April 2021

W W W. B I L L I A R D S D I G E S T. C O M

ANNUAL BD CUE ISSUE

Tales of the

Tape A Dozen Pros Share Their Cue Specs U.S. star Skyler Woodward

APRIL 2021

$ 5.95

04

PLUS ANNUAL CUE SHOWCASE: The Options Are Endless PICTURE PERFECT: Chris Robinson’s Future Is In Focus

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CONTENTS

Vol. 43, No. 4 A P R I L

2 0 2 1

36

Features 30 SNAPSHOT Rising U.S. star Chris Robinson is all about maintaining focus, at and away from the table.

by Nick Leider

36 THE CUES THEY USE Players’ preferences in their equipment are as varied as the options available. Top pros share their likes and dislikes when it comes to their cues.

by Keith Paradise

44 ANNUAL CUE SHOWCASE As players around the country scurry back to the table, cue manufacturers unveil a bevy of

44

options to flash some style and 30

elevate your game.

Columns 10 FROM THE PUBLISHER

Stuck in the middle with you.

by Mike Panozzo

56 TIPS & SHAFTS

Schwarzenegger with cue.

by George Fels

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On the Cover The top players are pretty finicky about their equipment, particularly their cues. A dozen pros share the specs on their coveted cues, along with insight as to what characteristics they look for most.

Cover photo by Taka Wu

April 2021

3/22/21 10:01 AM

THORPEDO WARNING!

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• 12 Mother of Pearl Points with Ebony Centers

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between the points, ending with 6 Mother of Pearl Cloverleafs with Ebony Centers

• Comes with Pro Shaft or

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• Two-Time Mosconi Cup Champion • Derby City One-Pocket Champion • Derby City Banks Champion • Turning Stone Classic Champion • Four-Time Team USA Member

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To order, contact Meucci Cues at 662-895-3230 or email to sales@meuccicues.com

PHOTO BY ERWIN DIONISIO

MEUCCICUES.COM • 662-895-3220

ORDER DIRECT!

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CONTENTS

Vol. 43, No. 4

A P R I L

Departments

2 0 2 1

BD

The Premier Billiards Magazine since 1978

FOUNDER

PUBLISHER

MORT LUBY JR.

MIKE PANOZ ZO EDITOR

6 FREEZE FRAME

MIK E PANOZ ZO

Pool through the lens of JP Parmentier.

ART DIRECTOR

MARK TATAR A CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

8 YESTERYEAR

MIK E SHAMOS

Pro Players Championship winners through the years.

SENIOR WRITER

NICK LEIDER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

12 WING SHOTS

J P PARMEN TIER

Matchroom unveils Pool Series dates.

13 YOU MAKE THE CALL That boxed in feeling.

14 CUEZILLA The transcendant work of Richard Black.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

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

15 STROKE OF GENIUS Albin Ouschan’s positional gem.

PRESIDENT

KEITH HAMILTON CIRCULATION MANAGER

16 BOOK REVIEW Championship Pool by David MacNeill.

K EITH HAMILTON

52 CHRONICLES by Mike Shamos A Hall of Fame pitch for Dudley.

Practice Table Instruction 18

Quick Hits: Tidbits to Up Your Game

20

Nick Varner • Strategies

22

Larry Schwartz • Stripes & Solids

24

Darren Appleton • Perfect Practice

26

Bob Jewett • Tech Talk

28

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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CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Send new as well as old address. If possible, furnish label from recent issue.

POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Billiards Digest, 47 W. Polk St., Suite 319, Chicago, IL 60605.

April 2021

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[

] FREEZE FRAME

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April 2021

3/21/21 10:31 AM

It’s A Stretch

DeLuna’s reach, hair defy gravity.

Some players simply don’t like using the mechanical bridge, opting instead to contort themselves into pretzel-like poses to maximize their reach. Filipino Jeffrey De Luna squeezed every last inch out of his body to complete at shot at the 2020 Derby City Classic.

PHOTO BY JP PARMENTIER NIKON D4S, AF-S 70-200 mm f/2.8G 3200 ISO, 1/125s @ f/3.2, 195 mm

April 2021

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BILLIARDS DIGEST

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YESTERYEAR

Pro Players Triumphs + 5 Y E ARS AGO +

+ 10 Y E ARS AGO +

Young Canadian John Morra topped Shane Van Boening, 13-10, in the title match to claim his first major victory in the U.S. at the Pro Players 10-Ball Championship in Valley Forge, Pa. The 26-year-old Morra rebounded from a second-round loss to battle through the 64-player field. Morra won elimination matches against Johnny Archer, Billy Thorpe, Mike Dechaine and Thorsten Hohmann to reach the final against five-time Pro Players champion Van Boening.

Elsewhere, Dennis Orcollo used a 97ball run en route to a 200-121 victory over Van Boening to win the U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship in Windsor Locks, Conn.

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Germany’s Ralf Souquet overcame injury and surprise challenger Robb Saez to claim the Pro Players 10-Ball Championship in King of Prussia, Pa. Souquet, who had been battling disk problems that left his right arm partially numb, went unbeaten in the 72-player event. In the title match, he topped Saez, 13-8. Souquet also defeated Saez, 10-7, in the winner’s bracket final.

Saez’ unexpected visit to the title match came following critical wins over Johnny Archer and Shane Van Boening.

A week earlier, it was Mika Immonen defeating Souquet, 10-4, to capture the Masters 10-Ball title in Chesapeake, Va.

CANADIAN JOHN MORRA CAPTURED THE ANNUAL PRO PLAYERS TITLE IN 2016.

+ 15 Y E ARS AGO + A change in tournament format was just what Dennis Hatch needed to break an eight-year title drought.

With the annual Pro Players Championship switching from 9-ball to 8-ball, Hatch rebounded from an earlier loss to dispatch previously unbeaten Mike Davis, 5-3 and 5-4, to claim the championship in Valley Forge, Pa. Davis had defeated Hatch, 5-3, 5-4, in the winner’s bracket final, but the 35-year-old Hatch earned a second shot at Davis, stopping Germany’s Ralf Souquet in a sudden death rack after the combatants split the first two sets.

Hatch avoided a tiebreaker in the finale, overcoming a 4-1 deficit in the second set after winning the first.

April 2021

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From the Publisher

Mike Panozzo

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU S

URPRISINGLY, A lot of interesting things came out of pool during the yearlong shutdown around the globe.

Players found new ways to compete in a virtual reality. The Ghost became the No.1 player in the world. Fans got to spend countless hours watching players practice “live” in their basements. Records were set in cue raffle sales. (“Razzles” being the term used in social media to skirt Facebook’s rules on gambling.)

Of course, not every trend that developed during the year was a winner. Hands down, the most annoying thing to come out of pool last year was the interminable use of the phrase “in the middle.”

Now, I get it. Every year words and phrases find their way into popular culture. And, without fail, they become annoying over time. The Zoom app catapulted so rapidly into the public consciousness that by the end of the year it became a verb: Zooming.

“Flatten the curve” became the new “Think outside the box.” “We’re in this together” became the new “It is what it is.” We all learned that masks may well become “the new normal.”

Some new terms in 2020 were actually quite useful. “Social distancing” became a convenient excuse for avoiding people you really didn’t want to see in the first place (“herd immunity” also works), and “You’re on mute!” became a battle cry in and of itself.

So, what exactly does “in the middle” mean? And why does it annoy me so?

In truth, it’s nothing more than a cute little phrase that allows players, stakehorses and railbirds to make gambling matches sound bigger than they really are.

“Shane and Dennis are playing a race to 100, $100,000 in the middle!” was the phrase bandied about by everyone in pool earlier this year. Translation, two stakehorses (or two syndicates of numerous sponsors) put $50,000 apiece into a pot. The winner (which could be several “investors” splitting up the money) still only wins $50,000. The match was for $50,000. Period.

How, why and when this phrase became “the new normal” in pool is uncertain. Action king Oscar Dominguez

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says, “It’s a Filipino thing for sure.”

Doesn’t really matter. It is now used in virtually every social media post that announces or discusses an action match. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that one-on-one matches became the most talked-about pool topic in the past year, since head-to-head matches was pretty much all a pool player could engage in. So, something like this was bound to happen. But still.

The bigger the number, I guess, the more importance people assume the match has. In truth, most players don’t put up a nickel, yet stand to make 40 percent of the winnings. I’m not discounting the pressure that comes with matches of this nature, but few players walk home broke.

Over the course of time, however, the phrase, employed to generate added excitement, wore out its welcome with me. The term is used today in virtually every match that someone insists on posting in social media. But trying to make a race-to-nine match between a pair of players with 350 FargoRate ratings compelling by boldly announcing that the “live streaming” match has $300 in the middle is a stretch, don’t you think?

All that said, despite its overuse in pool circles, I do find the phrase intriguingly catchy. In fact, I’ve actually started injecting it into my own lexicon.

“Did you hear Phil is getting remarried?” I recently said to a friend. “He’s marrying his new girl Gladys this Sunday, three kids in the middle.”

“I’m going to Morton’s for dinner tomorrow with Pete,” I told another. “$400 in the middle.”

“How about a game of cribbage?” I asked my wife. “Dirty dishes from dinner in the middle.”

I guess I’ll just have to be more open-minded when all these new phrases pop up. I can adapt. Lord knows, we’ve all had to do plenty of adapting in the past year.

And I’ll try to look at things more philosophically than literally.

So, going forward, remember we’re in this together. And to avoid having masks become the new normal, we’ll have to flatten the curve and eventually get to herd immunity… mankind in the middle.

April 2021

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+ QUOTABLE+

“I don’t care what my cue looks like. I only care about how it plays.”

WOMAN PRO JENNIFER BARRETTA ON CHARACTERISTICS SHE LOOKS FOR IN A CUE (PG. 36).

Dear

Jeanette

MAKING A DATE

Matchroom announces dates for six-event series in 2021.

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

Y

OUNG RUSSIAN Fedor Gorst was just 19 when he captured the World Pool-Billiard Association World 9-Ball Championship in Qatar.

He will be 21 when he finally gets the opportunity to defend that crown.

Matchroom Sport, which officially took over the event in early 2020, announced that the rebranded World Pool Championship will take place at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, June 6-10. Not surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic that swept the world in 2020 also swept away any hopes for a 2020 World Pool Championship, running Gorst’s reign as world champion to 19 months.

“Of course I’m looking forward to that event,” said Gorst. “I want to see An older, wiser Gorst will defend WPC title. if I can defend my title. And I’m exChampionship. Somewhat surprisingly, cited because it is a Matchroom tournaslotting the Gibraltar-based Masters in ment now and those are always special the middle means players (and Matchfor me.” room’s production and administration Matchroom, which staged the World staffs) will travel from Milton Keynes, Pool Championship from 1999 through also site of the World Cup of Pool, to Gi2008, announced the dates in a release braltar for the Masters, and back again that saw the British promoter lay out for the World Pool Championship. A dates for its six-event Matchroom Pool week separates the conclusion of the Series for 2021. The calendar launched World Cup (May 9-14) and the Masters with the Predator Championship League (May 22-25), with two weeks elapsing Pool event, a new entry to the series, in before the start of the World Poll Chamlate March.

A month earlier, Matchroom had anpionship on June 6.

