straightline said:

Here's a bizarre thought:
The big ball actually cuts thinner than a regular pool ball. Common knowledge but the epiphany was a stunner.

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skogstokig said:

xue specifically does have a fargorate, 820, same as david alcaide. makes him top 31.

still no news on who of the top players awaits in stage 2? this tournament/bracket is a complete shambles

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westcoast said:

I first learned to play pool in my early 20s on bar tables with a big heavy cue ball (whether you call it a mudball or not officially). It definitely was difficult to draw the ball and cut shots were different (not sure in what way- but I certainly had to adjust when first playing with standard cue balls).

There was a guy at the 8 Ball Saloon in Ann Arbor, MI named Leonard Gustafson who ran the weekly tournaments- he was great with the big cue ball- took a great player to beat him. On tables with a regular cue ball or 9 footers, he looked basically like a slightly above average player, but on those bar tables with the big cue ball, it would take a pro speed player to beat him.

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Mensabum said:

A decent shortstop is liable to beat anybody on home turf especially if they catch a gear.

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jay helfert said:

Each show has a tv rating as well. College football and basketball typically get 1-2 (big games being the exception). That translates into how many actually watch the game. If the Open got a 1 (one million viewers) that would be great!

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garczar said:

views is just total views, reach is number of individuals who saw it at least once and interactions is comments/saves/shares etc. Basically its a stream's scorecard. The 'hours' is how much, timewise, was watched. A lot of people just looked in and left or logged on/off mult. times. Still very good for pool, there's SO much sports on that getting this many eyes is good.

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Flakeandrun said:

He's an absolute beast on the table. Pretty relaxed, friendly guy who takes his personal game serious. He was at the hall last night, and was nice to see that he remembered kicking my ass 9-1 a couple years ago. I never asked him for a photo at that time, as I was more interested in simply talking to him post-game, and don't really think during a tournament is the right place for such a thing to take place. He is one of two players on the planet I would actually bother to ask for a photo (and he obliged me last night with a bit of banter - will put it next to my pic with KPY on my refrigerator ).

Fedor was busy getting the angles with his camera man, dodging marker pens, and Xue was just casually milling around, practicing and chatting.
Would pay good money to watch Xue Vs Fedor in a long race for big money.


And lots that should be in that range that don't even have a rating. I would hazard to guess how big the 800+ list would grow if some of the mainland contingent took part as regularly in Fargo-rated competition as players from other countries.

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Bob Jewett said:

There are companies that arrange corporate "nights out". I think they contacted a supply store and got directed to me. I mostly did challenge games. I had some trick shots ready. There was plenty of room for a table for the tarot card lady.

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skogstokig said:

yea, fun player. weird stroke.

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jay helfert said:

China and Taiwan are full of good players, 800 range!

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or1pkt said:

Totally agree! He’s mind numbing to listen to as he says the same crap over and over and drags it out waaaay to long. Some of the powers at be at his Calcutta events need to tell him as I think most share this opinion now days. These tournaments take long enough without hours worth of a Calcutta that resembles Groundhog Day in context.

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staticfire98 said:

I have more questions.

Finding a tarot card reader seems straight forward. How does a corporate event planner find a pool demo guy? I am curious about the experience. Were you there to encourage games or what sort of role did they have in mind? How did the tarot card reader get sequestered to the pool table?

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vintagecollectibles831 said:

Curious, have you ever known any players who played really good with the heavy (mud) cue ball, that you see on so many Valley coin op tables?

I always hated playing on a Valley with a mud cue ball.

Really felt that I had to just use Center ball, or follow on any shot. Very hard, to impossible to draw that cue ball back. Could maybe draw it back a few inches, depending on the cue ball.

Were some cue balls heavier then others? They seemed to get from bad, to really bad at times.

And, why do bar room owners not care to ever replace the cue ball, on the single Valley table, that they usually had. Maybe 1 or 2 tables at the most.

I paid $30 awhile back for a good (at least I thought it was good) Magnetic coin op table cue ball, but the thing got stuck in this one Valley that I used it on, and the bar owner told me that he had to pay someone to get it back out, so it never got returned back to me, lol.

Going way off topic, I have been thinking of trying to find another good Magnetic cue ball, but I really have no idea if one might get stuck in a table again.

Going off topic again, but I have always had really bad social anxiety, and find it very hard to approach strangers, to ask to shoot some, so the thing I found most welcoming in the past, were Challenge tables, where you put your quarters on the rail, and wait in line to play the winner, when it is your turn. Those do not really seem to exist anymore, but if I ever could find one, it would be nice to have a good cue ball, that would work on the table. I know, that probably seems dumb, because I should have to use whatever old nasty, grimy, mud ball, that all the other players are using, lol. I just find regular pool halls to be very lonely places, if I do not know anyone. I lived in New Orleans (for example) for 5 years, and 1 single pool player befriended me during that entire time. Also, I always hated leagues, so I never had any interest in joining a league.

Anyways, getting back on topic, lol. I never really seen any great players playing with the Mud ball, because in my experience, it was just a bunch of drunk bangers, at the bar, that used those nasty old mud balls. I always hated them though.

Just makes me wonder about players who were really good with the heavy mud cue ball, and how they went about being able to play good with one. I assume by just getting really good at playing with Center cue ball (no english), and Follow through shots only.

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Flakeandrun said:

Ruslan CHINAKHOV (AIN)
Kyle AMOROTO (PHI)
YANG Zhiping 楊志平 (CHN)
Ta-Li LIN 林達理 (TPE)
José Alberto Delgado Hernández (ESP)
Hui-Chan LU 呂輝展 (TPE)
LAI Kunzhang 賴坤漳 (CHN)
Po Hsien LEE 李柏憲 (TPE)

Qualified.

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