted the field of 96 players representing 40 countries in the UAE. Defending champion Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines, along with betting favorites Darren Appleton, Niels Feijen and Mika Immonen were all bounced early once the event switched to single-elimination for the final 64.

Chang defeated Filipino Carlo Biado in the quarterfinals, then stopped British 8-ball ace Chris Melling in the semis, before beating Fu, 11-6, for the crown.

TAIWAN’S JUNG-LIN CHANG ROARED TO THE WORLD 8-BALL TITLE IN THE UAE.

+ 15 Y E ARS AGO + The opening event of the 2007 Women’s Professional Billiard Association Classic Tour signaled a changing of the guard, as Korea’s Ga Young Kim defeated China’s Xiaoting Pan, 7-6, at the Carolina Classic in Rocky Mount, N.C. It marked the first-ever all-Asian finale at a Classic Tour event.

The 25-year-old Pan, who was the WPBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2006, defeated Vivian Villarreal twice during the 64-player event, including a win in the semifinals. In the meantime, Kim toppled top-ranked Allison Fisher in the other semifinal to set up the championship tilt.

Pan battled to a 6-4 lead in the finale before Kim’s comeback.

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From the Publisher

Mike Panozzo

NOT GOING ANYWHERE ‘T

HE MOSCONI Cup should be Europe vs Asia so that it’s at least competitive.”

“Team USA should be allowed to have Canadians and players from Mexico on the team.”

“Jayson Shaw lives in the U.S. and should play for Team USA.” “If the U.S. doesn’t get better, the Mosconi Cup is going to go away.”

I always shake my head and smile dismissively when I read those remarks in pool threads.

Hard to believe it’s been almost 30 years, and pool fans still don’t get it when it comes to the Mosconi Cup. For the first dozen years of the Mosconi Cup, Team USA routinely dismantled their European counterparts. And this was when the event was staged in Europe every year!

And do you know what happened? European fans turned up in bigger numbers each year, first attending for free and then actually paying for the privilege of watching their boys get pounded into the slate.

Then the tide turned, and Team Europe became the dominant squad, launching into a long winning streak of their own.

Know what happened then?

Yup. Crowds continued to grow every year, even after the event started alternating years in Europe and in the U.S. In fact, tickets for the 2022 Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas, where Team USA will once again be a prohibitive underdog, went on sale as this issue was off to the printer and 2,100 seats in the Bally’s arena setup were sold out in a matter of minutes — making it the largest-ever paid crowd to see a pool event in the U.S. Try to understand this: The Mosconi Cup isn’t just a pool competition. The Mosconi Cup is an event built for fans. It’s the United States vs Europe. It’s American flags against European flags. It’s pride and bragging rights and the national anthem and patriotism. It’s “our boys!” And even if one of those boys isn’t one of your favorite players, it doesn’t matter. Over these four days, he’s your boy!

The obvious comparison is golf’s Ryder Cup, upon which the Mosconi Cup was modeled. Do you really think one side dominating the other in golf would jeopardize the future of the Ryder Cup? Of course not, in part because history is one of the things that makes events important.

Pool doesn’t have a lot of events with true history.

Also, the Mosconi Cup is not a global competition. Was never meant to be one. Europeans and Americans (who are largely European immigrants!) are natural rivals. If we’re in a scrap, we don’t care if we’ve been knocked down 30 times in a row. We’re going to get back up, convinced

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that this time we’re going to knock them down. The same holds true for Europeans when it comes to their American counterparts.

You just won’t get that elsewhere. Chest-puffing European fans want a challenge? The mythical “Reyes Cup?” Have at it. It will be great competition and would likely draw somewhere in the vicinity of 100 fans. Why? Because there just isn’t a natural rivalry between Europe and Asia.

It doesn’t resonate.

Please, feel free to regale me about how competitive and engaging the President’s Cup is. What? Not familiar with the President’s Cup? It’s golf’s broader-reaching team competition, which pits the U.S. against an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Huh. Thought for sure you knew that. Riveting event that is.

And if one side started to dominate the other in the Reyes Cup? Interest in that event would trail away faster than interest in an annual Canada vs South America curling challenge.

Do you know why more than 2,000 fans will pack Bally’s for the 2022 Mosconi Cup? In large part because American fans remember what it felt like to witness Team USA upset Team Europe in 2019, and they wouldn’t want to risk missing out on the unhinged celebration if it happened again.

Professional sports are full of perennial underdog franchises that still pack their arenas for virtually every contest. Why? Loyalty. Local pride. Something/someone to root for. We live every day with the realities of the world around us. We don’t have to be realistic about our teams.

And that is why the Mosconi Cup is different than watching an open tournament. It’s the same reason the pride and pressure that comes with the Mosconi Cup makes participation in the event the dream of every American and European player that wields a cue. And that is why the odds against one team or the other winning is inconsequential to the passion and intensity that the fan bases bring to the event.

Anyone who watched last year’s undermanned Team USA, with its captain being forced into duty, lead after two days and battle into the final day got a full dose of what the Mosconi Cup is about and why it will always be the sport’s premier event. It was drama and heart at the highest level.

Don’t worry. The Mosconi Cup isn’t going away anytime soon. So quit moaning. Stop acting like it’s become boring and unwatchable. It’s still the best show in pool, as well as the sport’s most marketable property.

Pool should be so lucky that the rest of its events were this predictable, one-sided and uninteresting!

March 2022

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+ QUOTABLE+

“Honestly, I felt like I could win Master of the Table before the event even started.”

21-YEAR-OLD FEDOR GORST, AFTER WINNING THE 2022 DERBY CITY MASTER OF THE TABLE CROWN (PG. 34).

Dear

Jeanette

BORDER PATROL

Orcollo, Aranas denied entry into U.S. Face five-year bans.

THE BLACK WIDOW ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT POOL LIFE, LOVE AND ETIQUETTE.

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PHOTO BY ERWIN DIONISIO

O

NCE IS a mistake, twice is coi ncidence, three times is a pattern.

If that old adage is correct, players traveling from the Philippines to the U.S. had better triple check their paperwork before attempting to enter the country.

One month after Filipino former World Champion Orcollo (left) and Aranas (right) face five-year U.S. bans.

Dennis Orcollo was proper foundation for returning to the refused entry into the U.S. at Los Angeles United States. In his case, this means International Airport on visa violations, petitioning for O-1 classification as an 29-year-old countryman James Aranas “alien of extraordinary ability, ” a new was detained at LAX on Feb. 2 for 27 visa and a waiver of the five-year-bar hours and was also sent back to the Philthat is keeping him from coming back to ippines for similar infractions. compete in U.S. competitions.

Both Orcollo and Aranas were travel“Visitors must maintain a foreign resiling on B-1 visas, which is a “visitor” visa dence, and most do. To them, home is that, among other exceptions, allows where their families are,” Henning said. professional athletes to compete and col“But if you’re spending so much time in lect prize money in competitions in the the U.S. that it looks like you are not U.S. While B visas are usually valid for conducting yourself as a visitor, red flags 10 years, admission to the U.S. in B stapop up, and you no longer fit neatly into tus is six months. While both Orcollo the visitor category. and Aranas have contended that they “In many cases, the visa holder doesn’t have never overstayed their six-month know they are breaking any rules. They windows, U.S. Customs authorities apjust travel back and forth, thinking they parently questioned the frequency with have met all the stated requirements.” which they traveled to the U.S. According to people close to Orcollo “These visas can’t be used like a reand Aranas, both faced “expedited revolving door,” said immigration attorney moval,” meaning they were sent back to Norma Henning of Tampa, who has been the Philippines and their visas revoked. retained to assist Orcollo in laying the

(Q)

Admittedly, I get really angry when I miss an easy shot and that anger stays with me for a while. How do you get over that anger?

Don W., Roanoke, Va.

(A)

Frustration is a normal part of playing any sport. We have all been there. I found that what changed my attitude was watching how other top players handle those situations.

It’s another example of learning by watching. I will never forget watching Efren Reyes — arguably the greatest player ever — react after missing an easy shot. (Yes, even the best ever misses an easy shot once in a while.) Efren simply laughed at himself and walked back to his chair. I made me think, “Geez, here’s one of the all-time greats, who has much more to be upset about when he misses because it’s so infrequent, and he can just let it go and move on.” It helped me realize that pool — practice, matches, games, shots — is one extended journey, and even the bad moments are part of that journey. The sooner you brush off the misses and losses, the better chance you have of refocusing and being a better player on your nextt trip to the table.

WRITE JEANETTE AT BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM

March 2022

2/24/22 3:42 PM

numbers

BD IN BRIEF “60 MINUTES” CLOCKS PRO POOL DID POOL finally catch a good roll in mainstream media?

It certainly caught one when Sports Illustrated Executive Editor L. Jon Wertheim joined storied television newsmagazine “60 Minutes” last year. The 51-year-old Wertheim, a staffer at SI since the mid-’90s, is known to pool fans for his 2008 book, “Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler,” based on the life of pool pro Danny Basavich.

Wertheim recently pitched 60 Minutes on a segment about professional pool, with producers reaching out to longtime player/promoter Jay Helfert for guidance on players and events of interest.

“I was able to make some introductions for them and open a few doors, like with

# G A M E #

Chad Sharlow of Diamond Billiards and Pat Fleming of Accu-Stats,” said Helfert.

“We outlined a strategy for them to attend the Derby City Classic (in late January), which included action in the Big Foot Challenge and following the key players.”

Over a two-day period, the 60 Minutes crew taped hours of competition, primarily following the fortunes of top pros Shane Van Boening and Jayson Shaw, but also speaking with Josh Filler, Alex Pagulayan and Fedor Gorst.

The crew subsequently made trips to Rapid City, S.D., where it sat down at Breakroom Billiards with Van Boening, interviewing the American star, and capturing footage of him at the table, and to Shaw’s West Haven, Conn., room, U.S. 1 Billiards.

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31

Matches Albin Ouschan played over eight days to win the Premier League Pool title. (pg. 40)

261

Total points accumulated

by Fedor Gorst in three main divisions to claim Derby City Classic Master of the Table (pg. 34).

235K

Subscribers to André Schickling’s YouTube channel (pg. 46).

YOU MAKE THE CALL: JUMP STICK With Mike Shamos

QUESTION: You’re the referee in a onepocket match being played under CueSports International (CSI) Rules. (There are no World Standardized Rules for one-pocket.) Player A can win the game in the position shown by jumping the cue ball over the obstructing balls to pocket the 3 in the upper left pocket. He gets out his jump cue and makes a perfect shot. His opponent, Player B says, “Foul. He’s not allowed to use a jump cue. The 3 doesn’t count and he also loses a ball.” Player A responds, “That’s ridiculous. Isn’t a jump cue for jumping?” What’s your decision?

ANSWER: A jump cue is for jumping, but not in one pocket, straight pool or bank pool, under CSI Rules. This restriction does not apply in the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Rules. Under CSI Rules, attempting a shot with a jump cue is a foul, and the penalty in one pocket is that any pocketed balls are spotted and one of the offender’s previously pocketed balls is also spotted. Player B gets table in position. You might wonder whether you should have warned Player A about the rule. The CSI Rules don’t say, but probably not. However, if Player A had asked you whether the jump cue was legal, you could have answered that question.

March 2022

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ORCOLLO, ARANAS - continued from pg. 12 -

CUE CRITIQUE:

FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY Espiritu dares to combine butterfly patterns and points.

BY DENO ANDREWS Butterfly cues have been popular with carom players for decades, and more recently with pool players. Butterfly patterns on cues are made by layering veneers on an angled flat surface cut onto the cue. As the cue is turned round, the tips of the veneers take on the signature curved flame-like shape. Russ Espiritu is a top cuemaker who risked combining butterflies and points in this month’s cue. Set in a deep base of ebony are four veneered cocobolo points. Boldly competing for attention are four underlying sets of colorful butterflies. Using too many colors on a cue is risky.

However, Espiritu masterfully chooses a palette that ties in the veneers used in the points, the warm-hued exotic skin wrap, and complements the cocobolo points. Below the wrap, two separate arrays of butterfly points dominate the black space.

“60 MINUTES”

- continued from pg. 13 -

One set of butterflies matches the pattern from above the wrap, which is somewhat expected. But Epiritu added a second set of butterflies points, framed by bold blue veneers not used anywhere else in the cue. The risk paid off, resulting in a sophisticated, yet understandable overall design that strategically uses color, shape and texture to keep the eye moving and the viewer interested. Cuemakers have struggled to combine butterflies with points cohesively. Russ Espiritu proves that successfully combining these elements can be done extremely well.