Milton Keynes has played host to a nounced plans to stage the World Pool number of Matchroom’s snooker, darts Championship in early May, followed and boxing events that were held durclosely by the World Pool Masters and ing 2020. The stadium offers a hotel and World Cup of Pool. exhibition center under the same roof, Instead, the order will be reversed, allowing for a controlled, bubble-like with the World Cup of Pool kicking off atmosphere similar to the 2020 Mosconi the rapid-fire trio, followed by the World Cup in Coventry.

Pool Masters and, finally, the World Pool 14

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(Q)

I love to play pool, and my boyfriend plays as well. But he is ultra competitive.

You were married to a professional player at one time. How can we play each other without added tension?

Susan Conroy, Poplar Bluff, Mo.

(A)

Sometimes the issue has deeper roots than simply pool. Maybe you earn more than he does. Maybe you are simply better at some things.

I would suggest digging into the root of this problem before continuing to compete. League play is one way to compete together in a team atmosphere. You can still play on the same team, enjoy competition and benefit from the team atmosphere.

(Q)

How can I improve my ability to use English?

Jose Martinez, San Jose, Calif.

(A)

I shoot straight-in stop shots with spin. A spotted cue ball helps. Using different speeds, try to stop the cue ball in place while it continues to spin. Cut shots don’t show you how far off our aim is as well as straight shots do. Eventually, your cue ball will spin like a top at different speeds and distances.

WRITE JEANETTE AT BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM

April 2021

3/21/21 7:10 PM

numbers

BD IN BRIEF

# G A M E #

1863

First U.S. National Championship tournament at any form of billiards (pg. 52).

REYES INSISTS RUMORS OF HIS DEATH GREATLY EXAGGERATED A REPORT of the Filipino legend’s alleged death began circulating in early January through the social media account of Philippines news organization ABS-CBN, which posted a message which stated, “Goodbye, ‘The Magician’ Bata Reyes dies at the age of 65.” A couple of days after the rumors began circulating, Reyes’ daughter, Chelo Reyes, took to Facebook, posted a brief video statement from her father and denounced the false report while chastising those who created and shared the misinformation.

“To those who are sharing and reading the news that my father is dead, don’t believe it, it’s just fake news,” she said. “God take care of you that would spread such news.”

20 Reyes’ daughter said her father, who has three United States Open 9-Ball championships and over 70 titles overall, was finishing breakfast when he learned of the rumors of his death.

“He said he’s not worried about it,” said childhood friend Rolando Vincente, who added that this is the second time that the Billiards Congress of America Hall of Famer has dealt with a false death report.

Cues worthy of consideration in the Cue Showcase (pg. 44).

2015

Year then-17-year-old Chris Robinson captured the BEF Junior National 9-Ball Championship (pg. 30).

YOU MAKE THE CALL: BOXED IN With Mike Shamos

QUESTION: You’re the referee in a pro 8-ball event being played under the World Standardized Rules (WSR). The Tournament Director has drawn two break boxes, one at each head pocket as shown, and told you that players must break with the cue ball in either one of them. Player A has won the lag, but objects when you tell her about the break box rule. She says, “There are no break boxes in 8-ball, and anyway those are the craziest ones I’ve ever seen anyway. Please show me the rule that allows them.” What do you do?

ANSWER: The best you can do is quote Regulation 17: “The tournament management may set additional requirements on the break shot on games that require an ‘open’ break such as 9-ball or 10-ball. For example, it may be required to place the cue ball for the break shot within one or several restricted areas behind the head string (‘break box’).” Eight-ball is not mentioned, and the term “open break” is not even defined in the WSR except for 10-ball. It is clear, however, that the 8-ball break is “open” by any standard, and tournament management is authorized by Regulation 17 to mandate its own break boxes. The fact that Player A had never seen them before is irrelevant.

April 2021

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MATCHROOM SERIES - continued from pg. 12 -

CUE CRITIQUE:

A CUE THAT TRANSCENDS Another example of Richard Black’s brilliance.

BY DENO ANDREWS Richard Black is one of the cuemakers whose work transcends the industry.

Black was the first cuemaker to have his work featured in a major art museum.

His one-man show was a monumental moment for cue art. Featured this month is an eight-point masterpiece.

Four bridged and veneered points with notched ivory diamonds provide a bold splash of color and geometry in the black-on-black forearm. Protruding from behind the bridges are four ivory points.

The entire forearm makes a bold statement. Equally intriguing is the butt sleeve, which reimagines the concept of a box cue. Instead of traditional rectangular boxes housing a notched diamond, Black disrupts opposite corners of each ivory-bordered box with a quarter oval. Between the boxes are additional voidfilling shapes which create a motif reminiscent of the late Art Nouveau and early Art Deco periods.

Elements elegantly finishing this stunning cue include a boar’s hide wrap, fancy rings, ivory butt cap and an ivory joint with matching joint protectors.

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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While the wait for top-flight international competition appears to finally be over for both players and fans, fans will still have to be content with viewing the action on TV or online, at least through the World Pool Championship.

“That would be unlikely at this stage,” said Nick Teale, Matchroom Multi Sport’s Head of Media and Marketing, when asked if any of the first four events might welcome live attendance. “Sports events in the United Kingdom may be able to have limited crowds by June, however, with the multiple table format for the World Championship and the requirement to form a full ‘bubble’ in order to gain travel exemptions for international players, it is unfortunate that it will not be possible to welcome fans this year.”

Not out of the realm of possibility, however, is the potential for live crowds at both the U.S. Open Championship and the Mosconi Cup. “We’re working hard to have fans at the U.S. Open and Mosconi Cup,” Teale said. “We hope to able to do so.”

Dates have yet to be set for the U.S. Open, with Matchroom working to pin down a site, although it is listed as “Fall” on the Matchroom calendar.

The 2019 U.S. Open, the first with Matchroom at the helm, was staged in Las Vegas.

And while Matchroom did announce dates for the 2021 Mosconi Cup (Dec. 6-9), the site for that event is also in limbo. In fact, Matchroom hasn’t even pinned down the country that will hold the annual USA vs Europe team match. The home-home format in place for the past 15 years would have the U.S. hosting the 2021 event, but while the 2020 Mosconi Cup was technically staged in Europe, more than 2,000 fans that purchased tickets for a European party instead were forced to watch on television.

The uncertainty of whether or not either country is likely to allow that kind of audience surely will factor into Matchroom’s decision, which isn’t expected anytime soon.

April 2021

3/21/21 7:10 PM

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

PLAYER: Albin Ouschan EVENT: 2019 World Cup of Pool LOCATION: Leicester, U.K. DATE: June 30, 2019

I

T’S A tradition in sports to rally

around the idea that “nobody believed in us!” despite how many people believed in them. Little slights, insults and long odds are great for motivation. When it comes to the 2019 World Cup of Pool, Team Austria, featuring Albin Ouschan and Mario He, had a decent case for being overlooked.

The Austrian duo landed in Leicester, England, as the sixth-seeded team out of 32, which seems a notch or two low considering the two won the 2017 title and finished runners-up in 2018.

Ouschan and He were rolling in their quarterfinal match against Greece, up 5-1 in the race-to-9, when Ouschan came to the table facing the layout shown in the diagram to the right.

Facing a long, nearly straight angle on the 1, he had few options for posi-

Watch Ouschan hug the long rail at BILLIARDSDIGEST.COM

tion on the 2, which was in the lower right corner, nearly tied up with the 7.

But Ouschan made his own path while also freeing the 2 to keep He in good shape.

With a firm stroke and top right English, the world champ bent the cue ball’s path forward after contacting the 1. The object ball drilled the center of the top left pocket, while the cue ball hit the top right long rail twice. The side spin helped pull the cue ball back after contact with the head rail. The cue ball then clipped the right side of the 2, coming to a stop almost immediately while the 2 rolled into perfect shape for He. The Austrian duo continued pounding away at the Greeks, 9-2, then dispatched Spain, 9-3, and the Philippines, 11-3, to take their second title in three years. With the pandemic erasing the 2020 World Cup, the Austrians are still reigning champs, who could expect a higher seed in this year’s competition.

April 2021

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BD BOOK REVIEWS CHAMPIONSHIP POOL — Essential Skills and Strategies for Top-Level Competition David E. MacNeill and Jonathan MacNeill 2020.

Reviewed by Nick Leider

O

NLY THE most masochistic among us would describe writing 400 pages about pool as fun, but every player who has spent a half-hour hammering away at the same cut shot along the long rail can understand the passion involved in such a pursuit. For David W. MacNeill, who wrote “Championship Pool” with the help of his son, Jonathan MacNeill, an obsessive devotion to the ins and outs of every intricate detail is evident from the first pages of the 400-plus-page book.

That mindset explains both why the book succeeds in lots of places and why it gets stuck when dealing with certain topics. “Championship Pool” is packaged as a resource for levels of all players, where experts can pick up new information and illuminate blindspots, while newbies can drill fundamentals and build a strong knowledge base.

But the sheer amount of essential information for beginners to crawl can leave intermediate and expert players tuning out. It’s been said before that pool hasn’t changed much in the last decade or 20, so subject-by-subject comprehensive instructionals are difficult propositions.

MacNeill’s effort in covering stroke fundamentals and stance basics is commendable, but I’m guessing much of this information is already in the libraries of its audience.

Regardless, when addressing abstract concepts, especially in the mental and physical approach to the preshot routine, “Championship Pool” comes alive.

Considering our current environment where we’re bom-

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barded by sites, sounds and streaming video, MacNeill is especially effective at capturing concepts deeper than just the “how” when it comes to certain topics. Teaching its readers why is an effective way to impact behavior (and improve play) because comprehension is more effective than memorization.

An effective enough writer to keep a reader engaged for 400 pages, MacNeill puts together a commendable startto-finish how-to, though “Championship Pool” might have been better served as a slimmed down effort directed toward experienced (if not expert) players. The formatting suffers a bit, though limitations in self-publishing being what they are, some confusion over subsections and subheads isn’t a major concern.

Considering the overlap in the readership of this magazine and the potential audience for “Championship Pool,” the book would be a fine addition to a pool player’s library — one that complements the must-haves and merits a read when looking to fill any knowledge gaps.

Championship Pool is available for $19.95 on Amazon.

April 2021

3/22/21 9:41 AM

INSIDE 18 QUICK HITS +

A bevy of useful nuggets.

By BD STAFF

20 STRATEGIES + Finding the right paths.

By NICK VARNER

28 ILLUSTRATED PRINCIPLES + POOL REQUIRES GOOD HAND-EYE COORDINATION. (PG. 22)

Pool vids on the internet.

By DAVID ALCIATORE

22 SOLIDS & STRIPES + Hand-eye coordination drills.

By LARRY SCHWARTZ

26 TECH TALK + One-pocket by the rules.

By BOB JEWETT

24 PERFECT PRACTICE + Cue ball speed and patterns.

By DARREN APPLETON

April 2021

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INSTRUCTIONALS

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

OpeningShot with Mark Wilson

Q)

I’ve watched guys play matches that last days. How does a player develop that kind of stamina, and can you do anything to prepare for the kind of focus that requires??

Max Bliese; Dubuque, Iowa

A)

Who would think that pool and physical fitness are a big deal?

