muskyed said:

I'd be out $20, nobody would buy me.

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I just hate Calcutta. I usually just say put me in the pool and they move on. A degenerate gambler acquaintance of mine bought the pool for $60 and I finished high enough (tied 4th/5th) to get him about $200. That's my Calcutta story, super exciting I know.

In the meantime the tournament didn't get over til 4AM after the auction took over an hour. So much fun and value added. I say just make another pot with a $50-100 entry if anyone wants bigger stakes.

joelpope said:

if he plans on winning he has to beat a couple of top 16 players at basically every event, that's the only way I know you get to be a top 16 ranked player

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the open events are 256 players so top 128.. we've seen previous events where some known killer is coming out of the woodwork, no ranking, and gets unseeded. someone gets a tough first round hehe

Frosty said:

I also was a single layer Triangle guy forever. Then the quality and consistency from tip to tip started varying wildly, so I started pressing them to overcome that. Recently even that solution didn’t solve the issue to my satisfaction, so I started looking for a new choice.

After a lot of research and talking to other players I know and respect, I switched recently to a layered Zan Hard. Atlas Billiard Supply is an authorized distributor so I could trust it wasn’t a fake, they’re $23 a pop. So far a month and a half in, I couldn’t be happier, 0 mushrooming, great playability, no glazing. Also per a trusted friend who has been using them for years, he says the consistency from tip to tip is always excellent. So far, so good.

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Zan is one of the better ones I've tried. I used the grip hard version and couldn't be happier. But when I went to buy another one they were out of stock everywhere except some guy on Amazon selling them for $75. At that point I went to milk duds and other single layered tips and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

measureman said:

I know this subject has been beat to death but here is my personal take on it.
I have been using solid tips for many years.
Recently I decided to give a layered tip a try.
I had an Everest installed and can not tell the difference from a solid tip.
The layered tip was $40 installed vs a solid tip at $23 installed.
I'm not going to do this again.

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I'm on the solid tip bandwagon too. I've tried a dozen layered tips out of the probably hundreds out there.

IMO some layered are good, some are crap. About the best thing that can be said for the good ones is they are consistent through batches. With the bad ones or poorly installed, I've had layers de laminate, glue specs on the CB, glazing etc. A bad one piece tip can glaze so that's within the realm of all tips.

I'm not a hater or anything but I really don't see anything a $30 layered tip can do that a $5 or under single layer can do. No extra longevity, special properties or anything. There are "budget" layered that are good and around $5-10 which are talked about on here. They are reasonable and good tips but again, they aren't doing anything a non layered tip can do.

Texas Carom Club said:

every tip glazes
every tip mushrooms, some more than others
some less
no tip holds the same shape it has when installed over any significant amount of time

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I have had this dud on my player for at least six months.
I probably play 3-6 hours per week.
It has not glazed or mushroomed in that time.
Once or twice a year I will lightly scuff the tip to help it hold chalk whether it needs it or not.
Keep in mind that the duds are not as tall as new layered tips. This could be the reason none have ever mushroomed on me.
I used the snipers when I first got the Cynergy. I liked them but switched back to the dud.

A set of Romanique II balls in an Aramith box was listed on eBay in a straight auction yesterday (not mine).

It has quickly jumped from 99c to $600 overnight!

Frosty said:

Example, do you recall a match I saw you watching at the Derby in the 9 ball division between Filler/SVB? Where Filler on this occasion just tortured him 9-2 in a little over 1/2 hour? When Filler is on like that he plays extraordinarily quick, has full confidence and is fully committed to his shots. Then look at slower players that agonize over simple layouts and look at a shot, especially testers, about 4 different ways before they pull the trigger and drive it straight into a rail and dog it, kinda like Styer’s difficult moments at the recent Mosconi Cup. I don’t think there’s a big difference between those 2 players decision making skills, but there’s a huge gap in their confidence/commitment to their decisions. YMMV

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Yes, I was ringside for that one. Filler ran an 8-pack (correction, it was a 7-pack) and shot TPA 1.000 and, as you note, his tempo was fast.

It was an example of a match in which there was virtually no tactical play, so the only important decisions he had to make were with regard to the break shot and the pattern building. Although his play was mind-blowingly brilliant, he didn't have to reach into his entire bag of tricks in that one. Some matches go that way, and while they are impressive, I don't enjoy matches like that one much. In WNT play, in which 4" pockets are the rule, such matches almost never occur. Shaw is probably Filler's equal in his ability to instantly identify the best cue ball routes from ball to ball, so anytime he wins an offense-only match, it goes by very quickly.

An interesting moment at the BCA Hall of Fame dinner came just a couple of years ago. Inductee Niels Feijen noted, in his induction speech, that he never had the instincts or talent of a Filler or a Shaw, and that he had to work much harder at this craft because of it. If we needed a reminder that some find pool's decision making more difficult and challenging than others, that was it.

I believe Filler to be the game's best and most instinctual decision maker at the table, among the top few ever in this regard. Few can design an ideal pattern at the speed he does, few can identify the right kick shot as quickly as him, few make quicker or better defensive decisions, and few are quicker at identifying two-way shots. That said, Filler will take his time when any tricky position arises. Josh is a modern-day pool super-genius, and that's why his decisions are so quick and accurate. The other all-around pool super-geniuses in today's game, the most obvious being Fedor Gorst, Carlo Biado, Ko Ping Chung, and Alex Pagulayan, all take quite a bit more time than Josh, although each consistently makes superb decisions.

Like you, I am awed by those who can make elite decisions in an instant. I think that, as you suggest, it gives them a playing tempo that is fast and even and is to be envied. When the select few find their highest gear, they almost appear to be on automatic pilot, but in fact, they are not.

JAM said:

Funny to watch this thread debate Russian Kenny. When it comes to pool and action—not tournaments—most players have a little larceny in them. If you take a trip to the SBE or Derby, everyone’s looking for a lock when money’s on the line. Is that stealing? Maybe. Is that hustling? Not really. The true hustler days are gone, wiped out by the internet and social media.

I'd rather lift someone up than kick 'em when they're down. I've never been to prison, but I can't imagine what that experience does to a person's mental well-being. I'm hoping the kid finds a way to enjoy his life.

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Kid? Didn't he say he's in his 40's? Maybe I misheard. An any rate, in my experience a leopard doesn't change its stripes. From the sounds of it, the drug bust wasn't an isolated fall from grace; just the first time he was caught doing something criminal. Based on what I've read here, it seems like this dude was shaping up to be a career criminal. Will prison reform him? Not likely. He's up against 10-5 and the breaks, stepping right back into the world and people that got him there. Like Ice Cube said in Friday, "Peer pressure is a mother fucker." This won't be the last we hear of him. Someone will revive this thread down the line with news of his unfortunate incarceration.