For more information on this and other high-end cues, visit CueZilla.com, where you can read other cue critiques and join the discussion yourself.

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The penalty for an expedited removal is a five-year ban to re-entry.

Henning told BD that the process of applying for an O Visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate requires first petitioning the Department of Homeland Security for O classification. An O-1 visa is a good route for internationally recognized athletes at the very top of their sport and would allow them more flexibility to travel between countries without worrying about exceeding their time so they can keep their head in the game. After an expedited removal, the process also involves requesting that the ban to reentry be waived. Henning refrained from predicting any timeframe in which the O-1 visa process would be completed, noting that COVID-19 has affected the process in many areas.

“One thing I have learned through this process is that a lot of grass roots diplomacy happens in the pool world,” Henning added. “The amount and extent of support from throughout the sport has been wonderful.”

“I was with the crew for a bit at Derby City,” said Shaw. “We did some interviews there and then they came to look at my room. We talked about my life and pool and what the future holds for our game.”

In February, Helfert flew to New York City for one final interview with Wertheim.

“It was interesting,” said Helfert.

“We were sitting in small chairs facing each other in a room with cameras and a crew of maybe a dozen people.

I had met Jon at Derby back in the late 2000s, when he was writing his book on Danny Basavich. He rattled off 36 questions about the sport and the players.”

According to Helfert, producers informed him that there was a several week lead time before the segment would air on the weekly Sunday evening show. The segment is expected to air in early April.

March 2022

2/24/22 3:42 PM

STROKE OF GENIUS Recounting the greatest shots in pool history V ide o pr ovide d by M atchr ool Pool

PLAYER: David Alcaide EVENT: World Pool Championship LOCATION: Milton Keynes, U.K. DATE: June 9, 2021

D

AVID ALCAIDE has been at the

top of Europe’s talent pool for more than a decade, but his performance in recent years has him reaching even greater heights. At the resurrected World Pool Championship in 2021, the Spaniard was rolling through the single-elimination bracket, where he eventually faced Austria’s Max Lechner in the quarterfinals.

Jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the race-to-11, Alcaide hit a bit of a speed bump when Lechner pushed out to the situation shown in the diagram. Alcaide could see the 2 ball, frozen along the right long rail, but he couldn’t pocket it and defensive options weren’t exactly intuitive.

Fortunately, with a history playing three-cushion along with the pock-

Watch Alcaide’s crafty safety at BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM

eted varieties of billiards, Alcaide had a plan. With a clean, controlled stroke, he sent the cue ball into the 2 at the exact angle needed to send it four rails back up behind the 7-9 cluster by the top right corner. The speed control to have the cue ball come to a stop after barely nudging the 9 ball is one thing. The control of the cue ball’s angle on its way off the 2 is another. Looking at the diagram, you can see how little margin of error he had in the cue ball’s path to safety.

The 2 ball, meanwhile, missed the 5 and headed two rails near the 4 ball, just barely inching out from behind it, which would have made an incredible shot that much more impressive.

But Alcaide had all the firepower he needed in this set. He eventually booked a spot in the semifinals with an 11-4 victory. His tournament would then end at the hands of another Austrian, as he dropped the set to eventual World Pool Champion Albin Ouschan.

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INSTRUCTIONALS

Bite-sized bits of top-notch instruction BD HOUSE PRO: TONY ROBLES

OpeningShot with Mark Wilson

Q)

What is the single best

practice drill for a beginner? For an intermediate player? And for a high-level player?

Adam Morgan; Billings, Mont.

A)

The beginner should place the cue ball on the foot spot and proactice hitting it into the far corner pocket while checking the tip finish to be 4-6 inches straight over the spot on the follow through. The information gathered provides the base for adding harder drills. The intermediate player should consider playing 15-ball rotation and recording each score for five attempts per day. Start with ball in hand after the break. Don’t underestimate this drill.

Advanced level players should set up the cue ball on the foot spot and place an object ball one ball width from the cushion, two diamonds up from the far corner pocket. This shot requires the cue ball to pocket the object ball and travel back and forth three cushions, while staying between the second diamond and side pocket. This requires velocity and precision because the pocket margin of error is very slim.

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BE A SOFT TOUCH

O

NE OF the most common things I see in beginning and intermediate players is the penchant for overpowering shots. For some reason, these players think that the harder they strike the ball, the straighter it will go.

More likely, these players just lack the confidence to shoot shots at a slower speed and with a softer touch.

They aren’t used to following through on their shot at a softer speed. In most cases, they are decelerating their cue sticks in mid-stroke to soften the hit.

Other players simply poke or jab at the cue ball.

The players that jab at the cue ball can’t power a shot because the poking motion doesn’t allow for proper follow through. That really limits the amount of power you can transfer to the cue ball.

Once a player starts learning how to follow through properly, he/she realizes they can hit the ball softer and get the same amount of speed as they can hitting it harder with a short follow through.

Simple solution: Good follow through allows you to shorten and/or soften your stroke.

I suggest practicing some shots by hitting them with half your usual speed but with a longer follow through. Set up a simple drill, like the one in the diagram. Put the cue ball on the spot and an object ball close to the pocket. Practice shooting that

shot at different speeds and with different follow throughs. Hold your cue after the follow through and see how far your cue stick goes past the spot after you strike the cue ball. Start with a straight-in shot. Once you’re comfortable with following through you can set up the shot on an angle to practice position play.

When it comes to follow through, the stroke is complete when the cue stick comes to a natural stop on its own. No one strokes the ball and says, “I’m going to stop exactly five inches

past the spot.” Let the cue stick come to a natural stop, according to the speed of your stroke. Hold the cue at that point to observe the length of the follow through. Also, if I’m going to hit a shot as softly as possible, I’m only going to bring the cue stick back an inch or two and then go forward from there. I’ll likely have a one- or two-inch follow through once I strike the ball.

March 2022

2/24/22 3:47 PM

Drill Bits-

BANK IN HAND

Practicing bank shots from various points on the table. + WHY DO IT +

Randomly spread the balls around the table. Try to keep most of them near a rail. With ball in hand on each shot, bank the balls into a pocket. Shoot until you miss. Repeat the drill for 10 racks, attempting to improve your score with each rack. + HOW TO DO IT +

— from Mark Wilson’s “Play Great Pool.”

Bank Deposits TALK TO the best bankers, and they will almost invariably tell you that their banking technique is based on feel.

Still, there are basic principles that apply to the discipline. The late Freddy “The Beard” Bentivegna of Chicago notes several truisms in his book “Banking With The Beard.”

“The thing that counts in banks is the action a ball has at the moment of impact with the cushion, not what it started with.

“If the center ball or draw shots are hit too softly or lose their slide or backspin to the friction of the cloth before hitting the cushion, the ball acts as though it has follow, because it does.”

No Ball Drill FORMER ELECTRONICS engineer, writer and pool lover Bill Travis once wrote that some of his best practice was on bar tables at taverns without ever having to pull a quarter out of his pocket. Instead, Travis practiced kicking and angles using only the cue ball.

Travis pretended a pocket was the object ball and, using natural running English, practiced one-rail, two-rail and three-rail shots with the cue ball in various positions, always attempting to send the cue ball into the predetermined pocket. In games, Travis simply applied the same angles to successfully escape snookers. And he never spent a quarter!

“

Always take a deep breath and exhale before you On the Spot ON YOUTUBE AND POOL shoot.

WITH “LIL’ CHRIS” SHARIER

”

— Allison Fisher MBE

STRAIGHT

TALK

GURU GEORGE FELS HELPS YOU RUN 100 ONE OF the magical aspects of straight pool that I allowed myself to observe the first few times I saw Willie Mosconi play was this: How come he always has something to shoot at every single time he re-breaks the balls?

The answer, of course, is that Mosconi rarely if ever indulged himself in a secondary break shot without having at least one “insurance ball” available.

Insurance balls — or safety valves — are at the core of true pattern position play in 14.1.

+ Do you compete regularly as well as create video content?

I compete weekly in APA and BCAPL leagues. I also try to compete in the annual Texas State events. + If you had to choose one drill for practice, which would it be?

I would select the straight-in drill. In pool, aside from jump shots and massés, you’re always trying to send the cue ball straight, even if the object ball needs to be cut. + What’s the key to effective practice?

Understanding exactly what is causing your mistakes. It’s easy to think you’re not aiming correctly when you miss a shot, but you might be overlooking flaws in your fundamentals and/or mechanics that could be contributing to the miss.

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+ S TR ATEG IE S +

BY Nick Varner

HANGING COMBOS

They look so easy, but can just as easily get away from you.

F

EW THINGS make players lick their lips like a combination shot on which the balls are hanging just outside the pocket. The problem is few players take the time to really study the combination and wind up out of position for their next shot.

Look at the shot in Diagram One, where the 2 ball is close to pocket A, but slightly to the right side of the pocket.

The combination from the 1 to the 2 is relatively easy because virtually any contact on the 2 will cause it to drop into pocket A. With ball in hand, however, the shooter immediately scuttled his chances for a run out by positioning the cue ball at C-1. His idea was to use follow, contacting the 2 ball full and leaving the cue ball close to where the 1 ball is shown. Instead, the 1 contacted the 2 too thin and the 1 ball went back down table almost two diamonds because he shot hard enough to follow the cue ball to the end rail. The result was a tough follow-up shot on the 1.

A much better option is to set the cue ball in position where you can roll the cue ball at a softer speed (C-2). This way, no matter where you contact the 2 ball, the 1 ball will remain pretty close to the position shown near the pocket.

And because this position has you cutting the 1 ball slightly, you can hit this shot softer and the cue ball will naturally slide over near the bottom rail for good position on the 1 for your next shot.

When determining cue ball position, find a spot that allows you to shoot at a soft speed and be accurate with your contact point on the 2 ball.

The example in Diagram Two shows the 4 ball very close to the middle of pocket A, and on the lip of the pocket shelf. With ball in hand, position C-1 is the best option. You are close to the 3 ball, which again makes pocketing the combination easy and allows you to use a soft shot to keep the 3 close to the pocket for your next shot. Cutting the 3 ball to the left sends the cue ball to

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C

B

D

Diagram One

C-1

A

C-2

E

F

C

B

D

Diagram Two

C-2

C-1

A

the right, which results in the cue ball settling in near the center off the bottom rail.

To avoid pocketing the 3 as well on the combination shot, shoot soft and cut the 3 slightly to the left, maybe even contacting the side rail before hitting the 4. This will leave the 3 close to pocket A. Of course, if you don’t have ball in hand and have to play position for the combination, I would prefer getting an angle at C-2. Some players may prefer C-3, which is almost straight in. But the

C-3

F

E

problem here is the 3 ball contacting the 4 to the right, or if you contact the left rail before the 4 ball, the 3 will travel to the right and wind up along the end rail. This could leave you with a thinner cut, a bank shot or a safety. Not the end of the world, but you would have missed an easy opportunity.

And while C-1 is perfect if you have ball in hand, it would be difficult to play position for that spot. You run the risk of landing straight in on the combination. Playing position for C-2 is far easier.

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+ SOLIDS

&

STRIPES

+

BY Larry Schwartz

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

Shots that shouldn’t work? When you see them work, remember!

N

O MATTER how many years you have under your belt playing 8-ball, you will encounter shots in which the balls don’t react as you would expect them to. These shots appear as optical illusions because the cue ball and sometimes the object balls travel along unexpected paths after contact. Recognizing these shots once you’ve witnessed them for the first time can come in handy in future games.

Here are two shots that fall into this “optical illusion” category. The first is a shot in which the cue ball reacts much differently than you would expect. The second requires you to shoot at the object ball in a completely novel way. In fact, it is the only way that will produce the desired result.

Both of the shots this month involve shooting at object balls frozen to the rail and cue balls that are also frozen to the rail.

In Diagram One, you are shooting at your last object ball, the 7, and you need to both pocket the 7 and get position on the game-winning 8 ball.

Both the 7 and the cue ball are frozen at opposite end rails. At first glance, it doesn’t seem possible to pocket the 7 and get position for the 8. However, if you know how to shoot this shot correctly, you will be able to achieve both of these goals.

Photo 1

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Diagram One

Diagram Two

Photo 2

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The key to this optical illusion is to aim slightly to the left side of the 7 ball, hitting it 1/8- ¼-inch to the left of full. This will result in a double kiss that will pocket the 7 and hold the cue ball for position on the 8. You could even manipulate the cue ball more by experimenting with a slight bit of left or right English, taking note of where the cue ball travels after contact with the 7.