But if you look at the last few days of any major tournament, you aren’t likely to find any players that are not fit. The focus and concentration required to compete at that level does not allow for “going through the motions.” Stamina and endurance for high performance pool requires training, so hit the gym if you are serious. Hitting balls is one tiring, but applying mental focus requires high energy. Multi-day matches seldom occur anymore, but it is quite common at tournaments that your 9:00 p.m. match doesn’t start until 11:30 p.m. Often times, championship matches begin after midnight, and that comes on the heels of days of competition and an extra-long final day. You need to notice whenever fatigue starts setting in and remind yourself to add vigor. You can wash your face. Eye fatigue is a major factor, too.

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O

SPEED KILLS

NE OF the problems I see most often with students is their struggles with cue ball speed. This is particularly noticeable on thin cut shots.

When you’re cutting the object ball thin, the cue ball will retain most of its speed. That’s why speed is so critical on thin cuts. It is very easy to hit the shot too hard and send the cue ball flying around the table.

A lot of players struggle with this because they are trying to stop the cue ball in very specific spots on the table, but they don’t really have a frame of reference to guide them.

That’s why the drill I’m sharing here is so valuable. It is a simple way to begin to understand speed control. It will allow you to really develop that frame of reference, which, in turn, will remind you exactly how much speed to use almost every time in the future.

The goal here is to gain a feel for how much speed to use to get the cue ball to go stop at both long rails. Of course, the first thing you must do is pocket the 8 ball in the corner pocket. Your hit on the cue ball and how the 8 is pocketed is also vitally important.

To learn the most from this drill, you must use a perfect stun shot on these and the 8 ball must go into the center of the pocket. No English.

First, pocket the 8 and get the cue ball to slide directly across the table,

stopping as close as possible to the opposite rail (C-1). Once you’ve mastered that shot, pocket the 8 and get the cue ball to go across the table and back to the rail where the 8 ball was (C-2). Finally, pocket the 8 and get the cue ball to go across the table three times, resting on the opposite long rail (C-3).

Once you familiarize yourself with the speed for those shots, start trying to get the cue ball to go across the table and back, stopping in the center of the table (C-4). Next, send the cue

C-2

C-4

C-1

C-3

ball across the table twice and to the center of the table.

Trust me, once you really understand the speed required for these shots, you will never forget them.

Also, practice this drill on different size tables. The change in table width will affect your desired speed. Again, once you get this down, your brain will automatically adjust for any size table.

April 2021

3/21/21 6:55 PM

Drill Bits-

TARGET PRACTICE + WHY DO IT +

To improve your cue ball

position control.

Set up the shot as shown and practice sending the cue ball to each of the five target areas. Shoot each shot four times, using different strokes — stun, draw, follow, right and left English — and different paths and try to land in the zone. + HOW TO DO IT +

So Says Fats LOST IN all his bluster and bravado was the fact that Rudolph Wanderone really could play a little. But even in explaining the nuances of pool, “Minnesota Fats” was one-of-a-kind. Take his lessons on the art and effectiveness of chalking, for instance: “It’s like a beautiful doll putting on lipstick,” Fats said. “If she applies too much, she’s gonna look like a siren. If she applies too little she might look like a ghost.”

Fats went on to tell of a player named Jack that he ran into in a poolroom. Jack had lipstick all over his chin and cheeks.

“I nicknamed him ‘Lipstick Jack,’” Fats said, “because his tomato don’t know how to chalk!”

626 Advice HOW DOES a player like straight-pool record holder John “Mr. 626” Schmidt prepare to play? One thing is certain, whether he’s preparing for a long straight-pool run or for a 9-ball match, Schmidt doesn’t waste time trying to impress himself with tough shots. “I see guys trying to fi re in balls and shoot really tough shots when they’re warming up,” Schmidt once said.

“That seems counter-productive to me.

You should work on your position play so that you don’t have all these tough shots during the match. And work on simple things, like keeping your head down on the shot and follow through.”

“

The backswing will make or break you.

”

— Balkline and carom world champion, and BCA Hall of Famer Welker Cochran

STRAIGHT

TALK

GURU GEORGE FELS HELPS YOU RUN 100 STRAIGHT POOL is one of the most elegant games on earth. Most people are drawn to straight pool by its elegance, which is really the ideal start.

How good you are ever to become at straight pool largely has to do with how much you respect the game. If that sounds startlingly cerebral for a table game, that’s as it should be. You will learn, as expert players know, that the game is played in great measure in your head, far more than at the table.

On the Spot ROBERTO “SUPERMAN” GOMEZ TALKS ACTION + Do action players like yourself devote much time to practice?

Drills are not my thing but I will practice a little before a big match or tournament to sharpen my fundamentals and my mental approach. You can make a shot 100 times in a row in practice but miss it the one time you face it in a match. Mental toughness is more important preparation. + How do you maintain focus during a two- or three-day match?

I focus on physical and mental stamina. It’s a “machine” approach. No emotion. One ball, one game at a time. + What are the strongest and weakest parts of your game?

I’ve been playing non-stop for 33 years. I don’t feel I have a physical weakness. I only struggle when my mental toughness drops.

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+ S TR ATEG IE S +

BY Nick Varner

GOING NATURAL

Play position for natural angles when plotting your run-out.

I

T’S NO secret that proper position play is absolutely critical in winning pool.

That is especially true in 8-ball, where improper planning and poor position will sink your chances every time. And that is why one of the first things a coach will tell you when playing 8-ball is not to simply pocket the easiest shot on the table first.

It is usually the only easy shot you’re get.

To run out with any consistency, you need to make sure all of the shots are reasonably achievable by getting good position ball after ball.

While selecting your first shot requires a decent plan of action, the last shot on the table requires every bit as much attention to position detail. Take a look at the shot in Diagram One. There are only two balls on the table, and you need to get from the 9 ball to the game-winning 8 ball. As you play position for the 9, try to conceptualize the position that would afford you a great natural angle to get back down table for the 8. For me, the perfect positions are the ones shown here. The shot itself is easy. In both cases, you are close to the 9 and the angle isn’t very severe. Both of these positions also offer a wide margin for error with regards to your cue ball speed.

Shooting from cue ball position C-1, simply contact the cue ball slightly above center with left English. Cue ball position C-2 might even be easier (if you are righthanded) because the contact point on the 9 is in line with your right arm. Contact the cue ball slightly above center and with right English.

When I first started playing, I would occasionally scratch into the upper corner pockets on these two shots. My problem was not establishing the perfect angle to get up table. Look for an angle that allows you to hit the long rails up table about a diamond and a half from the pockets. That gives you plenty of margin for error with speed.

Another aspect of position play that many players miss is the importance of pocketing accuracy. The position play in these shots is affected, in large part, by your shooting accuracy. The position is dependent on the

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Diagram One C-1

C-2

Diagram Two

C-3

9 ball going directly into the middle of the corner pocket. The cue ball’s path and speed would be affected if the shot is not accurate. Fuller contact on the 9, sending into one side of the pocket, will cause the cue ball to lose speed and you could well come up short on the 8 ball. A thinner hit will take the cue ball on a longer angled path and closer to those corner pockets.

So, yes, you could pocket the 9 but still scratch in the corner just by having the 9 go into the “wrong” side of the pocket.

What is the punishment for missing proper position? It is usually position like the ones shown in Diagram Two. The absolute worst possible position is frozen

C-4

to the rail and straight in (C-3). There is virtually no escape from here because the rail prevents you from applying any draw or English on the cue ball, and the lack of angle prevents you from moving the cue ball around the table even if you managed to pocket the 9.

From cue ball position C-4, you don’t have to elevate the cue as much, but it would require a big stroke, driving the cue ball forward with high right English.

Sounds obvious, but the key to running out is finding a natural angle toward position on the next ball. Stay close to your next shot and avoid super thin cuts. And, if possible, stay off the rail.

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+ SOLIDS

&

STRIPES

+

BY Larry Schwartz

STRIVE FOR PERFECTION Working on your hand-eye coordination will pay dividends.

A

FTER YEARS of playing the great game of 8-ball, I have come to the conclusion that once your fundamentals — stance, grip, bridge and stroke — are solid, everything comes down to hand-eye coordination. I have been asked many times if this is something that can be taught, or if a player must be born with a natural ability.

I insist that it can, indeed, be taught.

We can all do exercises and drills to improve our hand-eye coordination.

In fact, I would argue that people who excel in other sports that require good hand-eye coordination would start out ahead of the game if they tried pool. I once had the pleasure of talking with Michael Jordan and he told me his three favorite games were basketball, golf and pool. He said over and over that the common denominator in being great at any of them was hand-eye coordination.

In my youth, one of my favorite handeye exercises was hitting a speed bag. I knew that it would translate to better playing ability in pool.

But you don’t need a speed bag to work on your hand-eye coordination as it relates to pool. There are several drills you can do on a pool table that will help. The first of these exercises is shown in Diagram One. Place the cue ball next to pocket B and about two

B

Diagram One

A

inches off the rail. (This setup is geared to a right-handed player. If you shoot left-handed, put the ball just off the opposite rail next to pocket A.) The object of this drill is comparable to hitting a speed bag. Hit the cue ball dead center into the rail exactly perpendicular to the cushion. The cue ball should return directly to your cue tip. As it returns to the tip, hit it again into the rail, never touching the ball with your hand.

See how many times in a row you can hit the ball directly back into the cushion, maintaining control. Continuously striking it dead center is the only way to

B

Diagram Two

A

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keep the drill going. If you can perform this drill with the proper bridge and control, you should get to the point where you are sending the cue ball rapidly back and forth, just like a boxer hitting the speed bag.

Several important elements of doing this exercise effectively: First, you must keep a feather-light grip with your back hand. Also, it helps if your bridge is as close to the cue ball as possible (see photos).

Diagram Two shows a drill that not only improves hand-eye coordination, but also helps you learn to draw the cue ball a short distance while maintaining perfect control of it. Place the 8 ball in the exact center of the table. Starting with cue ball in hand, pocket the 8 in either side pocket and then reset it on the center of the table. For the second shot and beyond, you must accept the cue ball position as it is after the previous shot. The object is to pocket the 8 in such a way that you leave yourself identical position on the next shot.

You can shoot it into either side pocket, but you will find that following the 8 ball to shoot it into the other side pocket is far more difficult than drawing the cue ball back and shooting the exact same shot again.

As in the previous drill, a very short bridge is preferable. For this drill, however, strike the cue ball at 6 o’clock and hold the cue as level as possible. Executed correctly, the cue ball will draw back to the exact position of the first shot. If you get a little off center and have to cut the 8 at all, try to get the cue ball back to the original position.

You may even have to send the cue ball down to the short rail and back up to regain position.

I first came across this drill at the Rack and Cue in Detroit when a fellow player bet me a substantial amount of money that I couldn’t pocket the 8 in either side pocket eight consecutive times. He allowed me ball in hand for the first shot. I didn’t do a very good job of controlling the cue ball, but I did manage to win the bet. Now knowing the proper technique for this drill, however, I have no problem pocketing the 8 in a side pocket 50 or even 100 times in a row.

Try these drills. They will absolutely help improve your hand-eye coordination and will aid greatly with your cue ball control, which is integral to playing winning 8-ball.

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+ PERFECT PRACTICE +

BY Darren Appleton

SEE A PATTERN?

This 10-ball drill puts a premium on cue ball speed and patterns.

H

ERE IS a nice pattern drill that makes you focus on cue ball speed and staying on the right side of the object ball. It is an easy drill to set up, and pocketing the balls is the simple part. This will help you concentrate on patterns and using the rails to get your cue ball into place.

Like I always say, if you have a good cue ball, the game is easy.

