kingwang said:

Happens all the time in NYC! It's one of the nice things about living in a major metro area. They'll just randomly drop by and play our local tournaments, both handicapped and unhandicapped.

Francisco Bustamante just dropped by a couple weeks ago and took down one of the open ones. Here's me "beating" (aka shitting in the 9 ball a few times ) Moritz Neuhausen a couple years ago in a $80 handicapped tournament: Login to view embedded media
Just in the past two years, I've played 4 players that were rated 790+ just in these tournaments, and I don't even go to that many of them.

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I wouldnt say you were shitting in the 9. If anything, he was doing that more than you as he won about 3 games via that method. You however played some really great safeties.

Also, I wanted to say that videos like those are perfect examples of those players who want to elevate their game to world elite level. Neuhausen was running all over the east coast a few years back getting into anything he could to make himself better. So players of that caliber playing in handicapped tournaments have value for their own growth and what they wish to accomplish.

sjm said:

The 1990s in one pocket belonged to Efren.

The 1980s are a bit more complicated. The first names that come to mind are Nick Varner and Allen Hopkins. Allen, in particular, used to bet real high back then. I'm thinking that Jersey Red, Ronnie Allen and Eddie Kelly were all past their primes by then.

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Good call on Hopkins! I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. He’s one of the best “all-around” players ever

Looking through your collection and seeing the Cue is Ready posts from Bob Owen make this site great all on their own.

It's a handicapped 9 ball tournament. I've always said, at those tournaments it's about how well you do mentally vs physically on the table. If you are stars trucked, chances are you are going to lose mainly because you are distracted by who your opponent is.

I enjoy playing in some open tournament as usually the better players always give me some pointers or are impressed with my kicking ability even though I'm lower rated. It's a good learning experience, good or bad.

djg576 said:

It identifies as an electric guitar.

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That's funnee.

straightline said:

That's one distinctive tuba.

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It identifies as an electric guitar.

Rusty in Montana said:

View attachment 913077

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That's one distinctive tuba.

mikepage said:

So Alex Kazakis (824) played in the Scottish Open last May. This is what he was doing a few weeks before and a few weeks after.

I'd say Athens players are pretty fortunate.

View attachment 912934

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Incredible that he didn't even win that open tournament. Looks like it was single elimination and he lost to George Antonakis, a 750 rated pro.

skor said:

I disagree
You usually don’t grip the playing cue and the break cue the same, so balance and weight should not be the same. Any good instructor will teach you to grip the break cue more forward.

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Grip the break cue more forward? I never heard that. That would tend to shorten your stroke...like telling a baseball player to hold the bat more in front of him.

The stick thing is bs. I believe there are three phases a person should go through.

First, a beginner who is serious about getting better should buy a decent cue that is 18-19.5 oz. Play with that exclusively until they have developed decent cueball control.

Second, it is important to pay with anything. This is cross-training, and will assist in showing flaws and fixing them. It will also show that a cue is just a cue and not the reason someone is a good player.

Finally, the absolute best probably need to stick with the same cue.

If you believe that the cue is much of a factor, you are wrong and will likely always have it as an excuse.

easy-e said:

I agree that most of the sales are for that reason. I've had a home table many times over the years, and they stay much cleaner with the Taom. To each their own, but $20 is nothing nowadays when everyone seems to have thousands of dollars worth of gear. My current piece has lasted me several months now and it's maybe halfway done.

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A home table is a good reason for cleaner chalk and with what I have spent on other equipment I sure wouldn't grudge spending on equipment that made for better success competing if I still was. I have spent over a thousand dollars to gain less than a tenth of a second or a hundredth of an inch smaller groups.

I ended up with six pieces of one super chalk or another in my case. I kept using the Master. After toting the other stuff six months or longer I gave it all to a friend. Master has never seemed to handicap me. Some of the other classic brands seem more inclined to cause miscues so I don't use them.

Hu

Bump.