Even if the 7 ball was instead the game-winning 8, you would still shoot it the same way, because both balls are frozen to the rail. This is the easiest way to ensure that you execute the shot properly and guarantee pocketing the object ball.

In Diagram Two, the cue ball is frozen to the long rail and the 3 ball is frozen to the same rail. The key to executing this shot is complex because it involves unique positioning of your cue stick to take the shot. The photographs demonstrate the proper way to shoot this shot.

The trick is in laying your cue flat on the table, with the butt of your cue stick under the rail. The first photo shows the position of the stick as it is situated under the lip of the cushion. You’ve likely never seen anyone position their cue stick this way, but it is legal and the key to executing this shot properly.

With the cue stick in position, place your pinky finger or ring finger at the end of the cue (Photograph 2). You will use these fingers to push the cue forward. When you take the shot, be sure that the bridge is as shown in Photograph 2, close to the side pocket. Cue at 1:30 (high right English) and push the butt of the cue stick forward with the finger you have pressed against the butt end of the cue. Executed properly, the object ball will find the corner pocket and the cue ball will go one rail for position on the 8 ball in the same pocket — which is the only pocket available to you, given the position of your opponent’s balls near the opposite corner pocket.

Both of these shots may seem like optical illusions or trick shots, but they are legal and effective. And if you can recognize these shots when they appear, you can win games that others simply don’t know how to win.

Of course, these require a lot of practice because of the unusual execution, but they are worthy of your time.

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+ PERFECT PRACTICE +

BY Darren Appleton

THE STRAIGHT SECRET Never miss those long straight shots again.

H

ERE’S A a shot that comes up time and time again, and it immediately strikes fear into the shooter’s heart. The shot, of course, is the long, straight diagonal shot, and I’ll bet most pros miss it 50 percent of the time under pressure and amateurs miss it at least 75 percent of the time under any circumstances.

It’s time to let the cat out of the bag and change those percentages.

I’m sure most of the pros that are consistently successful with this shot have an aiming system. You need to have a system because when the cue ball is deep in the pocket, getting your hand position right is difficult to do. You wind up with not much cue in your bridge hand and that makes it hard to put much of a stroke on the shot. The awkward bridging may also force you to elevate the back end of your cue. Additionally, looking back and forth at the cue ball and object ball adds difficulty.

So much can go wrong.

Here’s my system for making this shot.

I’m sure other pros use the same system, but nobody speaks about it because they don’t want other players to know the secret.

Here’s how I play the shot: I find my alignment when I get down, looking from the cue ball to the object ball with my head above the cue (Diagram One). Then I get low and look through the contact point to the exact point in the pocket I want the object ball to hit. I pick a spot on the pocket and mentally “mark” it. Now, I really focus on aiming the cue ball at that point in the pocket. When I finally get down to shot, I double check the path from cue ball to object ball and where I’m aiming the cue ball in the pocket.

I focus 100 percent on hitting the cue ball to my mark in the pocket. At this point, I’m not even looking at the object ball. I keep my eye on the cue ball on the back stroke. Of course, you have to finish with good execution, but you’ll be amazed with the results. That confi-

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Diagram One

Diagram Two

dence will also prevent you from jumping up on the shot or being anxious. If you can free up your mind and your stroke, you’re well on your way.

I also get asked what I do if the cue ball is left or right of the pocket. Diagram Two shows this setup. My objective is the same. I find a line from the cue ball to the object ball to a contact point in the pocket. Again, I pick out a spot in the pocket, but this time a touch more to the right of the object pocket from my cue ball pocket. That becomes my reference point. It’s something I’ve used my entire career and it has served

me well. As I got more and more comfortable with this shot, I started to fire it in with speed. This becomes a huge benefit to your game.

So, on these long straight shots, or even just normal straight shots, use a target in the pocket for your cue ball. A lot of players do this. Taking the pressure off your aiming allows you a freer stroke.

Does this work for normal angled shots? No, because picking a spot on the rail is much harder. It’s easier to use a contact point on the object ball (ghost ball).

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+ TECH TALK +

BY Bob Jewett

JOPLING’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Remembering columnist Bill Marshall

I

F YOU have been reading this magazine for a good long while, you will remember the trick shot column

by Bill Marshall whose pen name was Willie Jopling. The shots he described were the sort that would improve your skill and understanding if you mastered them, and Willie’s clear descriptions helped you on that path. Here are five of his shots.

Diagram One will be familiar to everyone of a certain age. It is the finale of Steve Mizerak’s Miller Lite commercial from 1978. Willie has drawn it for a right-handed player and has omitted the full glass of beer in front of the 6 ball.

You may wonder what all the lines are for. If you want to make the shot consistently, you need to pay attention to them. The dotted lines show the exact alignment of the balls in position. The dashed lines are the paths of the object balls, and the small differences in direction are due to the throw that will occur for this configuration.

In the text that accompanied the diagram, Willie points out that the 2-4 is an inch and a half below the side pocket and that when shooting the shot, you need to aim the 2 ball for diamond number 2 which is the only one that is marked. Willie was a graphic artist in real life and he understood how to make diagrams.

In Diagram Two is a proposition shot that was one of the first I learned. It came from a fellow player at the rec center, who may well have gotten it from Willie. The three balls are frozen and “all” you have to do to make the 9 in the side is get a split hit. Of course it’s very close to impossible to do that.

After you have the mark’s lunch money, bet him you can make it for his dinner money. Just shoot from one of the other two cue balls to make a thin hit on the first ball to turn the shot into a time shot.

In Diagram Three is maybe the second proposition shot I ever learned and

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Diagram One

9 Ball in the Side

Diagram Two

The 5 ball is approx. three diamonds from head rail. Cue ball is frozen to the 5 for setup only. The 2 and 3 are frozen to the 5, but not to the cue ball. Tap all three balls. Pull the cue ball away from the 5 about 1/4”.

Diagram Three

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there is a lot to learn from it. The goal is to make the 5 ball hit the far rail without moving the 2 and 3 balls. Grip the cue tightly and smash your fist against the rail to stop the cue quickly. I’m not responsible for any medical bills you end up with.

The position shown here allows you to do the fist-smashing stealthily since your hand will be in about the right place and the customer may not notice how close to the rail your cue is.

I think the main value of this setup is to teach what happens on double hits when the cue ball is close to the object ball. If the cue ball is back farther, a simple stop shot will do the job. As the cue ball gets closer and closer, the stroke becomes impossible. Then pull out the trick.

In Diagram Four is a carom shot that is easy to overlook. With a little practice it’s a high percentage. At pool, the pattern is very useful as a safety and you should have it in your toolbox.

Vary the distance of the object ball from the cushion and the approach angle of the cue ball during practice.

Usually you will want running English, which for the shot shown in left side spin, to get the correct action on the second rail.

In Diagram Five is a pair of double kiss shots shown as safeties at one pocket. It’s possible to control the direction of the object ball. This kind of shot is also useful at 9-ball and 8-ball but you have to first know that it exists and second you have to have practiced enough to know the subtleties.

How full do you need to hit the 6 ball to send it at a 45-degree angle towards the pocket? How about if you want a different path, maybe for a safe?

In addition to his BD contributions, Willie published sets of diagrams that

Diagram Four

English Takes Here

B

A

Diagram Five

the shots above are from. The full set of 71 shots included trick shots, propositions, billiard shots, a “truth in banking” series, and one-pocket shots. In addition, there was a checklist for advanced players, a list of 30 things you should have learned from the shots had you been paying attention, 30 reasons for inconsistency, lists of spots, propo-

sitions and hustles at one pocket, and the rules for kiss pool, AKA “loop” or reverse pool.

Bill Marshall collected gems and gave them as gifts to us. His first BD column as Willie was in July 1981 and his last was in December of 2009. He died at the age of 83 in the month before his last column appeared.

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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.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

There are advantages to the open bridge. Here are 10 of them.

[Note: Supporting narrated video (NV) demonstrations, high-speed video (HSV) clips, technical proofs (TP) and all of my past “Illustrated Principles” columns can be accessed and viewed online at billiards.colostate. edu. The reference numbers used in the articles help you locate the resources on the website.]

1. Easy to Learn

Image 1

D

O YOU use a closed bridge? And do you know that an open bridge offers many advantages? In the old days of American pool, pretty much every player used a closed bridge — and that’s what early books and instructors taught. Many players (and some instructors) still think a closed bridge is better for draw and power shots, but this is simply not the case. Things have changed a lot over the years, with a definite trend toward the open bridge. This was partly influenced by the snooker world, where pretty much every player has always used an open bridge. Snooker players are the most accurate and consistent Image 2a

cueists in the world, as necessitated by the large table and small pockets.

In a recent online video (NV J.98), I demonstrate the top 10 advantages of the open bridge, which explain why it is used exclusively in snooker and with growing popularity in pool. Below is a summary from the video. Some of the things not illustrated might be a little tough to visualize, so be sure to watch the video if you want to see clear demonstrations of everything.

Image 2b

First, an open bridge is very easy to learn and master, even for a beginner. The simplest way to form one is to start with the hand flat, just make a fist, and bend the thumb firmly against your index finger. You can also raise and curl the thumb to create even more support for the cue. A more common open bridge can be formed by again starting with a flat hand, raise the knuckles a little, and place the thumb against the hand. Again, it can be improved by raising the thumb, and if you can curl your thumb up (not everybody can do this), you can create a deep and stable V guide for the cue (see Image 1). In pool, most things should be relaxed, but the bridge hand should be a little tense, with the fingers spread and pressed into the cloth, and with the thumb held firmly against the index finger.

2. Stable An open bridge is also very stable, with a large footprint. A typical closed bridge has a much smaller footprint (see Image 2).

The larger footprint makes it easier to keep the open bridge solid and still during a shot. It can be stable even with high tip positions because the heel of the hand can be kept on the table as the knuckles are raised. A closed bridge is less stable as it is raised.

3. Unobscured View One of the primary advantages of an open bridge is that it offers an unobscured view of the entire shaft, especially when us-

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ing a low stance, with your chin on the cue (see Image 3). This makes it easier to align the cue accurately with the desired shot line. It is like looking down the barrel of a rifle. With a closed bridge, the loop index finger blocks part of the shooter’s view of the shaft, making it a little more difficult to visualize cue alignment. (If you want to learn more about the advantages of a low stance and how to comfortably form one, see the stance FAQ page at billiards.colostate.edu.)

Image 3

10. Reveals Stroke Flaws

4. Accurate V Guide Another advantage of an open bridge is it supports the cue in a simple and well-defined V shape that provides a very accurate and consistent sliding guide. This is not always the case with a closed bridge, where there are usually many more points of contact at odd angles. The V is also bony with very little flesh, so an open bridge provides a stiffer and more solid support.

5. Centered If the V is facing you, as it should, the cue is guaranteed to stay centered in the bridge during the entire stroke, even with a tapered cue. This is not always the case with a closed bridge. You do need to be careful to orient your hand properly. If the bridge hand is turned too much counterclockwise, your wrist will be bent, and the V will not face you.

This also causes the cue to rub on the fleshy part of the hand, which is not ideal. To orient the V properly, many people need to turn their hand clockwise a little. This not only helps you square up the V, it also allows the wrist to be straighter, which can be more comfortable.

6. Low Resistance An open bridge offers less resistance to cue movement, especially under hot, humid and dirty conditions. A closed bridge has more fleshy contact with the shaft, resulting in more and less consistent resistance. Any shaft taper also increases the resistance during the stroke. A shooting glove can help, but it isn’t required with an open bridge (unless you play under hot, humid and dirty conditions).

The V of an open bridge is

Image 4

hand English or the System for Aiming With Sidespin (SAWS).

usually bony with little flesh, so there is very little resistance. The low resistance is especially helpful with finesse shots.

7. Versatile An open bridge offers a greater range of bridge heights. It can be easily flattened to a low cue position, and it can be raised higher when bridging over a ball. It is also easy to jack up when close to a cushion or to execute a jump shot (see Image 4).

8. More Reach An open bridge also makes it easier to reach extended shots, as an alternative to using a mechanical bridge.

9. Accurate Pivots An open bridge results in more accurate and consistent pivots than with a closed bridge. This is important if you are using any pivot-based aiming system like CTE or if you are using back-

Finally, an open bridge reveals stroke flaws that can be hidden with a closed bridge, allowing you to better diagnose and fix technique deficiencies. For example, if you have a bad habit of tightening up during a stroke and raising the cue off your bridge, you might not get the result you want with an open bridge.