The rules are pretty simple: Starting with cue ball in hand, run the balls in rotation. You are not allowed to bump another ball. You can pocket the 10 ball in any pocket. I would advise that you try to use at least one rail to work on your pattern play.

For players with a FargoRate above 500, the drill gets tougher. Start with the cue ball on the dot, as shown in Diagram One. The cue ball must contact at least two rails. Also, odd-numbered balls must be made in the bottom left and evennumbered balls in the bottom right, including the 10 ball.

This is how I would play this drill: Use bottom right on the 1 ball and come across two rails, leaving a nice angle on the 2 ball. I use both long rails on this shot (Diagraam One).

The same with the 2 ball (Diagram Two), only a tip of left English and just below center. I would also use both long rails on the 3 ball and 4 ball, using follow and alternating a tip of left and right English, respectively.

For the 5-9 (Diagram Three), play off the short and long rail. Again, alternating a tip of right for the odd-numbered balls and a tip of left English on the evennumbered balls.

On the 9, you will need to hit the ball firm to gain position on the 10 ball. Strike the cue ball just below center with a tip of left and punch the ball in.

This drill looks easy but it will definitely keep you busy. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t complete the drill right away.

Always try to beat your best score. As you get more consistent, it will definitely help you in competition because your brain will be programmed.

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Diagram One

Diagram Two

Diagram Three

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+ TECH TALK +

BY Bob Jewett

ONE-HOLE BY THE BOOK The concise rules of one-pocket

A

BOUT A year ago I wrote a six-column series on various aspects of the game of one-pocket. This column is a set of rules for one-pocket in the style of the World Standardized Rules. Since general rules can be found in those, they are omitted here for brevity and are referenced where needed. The WSR are available on the World PoolBilliard Association website at https:// wpapool.com/rules-of-play. Since those rules go up to section nine, I’ll start numbering at ten.

signed the foot pocket opposite to the side of the cue ball placement for the break.

The cue ball begins in hand behind the head string. There are no special requirements for the break shot.

10.4 Continuing Play

The shooter’s turn continues until he fails to pocket a ball in his pocket, fouls, or the rack is won by a player reaching

10.6 Spotting Balls

10. One-pocket

One-pocket is played with 15 object balls and the cue ball. Each player is assigned a foot pocket and the winner of the rack is the first to score eight object balls in his pocket. Matches are to a given number of racks.

10.1 Determining the Break

The player who wins the lag chooses who will break the first rack.

(See 1.2 Lagging to Determine Order of Play.) The standard format is to alternate the break, but see Regulation 15, Subsequent Break Shots.

10.2 Rack at One-pocket

The fifteen object balls are racked as tightly as possible in a triangle, with the apex ball on the foot spot. The balls are placed in the triangle without purposeful or intentional pattern. A ball rack template will not be used for onepocket.

10.3 Selecting Pockets and the Break Shot

The breaker of each rack will choose his pocket and the opponent gets the other foot pocket. If the breaker does not explicitly indicate a pocket, he is as-

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penalty in addition to any other balls that need to be spotted at that time. If a player has no ball to spot for a foul, a marker is placed to indicate a ball is owed by him. If the player later scores balls, they are spotted to cancel any owed balls up to the number of owed balls.

(While other scoring systems are possible, such as electronic scoring, using the physical balls as markers helps prevent scoring errors.)

eight points. The incoming player shoots from the position left by the previous player except when he has ball in hand behind the head string.

10.5 Scoring

Each ball legally pocketed in one of the foot pockets counts one point for the corresponding player. In addition, balls pocketed in the opponent’s pocket on a foul shot count for him and are not spotted under 10.6 below unless the only foul committed was 6.1 Cue Ball Scratch or off the Table.

The balls scored by each player are used as physical markers for the score in two corresponding storage locations.

When a foul occurs, one of the fouler’s scored balls is spotted as the one-point

Balls are spotted if they have been pocketed on a foul shot, pocketed in a side or head pocket, or driven off the table. Balls are also spotted to pay for previous fouls (owed balls) as described above. (See 1.4 Spotting Balls.) Spotting is usually done at the end of the shooter’s turn, but if the shooter clears the table and has not reached eight points, perhaps due to balls having been pocketed in extraneous pockets, all balls to be spotted are spotted at that time and the shooter continues his turn.

10.7 Forgetting to Spot Balls

If a ball is not spotted when it should be and is later noticed, it will normally be spotted when each player has had one full turn after the discovery. If both players agree, the ball will be spotted immediately.

10.8 Standard Fouls

If the shooter commits a standard foul he loses one point, balls are spotted as necessary, and play passes to his opponent. The cue ball remains in position except as noted below.

The following are standard fouls at one-pocket:

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6.1 Cue Ball Scratch or off the Table — The cue ball is in hand above the head string.

6.3 No Rail after Contact 6.4 No Foot on Floor 6.5 Ball Driven off the Table 6.6 Touched Ball 6.7 Double Hit / Frozen Balls 6.8 Push Shot 6.9 Balls Still Moving 6.10 Bad Cue Ball Placement 6.11 Bad Play from Behind the Head String — For a foul under the second paragraph of 6.11, the cue ball is in hand above the head string for the incoming player.

6.12 Cue Stick on the Table 6.13 Playing out of Turn 6.15 Slow Play 10.9 Serious Fouls

For 6.14 Three Consecutive Fouls, the penalty is loss of the current rack. For 6.17 Unsportsmanlike Conduct, the referee will choose an appropriate penalty given the nature of the offense.

10.10 Stalemate

If a stalemate occurs (see 1.12 Stalemate), all 15 balls will be reracked, and the players will lag to see who has the next shot. Any markers for owed balls will be preserved and positive partial scores from the abandoned rack will be carried over to the rerack. (Those partial scores should be written down as there will not be object balls to use as physical markers for them.)

10.11 Simultaneous Win

If a player scores both his winning ball and his opponent’s winning ball on the same shot the win is given to the shooter. (This can only happen with a score handicap or a stalemate rerack.)

I think that covers everything that needs to be covered right now. There are some other gray areas and traditional rules that are better left to the tournament management or the players if it is a private match. Such things include banning jump cues, allowing touch fouls of one object ball to pass (commonly and incorrectly called “cue ball fouls only”), forbidding intentional manipulation of the balls by multiple hits on the cue ball, playing “you snooze, you lose” in which forgotten owed balls are cancelled, and scoring balls pocketed in a mistaken run into the opponent’s pocket. If you notice a problem in the rules above or have a suggestion, please contact me.

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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.

CUETUBE

Pool has its share of quality videos on the internet—here are a few.

[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.]

U

NLESS YOU’VE been living Image 1 under a rock the last 20 years, you probably know there is an endless supply of adorable cat videos on YouTube.

But wouldn’t you like to watch some equally entertaining pool videos that are interesting or cute? If so, here’s a viewing guide that will be of interest.

Over the years, I have collected links to miscellaneous fun pool videos that don’t fit into conventional categories. All of them are available in the “Mis- Image 3 cellaneous Interesting Videos” section of the Online Video Collection at billiards.colostate.edu. I thought it would be fun to pique your interest with images from the videos.

Let’s start with some TV ads that have appeared over the years, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. Bud Light had an interesting ad featuring a ladies-only pool tournament where some guys, wanting some easy cash, dressed up for the Image 5 part (Image 1). Another featured a special chicken who could play pool by laying cue balls, sometimes at impressive velocity (Image 2).

If you prefer Miller Lite over Bud Light, you can watch Steve Mizerak shoot a fun sequence of three trick shots

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Image 2

Image 4

in a single take (Image 3) or watch him try to convince a bunch of celebrities of the time, including comedian Rodney Dangerfield, that Miller being “less filling” is more important than it “tasting great” (Image 4).

I always thought that was an odd advertising ploy — trying to convince potential customers that the beer’s taste isn’t as important as its having fewer calories.

Another funny ad is the “history of pool” by Guinness, showing in a hilarious way how and why the cue, rails and pockets were invented (Image 5).

Hitting the CB with your finger made it sore after a while, and it got old chasing down and picking up balls from the floor. This and all the other beer ads are

worth a watch if you haven’t seen them yet.

Now let’s look at some TV shows and movies that have included interesting pool moments. In the greatest pool movie of all time, “The Color of Money,” Tom Cruise was being a fool, twirling the cue around like a ninja warrior (Image 6). A Wushu Asian martial arts gymnast using a cue as a prop goes well beyond this (Image 7). Tom Cruise’s pool game wasn’t great in the movie—most of his shots were easy setups—but “his hair was perfect” as he mouthed lyrics from Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” playing in the background (Image 8).

Comedian Bill Murray became a skilled pool hustler with all the time he had in one of my favorite movies of all time, “Groundhog Day” (Image 9). In a 1961 episode of “The Twilight Zone,” pool shark Jesse Cardiff, played

by Jack Klugman, faces off against the devil spirit of “Fats” Brown, played by

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Image 6

Image 7

Jonathan Winters, for the challenge of his life—literally (Image 10).

Sometimes ad agencies use fancy video editing and computer graphics to create pool shots that are not possible. In an ad for GrandOptical Eyeglasses, famous French soccer player Zinedine Zidane pockets eight balls in one shot, all in

Image 11

Image 12

Image 8

the same pocket, obviously due to the effectiveness of the eyeglasses (Image 11).

There are lots of videos out there of various configurations of playing pool robots (Image 12). If you watch the videos, you can rest assured that the technology is a long way from even threatening a “bar Image 10 banger,” for now anyway.

Now for some cute pool videos to rival some of the adorable cat videos out there. How about famous trick shots executed on a tiny toy pool table (Image 13)? And how about a pool-playing chihuahua (Image 14)? Apparently, he doesn’t know the rules very well because he’s shooting the 8. And how could you go wrong with Donald Duck learning to play three-cushion billiards in Disney’s “Donald in Mathmagic Land” (Image 15)? You can watch Barbie and Ken play a game of pool in stop-motion animation (Image 16).

Those sneaky cats can even make cameo appearances in pool videos.

Check out the massé shot video with a

Image 9

cat assist (Image 17). Even pool videos are more adorable with cats after all.

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.

Image 16

Image 13

Image 14

Image 15

Image 17 April 2021

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CHRIS ROBINSON

T

SELF PORTRAIT Rising star Chris Robinson looks back on his “five-year plan,” and plots out the next five years.

By Nicholas Leider

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HE OLD Yiddish saying, “We plan, God laughs,” has had a bit of a renaissance thanks to kitschy kitchen signs, embroidered pillows and other quaint items found in your or your favorite aunt’s house. But the truth of the old saw is tough to argue.

Now think of any plans you’ve heard from a teenage kid, whether it comes to the weekend, next summer or five years down the road. Talk about comedic fodder.

But every once in a while, a kid comes along who seems to know exactly where his life is headed. Many incredible achievements started out as wishful thinking, but the lesson in that kind of hindsight is validation.

Chris Robinson is an example of this kind of person. He didn’t find pool until he was 13 — practically a senior citizen compared to other junior players. In 2015, at the age of 17, with a few strong performances in Los Angeles-area tournaments and two unremarkable BEF Junior Nationals appearances, Robinson remained focused on a five-year plan that included a Junior Nationals title and a birth on Team USA at the Mosconi Cup. Heady stuff for any kid, though maybe not outrageous enough for “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”

But sure enough, by September 2020, Robinson had that BEF Junior National title in his back pocket and was a surprise wildcard selection as the fifth and final player for Team USA in the transatlantic competition. Young and on the come up, the 22-year-old earned a spot by impressing the American brain trust and validated that decision with a steady performance against a loaded Team Europe.

