rusty george is still alive? id say hi from me but no way he would remember me.
but you could say the kid that liked fishing with frank.

skogstokig said:

has wu ever won a big time event? he's a very competent player.

Click to expand...

According to AI:

Secured titles including the 2025 WPA Men's Doubles 10-Ball World Championship (with Hsieh Chia-Chen), the 2026 Predator Mixed Doubles Open, the 2024 All Japan Championship, and the 2021 Diamond Las Vegas Open 10-Ball.

So a number of real majors in doubles. I’d say the All Japan Championship is a big time event.

billy did use a 18 pin in his very early years. but also didnt put a jw on his cues. maybe on his cheap ones.
and same with when they were partners. absolutely none of the ones i had had a maker marking.
and the one i still have bill made for me in 1970 with a hoppe ring had no markings but has the big pin.
perhaps when they made them for a player he didnt. and for sale in a store or room did. i dont know .

so it is clear in general the break is not an advantage and that is with them breaking hard obviously.

it follows that the weaker player or the better mover should not open the balls in the break and play a safe. for most players.

when playing 9 ball or 6 ball i almost always played some different kind of safe depending on my opponents ability and how he plays with balls tied up.

if gambling, playing someone who never gets out i break them open so the games go faster and i win faster. even if i will win more often with a game with balls tied up.

Chris said:

It would be interesting to learn how Fargo rating affects the value of having the break. I would expect that value to increase as Fargo rating increases, but I might be surprised.

For someone who doesn't play defense (playing 8-ball, I am assuming), that one guy wins a lot. Growing up playing 8-ball, the first strategy I learned was that it was a whole lot easier to make my balls if my older brother made some/most of his balls before I came to the table. That's one old school hustle I would have never fallen for.

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BREAKER WIN % BY FARGO RATING (1,325 games, BCAPL league data)

Fargo Range | Games | Breaker Win % | W-L Record
------------|-------|---------------|------------
100-149 | 8 | 50.0% | 4-4
150-199 | 16 | 25.0% | 4-12
200-249 | 75 | 21.3% | 16-59
250-299 | 41 | 36.6% | 15-26
300-349 | 31 | 48.4% | 15-16
350-399 | 262 | 39.7% | 104-158
400-449 | 221 | 51.6% | 114-107
450-499 | 310 | 58.4% | 181-129
500-549 | 121 | 54.5% | 66-55
550-599 | 142 | 65.5% | 93-49
600-649 | 98 | 91.8% | 90-8
------------|-------|---------------|------------
TOTAL | 1325 | 53.0% | 702-623

Note: This tracks breaker's win % by their own Fargo rating, not
by rating gap. Win % climbs with rating mainly because higher-rated
players win more overall — not necessarily because breaking itself
matters more at higher levels. When restricted to closely-matched
opponents (within 50-60 Fargo points), breaker win % flattens to
~49-51% regardless of rating band.