A closed bridge can help keep the cue down if you have this technique flaw. I like to call the closed-bridge loop finger a BandAid. It might help cover up technique flaws, possibly improving tip contact point accuracy. However, the Band-Aid might not always give you the result you want. Tensing up during the stroke is still a problem, limiting stroke effectiveness. A much better solution than covering the flaw with a closed bridge is to fix the technique issue. A relaxed and smoothly accelerating stroke with an open bridge can be much more effective.

Minor Disadvantages An open bridge does have some minor disadvantages or limitations. First, as demonstrated in the video, an open bridge does not work well with some draw shot close to and along a rail. A closed bridge is required to secure the cue. Also, some people don’t like the cue leaving their open bridge hand after a draw shot with a relaxed and complete follow through. However, the CB is long gone before this happens, and it has absolutely no effect on the shot.

If you have never given an open bridge a serious look before, you should consider it. It has many advantages to offer, and it has no real disadvantages except in certain situations. Again, be sure to watch online video NV J.98 so you can see everything in the article brought to life.

David Alciatore is a PBIA Advanced Instructor, dean of the Billiard University, and author of the book, “The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards,” and numerous instructional video series, all available at: DrDaveBilliards.com.

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APE X WISCONSIN OPEN

NOTHING COMES EASY FOR ALEX KAZAKIS

The reigning World Pool Master Champion withstood another rollercoaster ride to claim the Apex Wisconsin Open.

By Keith Paradise Photos by Matt Porinsky

A

LEX KAZAKIS was making it look easy early, then made it look anything but down the stretch.

In his first three matches of the Apex Wisconsin Open, the reigning World Pool Masters champion was dominant, winning three consecutive matches in straight sets by a combined score of 24-2. As his trip through the double-elimination phase of the Open transitioned into the single-elimination portion, his cakewalk quickly turned into a gauntlet. Every time he seemed to gain some momentum in a match, he would either miss a shot or get hooked on position. Luckily for him, his opponents were experiencing a similar fate.

In the end, the young Greek persevered, winning four consecutive matches which went to a deciding spotshot shootout – including a shootout victory against upstart Bader Al Awadi of Kuwait in the championship – at the Open. Kazakis not only posted an undefeated record in the 64-competitor event, which was the second tournament of Predator Group and CueSports International’s six-tournament U.S. Pro Billiard Series schedule for 2022, but did so by eliminating two of the game’s best players in the tournament’s knockout phase, taking down former World 9-Ball champion Fedor Gorst and reigning World 10-Ball Champion

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Eklent Kaci in back-to-back matches.

“The first three matches of the event I played perfect pool and was feeling really good,” Kazakis said. “The last day I was feeling good again but for some reason I missed many shots I normally don’t miss but I was always fighting for every game and every ball till the end.”

For a guy who gave away more shots that a Bar Rescue episode, Kazakis was clutch during the match-deciding shootout sets down the stretch, making 14 out of 16 penalty shots.

“I just accepted in my mind that today I was not shooting perfect and to just take every opportunity I get with positivity and heart,” said Kazakis “If it was meant to be it will happen and it did.”

After breezing by Tyler Meyer, Justin Martin and Jeremy Seaman on the Al Awadi scored his highest finish, adding another Kuwaiti player to the mix. winner’s side of the bracket, the Greek 4-2, and forced yet another shootout. den death. Kazakis made his first shot advanced to the final-16, single-elimKazakis speared six straight spot shots while the Russian missed, ending any ination phase of the event and drew to move on, as Corteza missed on his hope for a second straight Pro Billiard the sizzling Gorst in his first match of sixth attempt.

Series title for Gorst. the day. The 21-year-old Russian had In the title match, Al Awadi climbed The Greek would ride a similar rollamassed over $90,000 in tournament onto the scoreboard first after Kazakis winnings the previous month, winercoaster in the quarterfinals against missed on the 9 ball, and moved out to Kaci, whom he beat 4-3 in the first set, ning the Pro Billiard Series’ Arcadia a 2-0 lead. Kazakis fought back to a 3-3 lost to 4-1 in the second and defeated Arizona Open then winning the onetie, and appeared poised to take the set 3-1 in the shootout. pocket and bank pool divisions of the until missing midway through Derby City Classic on his way to the deciding rack. Al Awadi $52,000 and Master of the Table cleared the table to snatch the honors. set, 4-3.

Normally, the stoic Russian Kazakis mounted a comeis practically mechanical in his back in the following frame, technique around the table but building an early 2-0 advanGorst struggled to pocket balls tage. Al Awadi tied the set and early on in his match against was in position to reach the hill Kazakis. Kazakis jumped out to when an errant 5 ball changed an early 2-0 lead in the first set, the course of the match. Kazaand after Gorst’s missed jump kis cleared the table and took shot in the third rack and a the second set in the followmissed bank shot of the 8 ball in ing game after Al Awadi again the next game, Kazakis cleared missed midway through the the table each time to shut out rack. his opponent, 4-0.

Al Awadi’s suddenly undeThe second set was the compendable cueing continued plete opposite, with Kazakis in the shootout, with Kazakis now the one unable to sink a pocketing his first two spot ball while Gorst capitalized. shots while Al Awadi missed The Greek missed a shot in each Corteza had an eye on a final birth, but came up short three straight balls to hand Kaof the four racks played and the in a semifinal shootout with eventual champ Kazakis. zakis the title.

Russian waltzed to his own 4-0 The runner-up finish for Al Awadi whitewashing.

Kazakis then advanced to the semiand the $15,000 that came with it was After each competitor pocketed two finals where he met pesky Filipino Lee his highest payday in a professional balls in the first four frames of the Van Corteza, who cruised to a 4-1 first event to date and further evidence of extra-inning shootout, the cue ball set win. The two competitors split the a growing contingent of Kuwaiti comwas moved back a diamond on the first four games of the second set unpetitors with the chops to challenge table and the format switched to sudtil Kazakis seized the next two to win, March 2022

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APE X WISCONSIN OPEN tory when he pocketed the world’s best. After surhis third consecutive shot viving an opening round while Yapp missed. shootout against Poland’s After stressing and Mieszko Fortunski and pressing all day to win beating Brian Brekke in the championship, it only straight sets, Al Awadi lost made sense that Kazakis in a shootout to Jesus Atbarely had a chance to encio. Playing on the onecelebrate the victory. The loss side, the Kuwaiti deGreek and his traveling feated Kang Lee in straight party of three had an earsets, 4-3, 4-2, to earn qually Sunday morning flight ification to the final day’s from Chicago to London to single-elimination phase. compete in Matchroom’s After surviving a shootPremier League Pool out against Darren Appleevent, which was starting ton in the round-of-16 less than 48 hours after and defeating Jeremy Seahis championship match man, 4-0, 4-1, in the quarYapp picked up where he left off in ’21, making another deep run. began. The crew drove to terfinals, Al Awadi met Illinois and caught a couple of hours of ciding spot-shot shootout, with each World Pool Championship runner-up sleep in a hotel room before checking pocketing only one ball in the first four Aloysius Yapp in the semifinals. Yapp out and boarding. The champion’s dininnings. Oddly enough, when the shot claimed the opening set, 4-2, and could ner? McDonalds. became more difficult by switching to have clinched a spot in the final until “Brutal, but it is what it is,” he said sudden death while the cue ball was he missed a 5 ball in the deciding game with a laugh. “At least I won the event moved back a diamond, the execution of the second set. Al Awadi cleared the so I can’t complain much. It’s the life of improved. Each pocketed back-to-back remaining balls to win, 4-3. a pool player.” balls, then the Kuwaiti sealed the vicBoth players struggled in the de-

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A BANNER EVENT FOR GORST

Russian displayed all his skills in realizing his dream of winning Derby City Master of the Table.

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DERBY CIT Y CL ASSIC

By Keith Paradise

S

IX YEARS ago, Fedor Gorst received his introduction to American pool when he traveled from his native Russia to southern Indiana for the Derby City Classic, the nine-day pool extravaganza that is equal parts tournament and long gambling session.

At that time, the 15-year-old had gotten his feet wet in professional tournaments with a couple of EuroTour events but nothing big overseas. When he arrived at the Horseshoe Casino and saw the large banners for previous winners hanging from the rafters and equally large amount of action in the tournament room throughout the day, he assumed the game was a huge draw in the United States.

“It was like in a movie to have so many tables and players playing nonstop pool 24-7,” said Gorst. “It was something I admired from the very beginning. I still do.”

From then on, winning the Derby’s “Master of the Table” award, the distinction given to the competitor who finishes best in the tournament’s three primary events (9-Ball, One-Pocket and 9-Ball Banks), was a dream for Gorst, as he wanted to have a banner of his own hanging in the casino.

He doesn’t have to dream any longer.

The 21-year-old became the youngest player in the event’s 23-year history to earn Master of the Table, winning two of the three disciplines and also adding a runner-up finish in the Big Foot 10-Ball Challenge for good measure to bring home top overall honors for the event which acts as professional pool’s unofficial opening day. The fact that Gorst won Master honors isn’t a huge shock to anyone who follows the professional game, as the Russian became one of the youngest players in the history of the World 9-Ball Championships to hoist the championship trophy as a 19-year-old in 2019. The surprise is in how he won, winning the divisions Europeans have never excelled at — onepocket and 9-ball banks — instead of the rotation games.

“Honestly, I felt like I could win Master of the Table before the event even

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2/24/22 4:32 PM

PHOTOS BY VR PHOTOGRAPHY

After a year’s hiatus, both the fields and arena were bursting at the seams for the Derby’s much-awaited return.

was ready to take everyone down and Sanchez-Ruiz and Darren Appleton, started,” said Gorst, who came into the they told me I had to fly back to Russia. then gutting out a tight match against event on a bit of a roll, having finished It took me one-and-a-half years to get reigning Mosconi Cup Most Valuable second to Jayson Shaw at the Turning back on that winning streak.”

Players Jayson Shaw in the semifinals.

Stone Classic earlier in the month and Gorst opened competition in the The Russian matched up in the finals winning his second U.S. Pro Billiard 16-player Big Foot Challenge 10-ball with another young sharp-shooter in Series Arizona Open two weeks later. event on the monster 10-foot DiaGermany’s Joshua Filler, a five-time “It was a lifetime goal, but it wasn’t Mosconi Cup member and former something that I had to achieve this mond table, playing almost flawlessly, United States 9-Ball champion. year.” scoring victories against Francisco “I was full of confiAs a result, the Rusdence going into the sian has earned more finals,” said Gorst. money in one month “It didn’t matter that of work than many it was Filler or anyAmericans take home one else but I knew I in a year, bringing in had to play the same $91,100 in prize money as I had in previous for January. The victorounds in order to ries were not only the win.” achievement of a career He didn’t. After goal but, in his mind, splitting the first four making up for time lost racks, Filler took adduring the pandemic. vantage of a missed “When I’m on a winshot by Gorst to build ning streak, I feel cona 3-2 advantage, only fident and very good at to watch Gorst claw the table,” said Gorst. back to win the next “That’s why I was upset three. Gorst had an when we were in Vegas opportunity to extend in 2020 and they shut his lead to 6-3 but everything down. I Filler dominated a stellar 16-player field to claim the Big Foot title.

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PHOTO BY VR PHOTOGRAPHY

Gorst’s (below) run to the 9-Ball Banks title had to go through the surprising Shaw (left).

PHOTO BY ERWIN DIONISIO

missed a long shot in the ensuing game.

Filler tied the match and the two continued trading games until, with the score 9-9, Gorst broke and deposited the cue ball into the side pocket.

“That really decided who was going to be the winner,” Gorst said.

Filler cleared the table to climb onto the hill, then took advantage of one additional miss by his opponent to claim the set and take home first prize, 11-9.

As is always the case at the poolapalooza that is Derby City, Gorst was playing matches in other disciplines while he advanced through the singleelimination Big Foot bracket, working his way through his roster of opponents in the 9-Ball Banks division.

He found the main table used for the live Accu-Stats broadcast to be playing much more lively than the ones used outside the arena, usually resulting in a strategy change during his nonbroadcast matches, with Gorst and many other competitors opting for a more defensive approach. Conservative play or not, the Russian flirted with disaster, going hill-hill in his fourthround match against Shane Winters before pulling out a win and doing the same in the 11th round against Poland’s

break, Gorst made him pay by using ball-in-hand and a wide-open table to bank in three straight balls on his way to swiping a quick 1-0 advantage.

