2rgrbn said:

Another consideration "playing pool" is easy, actually learning how to play pool well at the upper levels is a long and difficult undertaking (my experience). I would argue that mastering pool is impossible. Most guys that have ever ran 7-8 straight, strung 50 balls playing 14.1 etc. remember each time that has happened. (I know many very good players that may have never strung 8 or ran 50. Ralph Greenleaf, Willie Hoppe and a few others may have played 100 or better to score but that is an amazing and very difficult thing to pull off. Playing pool is easy, understanding the whole game and the intricacies is much more challenging and none of us know what we don't know. Golf I think is the same on a bigger less predictable playing surface.

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Running a 100 balls happened more than people imagine when the legends played pool. There is a story, which I can’t confirm as true but it sounds like it might have happened. Irving Crane was about to start a match against Willie & he
wins the lag. He chose to break but he astonished everyone, including Willie, by calling a ball on the break rather than
play a safe opening that everyone shooting 14.1 always did. Nope, Mr. Crane mesmerized every onlooker by calling a
pocket on the opening break shot in their 14.1 match.

Spectators became breathless and the room became dead silent after he pocketed the object ball and proceeded to run out to win the match leaving Willie seated the entire time. Afterward, Willie congratulated Irving about his splendid play and when Crane was asked why did he call a ball on the break when the odds were seemingly very low he’d pocket a ball. Irving smiled, as Willie was standing nearby and the story ends like this.

Irving looks at Willie, who has a well earned reputation for being a cutthroat in competition having traveled with Ralph Greenleaf while they toured for Brunswick. Willie learned from Ralph over dinner conversation one night. It is not enough to stab someine in the heart with a knife. Nope, after sticking a knife in your opponent’s chest, you always twist the blade so it does the most damage. Having known Willie a long time as a competitor and lost more times than he cared to recall, Irving answered the question why did he call a ball on the opening break shot in a 14.1 match?

His answer actually did not startle many people, especially if they were aware of Willie’s track record in winning consecutive titles in 14.1. Irving turns and looks at Willie before answering, smiled and said he called a ball on the opening break shot because he knew if he played safe against Willie, he was worried that he might not get to shoot anther shot because it dawned on him Willie would likely still run the table so he might never get to shoot another shot after playing safe on the opening break shot.

Whether that’s a true story or not I do not know. Down through the years in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, you’d hear about this anecdotal tale which was just a way of acknowledging how great Willie was as a player and in a class of his own. Willie was a master of using center ball & cue ball speed to conquer 10’ pool tables which as many of us know is harder than on 9’ tables.

i don't think it will matter a great deal who the promoter is, we will see lesser fields this year from here on. get used to it.

airfare has already increased and will increase much further. lufthansa announced yesterday that they are cancelling 20 000 flights until october, and that "that's just the beginning". KLM will follow with similar measures, apparently.

Resurrecting an old thread to see if any new members (but you need to be real old) have any input.

jbart65 said:

There's no doubt MR/WNT has lost momentum.

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Yes, I agree

DrCue'sProtege said:

In the 90s 1st prize at the Sands Reno tournament was around $11,000 to $12,000.

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that's a steep drop. was the 40k a one-off?

middleofnowhere said:

I think the commentators going on about that money makes the sport seem small time. People watching know what kind of money is in professional sports. This year's Masters made four and a half million dollars for first place.
Last place, guys who didn't even make the cut got $25,000.

Rookie for the Miami Marlins even if he never plays a second year starts at $550,000. If he's around for another year so it will probably go over a million. The public knows that. So if somebody happens to tune into that pool match, to them these guys are like amateurs playing for very little. I just found it, I guess in my mind kind of demeaning.

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Commentators saying crap that is demeaning and condescending tracks. Usually, they talk to us like we've never seen what's being televised (or streamed) before. It's usually bad enough I watch stuff on mute.

skogstokig said:

the saudi WC seems highly unlikely at this point

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jbart65 said:

Maybe, but I doubt the WPC won't be held at all. You'd think the Saudis would let it be moved if necessary. Guess we will know soon enough.

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99.9% no WPC this year. WPC is package deal with Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters (which is in jeopardy after venue change last year. There is chatter of Saudi shoving it to Qatar). Saudi PIF scaling down on LIV so same thing with pool snooker deal. Even though MR WNT signed 10 year deal there is usually an escape clause to back out in event of financial issues.
If backroom high level between Saudi and Qatar really agree on move to Qatar, it means shockingly WPC circles back into arms of Qatar (QBSF) while MR lose their biggest prizemoney WPC

VTEC John said:

I have a friend recovering from a stroke whose wife is willing to turn their small home inside out to get a table in for him to enjoy. I found a used World of Leisure for $1700 delivered, installed, new cloth. Would this thing have a single piece of slate or 3 pieces and would it make a difference, given the overall quality? Thanks, any info appreciated.

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If your Google I got a pretty wide range of tables and the price varies by thousands of dollars. You'd have to know what table it is. It sounds like you're buying it from a dealer. To me though the price alone would tell me something about the quality of this table. Whereabouts are they located by the way?

BadBeef67 said:

Commentators will never stop talking and will fill every available second with their yapping, regardless of accuracy, or relevance to the situation or game in general.

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I think the commentators going on about that money makes the sport seem small time. People watching know what kind of money is in professional sports. This year's Masters made four and a half million dollars for first place.
Last place, guys who didn't even make the cut got $25,000.

Rookie for the Miami Marlins even if he never plays a second year starts at $550,000. If he's around for another year so it will probably go over a million. The public knows that. So if somebody happens to tune into that pool match, to them these guys are like amateurs playing for very little. I just found it, I guess in my mind kind of demeaning.