nmh2008 said:

I think the point is that pool has a storied history of hustling, cheating, and just general shady characters - much of which is tied to the gambling culture.

Matchroom is trying to bring a level of professionalism to the game - it must clearly define what is crossing the line, and have a robust mechanism in place for enforcement.

Click to expand...

Lumping gambling and cheating together still blurs the lines and that kind of thinking doesn’t do pool any favors. The truth is, you’re never going to separate gambling from pool. They’ve been tied together for over a century, for better or worse. The negative connotations that come with pool are part of its history, shady characters, hustlers, smoky rooms, and money changing hands. That is the real deal. It’s also part of what gave the game its soul, its edge, and its legends.

Gambling isn’t the problem, cheating is. There’s a difference between a guy betting $100 on himself in a tough race to 7or 11 and someone waxing cue balls to gain an edge. The first is competition. The second is cheating.

I love this game, but it’s like boxing in many ways. It always had a rough image, and parts of that image are earned. But professionalism and grit can coexist. If Matchroom or anyone else wants to raise the game’s profile, they don’t need to sanitize the sport, just draw a fat line between ethics and cheating. And enforce it without exception.

Bob Jewett said:

I was thinking the same about the eight ball. There is also the possibility that he was playing for some other pocket, but overhit it. On the other hand, sometimes you just get a feeling that a "wrong" shot will work, and it does.

Click to expand...

As Corey said:
Sometimes you gotta see if it'll go.

Other than Filler and the Ko brothers, most of the top 30 to 50 players will be in Florida it appears. Another sizable contingent of Pinoys.

The Ko brothers have been a bit scarce this year - Big Ko was not sharp at the WPC. I assume the brothers are playing in the world games and will go to the rest of the big WNT events.

The Florida and US Opens offer a big chance to lock a few players into the Mosconi or Reyes rosters.

For the U.S., only Fedor is a lock for one of the three auto bids.

The other two spots are almost certainly going to be snared by SVB, Tyler or Sky. It will be good to see Woodward back in the mix. He has played very few events this year due to injury, wedding, etc.

https://www.wntlivescores.com/rankings/mosconi-ranking-2025-usa

Team Europe is more of a race. Kledio might be close to a lock if he does decent enough in upcoming tourneys. He jumped to No. 1, barely ahead of Filler, after his semifinal appearance at the WPC.

Filler isn't playing in Florida and he might miss Hanoi as well to play in the World 8 ball championship, so it wouldn't take much for a few players to overtake him. Have to wonder if he even cares. Perhaps the shine of the Mosconi is gone for him. We'll see. Be curious if MR would make him a wild card.

Team Asia is almost set. Biado is a lock and Yapp looks like one, too. Chua is primed to be the third auto-bid, but Jefrey Roda and Bernie Regalario are within striking distance.

If an Asian player won the US Open, he would jump into the top three.


The World Team is supposed to be picked on merit (points). If so, Fedor is the only lock. Any other Americans would probably need to win either the Florida, US or Hanoi Opens to be thick in the running.

Thecoats said:

All the digits are there .

Click to expand...

I stand corrected!

Black-Balled said:

I'm noting Hennessy.

Click to expand...

All the digits are there .

But but someone is waxing the cue ball BS.

T411 said:

Exactly what do you mean by “dirty gambling”? Are you referring to cheating? Because gambling by itself isn’t inherently dirty. It is the cheating or manipulating outcomes that’s the issue. I’ve never actually heard the term “dirty gambling” used. Gambling hasn’t ruined any sport unless the participants themselves were involved in betting on the games or manipulating outcomes. Like in boxing, baseball, or even football scandals.
If you’re talking about people using silicone or other substances to gain an edge, that’s cheating and cheating is a separate issue from gambling altogether. Let’s not confuse playing for money with corrupting the game. Pool’s reputation doesn’t suffer because people bet on it. It suffers when unethical players cross the line, and others blur that line by lumping gambling and cheating together.

Click to expand...

I think the point is that pool has a storied history of hustling, cheating, and just general shady characters - much of which is tied to the gambling culture.

Matchroom is trying to bring a level of professionalism to the game - it must clearly define what is crossing the line, and have a robust mechanism in place for enforcement.

fjk said:

... I heard he had dozens of little edge-getters like that he used when the opportunities came up.

Click to expand...

A local guy like that had some similar moves. One was a kind of push shot on the cue ball when it's frozen. He elevated about 45 degrees and came in slowly and then pushed the cue ball - he didn't stroke it.

Corwyn_8 said:

I have a wood rack that is angled, and designed to go over the balls and push them together. It works well for me, but I had to cut down the outer edges to prevent it from being way too large and interfering with 14.1 racking. Can't find anyone selling them now. Anyone else remember those, or have thoughts on how well they worked for other people?

Thank you kindly.

Click to expand...

Yes, I've seen that kind of a rack. As I recall, the rack touched/pressed the balls on the back of the rack as well. I think one problem with them was it's harder to drop the balls in. Mostly, people are used to using a simple triangle.

Maybe the ref was in on it!
The gloves were ''loaded''.

Dirty gambling/bad action/can't get out the door.... they all have a common arena.