The Russian pocketed a ball on the break in the next game and banked in a couple more to keep the heat on and force Shaw to play more aggressively, then took advantage of his opponent’s misses down the stretch to close out the match, 3-0.

“That roll where he broke and scratched in the first rack, that was the turning point,” said Gorst.

After a runner-up finish in the 10-footer competition and a title in banks, Gorst, a guy who already felt pretty confident about his chances of attaining Master honors this year, really recognized he was one of the contenders to take home the honors and the $20,000 check that comes with it. He took no chances with his schedule, which is no easy task at an event which is practically running all-night action matches. Anyone who has watched Gorst compete in the multi-day races against James Aranas or Alex Pagulayan knows he has plenty of gamble in him, but with the Russian having tournament titles and Master honors Shockingly, Roberts was the lone American in the One-Pocket semis, losing in the final. within reach he abstained from Mieszko Fortunski. He built a 2-0 lead in a race-to-three match against Tony Chohan then watched it slip away in a 3-2 defeat, but was able to buy back in and advance to the finals against Jayson Shaw.

“Overall, I was playing the game good but I just wasn’t banking great on the outside tables,” said Gorst.

He did feel like he was banking better on the streaming match table.

So, when Shaw won the lag and then promptly scratched on the opening

PHOTO BY ERWIN DIONISIO

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PHOTO BY ERWIN DIONISIO

three of the Derby’s one-pocket bracket, could still come from behind and it all. Five minutes after his final match, win the honors with a victory in the et, where he faced Darren Appleton for Gorst was heading home with financial 9-ball division. The Russian decided a chance to go to the final. The Billiard backers Jason and Alan Sword and he to forget about the points altogether Congress of America Hall of Famer had was in bed not much longer after they and let his cue do the talking, workalready taken down Gorst in a previous arrived home. round where the Russian couldn’t musing his way through the bracket until “If you’re chasing tournaments, you he reached Shane Van Boening in the ter any kind of momentum. However, have to schedule your day especially round of 32. The two dueled back and the rematch again would be played on for tournaments,” he said. “If you’re forth throughout the set, splitting the the tournament’s live streaming table, chasing action, you just don’t worry first 14 games of the match. Gorst had a with its rails and cloth benefitting the about the tournaments and go to the chance to take the lead in the 15th game wide-open style of Gorst. He avenged action room.” his loss to Appleton, then jumped out He would need the rest as the event but leaked cue ball positioning on the to a 2-0 lead in a race-to-three finals progressed into One-Pocket, a disci7 ball and was forced to attempt a bank against Josh Roberts, eventually winshot, which he missed. Van Boening pline the Russian literally had never ning, 3-1, to claim two division titles cleared the table and then broke and seen before until he arrived at Derby in three days. ran to seal a 9-7 win. those few years earlier as a teenager.

“The funny thing is that I’ve never Meanwhile Shaw kept chugging And he wasn’t all that interested in the cashed in a one-pocket event before, along until he met Filler, who elimigame either. In fact, none of it appealed to him. The racks that could take over an hour.

The plodding pace that feels more like two drivers arriving at opposing stop signs simultaneously and are waiting for each other to move first.

His concern for how the game might negatively affect his stroke when playing the ready-aimfire pace of rotation pool.

“For a 15-year-old, I don’t need one pocket in my life,” he thought.

And then he hooked up with the Swords, who encouraged the Russian to give the game a try and also frequented a pool room near the casino where the Derby is held that had a couple of regular customers who Gorst checked out with titles in two divisions and the Master of the Table crown in 2022. were one pocket players. but I won the Derby,” said Gorst. “I’m He’d match up with the local competinated the Scotsman in the semifinals, not as experienced as professional onetors, some of whom couldn’t run two 9-7. The German would advance to pocket players. My move is eight-andballs but had keen knowledge for the the midnight finals and meet Spain’s out. But at the Derby, I was playing game along with others who had the Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, a competitor well around the stack.” full arsenal of shots but less knowlwho was fulfilling a dream of his own Heading into the final day of the edge. Over time, he’d study the strategy by playing in his first-ever Derby City Derby’s 9-Ball competition, Gorst was and recently competed in one-pocket Classic after years of having the event all but certain to claim Master of the events at Big Dog’s in Iowa, as well as on his bucket list.

Table — except that he wasn’t. Or he a tournament in Texas, to gain more “I always wanted to go but I never thought he wasn’t. He had a difficult exposure. went because I don’t play banks and time reading the event’s website and “I just didn’t understand when to be one pocket,” said Sanchez Ruiz. “But the point tally, which seemed to have more aggressive,” Gorst said. “Now, everyone told me that it’s a nice tourthe wrong totals in some of the disciI’ve gained a little bit of experience nament.” playing the game way more than I used plines. Then he heard that Shaw, who The event got even nicer for the to.” finished second in the banks competiSpaniard when he defeated Van BoenHe gained enough to reach the final tion and tied for fourth in one-pocking, reigning World Pool Champion March 2022

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with 457 players registering for the bank pool division compared to 451 two years ago, 370 for one pocket this year versus 365, and 473 competing in 9-ball compared to 408 in 2020. The demand for 9-ball was so high that Diamond Vice President Chad Scharlow initially capped the sign-ups at 450 before relenting and letting everyone compete.

“We opened it up and barely got done in time,” Scharlow said. “I felt sorry for the guys on the waiting list and they were ecstatic that they were able to get in.”

The increase in demand has Scharlow and event founder Greg Sullivan kicking around methods to streamline future events betPHOTO BY ERWIN DIONISIO

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Albin Ouschan and Filler in earlier rounds. When he met Filler again in the finals, he jumped out to an early 3-1 lead but the German cut the deficit to one before he miscued on a shot on the 3 ball in the sixth rack. Sanchez-Ruiz cleared the table and then tacked on a pair of racks to increase his advantage to 6-2. The German won the ninth game to cut the lead to 6-3 but watched as his opponent kicked in the 2 ball after a Filler safety. With a powerful and punishing break that was still popping during the middle of the night match, Sanchez-Ruiz broke and ran in the 11th game to build a comfortable 9-3 lead then took advantage of an open shot left by his opponent after a safety attempt on the 2 ball to close out the rack Sanchez-Ruiz (above) nabbed the and the match, 9-3.

9-Ball title in his maiden voyage The victory was a ca- to Derby, while Thorpe’s (right) reer milestone for San- week had a nice ring to it. chez-Ruiz, who is always day event near in the conversation when it comes to the Indiana bortop European players but has usually der. There was the taken a backseat to competitors like return to major Gorst, Filler and even countryman tournament comDavid Alcaide. Last year, the Spaniard petition of Hall of won the Euro Tour’s Antalya and Lasko Famer Efren Reyes Opens while turning in a top-five perand Billy Thorpe, formance at the World Pool Champiwho took home onship. the title in Friday night’s traditional “I won two Euro Tour events but I bank pool ring game. There was the think this one is more important,” said continued comebacks of Appleton and Sanchez-Ruiz. “This tournament gives Finland’s Mika Immonen, who reached me a lot more confidence for the futhe semifinals of the Big Foot and tied ture.” for sixth in the 9-ball division.

Gorst earned 240 points used to “I feel pretty happy to go deep in determine Master of the Table for the these events,” said Immonen. “I feel banks and one-pocket wins and added like I’m sending out a little warning another 21 for his run in the 9-ball and I’m a threat to win at some point.” division to give him 261 while Shaw There was also the fact that the event finished in second with 202.5. Filler was played in the first place, having placed in third with 172.4 points and returned from its one-year COVID-19 Sanchez-Ruiz’s victory in 9 ball gave hiatus. With many competitors itchhim 138.5 points.

In addition to the story of Gorst’s ing to return to action after the panimpressive run and Sanchez-Ruiz’s demic postponements, each division first big money win, there were plenty saw a slight bump in players compared of other side stories during the nineto 2020 when the event was last held,

ter, with speculation beginning that a 10th day of the event could eventually be created by adding play on Sunday rather than finishing late Saturday night. There are pros and cons to the concept, with the plus being that the 9-ball championship won’t potentially start past midnight and the negative being that competing Sunday eliminates the travel day home for players who have jobs to return to the following Monday.

“Its amazing to me that this might become a 10-day event,” Scharlow said.

“We do have that space allotted to us on Sunday. That’s not been a problem and it’s always been our little buffer just in case.”

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IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN 2021 Player of the Year Albin Ouschan continued his hot streak, winning the war of attrition that was the Premier League Pool marathon in the U.K.

By Phil Yates • Photos By Taka Wu

J

UST A short stroll from Stadium MK, venue for the inaugural Predator Premier League Pool, sits Bletchley Park, stately home of the famed Codebreakers, led by the mathematical genius Alan Turing.

Their expert deciphering of secret enemy messages and generally far-sighted cryptoanalysis played a key role in the outcome of the Second World War and consequent demise of Nazi Germany.

Yet precisely unravelling how pool history somehow repeated itself up the road on two tables plonked in a hotel ballroom was beyond even the

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most advanced computer.

The equation to solve was thus: 183 divided by 8 = AO. After 183 matches over eight gruelling days, Albin Ouschan collected the $20,000 first prize, a year after launching his banner 2021 by coming good in the tournament’s forerunner, the equally labyrinthine if slightly different Championship League Pool. Ouschan played 52 matches last year, 31 this time.

Naturally, when trying to unearth how Ouschan prevailed in the sport’s ultimate war of attrition, logic dictates

the best route goes through the man himself. Inquiries were made of the champion, but there the case went cold.

“I have no clue how I’m holding this,” said a smiling Ouschan, cradling an appropriately large trophy given the ungodly amount of effort put into winning it.

The most illuminating forensic exhibit was the final, in which ice doused fire as the cool, calculated, considered Ouschan beat the aesthetically pleasing, inspired Joshua Filler 7-5, ignoring a nightmare start.

Having twice captured the World

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PREMIER POOL LEAGUE 9-Ball Championship, won the China Open, the International Open, been on two silverware lifting World Cup teams and part of four successful European Mosconi Cup outfits, Ouschan is accustomed to pressure entering a final. This, though, by his own admission, was unique.

“I played all those matches to win the Championship League so I thought I knew what to expect but nothing can prepare you for a week like this. It is constant pool for eight days if you go all the way. We are in the venue 10 hours straight. It’s breakfast, pool, dinner, pool, bed and then you do it all over again,” explained Ouschan, of his Groundhog Day experience, albeit minus Gobbler Knob’s Punxsutawney Phil.

“Get to every other final and you are thinking about how good it will feel to win. Get to this final and you can’t help wondering how bad you will feel if you come up just short after working so hard. That’s the biggest pressure right there.”

Much like a climber who ascends the tallest peak but slips metres from planting his flag at the summit, Ouschan appeared crushed when Filler, who had beaten Jayson Shaw, 7-3, in the semifinals, displayed his usual vim and vigour in rapidly tucking away the opening four racks.

“Over the course of the tournament as a whole Joshua was definitely the best player in the field, there’s no question about that, so I knew I was in trouble. I had to dig in and hope things changed. Luckily for me, they did,” added Ouschan.

The initial chink in Filler’s armor showed itself when overcutting a tricky but makeable 1 ball in the fifth rack. Ouschan ran out to gain a precious foothold, then rallied to 4-3 on the back of his opponent’s impetuosity and momentary naivité.

From Ouschan’s dry break in the

Filler (top) “was the best player,” but Ouschan (left) won when it mattered.

busy pendulum to swing again. With the ninth at his mercy, the 31-year-old Austrian fell victim to the brutal fourinch pockets standard for Matchroompromoted events as he rattled the 5 to a corner target and watched in horror as it hung in the jaws.

As Filler set about tidying up to regain the lead at 5-4, Ouschan could not disguise his disgust, cutting an utterly deflated figure slumped in his chair, mulling over how such a rudimentary shot could have been so royally botched.

The severity and timing of such sixth, Filler raised eyebrows by jumpa monumental blunder would have ing to pot a tough 1. It went astray, floored the overwhelming majority.

Ouschan stepped in to close the gap Not Ouschan, and built further for whom menmomentum in tal strength and the seventh when cussed deterFiller pushed out mination have to a bankable 1-2 long been callcombination that, ing cards. It with the 2 in such also helped that close proximity to Filler astounda corner pocket, ingly messed up Ouschan was as well. never going to reStoically, Ousfuse. chan broke and When Ousran in the tenth chan completed rack for 5-5 his first break before calamand run out in ity struck Filler the eighth rack, on the verge of it was neck and Shaw overcame a rough round to reach moving to the neck only for the the final four, losing to Filler.