Fresh off that career highlight, Chris Robinson still has plans. With a passion for photography that he hopes to develop within pool, he’s also got a gig as a house pro in Texas and firmly planted among the top tier of American pool players. Next up? Winning as many tournaments as possible, primarily the U.S. Open. If his track record is any indication, the question may be when, not if, he’ll get to his destinations.

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Growing Pains An athletic, active kid growing up in Ventura, Calif., Robinson had success playing baseball and basketball.

He loved competition and enjoyed being part of a team, which made it all the more curious when he discovered pool when he was 13. At Uncle Kevin’s house to swim in his pool, a regular occurrence for his family, Robinson eventually found his way to the pool table.

Captivated with the game from the start, Robinson, like so many others in the game, couldn’t shake it.

“From then on, I was hooked,” he said. “I probably played two hours a day that first year and I just loved it.

It was the only thing I wanted to do.”

But Robinson was a promising student and athlete who, as a freshman in high school, couldn’t easily drop everything to move into the local poolhall.

Still, he managed to put in as much practice as he could at Stix Billiards, his local room, by scrounging up money for table time and nagging his mom, Tara, and stepfather, Jared, for more when he could.

“They were all for it from the start,” he said. “Once my parents saw how much I loved it, how it was a different kind of passion, my family has been supportive ever since. I couldn’t have dedicated myself to it without my parents and my uncle.”

Spending hours at Stiix, Robinson also started getting support from

Robinson validated his Mosconi Cup selection in 2020 with a solid perfomance.

deal with pressure. All I said was, ‘This match is for between $5 and $5,000, but I’m not going to tell you how much.’”

Wanting to test the kid’ mettle, Beatty immediately knew the kind of potential Robinson possessed.

“It was clear from the start,” he said. “[Robinson] was going to be a player because he’s one of the rare types who raises his game when the pressure is on.”

While honing his game and playing as much as possible, Robinson entered the BEF Junior Nationals in 2013, playing in the super-competitive 18-and-under division. His first chance to measure up against national competition in his age group was eye-opening. He finished ninth.

“A lot of the other kids had been playing for 10 years,” Robinson said. “I felt like I got a late start, you know? I was comparing myself to these players who had so much more experience, which was rough.”

But understanding the level of competition proved inspiring. If he only had a year or Rebounding from a two-and-out in 2014, Robinson won the BEF Juniors title in ’15. within the game. Jay Beatty, a 41-yearold local businessman, was one of the room’s top players. The two became friendly and eventually Beatty backed Robinson in action.

“I remember the first time I put him in the box,” he said. “I told him this is going to help your game, to help you

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CHRIS ROBINSON we could work with in the future, the billiards program at Lindenwood two of serious experience, doesn’t that to build a talent base. Chris was one University, founded and run by Mark mean he’s got that much more room name that I included.”

Wilson. Here, as a student-athlete, for improvement? With that mindset, While a part of the Team USA trainRobinson dedicated himself to pool in Robinson looked to the 2014 Junior ing camp, Robinson didn’t really bea more rigorous, disciplined fashion Nationals as a possible breakthrough lieve he could make the final roster. than ever before.

— so much so his entire family roadHe was lining up next to Shane Van “I had never even had a coach betripped across the country for the comBoening, Corey Deuel and other worldfore,” he said, astonished that his first petition in Louisville, Ky. beaters, after all, but the confidence was arguably the preeminent instrucOnly to see their star hopeful go boost was undeniable. After a year at tor in the country. “I would practice two-and-out.

Lindenwood University, Robinson and work as much as I could, but Mark “I was just heartbroken,” Robinson stepped away from the college setting put me on track to take my game to ansaid. “I had no clue what happened. to dedicate himself to But I talked to my dad pool full-time. and he said I either go “I just realized that for this 100 percent or school wasn’t for me find something new.” right at that time,” he Rededicating himself said. “And I can always to pool, putting in fivego back to school, but and six-hour days and I can’t always fight for nights at the table, the something that I want defeated upstart decidto do.” ed to extend his goals The simple calculus to a five-year plan, behind that decision ending in the Mosconi seemed to work out imCup. But the junior namediately. tionals crown would be “I noticed myself get the first step. like a crazy amount betThe next year, in ter,” Robinson said, after 2015, in Las Vegas, returning to California.

Robinson dropped his “So, I just kept working third-round match in and working because I the 54-player field, couldn’t not play pool.” only to blast his way All the while, he rethrough the one-loss mained on the radar of side, winning seven the Mosconi Cup Team matches before taking USA brain trust. Jones the title with a cometook over captaining duback win over Josh ties after an American Franklin. victory in 2019 and in“Nobody saw it comRobinson got his Mosconi Cup feet wet in the Atlantic Challenge Cup. vited Robinson to be a ing,” he said. “The tourpart of training in 2020. other level. Without him, I wouldn’t be nament directors, other players — I “He started to play more tournawhere I am today.” was two-and-out the year before. ments and bigger tournaments,” Jones Surrounded by other dedicated play“It was just an amazing feeling — said. “You could just see that kind of ers and immersed in the game, Robinknowing that if I put my mind to some[upward] trend. He was improving so son saw the progression in his play. He thing, I could do it.” much. When he did lose to those top was constantly in action, getting the players, it was a battle.” seasoning every young player needs.

Getting Schooled When it came time for Jones to seAlso, through the Lindenwood proWhile pool moved closer and closer lect the fifth and final member of Team gram, he met Jeremy Jones, then Team to the central focus of his life, RobinUSA, he went with his gut — which led USA Vice Captain for the Mosconi Cup son began taking accelerated courses to a surprising phone call for Robinunder Johan Ruysink, who was hoping in high school to finish a year early. son. to develop a new generation of players He continued to refine his game in re“I was driving home from practice to make the Americans more competigional tournaments in Southern Caliwhen [Jones] texted me,” Robinson tive against the dominant Team Eufornia and play in money matches. But said. “So, I called him and figured this rope. the self-described “next evolution” of was like the last two years — where he “I saw him play a little bit in 2017 his game would require him to go back says thanks and we talk about what I and I really liked what I saw,” Jones to school. need to work on. But then he said I’m said. “The next year, Johan wanted to Moving halfway across the country his pick for the fifth spot. have a training camp with some guys to suburban St. Louis, Robinson joined

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“I didn’t even say anything. I thought for sure I was being pranked.”

Even though it was real, the official announcement wouldn’t be made for two weeks — meaning, to Robinson, anyway, there was time for something, anything, to go wrong.

“For two weeks, I kept telling myself it might not happen,” he said. “You never know. Even while we were getting ready and going to the Mosconi Cup, I still kind of felt like it wasn’t real.”

Though the competition didn’t go the way Team USA wanted — Europe barnstormed to a 11-3 victory to win its first cup in three years — Robinson put in a strong performance. Winning the team match and a doubles set, he was a part of two of the Americans’ three points. Regardless, a first-day loss to Eklent Kaci, in which he got out of line and eventually missed the 9 in the case game, still provides fuel to keep getting better.

“It’s crazy how every ball matters,” he said. “I should have had that point — and that brings all the momentum our way. I’m not saying I blame myself for losing the Cup, but in my eyes, I need to get better so that won’t happen again.”

Looking Ahead Like the high school kid with a fiveyear plan, Robinson still takes an analytical, sober approach to his future.

It’s easy for the road to narrow a player’s focus to the next match or the next tournament. But he’s approaching the next few years carefully so he can set himself up for a future in pool — one that won’t be erased if his bankroll gets wiped out with a few bad rolls.

“I learned early that, you know, if you miss balls or play bad, it’s not like you show up to work and get paid. You have to perform,” he said. “But I like to think about the bigger picture, not just what I can get now.”

Thanks to an introduction from Jones, Robinson met the owners of

Great work ethic and solid character earned Robinson a house pro gig.

Stixx and Stones Billiards in Lewisville, Texas, outside Dallas, and agreed to be the house pro. With a steady job — and access to table time — he’s also

pursuing a new passion for photography, something he hopes to incorporate into his love for pool.

“I originally started to do it just because there’s so much downtime in between tournaments that I had to keep myself busy,” Robinson said. “I started taking portraits, senior photos, stuff like that — and I absolutely love it.”

Traveling to the BEF Junior Nationals in Florida in March, he was able to use that outside interest to further April 2021

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CHRIS ROBINSON

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PHOTO BY DANICA NEU

tie him to pool, which is all part of the plan.

“These next couple of years, we’ll see how he does with so much independence,” his friend and mentor Beatty said. “He’s out there doing his own thing — playing as much as possible, pursuing photography, giving lessons.

He’s cultivating different methods to support himself and take care of himself — and all three working synergistically.”

Setting himself up for the long-term is one thing, but that kind of thinking can hardly motivate even the most diehard pool player to spend 10 hours hitting balls on a Tuesday. Robinson still has some immediate to-dos that need addressing.

“Well, first of all, I’d like to win a Mosconi Cup,” Robinson said. “That and the U.S. Open are my two goals for now.

“But yeah, I just want to win as many tournaments as I possibly can. That’s basically it.”

Not a bad plan.

Robinson’s biggest supporters are dad Jarod, mom Tara and brother Adam.

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C U E F E AT U R E

THE CUES THEY USE Top players are painstakingly finicky about their cues.

A dozen top pros share the details of their magic wands.

By Keith Paradise

W

HEN SOMEONE makes their living by playing — whether it is playing a game like pool or golf or music with an instrument — that person needs to feel comfortable and confident with the equipment they choose.

Billiards Digest spoke to a dozen of the top men’s and women’s professional pool players about their equipment — cues, shafts and tips they prefer in competition — to analyze their likes and dislikes.

The preferences are as varied as the options available to today’s competitors. For example, reigning women’s World 9-Ball champion and recent Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame inductee Kelly Fisher dreads the thought of any kind of equipment change, while countryman Chris Melling entered last month’s Predator Championship League Pool with a cue he’d literally just taken out of the box a couple of days before.

Jennifer Barretta Resume: One of the top-ranked Women’s Professional Billiards Association players in 2020. Runner-up in the 2020 Ashton Twins Classic. Earned three top-10 finishes at WPBA events in 2019.

Playing cue: 58-inch, 19-ounce, Predator P3 equipped with synthetic leather with a Predator 12.4 Revo carbon fiber shaft. Tip is a Predator Victory with medium hardness. Cue also includes a 6-inch extension used for longer shots.

Break cue: Predator BK Rush with sport wrap and the standard BK hybrid tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

JB: I switched to carbon fiber, which I guess is significant. I switched probably about a year ago. When they first came out, I just wanted to try it and see what it was like. At the time I was playing with a Z-3 and it played exactly like my Z-3, so there was really no adjustment.

I’ve had cues warp from flying with them, and I knew this one wouldn’t so that was really appealing to me so I decided to switch.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

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JB: I just want consistency. I’ve been at tournaments before where my equipment didn’t show up when I was using a P2 with a 314 shaft. It just so happened that Gerda Hofstater had a P2 with a 314 shaft. I played with it, didn’t notice a

difference and finished in the top-10 of the tournament. So, consistency is really important. Even though the Predator is beautiful, I don’t really care what my cue looks like. I’m not into fancy woods. I only care about how it plays.

