Kris_b1104 said:

The one in the match currently being played (Bergman/Fu v Shaw/Centeno). Commentator without the accent. No idea what his name is.

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That’s Chris Reinhold. Former Mosconi Cup member. 759 Fargo ATM.

Bavafongoul said:

Why have so many of us stated we didn’t get ours sealed but rather just in the original box?
Are sellers removing the shrink wrapping for whatever reason they might have? Anyway, it
seems like a bullshit issue since as long as the balls as new, that’s really all that matters, IMO.

But if counterfeiting is a problem nowadays, I’m sure crooks could imitate the shrink wrapping.
You’re probably right though because it makes the carton less susceptible to shipping damage.
Authenticity might not be a underlying reason but it also makes the item look more professional.

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I don't think counterfeiting Aramith packaging would still make sense. I believe it is a costly process with negative return on the counterfeiters. I think they would sell more selling their own brand and promoting them to be of quality or similar to aramiths. In short, they are now earning more competing with known brands using the same technology or better. It's just the name.

Kris_b1104 said:

This commentator is unbearable. Constantly trying to predict what the players would do, always getting it wrong, and critiquing their shot selection and/or missed shots. He must be a Fargo 900.

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“This commentator”? Which match? Which commentator?

Bavafongoul said:

Question……since the vast majority of us that have bought Aramith pool balls over the years that arrived in the manufacturer’s original carton that was not shrink wrapped, it seems curious, if not just suggestive, that the boxes
arriving shrink wrapped wasn’t performed by the manufacturer. There would be a much higher percentage of buyer
experience coinciding with this instead of the other way around where most buyers haven’t received shrink wrapped original manufacturer cartons. So I wonder whether the shrink wrapping is done by Amazon on returned purchases to distinguish them from new unopened sets of pool balls of the same brand. Just maybe shrink wrapped balls are the sets of pool balls purchased but was returned for one reason or another? That would really be ironic but probably unlikely, or so I’m supposing.

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from my experience, amazon doesn't shrink-wrap products that is no their own advertised product, e.g. something with an Amazon basics is their own brand. Amazon is e-marketplace and not a distributor. As far as returned items go, the ones I have seen are just put on a regular plastic with some sticker on them or put on an extra amazon box. That's that.

Remember watching a doubles match on tv during the Mosconi cup once and Jeremy Jones suggested to Karl Boyes to be quiet so they could hear what the players were saying. The players were David Alcaide and FSR & unsurprisingly they were speaking Spanish. After 30 seconds of broadcasting a discussion in Spanish on UK tv, Karl cheekily asks Jeremy to explain what they were discussing. Fair play to Jeremy he didn't miss a beat and talked about what he'd be considering if he was in that situation.

Is Dr. Dave secretly Wojciech Szewczyk with glasses? I can't help but see a similarity when both are over the ball.

While eight ball has always bored me, I gave it a chance today, watching my first two matches of this event. Saw Sky Woodward win despite playing about as badly as I've ever seen him play. Saw Gorst beat Lechner, too. Based on a cursory review of the scores, Jayson Shaw looks like the one to beat, but there's a lot of pool left.

Last night, I watched Shaw and Centeno in the mixed doubles and loved it. On offense, they didn't even talk to each other. They both have the gift of almost instantaneous pattern recognition and can comfortably rely on each other to play onto the right angle for the next shot.

This might be a big week for Shaw, already the runner-up in the bank pool event, and well-placed in men's eight ball and mixed doubles.

Finally, have to love that Stefan Kasper who, other than Ameer Ali, is likely the world's best part time player, is on to the last sixteen. What a story it would be if he keeps it going!