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PREMIER POOL LEAGUE hill. Even though the cue ball was a little close to the side rail it was unconscionable to believe the former World 9-Ball and U.S. Open Champion would fluff his lines but, to universal astonishment, he did. Shockingly, a routine 7 was sent wide.

“What’s he done,” screamed an astounded Karl Boyes in commentary. It soon transpired that Filler had struck the last shot of his personal Milton Keynes marathon, cruelly tripping and falling with the finish line in sight.

Ouschan had the simplest of tasks to move ahead for the first time in the match, then broke Filler’s heart by navigating a less-than-straightforward break and run out in the twelfth rack to slam the door, enhance his already

Yet, against Ouschan in their semifinal, both Van Boening’s break and performance were subdued. Trailing 6-3, the end seemed nigh only for Ouschan to be reminded that in the Premier League nothing comes easy.

Van Boening characteristically refused to quit, recovered to 6-5 and extended the thriller to hill-hill when a cushion malfunction threatened to drive Ouschan to distraction.

Seemingly in to quell Van Boening’s insurrection in the twelfth rack, an abnormally big bounce off the short rail caused Ouschan to surrender position on the 4. In turmoil, he compounded the issue with a weak safety and Van Boening’s escape tunnel grew a little wider.

Trouble was, given the alternate break format, Ouschan led off in the

roller-coaster of which Six Flags would have been proud.

“Yes, we are all champions here, but in the end, we are just human. It is nonstop. Play, get ready to play, go again.

You can’t help but feel exhausted. This is a nice hotel, but because your brain is working overtime, it doesn’t switch off, and you struggle to go to sleep. Before you know it, the alarm is ringing and it’s time to restart the process.

“I try to do things right to give myself the best possible chance and I’m sure my physical fitness helped get me through. Even then, everybody has bad days here, that’s just inevitable. I had a bad day yesterday but pulled it round when it really mattered. That’s why I’m so happy. If you haven’t gone through it, you don’t know what’s involved in taking this trophy home.”

Outlining the structure of any tour-

glittering record, and return to lifestyle normality.

“This means more to me than most titles because in my own eyes I was the underdog. This tournament is like the ultimate pool boot camp.

I’ve pulled through, got the ‘W,’ and I’m very proud of myself. Winning anytime is a nice feeling but this is so satisfying.

Woodward (inset) rose to the second position, but went 1-5 in the last six, while countryman I don’t know how Joshua Van Boening (above) broke and jumped to the semis, but fell a game short against Ouschan. feels but if I’d lost having nament can be meat and potatoes bordecider and, exhibiting the steely decome so far, I would’ve been sick,” said ing but, in this instance, knowledge of meanour for which he is renowned, Ouschan, echoing his post-semifinal its format is essential to the appreciamustered sufficient concentration and sentiment. tion of Ouschan’s accomplishment. willpower to break and run out, a couIf Filler had been the stand-out A sweet 16 from three continents rageous 3 ball the glue that bound his player overall, Shane Van Boening was convened in Milton Keynes, a town nerve-shredding 7-6 win together. tops in the explosive break stats. Durborne of 1960s regional planning in “I can’t describe how disappointed ing one especially ferocious four rack the county of Buckinghamshire, 50 I would have felt if I’d lost to Shane sequence in a much earlier round robin miles northwest of London. having been so in control,” admitted match, the American star potted 15 It is an agreeable part of the world Ouschan, before underlining how the balls total, slaughtering the rack, time but, with three named storms, Dudfabric of the tournament had created a and again.

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PREMIER POOL LEAGUE cupied fifth place. Greece’s Alexander Kazakis was sixth.

Given the rigors of the format alone, coupled with unavoidable jetlag, the Greek’s result was noteworthy. The day after winning the Wisconsin Open, Kazakis boarded a through the night, cross Atlantic flight, landed at Heathrow, travelled to Milton Keynes, and was immediately pitched into the action.

Much fresher and straining at the leash, Ouschan erected a sturdy platform for success by starting 10-0. His 5-4 first phase win over the previously unbeaten Filler was both a portent of things to come and a graphic illustration of 9-ball’s cruelty.

Repeatedly in a gripping, tactical decider, Filler placed Ouschan in a world of hurt. Each time, Ouschan kicked, made the desired contact and got away scot-free.

Filler eventually blinked by scratching and a shame faced ley, Eunice and Franklin, Ouschan needed no further pummelling the UK in a invitation to cross the line. single week, plus the unreAlthough aware points lenting schedule, sightseewere not reset for each phase, ing was as limited as rest.

Ouschan subsequently took For five days they battled his foot off the gas, grew irriaway in phase one, each tated, committed mistakes of player crossing cues with all varieties yet found a way to the other 15 once. That personally reset. He began the league table saw 10 make final day shielded by a cloak the cut while six were of his trademark intensity. eliminated: Aloysius Yapp, Third phase victories over Oliver Szolnoki, Naoyu- In the original 16, Sanchez-Ruiz (top) ran hot and cold, ki Oi, Kelly Fisher, Max while the plucky Fisher took a few scalps but finished short. Van Boening (5-0), Kazakis (5-2) and Woodward (5-1) Lechner and the hugely were enough to guarantee knockout unfashionably late arrival. surprising cellar dweller, Eklent Kaci. involvement and with a gutsy one-two When Day Six dawned, phase two It was an embarrassing week for punch, another triumph for pool’s king launched with points already earned Kaci. Never in sync, the increasof 2021 could be celebrated. There was carrying forward. The remaining ingly frustrated Albanian was quietly no party, though. As adrenalin quickly 10 players met each other again, afwarned after twice conceding racks drained, a good night’s sleep was infiter which David Alcaide, Francisco prematurely, then was docked a rack nitely more appealing.

Sanchez Ruiz, Miesko Fortunski and for lateness against Van Boening. No This year, on the authentic GroundOmar Al-Shaheen bowed out. elaborate excuse was offered. Kaci had hog Day, Punxsutawney Phil emerged Six were left standing for finals day not been stuck in an elevator, broken from his burrow to forecast six more when another round robin ensued the lock on his hotel room door or lost weeks of winter. Six weeks after again producing the quartet of players who his sense of direction on the way to emphasizing his dependable durabilat least sampled the much more accuswork. He had simply overslept. ity, Ouschan returns to Milton Keynes A poor display can always be extomed knockout environment. for the World 9-Ball Championship in At times outstanding, and the archicused. No one is immune to that, but April, hoping to become the first player tect of so many innovative gems, Skylack of professionalism in Matchroom’s to retain the coveted title since Earl ler Woodward appeared poised for the bright new, refreshing vision for the Strickland went back-to-back in 1990 final four after posting seven wins in global growth of 9-Ball is frowned and 1991. nine matches on days 6 and 7 to move upon. The sight of Van Boening paSpring will be in the air then, and into second place, only for that dream tiently sitting in his chair, opponent a spring will surely be in Albin Ousto perish with four consecutive defeats less, was regrettable. At least, TV could chan’s step. in the final group. He eventually occoncentrate on table two until Kaci’s

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March 2022

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2/23/22 9:55 AM

INSTRUCTION SPECIAL

YouTube University Online instructional videos are arguably the success story of pool on the internet. Here are three less-thanhousehold names reaching tens of thousands of people and racking up millions of views.

of emphasizing that how a message is delivered is as important as the message itself. With online pool videos, that “how” opens doors long held shut by two-dimensional instructional books.

The low entry point from a viewer’s perspective lets a mildly curious kid in his basement watch a video on English that removes any financial barrier involved with buying a DVD. The ease of becoming a content creator lets anyone with some basic AV equipment and internet access to share what they are doing at the table.

From Player to Creator

Three content creators have established a foothold in pool’s corner of the online video superhighway. Lil’ Chris, who sticks to that moniker to maintain some sense of anonymity, is a 41-yearold software developer who sees pool —

By Nicholas Leider both competing as a strong B+/Aplayer and sharing his adventures NYONE WHO has played a online — as a very serious hobby. pool video game can underA 31-year-old living outside Mustand the game has some nich, Germany, Andre Schickling difficulty translating to a is a full-time player and YouTudigital form. But the internet, sober who left a career in software cial media and ever-expanding engineering and design to supmeans of communication offered port himself through his online exciting new avenues to learn activities. Dave Alciatore, PhD, is about, discuss and — to some exa retired mechanical engineering tent — participate in a sport that is professor with more than two deotherwise analog. cades of experience recording and But when dealing with pool in sharing his videos first through video form, it’s difficult to ignore his website and now on YouTube. something’s lost in translation.

While Chris and Schickling beStreaming matches are a way for gan creating content specifically pool fans to be a fly on the wall, designed for YouTube, Alciatore but it’s not quite the same as being took a bit of a different route to in the room. the video platform. Alongside his When it comes to instructional work as a professor at Colorado information, though, video has State University in Fort fulfilled a lot of promise. YouCollins, he planned to Tube has offered millions of viewSharivari write a book in the early ers — from the mildly curious to 33.458 million views 2000s that would, in his lifelong obsessed — free access to 245,000 subscribers plan, become a multimefree content, while also acting as 176 videos dia instructional thanks to a quality control filter by tracking Joined Apr 25, 2015 included video segments views. in an accompanying CDWith a glut of instructional informa“We are all talking about ROM. the exact same things that tion in books and DVDs available to the But his publisher had other plans. [pool players] have talked about for average player, what allows YouTube to “At the very last minute, just before years. But it’s how we present it. Can we do something novel? production, they said, ‘We’re not going do it in a certain way where we’re able “You have to realize that we are not to include the [video content],’” Alciato teach something to someone in a new presenting anything completely new,” tore said. “What am I supposed to do way?” said Lil’ Chris, a Texas-based online now? Well, I figured I’ll just put everyThe old axiom says, “The medium is personality and instructor who has dething on a website. That can be a way for the message,” which is a just fancy way veloped a strong following on YouTube.

A

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coach and went looking online for ansuddenly had 1,000 subscribers.” people to access everything I’ve done.”

Hitting that level of engagement is other avenue for information. There, That turning point — one he never vital to all YouTube creators, since it he found plenty of simple one-camera asked for — proved to be life-changing allows creators to receive ad revenue videos uploaded by players who parfor Alciatore. He made a name for himthrough the YouTube partner program. ticipated in ghost challenges. (A 9-ball self in the pool community initially (Basically, they put ads on videos ghost challenge, for example, means thanks to some super slow-motion vidand share revenue with the creators.) you break a full 9-ball rack, take cue eo that hammered home the in-depth While that may not be life-changing ball in hand and try to run out. If you mechanical and physical concepts he income at first, it provided motivation can, you win. If you don’t, the ghost was discussing in print. Just like a twoand a path forward for Schickling. wins.) dimensional diagram of a pool table “The whole thing grew, can’t capture Nick Varner’s and I got better and more thoughts on straight pool, a motivated [at that point],” screenshot or two of Alciahe said. “I grew as a player, tore’s videos wouldn’t quite I improved as a video edihit as hard as the full video. tor, my English got better as Becoming an established well. Now, three-and-a-half personality in pool before or four years later, I have and during YouTube’s asalmost 250,000 subscribers, cent, Alciatore joined the which is insane, and I’m dosite just as it was catching ing this for a living. So yeah, millions and millions of it was never [intended to views across the world. But be a] business — it’s just a with a dedicated followgreat coincidence.” ing through his website, Lil’ Chris also took a interaction on online pool roundabout way to becomforums and a column in ing a dedicated pool YouTuBilliards Digest, he steadily ber. Catching the pool bug grew a following on the in high school, he immediplatform. ately became a full-time pool “I had stuff on YouTube player and amateur student. early on, so I got a lot of the But once Chris realized the subscribers and followers impact pool was having on because I had videos that his studies — and any propeople hadn’t seen before,” fessional future — he took a Alciatore said, referring to break and eventually earned some of his slow-motion a master’s degrees in inforentries. “So yeah, it was a mation systems. combination of good timWhile dabbling in pool ing, having a book and Schickling’s first breakthrough was his “Shot-Maker” video. and building a career in writing articles [in BD]. It software development, Chris eventu“I never made a decision to join Youwas very synergistic.” ally went back to the table with a little Tube,” he said. “Some players would Schickling, meanwhile, wasn’t toolmore intention. He grew as a player post these videos, and some would add ing around with a cue in time to be and, like Schickling, used YouTube as commentary. That’s how I got started considered an early adopter when it a resource to boost his knowledge. But — it was a way to see what I’m doing came to YouTube and pool. He only bewhen he decided to step in front of the on the table, analyze what I’m doing came more than a recreational player camera in 2019, Chris had more on his wrong, which balls I’m missing, my a decade ago when, as timing would mind than just the cue sports. body language.” have it, his father and he found they “When I’m watching videos on YouA viral sensation Schickling was not. had some extra time on their hands.