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Niels Feijen Resume: World 9-Ball champion in 2014, twotime World Pool Masters champion, four-time Mosconi Cup Most Valuable Player.

Playing cue: 58-inch, 19.5-ounce Feijen series Longoni Flames cue, which includes a Longoni Luna Nera 12.4 mm graphite shaft. Butt diameter of the cue is slightly thicker than standard and the tip installed is a Kamui soft brown. Cue has a linen wrap, American shaft taper and is also equipped with the “3lobite” extension system for hard-toreach shots.

Break cue: 20.5-ounce Longoni TJB break cue with Lacerta grip and a Kamui hard tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

NF: The biggest change was going from wood to graphite last August. Because of Covid, I had plenty of time to make adjustments. They sent over demo models and, in the beginning, I wasn’t thrilled about them but I found out that graphite has a really strong reaction to the tip. I play with a Kamui soft and they had sent shafts with a medium instead. We got together on a phone call, realized it was the wrong tip, so they sent over the right tip and the right height and I loved it. And the durability is so much better than wood. I usually changed shafts every six months because when you’re traveling the wood loses its deflection power.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

NF: It’s probably the balance and the feel. The feel is important. If I have a nice hit with it and I like the vibration. For me, the thickness of the butt is pretty important.

If it’s too thin, I don’t like it. It has to be a little thicker.

And just the overall balance. You swing it in your arm and it has to feel not too heavy, not too light, just powerful and nice.

Joshua and Pia Filler Resume: Joshua is the 2019 U.S. Open 9-Ball champion, 2017 China Open winner and three-time Mosconi Cup competitor. His wife, Pia, has a handful of top-five finishes on the EuroTour’s women’s division.

Playing cue: JF: 17-ounce, 58-inch Predator Panthera 5-2 with a lizard skin wrap. The cue has a low rise, professional taper Predator Z-3 shaft equipped with an 11.75 mm HOW tip.

PF: 17-ounce, 58-inch Predator Panthera 5-2 with a lizard skin wrap. Pia uses the Predator Revo 12.4 carbon fiber shaft equipped with a HOW tip.

Break cue: JF: 19-ounce Predator BK Rush Redline with sports wrap equipped with BK Hybrid tip.

PF: 19-ounce Predator BK Rush Redline with sports wrap equipped with BK Hybrid tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

PF: The only equipment change that we’ve made in the last two years is switching from the BK Rush black to the red model.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

PF: The most important for what we are looking for in our cues is weight of the cue and also the deflection of the shaft.

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Kelly Fisher Resume: Recently elected BCA Hall of Famer, two-time World 9-Ball Champion, 2011 World 10-Ball Champion, two-time WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Champion.

Playing cue: Fisher uses a 58-inch, 19.5-ounce Fury coupled with the company’s EX-2 11.75 mm low deflection shaft which includes a medium softness Tiger Sniper tip. Cue has a linen wrap and Fisher has a two-inch miniature extension for the stick that she leaves on permanently while she plays to help with weighting and balance.

Break cue: Black, 19-ounce Fury Apache break cue that has a linen wrap, phenolic tip and also has a two-inch extension permanently affixed.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

KF: Been adding the extension now for the last two years. Ever since I’ve had the multiple surgeries I’ve been struggling with my backswing. I had a glitch in my stroke and I couldn’t pull back.

I really worked hard on trying to fix that for four years and someone in Taiwan suggested to me that I attach a weight on the back of my cue to try and slow my arm down and it seemed to work. Obviously, the rage was everyone putting these extensions on and I thought it may be worth trying.

Sure enough, maybe its psychological, but it just gave me that extra bit to slow down that backstroke even further. I’ve worked hard on it and it really paid off.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

KF: It’s the feel. I don’t like the design to be too flashy. It really is all on the feel and the hit. I really like a crisp hit. On the break cue, I like there to be some body on the cue. A lot of players like it lighter and that’s fine, as long as it is a strong piece of wood.

I change nothing.

Fury comes out with new models of cue all of the time and I really don’t like change. I played with one of their older model break cues and they asked me to try a new one. Same with my playing cue. If I like something, I’ll keep it as long as possible. I had an old butterfly-splice cue that I won a lot of tournaments with and, finally, I switched to another cue. I think they’d like for me to change to a newer model but they don’t even bother to ask me anymore. I don’t even like changing anything. Even my shafts, I wear them right down until there’s a problem with them. I think that comes from snooker. In snooker, you get one cue and you don’t change unless you have a new sponsor or something goes wrong with the cue.

Fedor Gorst Resume: Mosconi Cup rookie in 2020 and winner of the 2019 World 9-Ball Championship.

Playing cue: 19-ounce Cuetec True-Wood walnut cue with the company’s 30-inch Synergy 12.5 mm carbon fiber shaft, making the cue 59 inches. Cue has a professional taper, linen wrap and Kamui brown medium tip. Gorst has a 4-inch and 2-inch extension for hard-to-reach shots.

Break cue: 20-ounce, wrapless Cuetec Synergy Breach Ghost edition with Taom 2.0 break/jump tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

FG: I used to play with a normal-length shaft, but then I changed to a 30-inch shaft because I felt like I had gotten a little taller and I was grabbing my cue at the very end of the butt. So, I decided to switch to the longer shaft and it worked. I won the world championship with the shorter one but I felt like the longer one would help my game. I changed it and I think I’m playing better since then.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

FG: First, its deflection. I like when it’s low deflection but it has a little deflection. I can’t say that my shaft has zero deflection or that it has big deflection, but it has a little that I like and it really helps with my aiming. I think it’s all personal. How it hits, if it’s solid or not.

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C U E F E AT U R E Chris Melling Resume: 2011 China Open champion and 2012 Mosconi Cup Most Valuable Player.

Playing cue: Standard 58-inch, 18-ounce Predator Ikon coupled with the 11.8 mm Predator Revo carbon fiber shaft. Melling removes all of the weight from the cue that he can in order to replicate the lightness the 12-ounce stick he used while competing in English pool earlier in his career. Cue has Uni-Loc “Leather Luxe” wrap and a Kamui soft brown tip. Melling has a 3-inch and 8-inch extension for his cue but, given his snooker background, is quite proficient with the rake as well.

Break cue: Standard Predator BK Rush Redline with sport wrap and standard BK Hybrid tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

CM: I switched from the Predator Blak to the Ikon. Believe it or not, the joint in the middle of the Blak cue is shiny sil-

Jasmin Ouschan Resume: Multipletime women’s EuroTour champion and 29-time gold medalist at the European Championships. Winner of the 2006 BCA Open and two-time runner-up at the Women’s World 9-Ball Championships.

Playing cue: Predator Panthera Surute cue with genuine leather wrap, 19-ounces and 58 inches in length. Shaft is a 12.4 mm Predator Revo carbon fiber that includes a medium

Chris Robinson Resume: 2020 Mosconi Cup rookie.

2017 Associations of College Unions International National 9-Ball Champion.

Playing cue: 58-inch, 19.3-ounce, black Predator P3 with leather wrap with the professional taper paired with a 11.8 mm Predator Z-3 shaft and a medium softness Predator Victory tip. Robinson has an 8-inch extension for the cue as well.

Break cue: Standard length, 18-5-ounce Predator BK Rush Redline with sports wrap coupled with Taom red break tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

CR: I switched from Mezz to Predator in October of 2019 so I’ve been using their equipment ever since.

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ver. So, when you’re playing on television, the light seems to reflect off the center of the cue where the joint is. And it seems to reflect into your eyes when you’re playing. So, when the new Ikons came out, I asked if I could use the 4-5.

It’s been in the case for four months. I literally pulled it out of the case yesterday.

I’m playing with the carbon fiber shaft but I’m thinking of switching back to the wood shaft. I think the carbon fiber might be a bit too light for me and you get a lot of reaction where, when you’re playing on the television table, you don’t want a lot of reaction.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

CM: I just pick the cue up and I just use it. I don’t look into it too much. If it looks good and it feels good, I’ll use it. And if it doesn’t, I won’t. That’s the way I’ve always been really.

For me, it just needs to feel good. I don’t really care what it looks like. It could have chips all over it for all I care and it could be any color. I just pick a cue up and, if it feels good to me, then I’ll use it.

soft Predator Victory tip. Ouschan also has a 3-inch and 8-inch extension at her disposal for longer shots.

Break cue: Predator BK Rush with the sport wrap and the BK Hybrid tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

JO: I have switched to the new Predator Panthera cue – I’ve been playing the Panthera series for years. I also have switched to the 12.4 Revo shaft with the white vault plate.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

JO: Stiffness and accuracy are always important to me. I also want my material to be reliable because I don’t want to change it much over time. That’s why I like the Revo shaft so much. I find it more reliable than wooden shafts. Also, design is also important to me.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

CR: I like a wider handle because it just fits in my hand better. It’s harder to have a looser grip for me because, believe it or not, I have bigger hands. I’m short but I have big hands for some reason. So, it’s better on my bank hand. There’s really ever been three shafts that I’ve used my whole career. I started with a Z shaft and that is what I was used to growing up, then I switched to the Mezz EX Pro when I got sponsored by Mezz.

Then I went to the Mezz Ignite and, when I got to Predator, I tried out the Revo but felt at home with the Z shaft. I’m so used to the ball coming off a certain way with a wood shaft and, with a carbon fiber, it’s going to get more energy and I just don’t like that. It throws off everything for me.

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C U E F E AT U R E R alf Souquet Resume: BCA Hall of Fame member, 1996 World 9-Ball champion, 2008 World 8-Ball champion. Captured U.S. Open 9-Ball championship in 2002 and the World Cup of Pool in 2011.

Playing cue: 58-inch, 19-ounce Predator Panthera CRM currently coupled with Souquet’s old 11.85 mm Predator 314 shafts.

Once his new batch of 30-inch 314 shafts are retrofitted to his new cue, the length will increase to 59-inches. Tip on the shaft is a Kamui Original Supersoft non-clear and the equipment is equipped with four different extensions.

Break cue: 18.5-ounce Predator BK Rush jump-break cue with BK Hybrid tip and without the sport wrap.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

RS: I got a new cue from Predator in February from the carom stock. It’s a previous generation Panthera before this latest model came out. I like brownish cues and that’s what this one is. I don’t like a wrap. I have to have a cue that is

Kristina Tk ach Resume: 2017 World Pool-Billiard Association World 9-Ball Junior champion and seven-time winner on the EuroTour.

Playing cue: 58-inch, 19-ounce Predator Blak 4-5 edition with the Uni-Loc “Leather Luxe” wrap coupled with the Predator Revo 12.4 mm carbon fiber shaft. The shaft is coupled Predator Victory soft tip. Tkach has three extensions that range from 10-to-12-inches for a longer reach.