Tube, I’ll see there’s a channel about “I did all of this in German for the “It’s funny, really. We both lost our one very specific thing,” he said. “And first year and a half, and I had maybe girlfriends — they both broke up with if that creator wants to cover some80 followers,” he said, with his channel us right around the same time,” he thing else, they create another chantitled, “Sharivari,” after traditional Basaid. “We had plenty of time, so we nel. I didn’t know anything about Youdecided to play pool again. We would varian clothing, for no real compelling Tube at the time, and I was like, ‘Well, play three or four times a week for a reason. “At some point I decided, ‘Well, I don’t want to do that.’” year. Then we actually found out that maybe I could reach a couple of more Chris initially focused on computer there are actually pool clubs where you people if I do it in English because pool programming, fitness challenges with can play against [someone other] than is not really a big thing in the Gerfriends and pool. But after posting an your dad or your son.” man speaking countries.’ So [after I instructional video on banking, he reSchickling started working with a switched to] English, in two months I March 2022

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INSTRUCTION SPECIAL recommendations is somewhat demoalized that his audience was going to cratic, in encouraging further attention find him. Not vice versa. for videos that have grabbed some at“When I published that video on tention. But creators require some baone-rail banks and one-rail kicks, I sic competency in video production, went to play in a state tournament,” he editing and design — not to mention said. “And before I knew it, my phone all the planning and was blowing up with execution in content hundreds of emails messaging. about this user subAs far as AV skills scribing and that user go, all three pool cresubscribing. It just ators credit the lowkept going.” tech approach of trial With initial plans and error. to give away a cue “If I watch videos after reaching 100 from two or three years subscribers, by the ago, compared to my time that tournament videos nowadays, the was over, Chris had standard is just on a grabbed 1,000. Now whole different level,” with 76,600 fans, he’s Schickling said. “I’ve dedicated his chanbeen into editing and nel to pool, mixing programming since I instructional content was 13 or 14, but I’ve with videos of his acLil’ Chris needed to improve evtual league matches 7.936 million views ery single video. Just (with commentary) 76,600 subscribers learning about camera and streams of him 210 videos angles that work betpracticing and playJoined Feb 4, 2012 ter, if I can improve the ing. His most recent lighting, being clear endeavor is to bring with my graphics — spectators along for it’s all a process that continues.” the ride as he tries to run 100 balls in Alciatore similarly sees the drive to straight pool. improve as an instructor and content creator.

Quality Control “My early stuff was very crude and almost embarrassing by today’s stanBut for explaining the success of dards,” he said. “I learned a lot over these personalities on YouTube, it’s the years, and I was inspired by other not quite sufficient to shrug and credit people because the bar keeps rising.” the mysteries of the algorithm. A vidAs one of the first pool-dedicated eo platform that emphasizes views in

Pro-Grade Instruction FOR ANYONE who holds to the idea that “those that can’t, teach,” a handful of professional pool players have taken to YouTube to show that the best players can also be plenty capable when it comes to instructing others.

Karl Boyes, a longtime British pro who has co-captained Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup, brings his case full of personality to his relatively new channel. The Matchroom Multisport commentator includes a mix of instruction and behind-the-scenes videos from various professional events.

BCA Hall of Famer and X-time world champion Darren Appleton dedicates his YouTube channel to drills and instructional videos directed at the intermediate and expert players. In one entry, he spots 49 object balls on a table and clears them all. Sounds pretty advanced to me.

Niels Feijen offers a bit for all fans, from the beginner to the professional. The Dutch champion dedicates a series of videos to basics like the bridge and stance.

He also offers tips to kick like Efren Reyes, which takes a little bit more skill. The Terminator also includes full training videos, so you can see how one of the most disciplined, cerebral players in the game approaches his work.

Darren Appleton 4,894,575 views 23.5K subscribers 141 videos Niels Feijen 2,186,224 views 33.5K subscribers 89 videos

‘Lil’ Chris’ saw his following explode after posting a video on one-rail banks.

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Karl Boyes 784,084 views 11.3K subscribers 95 videos

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INSTRUCTION SPECIAL told me, and that’s how relatable I am,” it,” he said. “So, I can take that notion personalities on YouTube, Alciatore is Lil’ Chris said. “I break things down and translate that into education. I a direct inspiration to Lil’ Chris, who to a rudimentary level to where people have to figure out a way to teach my was well aware of what was out there are able to understand it. That’s not to material so those struggling students for a pool audience when starting out. say [Schickling] doesn’t do that — he get it, because if they get it, everybody “Dr. Dave was my biggest influencer,” does. And that’s not to say Dr. Dave else is going to get it, while also engaghe said. “I began with no expectations doesn’t do that, because he does. ing those students who because this was going to “But how do I make it my own? may be a bit more adbe another hobby of mine.

That’s where my struggle was when I vanced.”

But I had to learn about first started. When I finally started figSchickling, meanwhile, video editing and trying uring stuff out, I’d look at one video dorelies on his capabilities to synchronize audio and ing well and then another video that’s with design and video video together — presennot doing well. That [approach] helps graphics to produce entation, camera angles and me learn.” gaging videos that can all that kind of stuff. And Schickling cites his first video to deliver information in a it’s been a long learning gain major traction as a constant reclear, concise manner. curve. Even to this day, minder that his targeted audience may “My approach was alI’m still learning. I think include a beginner struggling with a ways to make my videos we are all still learning.” fundamental concept as well as a playas high quality and enBut beyond a sharply er who needs more information about tertaining as possible — produced video on or English on cut shots. with sound effects, aniaround a pool table, each Dr. Dave “It was a 10- or 12-minute video exmated lines on a table, and of the three creators has 53.692 million views plaining how to become a shot-maker,” graphical overlays,” he a personal and/or profes215,000 subscribers he said. “I just explained what you can said. “I want them to look sional history that ex463 videos do to be consistent — from your stance great, but I also want to be plains online success beJoined Oct 24, 2006 to your dominant eye and all that. I alable to explain things a bit yond that same shrug and most didn’t post it because I thought, better. I’m not doing this mention of the algorithm.

‘Well, who’s going to see this?’ But it just because it’s fantasy — it’s because Alciatore, perhaps the source in pool has a lot of information for all players.” [the information] actually helps to unwhen thinking of someone who knows And 264,000 views later, which is derstand certain things.” the deep intricacies of the physics of only a 10th as many as his most popAlong those lines, when thinking of pool, has a PhD in mechanical engiular video, it has continued to help the intended audiences for each creneering and spent a career as a profesbuild Schickling’s sor. That interface audience. Alciatore, with college kids meanwhile, began kept his communiwith videos targeted cation skills sharp, at more advanced while also keeping pool players, dishim connected to a cussing the details younger generation’s of interactions beproclivities when tween pool balls. it comes to online But now with an escommunication. tablished following Lil’ Chris has the on YouTube, he will technical skills and mix in more begininterest in producner-friendly content, tion, but he also like Top 10 lists of worked as an adcommon mistakes, junct instructor. He that will still apalso has honed an peal to his longtime ability to translate complex concepts Alciatore was a pioneer, creating video complements to his manuals in 2006. viewers.

“But a lot of what into ideas that are I do, I want to be a contribution that ator, the goal is not about scrapping easily consumed by people of varying people can refer to for many years to over a finite number of eyeballs. Each educational backgrounds. come,” Alciatore says. “I do deep dives person appeals to a different demo“When I worked for the Department on subjects so there’s knowledge that graphic along a spectrum of pool enof Defense as a software developer, can be a reference. You may watch it thusiasts that may overlap a bit, but not whenever we did documentation on once, but they are meant to serve as an enough to mean real competition when any of our programs that we wrote, we archive that people can learn from in potential viewers are so plentiful. had the requirement to write in such a the future.”

“All I can say is what people have way that a third grader can understand

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CHRONICLES

RACKING THE BRAIN

IT TOOK A LONG TIME FOR THE RACK TO BE CALLED A “RACK,” AND FOR DECADES IT WAS JUST A “TRIANGLE.” THEN INVENTORS GOT INTO THE ACT.

By Mike Shamos

P

OCKET GAMES generally require balls to be “racked” at the start of a game. You’ve done it thousands of times without giving a thought to when racking began, or why it’s even called “racking.” This month we’ll shed some historical light on the question, and the answer is it’s much older than you think in some ways, and younger in others.

Billiards was originally played with only two balls, including the cue ball, so there was no need for a device to place them properly.

A third ball was introduced in France around 1770. This was a great idea because it made caroms possible for the first time. The “Annals of Gaming,” published in England in 1775, describes a game called “Carambole” as “a game newly intro- 1. “Chalk his head and use him for a cue.” Wood engraving from 1887. duced from France … The any tool to help in placing the balls, but chief object of this game is to hit with to give the game no respect, but hinted it would have been obvious to have one. your own ball the other two, which is at the need for position play in order to The Pyramid Game continued to apcalled a Carambole.” But three balls make runs: “The mass of balls, when pear in German rule books in the first spotted separately don’t require a rack. struck, are, perhaps, widely scattered half of the 19th century. By 1827, there Meanwhile, the Germans were inover the surface of the Table, it is reqventing Pyramiden-Partie (the Pyramid uisite, in holeing a ball, that the hazard were 15 white object balls, and by 1830 Game), which was played with many should be made with a peculiar nicety there were either 15 or 21 numbered identical balls. The earliest rules I can of strength, in order that many others balls, placed in consecutive order at the find are from “Gründlicher Unterricht should succeed.” Still no “rack.” start of the game, but still no mention of und Regeln des Billard-Spieles” (“Basic “Pyramid Pool” was played in the an implement for placing them.

Lessons and Rules of Billiard Games”), U.S. A fanciful print from 1887 (Fig. The German pyramid game spread published in Vienna in 1795. The de1) shows the balls stacked literally in a to England and the U.S. in the 1840s. scription is somewhat vague, but there pyramid (impossible), but notice that By 1844, Edward Mardon felt comwere at least twelve object balls, formed a non-standard cue is being used. The pelled to present its rules in English in shape of a pyramid, from which the title is “Chalk his head and use him for in a book published in London. It was game derived its name. Of course, it’s a cue – Pyramid Pool with a Wyoming very sketchy – he says at the start of not really a pyramid, which is a threestore clerk for the ivory puncher.” The the game that “fifteen colored balls are dimensional object, but a triangle, alBritish version of Pyramids was also placed in the form of a triangle.” The though it wasn’t called that at the time. called “Pyramid Pool.” In the 1870s it person who sank the most balls (8 or There was no mention at this time of was combined with the different game more) won the game. Mardon seemed

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of Black Pool, which had no pyramid, and that’s how snooker was born.

The first mention I can find of a device for racking is in Phelan’s “Billiards Without a Master,” the first U.S. billiard book, in 1850. He specifies exactly how the balls are to be placed: “Fifteen balls, marked and numbered from 1 to 15, are arranged in the form of a triangle, touching one another; for this purpose a triangular frame is used, so as to insure exactness, the base of the triangle being 2. The 1880 patent for this rack parallel with the end, or foot cushion of was declared invalid by a court. the table. The highest number, (15,) is wise fastened in, and sometimes to furplaced on the deep red spot, thus bringther strengthen the angles or corners by ing the apex of the angle in a direct line metallic angle-plates applied exteriorly to the upper or light red spot.” In this to the frame.” He went to explain that American version, each ball pocketed “there is great liability of injury to the was worth its number, but the balls did cloths of the tables from any accidental not have to be pocketed in rotation. The fall (from the hand of the game keeper) player scoring 61 or more was the winof the triangle on the table with one of ner. And that’s how pocket games startits corners or angles striking first, the ed in the U.S. This was 60 years before latter being apt to cut or mar the cloth.” the invention of straight pool, but such games became so popular there was a clamor for triangles.

At the time, a “rack” meant either a cue rack for storing cues, or a wallmounted ball rack for holding balls not in play. The word for the collection of 15 balls was “pyramid,” never a “rack,” and the device for placing them was the “triangle,” not a “rack,” 3. BBC warned the public about its rack patent. either. That did not change until much later, as we’ll see below.

The popularity of pocket games set off a race among inventors to come up with new types of triangles. Hugh Collender, Michael Phelan’s son-in-law and eventually President of the BrunswickBalk-Collender (BBC) Co., employed one Stephen de Gaetano to invent an improved “frame” for positioning balls, which resulted in U.S. Patent 228,879 on June 15, 1880. De Gaetano wrote in his patent application, “Previous to my invention it has been customary to make the triangular ball-holders used in placing the balls for the game of ‘fifteen-ball pool’ (and other games played with fifteen balls) on billiard tables of three straight strips or pieces of wood joined at their adjacent ends to form the angles of the frame, and to strengthen 4. Wright’s 1905 invention counted the the frame at these angles by interiorly number of times the rack was used. placed corner-blocks, glued or other-

His improvement was to make the corners of the frame rounded (Fig. 2).

BBC worked this patent for all it was worth – actually, much more than it was worth. At the time, patent protection lasted for 17 years and was not renewable. BBC threatened its competitors the whole time. In 1897, the last year of the patent, BBC catalogs still contained this warning (Fig. 3): “The patent for round-cornered triangles is owned by us, and all persons infringing same will be prosecuted according to law.” (Note that the name of the company is misspelled in its own catalog.) This threat was not idle. In 1896, with one year of protection left, BBC sued the Phelan Billiard Ball Company in New York for infringing the de Gaetano patent. The judge was not impressed, and found the patent invalid, writing, “The new structure accomplishes nothing different, or in any different way, from the old. It is lighter and safer because the corners

are dispensed with, and they can be dispensed with by using proper materials. Neither cutting off an objectionable corner nor using better materials appears to amount to anything patentable.

They are of the works of a mechanic, and not of those of an inventor.” BBC appealed, but the finding of invalidity was upheld by the Second Circuit on February 23, 1897, four months before the patent expired.

Over the years, the Patent Office has issued about 90 patents for billiard racks. Many were to reduce wear and tear on the cloth from continual racking. Others offered mechanisms to help ensure tightness. A major issue at the time, which has long since gone obsolete, was that room owners often charged for play by the rack, not by the hour. This created a problem: who was going to watch every table in the room March 2022

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CHRONICLES and count all the racks? Instead of relying on honesty, which seemed to be in short supply in poolrooms, rack counters were invented.

Fig. 4 shows a simple invention by Mortimer Wright, patented in 1905.

The rack 12 is suspended over the table by a cord, fastened at point 6, with a pulley 8 and a counterweight 10. To rack, you just pull the triangle down to the table. When you let go, the counterweight pulls it back into place. The invention is the box at 9, details of which are in Fig. 5, showing a counter reading “035.” Every time the rack is pulled down, the counter increments by one.

This gives a perfect way of determining how many racks were played (assuming customers don’t cheat by racking manually). A slight problem is that to read the counter, you have to pull the rack down, which increments the counter again.

If you don’t like bunches of racks suspended in the air in your room, the invention in Fig. 6, patented by Madison T. Helms in 1905, is just the ticket. His

5. Wright’s counter activated when the rack was pulled down.

pleased to tell you that Helms lived to age 82 in 1932 but did not get rich with this one.

I’ve been fairly cavalier with my vocabulary so far. Even though I’ve called the triangle a rack and also used “rack” as a verb, the term was used only casually and in some newspaper articles.

For example, the trick shot in Fig. 8 appeared in the (Knoxville, Tenn.) Journal and Gazette in 1910. The article says it “shows how it is 7. The Helms rack possible to pocket rang bell K every one ball, then make time it was used. the cue ball jump over a rack of balls and by a draw, pocket a second ball in the lower corner. (It failed to inform the reader that the cue stick must be elevated substantially.) While the shot was well-known, the article itself is historically very important because it describes one of the first exhibitions of straight pool, which was invented a few months earlier and became a championship game in 1912.

The word “rack” itself entered the official billiard lexicon in 1908, when it

rack counts all by itself! A counter B is attached to the rack. When the balls are added, the T-shaped protrusion on the right edge gets pressed into the counter.

You won’t believe what happens next.

Oh, yes, a count is incremented. But look at Fig. 7, which shows the internals of the mechanism. You can see a wheel with numbers on the edge that keeps the count. But element K is a bell. Every time the T is depressed, the clapper L rings the bell! How annoying is that?! As Helms explained, “The object of my invention is to provide a frame with a registering device attached that will render it practically impossible to make use of the same in assembling the balls ready for a game without registering the same, which will be a safeguard for the proprietor against any dishonesty on the part of the players or his employees.” I’m 8. A jump over the “rack” in 1910.

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6. Helms integrated the counter with the rack in 1906.

was mentioned in rules of “The B.B.C. Co. Pool,” the original form of 8-ball: “In racking the balls at the commencement of the game, they are placed on the table in the form of a triangle or pyramid, as customary, the black ball being placed immediately behind the head ball of the triangle, and the other balls being placed indiscriminately in the triangle.” The rules for all the other games at the time referred to the pack of balls as a “frame.”

While sanctioning organizations have been meticulous about table size, ball, pocket and cue stick requirements, racks were completely unregulated until the World Standardized Rules (WSR) were developed in 1998. In 2001, Specification 17 read: “The wooden triangular ball rack is the recommended device to be used to rack the balls to ensure that the balls are properly aligned and in contact with each other. Both surfaces that can make contact with the table-cloth when moving loaded rack to and fro should be very smooth in order not to incur any damage to the cloth underneath. Plastic racks are not recommended, they are flexible and tend to deform, making proper racking of balls time-consuming, if not impossible.” The accompanying Regulation 4 also allowed for the use of a template: “A table is said to be ‘tapped’ when a template is placed in the rack area, balls are placed in the holes in the template and are tapped into place. This procedure replaces the use of the traditional triangle rack, and ensures a quick, tight rack. The choice of tapping over traditional racking with a tri-

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9. The Magic Rack (L) competes with Accu-Rack (R).

angle is at the discretion of the event organizer. Players must never tap balls; only tournament officials should tap or re-tap (if needed) the racking area.”

Most racking inventions have been rendered obsolete by the Magic Ball Rack (Fig. 9), which appeared around 2006, now usually referred to as the “Magic Rack.” WSR Specification 17 remains unchanged, but Regulation 4 has been updated in view of the Magic Rack: “The Ball Rack Template can be used for the disciplines: 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball. In 14/1 it´s not allowed to

10. Racking is as simple as pressing the handle.

use the Ball Rack Template. … Ball Rack template should be made of a plastic material, no thicker than 0.14 mm and shouldn’t affect the table in any way.

Template may not be glued on the playing surface.”

Effective as the Magic Rack may be, it’s not necessarily the last word in racking.

A competitor, Accu-Rack (also Fig. 9), is also on the market. The difference between them is in the shape of the holes, which are oval on Accu-Rack. This allows the racker to manipulate the balls somewhat to achieve a tight rack. Nei-

ther is patented.

The most recent rack patent was issued in 2014 to Mark Day of Easley, S.C. (Fig. 10). It’s suitable for situations in which a template cannot be used, e.g., for straight pool. A hinged handle is attached to the rack. When the handle is rotated, racking bar 30, covered by a resilient material 36 (such as rubber), presses the balls into position. What will they think of next?

Mike Shamos is Curator of The Billiard Archive, a non-profit foundation set up to preserve billiard history.

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Tips & Shafts

George Fels

CLOSE CALLS [Reprinted from February 2001]

M

ANY OF us, when young, briefly pursue a fantasy

about being invisible, even if for no more noble purpose than entering girls’ locker rooms or robbing banks. But the closest most of us will ever come to attaining that low a profile will be to referee a pool match.

One of the best sports quotes of the ’80s came from a major league umpire who averred, “In my profession, the highest accolade is silence.” At least a baseball umpire has to be in place, or a game cannot proceed. Exactly how lowly a figure does that make of the cue games ref, when the lion’s share of both players and spectators wish he weren’t there at all?

The very first billiards match of consequence was played in Detroit for an astonishing $10,000 by Michael Phelan, who was first in virtually every aspect of the cue games, and hometowner John Seerey. Pheland (who won) would go on to become the first (what else is new?) referee to whom anyone paid any attention, because of his playing greatness, and he also instated the policy of inviting playing legends to serve as referee as an honor. Later, Willie Hoppe would similarly call on Charlie Peterson at every turn, and Willie Mosconi, who never lost a single challenge match in Kansas City, always specified Bennie Allen as his ref of choice.

To the uninitiated, it appears that a referee’s principal duty is to instruct the scorekeepers what numbers to post, a duty made even drearier in today’s 9-ball world where no score is kept except by game, one point at a time.

But experts, of course, recognize that the ref must be an expert himself, on both the game and the way it is played, although he need not be an expert player personally.

When the BCA resuscitated the U.S. Open 14.1 Tournament in the mid-’60s, the preeminent referee of that game was a gnome-like little man named “Cue Ball Kelly, who was about as Irish as Jimmy Durante. Kelly’s real name was Carl Zingale. Whatever his ethnicity, Kelly had visibility as a ref because he was from the East Coast, whose players’ superiority at the game was well-established, and tournament promoters were simply used to having him around.

Not all players rushed to share in the adulation; many felt he was vastly overrated, and at one Open, Brooklyn’s Johnny Ervolino had to be restrained from starting a fist fight after Kelly called an object-ball foul which apparently only he saw.

Thus, something of a gap existed in referencing leadership, and Conrad Burkman, a Detroit credit report marketing executive with an honest-to-goodness flat-top crewcut, rushed to fill it. Burkman’s personal inspiration for getting into the field in the first place was the third prominent ref of the era, retired hustler Maurice “Tugboat” Whaley. The moniker came from Whaley’s posing as a retired tugboat

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1938-2013

captain, as part of his hustler’s front; his peers not so quietly questioned Whaley’s ability to man a canoe, but no matter, he got plenty of refereeing gigs too. One of these was the old hustler’s jamborees in Johnston City, Ill., and in 1963 Burkman saw his first professional match; it was a good one, too, 9-ball between the late Luther Lassiter and the late Harold Worst, refereed, if one could call it that, by Whaley. Under the rules of that period, the incoming player was awarded a re-spotted ball and a spot shot, not ball in hand, following an opponent’s scratch. Thus, Worst’s scratch on the 8 was not an automatic guarantee of victory, although the way Wimpy was playing, it was pretty close. “’Boat. ‘Boat!” Lassiter bellowed for his referee. The match was being played in a sunken, amphitheater-like arena, and alleged referee Whaley was found not on the tournament floor but in the first row of spectators, greedily munching on a hot dog. He hurriedly re-spotted the 8 for Wimpy’s spot shot, with as much dignity as possible.

Lassiter then fired the ball in — and left a clear trail of mustard on the pristine new green cloth from the spot all the way to the pocket.; Whaley had not even bothered to wipe his hands. Somehow, at that moment, Conrad Burkman knew what he wanted to do with his life.

Burkman would go on to initiate what became timelimit rules; after witnessing one player loaf through a fivehour straight pool match in a desperate attempt to sober up, he insisted that the BCA install sportsmanship rules against stalling. He then became the first to enforce such a rule, the first year the U.S. Open 14.1 went to Dayton, Ohio, in a match between noted dawdlers Tom Jennings of New Jersey and Richard Lane of Texas. The two had taken nearly 3 ½ hours to bring the score to something like 80-56; Jennings had just scratched, leaving Lane a closed 15-ball rack. With everyone in the gallery fully aware that Lane was going to take an intentional scratch in return, Lane nevertheless circled the table a full dozen times, perhaps absorbed in the rack’s symmetry. Referee Burkman had had enough, and, producing a stopwatch with a flourish, announced, “You have 60 seconds to put that cue ball into motion.” The game was completed in less than 30 minutes.

He also may have created a new category of foul. Kansas City’s Donna Ries, a former intercollegiate champion, paid the penalty for being both too shapely and too low in her stance. Bending to the table, she brought her bosom to the 8 ball as surely as if it were Cleopatra’s asp, and referee Burkman unembarrassedly shouted, “Foul!”

“Where?” gasped the bewildered Ries.

“Darlin’,” explained Burkman, with dazzling political incorrectness, “You just laid your left one on the 8.”

It’s a, well, touchy business.

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