Break cue: Standard length, 19-ounce Predator BK Rush with the sport wrap.

just a one-piece finished handle because I hate feeling different materials on the butt. If it has a finish, I can hold the cue much looser than all of the other materials. I’ve played with a butt that has a wrapless handle going back at least 25 years.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

RS: Obviously, the balance point is very important but you can actually move that around a little bit because the balance point is a little further in the back. When a cue will get a little heavier again, the balance point has to move forward. Otherwise, it feels way too heavy in my back hand. So, the balance point is also important so that the cue stays very smooth in your hand. I very often play with an open bridge and when the balance point is too far in the back, it is very easy to lose your cue in the front end. It goes up in the air and that’s the case when you miss so many balls. I also like to have a cue that looks good. There’s nothing really particular when it comes to the inlays, but I need to like the cue. I want to look at the cue and say, “this is really beautiful.” That makes me happy and it makes it a lot easier to play with. I could not play with an ugly cue, so to speak.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

KT: No. Not really.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

KT: For me, one of the biggest issues is deflection. I can’t really play with a cue that has a lot of deflection. It takes me a long time to adjust and it feels like it plays different every time. Also, I really love the feedback and vibration you get when you shoot. I must admit that I’m a picky player when it comes to equipment, so as long as it’s a low-deflection cue and I like the way it looks. I want to be good with that. Typical girl. I really like the Blak edition because I like the color and its very elegant and I like the minimalism.

Skyler Woodward Resume: Six-time Mosconi Cup participant, 2019 Derby City Classic Master of the Table and United States Open 8-Ball champion.

Playing cue: 18-ounce, 58.5-inch Meucci with a professional 12mm taper. Cue is equipped with a lizard skin wrap and a medium-softness Techno Dud tip by Outsville. Woodward also has an extension for the cue.

Break cue: 19-ounce wrapless Meucci break cue with a Samsara break tip.

BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately?

SW: I’ve not made any changes. Once I find what I like, I stick to it.

BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?

SW: The feel of the cue. The power, deflection and balance.

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Annual BD Cue Showcase

TAKING T HEIR C UE Head back to the tables with a new wand. There are options to fit every taste and budget.

McDermott Cue

McDermott offers an absolute stunner with the H554, with Pacific blue and light grey stains, combined with silver and white rings. The H554 has a no-wrap curly maple handle and birdseye maple forearm and sleeve, and features McDermott’s revolutionary Variable Balance Point weight system.

MSRP: $565 www.mcdermottcue.com

Koda

Take the bull by the horns with the new Bull Carbon low-deflection shaft from Koda. The aggressive pro taper, topped with a Kamui Black soft tip, makes this shaft a gamechanger. And the V-TEK joint technology system will allow you to instantly fit any cue in your bag. Up to five interchangeable joint adapters screw right in.

MSRP: $499 www.seyberts.com

Meucci

Your opponent’s heart will surely sink when you unleash the limited-edition Billy “Thorpedo” Thorpe Centennial cue from Meucci. The stylish and lethal cue features an ebony forearm and butt sleeve, with a checkerboard design and mother of pearl points and cloverleafs.

Only 100 made. Complimenting break cue and jump cue are also available.

CueStix

MSRP: $2,000 Email: sales@meuccicues.com

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CueStix unveils some new Action for 2021 — the Action ACCF Series cues, featuring a unique colored pressed wood construction with high-tensile carbon rings at the joint, wrap and butt cap. ACCF Series cues include the INOX quick-release joint and a 29” hard maple shaft with a 10-12” pro taper and medium layered tip.

MSRP: $249 www.cuestix.com

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Predator Cues

Sophistication in design and unmatched in performance, the new Predator P3 REVO Melange features decadent curly maple wood with a leopard stripe, 30-piece construction, the Uni-Loc weight cartridge system and a REVO carbon fiber composite shaft.

MSRP: $1,349-$1,399 www.predatorcues.com

Cue and Case Sales

Capture the beauty of natural stone with the rich textures and gold dusted accents of the new Stone Series from Players. All three models feature a gold-dust veins graphic design and are made from 100 percent hard rock maple, with stained forearms and Irish linen wrap.

MSRP: $148.49 www.cueandcase.com

Tiger Products

Add speed and power to your break shot with the Icebreaker SEV performance break/jump cue from Tiger Products. SEV is a dense, tight-grained wood specifically collected and cured over time to add natural flex and power on impact. The Icebreaker butt is made of three-piece handles and comes with the Tiger Break SEV high-performance shaft.

MSRP: $690 www.tigerproducts.com

J&J America

The Rhino is another in a long line of affordable high-quality cues from J&J America, made with exotic wood, ebony points and may be upgraded with a Black Arrow carbon fiber shaft.

MSRP: $500 www.jjcue.com April 2021

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Annual BD Cue Showcase Imperial Int’l

One-piece cues made to match the finish of Imperial tables, the solid maple Finish Series cues are 57” in length, multiple weights, have a four-point design and feature a premium seven-layer leather tip.

MSRP: $49.99 www.imperialusa.com

Predator Cues

The new Predator P3 Racer Cobalt features a matte black finish and a gloss blue stripe. The cue is built of 30-piece construction and includes the Uni-Loc weight cartridge system. Fine-tune your game and upgrade to the REVO carbon fiber composite shaft for maximum performance.

MSRP: $620-$670 www.predatorcues.com

Cuetec

Cuetec Cynergy shafts pair great with a wide variety of custom and production cues and are available in more than 10 unique joints. Oh, and it is the only carbon fiber composite shaft to capture a Men’s WPA World Championship. Available in both 11.8mm and 12.5 mm diameters.

McDermott Cue

Looking for elegance in a high-performance cue?

McDermott’s Select Series more than fills the bill. The SL3 features beautiful green clover inlays set in white diamonds and a grey-stained birdseye maple forearm and sleeve. The SL3 comes standard with Irish linen wrap and the i-3 shaft.

Or upgrade to the popular Defy carbon fiber shaft.

MSRP: $600 (Defy $160 extra) www.mcdermottcue.com

MSRP: $399 www.cuetec.com

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Annual BD Cue Showcase Tiger Products

Smash the rack with the powerful Impakt SEV break cue from Tiger, constructed of dense, tight-grained wood cured to add flex and power. The Impakt is equipped with the Tiger Break SEV high-performance shaft and the latest Icebreaker tip.

MSRP: $590 www.tigerproducts.com

Cue and Case Sales Longoni Cues

Famous Italian design and advanced technology make the Papilio quintessential Longoni. Inspired by its namesake “butterfly,” the Papilio features a handgrip composed by dozens of small wooden pieces, crafted with famous Longoni marquetry.

The forearm and lower ring feature precious inlays and wavy rings on black Ural wood. Beyond its beauty, the Papilio is a powerful playing tool.

MSRP: $3,420 www.longonicues.com

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Annual BD Cue Showcase Cue & Case Sales

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Predator Cues

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CHRONICLES

OUR FIRST CHAMPION

DUDLEY KAVANAGH WON THE FIRST U.S. NATIONAL BILLIARD TITLE, KEPT IT FOR YEARS, WAS A ROOM OWNER AND TABLE MANUFACTURER, AND LIVED TO 82 AS A POWERFUL FORCE IN THE INDUSTRY.

H

ALLS OF Fame have to balance stars of the present with heroes of the past. But if a player is not within the living memory of members of the selection committee, the chances of entry can be slim. Every few years, I suggest an old-timer for admission by publishing a biography. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. It did for Michael Phelan but not for Maurice Daly. One of my other favorites is Dudley Kavanagh (Fig. 1), who was the first America billiard champion and was never defeated at the table in any title event. He was also a table manufacturer, room owner, and promoter of the game, as well as a teacher of Maurice Daly, to whom he was related. He had a long life in billiards, with twists and turns that I hope you find interesting. I 1. Dudley Kavanagh in 1866. have been in touch with his relative and family historian, Elizabeth Ada room at 307 Broadway, near City Hall. ams, who kindly provided material for At the time, there were more than 25 this article. public rooms in the city, with a conKavanagh was born on March 5, 1837 centration of them on lower Broadway. in Luggacurren, Ireland, a small town There were also about 10 table manuin County Laois, about 60 miles southfacturers nearby, including Griffith & east of Dublin. He sailed for North Decker half a mile away. Remember the America in 1848 at the age of 11 on the name Decker – Kavanagh eventually passenger ship Princess Alice. “Sailed” went into partnership with him. here means literally by sail – the Alice At Dupignac & Cornwell, Kavanagh had no engines. He was lucky to land had a chance to play against New York’s when he did, as the ship sank the next top players, including professionals, year. He arrived in Canada, but soon and by 16 in 1853 he was regarded as settled at 16 W. 47th Street in New York, the best player in the city. At the time, a “professional” was someone who made where he lived for the rest of his life. a living at the game, not someone who That original building no longer exists, earned money from tournaments, as no but the address is now in Manhattan’s tournaments were held until 1860. A diamond district, a short distance from professional was typically an employee Fifth Avenue. of a billiard room who instructed the At 13, he was already playing billiards patrons. and working at Dupignac & Cornwell,

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By Mike Shamos

The first U.S. book on billiards was by Michael Phelan in 1850. It eventually helped turn the game into a spectator sport, especially after his Game of Billiards in 1856, which went through at least 10 editions. Public exhibitions began, slowly, in 1854, but it was not clear at the time whether people would pay to watch one. That took five more years.

The premier game at the time was American four-ball, an offshoot of English billiards. It was played with two white balls, a red and a darker red on a large table, usually 12 feet long, having four or six pockets and 2-3/8” balls (Fig. 2). Points were made by sinking a ball, caroming or even scratching the cue ball off an object ball. Many points could be scored on a single shot, so high run records in that game cannot be compared to straight pool, which was still 60 years away and only awarded one point for a successful shot.

The first public match for which an admission fee was charged was on April 10, 1859 at Fireman’s Hall in Detroit.

Kavanagh faced Michael Foley for a stake of $250, equivalent to $7,500 today. A debate was held whether women should be admitted to the audience, and they eventually were, despite some spirited opposition. The game was American four-ball, 1000 points. It started at 7:15 in the evening and lasted nearly four hours. The hall was filled, and many professionals attended, including Phelan. The battle was see-saw.

Even though Kavanagh broke the previous high run record of 120 by scoring 177, this did not put the game out of reach, and Kavanagh won by only

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11 points, 1000-989.

The Milwaukee Sentinel remarked that “[W]hen the result was seen, the crowd made a rush for the center of the room, to congratulate the winner and console with the loser. The audience was very well behaved. No unseemly words were allowed to escape to mar the satisfaction on the one hand, or the sympathy on the other.” Betting was very heavy, and sums far larger than the match stake changed hands that evening.

Maybe the setting in Detroit seems familiar to you. Yes, a far more 2. An American four-ball match at Irving Hall in New York (1869) famous match took wrong persons out than to profit from & Collender. That established Phelan place the very next night in the same letting the right ones in.” as a manufacturer, and the firm evenvenue when Phelan beat John Seereiter The success of the Detroit matches tually became the Brunswick-Balkefor $10,000 ($300,000 today). Phelan made it clear that there was a pubCollender Company. The ticket price used the money to buy out O’Conner’s lic appetite for billiard competition, for the match was $5, but it was said interest in the table maker O’Conner & and tournaments, even a national title that “this charge was rather to keep the Collender, which was renamed Phelan event, would soon follow. The first professional tournament in the U.S. at any form of billiards was held in October 1860, sponsored by Phelan & Collender at the firm’s room in Union Square in New York. Of the four players, Kavanagh emerged undefeated. So, he not only won the first match for which admission was charged, but also the first professional tournament held in the United States.

Kavanagh continued undefeated in title play for the next three years after 1860. However, the first national cham3. Players in the first U.S. billiard championship. Kavanagh is on the right. pionship at any form April 2021

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CHRONICLES facturers, as rooms provided a good tember, but Kavanagh retained, 1500of billiards was not mounted until June showcase for their tables.

927. Each of these matches was for a 1863 in New York, also sponsored by After his title wins in the 1860s, Ka$1000 prize ($15K today.) Kavanagh Phelan & Collender on a 12-foot, fourvanagh spent most of his time as a table had already accumulated $5000, and pocket table, games to 1500. Eight of maker and room owner. He played in the challenges kept coming. In January the best players in the country were charity events occasionally, and was in 1865, Goldthwait challenged again and invited. You can see all of them in the frequent demand as a referee. Kavanagh lost, 1500-1406. rare photograph in Fig. 3. They are, and Phelan were polite but not friendly, In May 1965, Fox challenged, and L-R, John Seereiter, John Deery, Victor as they were competitors on the table Kavanagh gave up the title because he Estephe, William Goldthwait, Phelan, as well as in manufacturing. Phelan was too ill to play. Normally challenges Louis Fox, Philip Tieman, Michael Folformed the National American Billiards could be postponed for health reasons, ey and Kavanagh. All but Phelan played Association in 1865, but was accused but Kavanagh was not given that right. in this first national championship event, which Kavanagh won outright, compiling a record of 6-1, with the highest singlegame average of 33.33 points per inning, then a record.

In New York, Kavanagh discovered he had a cousin with a billiard-playing son named Maurice Daly, 12 years his junior.

Daly became a marker in Kavanagh’s room. The job of the marker was literally to keep score and perform various other duties for the players. Kavanagh watched Daly develop as a player and promoted his career. 4. Kavanagh & Decker’s factory at Canal and Center Streets, New York City (1866).

This led to Daly

by Kavanagh of monopolistic practices.

Fox did not enjoy his “victory” for winning both the American four-ball Kavanagh thereupon formed the rival long. He lost a challenge to Deery in championship and the three-ball chamNational American Billiards AssociaSeptember 1865 in Rochester .NY., and pionship (straight-rail) in the same tion in 1866. Phelan & Collender pubthen disappeared. His body was found year, 1873. lished the Billiard Cue, a monthly that in the Genesee River near Rochester afThe winner of a title had to meet was the first periodical devoted entirely ter the spring thaw in 1866. challengers who contested for it. Failto billiards. Not to be outdone, KavaKavanagh became a naturalized U.S. ure to accept a challenge (forfeit) was nagh and Decker came out with their citizen in October 1865. He continued equivalent to losing. Seereiter chalown monthly, the Billiard Table. And so playing, but never again competed in a lenged Kavanagh in October 1863, and it went, at least until Phelan’s death in championship event, retiring undefeatKavanagh prevailed, 1500-715 at Irving 1871. ed at the age of 29. Instead, he bought Hall in New York. Tieman challenged In 1867, Kavanagh married AmericanPhelan’s room and entered into a manuin April 1864 and Kavanagh won again born Emily Clarissa Adams in Manhatfacturing partnership with Levi Decker, at the same location, 1500-1265. Goldtan. Curiously, Adams’ mother was 14 years his senior. Their N.Y. factory is thwait had his chance in June and got named Clarissa Dudley, whose surname in Fig. 4. Decker was also a room owncloser, but Kavanagh kept the title, was the same as Kavanagh’s first name. er, which was common among manu1500-1425. Tieman tried again in Sep-

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New York Governor Theodore They were well-off enough to Roosevelt to delve into elecafford two live-in servants, action fraud. In light of events in cording to U.S. Census records.

2020, you might be interested The union lasted until her in the presiding judge’s charge death about 40 years later. to the grand jury: “Crimes In 1869, Kavanagh and against the election franchise Decker published Kavanagh’s naturally find their most congebook, The Billiard World. Now nial soil in our great centres of very scarce, it contains biogpopulation, where the ignorant raphies of prominent players, and depraved are controlled by including Kavanagh himself. bold and unscrupulous leaders, Rules are included, though no who resort to all kinds of illeinstruction, and there are ingal devices to evade the laws, triguing sections on a variety to thwart the popular will, and of topics, such as “Billiards and to serve their own selfish ends.

Morality,” “Forbidden Amuse5. Kavanagh patented an improved cushion in 1899.

These evil conditions are said ments,” and “Etiquette of the to obtain to such a degree in the City Billiard Room.” “How often have we ed to jump off the bed somewhat when of New York, that the Chief Magistrate wondered if it ever occurred to the hitting the cushion hard. He reasoned of this State has considered it of paramind of the many frequenters of bilthat a slight downward restoring force mount necessity to hold an Extraordiliard halls that the articles of furniture would prevent this, which he achieved nary term of the Supreme Court for the placed there ought not to be misused. by angling the nose of the cushion upinvestigation of the charges made.”

How often have we observed visitors ward a bit. By changing the shape of By age 78, Kavanagh spitting tobacco juice on had become infirm and, elegant Brussels carpets, to improve his condiand sometimes even tion, resumed playthrowing lighted cigars ing billiards, taking up on them, when there three-cushion at Daly’s were spittoons placed room and becoming within easy reach?” It quite accomplished. This was definitely a different caused a resurgence in world back then. his health, but by age Kavanagh and Decker 81 he gave up the game was very successful, but and died in New York on September 7, 1869, in 1914 at 82. I hope he fire swept through their had a chance to see Daly’s factory at 168-170-172 Billiard Book, which apCentre Street in New peared in 1913 and menYork. There were no tions him several times. injuries, but the en6. John Wilkinson’s U.S. Patent 640,848, also filed in 1899.

Things had come full tire building was lost, circle. Daly started his playing in Kavaincluding $100,000 worth of inventhe wooden rail, it was unnecessary to nagh’s room, and Kavanagh finished his tory and manufacturing equipment. modify the rubber profile at all. You can playing in Daly’s room. Daly lived until This forced the company to move a see the benefit of Kavanagh’s invention 1932, both Kavanagh’s relative and his few blocks away, which was fortunate by comparing Fig. 5 with Fig. 6, which billiard offspring. Kavanagh saw a lot in because the original site, after being is from a patent filed by a John Wilkinhis life after becoming our first chamrebuilt, burned down again in 1873. son, also in 1899. In Wilkinson’s, there pion. By the time he died, four-ball was Business was able to continue because is no downward force from the impact, completely obsolete, caroms had given the company had another facility in and the ball is likely to fly off the table way to balkline, and straight pool had Chicago. if struck forcefully. replaced all other pocket games as the Kavanagh owned various billiard Also in 1899, Kavanagh served on a championship format. You can visit Karooms around New York City, where grand jury impaneled at the request of vanagh at New Cathedral Cembilliards exploded in popularity etery in Philadelphia. Or you can in the last decades of the 19th cenhonor him with the Hall of Fame. tury. In 1899, then 63, Kavanagh was still active. He obtained U.S. Mike Shamos is Curator of The Patent 621,192 for an improved Billiard Archive, a non-profit founbilliard cushion (Fig. 5). When dation set up to preserve billiard rubber cushions became popular, history.

Kavanagh noticed that balls tend- 7. Kavanagh’s signature.

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Tips & Shafts

George Fels

SCHWARZENEGGER WITH CUE

[Reprinted from July 1998]

I

DON’T mean that literally; I rather doubt Arnold or any of

his chums can play pool much if at all. The reference instead deals with how a guy can come out of a sport that, at the time he emerged, was downright repulsive to most women to say nothing of a lot of men, and still become a mega-star despite a total void in any particular talent…and what professional pool might learn from that, especially the men’s game.

For all the clichéd knocks pool takes, I never heard it called “disgusting.” I never heard its practitioners called “grotesque” or “freaks.” But bodybuilding and its athletes were frequently labeled as such, back in the mid-’70s when Arnold was discovered. Yet that sport today has a far better TV schedule, in both instructional and competition programming, than pool has, despite a universe of participants (20 million) not even half the size of ours.

Why should that be?

Arnold was a dominant champion; at the time he was uncovered by the masses, he had not been beaten in six years, and that is one story angle the media will buy into with very few questions asked. They will gladly forgive a bathless pedophile like Bill Tilden; a woman-abusing thug like Mike Tyson; even a complete looney-tune like Bobby Fischer, as long has he kicks universal ass. Pool, at least on the male side, has not had a comparable tale to tell since the Mosconi era. In the ’80s, when Jean Balukas ruled women’s play so completely that she took to competing with the men, the media were so enthralled that she got the lion’s share of all pool coverage.

As long as 9-ball remains the professionals’ game of choice, however, it’s virtually certain that there will be no dominant champion, given the luck factor and the remarkable depth of talent. That’s healthy in many ways; a media standpoint, however, is not among them.

Arnold was not only the best by far at his game, but he was also by far the most charismatic, a confluence that was nonexistent in sports then and exists almost nowhere else today, except for a fellow named Jordan who has done reasonably well with it. Remember, Schwarzenegger was not unearthed in one of those nine-digit blockbusters, but rather in a relatively low-budget documentary that almost nobody saw in first run except for the media. And what they were happy to find, when they came around for a closer look, was excellent English despite its being his second language; perfect eye contact; a nifty sense of both humor and himself; rich, dimensional insights into his sport; volunteered responses to questions well beyond what he was originally asked.

Thus, it’s fair to say that bodybuilding, though buoyed by the momentum of America’s fitness ethic in the ’70s, ascended largely because its champion did. No other

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athlete in that sport has captured a smidgen of mass celebrity.

In that regard, it’s worth noting that the media were just about totally uninterested in what specifically made Arnold better than his competition, just as they have rarely explored the professional pool player disparities between the genders. This is, or should be, compelling evidence that players who continue to expect acclaim merely for running the balls are in the throes of an idea that they might as well abandon right here and now.

Running balls is simply what the mass audience you court expects you to do, just as they expect their bodybuilders to be spectacularly built, their golfers to par the hole, their bowlers to strike. Don’t assume that the masses’ total knowledge of the intricacies of advanced pool is any more than: “This guy will sink all the balls on the table and the other guy will never get to shoot again.”

I wouldn’t be opposed in the least to professional pool’s taking off just because it was hitched to the coattails of a media darling, as bodybuilding did. But I wouldn’t want to guess who that might be, either. It need not necessarily be the best player. Remember TV’s fascination with tennis’ whacky Jensen brothers, who on their greatest day were ranked 62nd in the world?

And the sad thing is, it wouldn’t take much to captivate the media. The idiocies that have been heaped on bodybuilding for decades all but melted away with the discovery of just one nice guy. And while our game’s monster stigma is still around, reinforced on a near-weekly basis by TV and the movies, anybody who simply rose above that stigma would distinguish himself almost at once. Unfortunately, like most monsters, ours will feed on just about anything handy.

If, as a professional pool player, you smoke, drink, gamble publicly and/or to excess, you’re taking part in activities that millions of Americans legally enjoy. But in your case, it feeds the stereotype.

If you flub your grammar in an interview or on a video, that’s no big deal; we all do, now and then, and we’re always understood anyway. But in your case, it feeds the stereotype.

Some of you appear to be deeply into your third trimester, and this, too, feeds the stereotype.

Suppose pool got an audition in the eyes of the masses, whether through a vibrant documentary, one of Zeus’ mighty bolts from Mt. Olympus, or whatever. How many of you would be comfortable in the Schwarzenegger role?

It’s not terribly difficult to isolate those who wouldn’t. Pinpointing one who would is quite something else again.

Think about it. Too many among you are long, long overdue to begin seeing yourself as others do.

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