jimmyg said:

Great rescue...

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Backup's coming!

jbart65 said:

Isn't that the 4 and 5 ball?

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He's color blind.

jalapus logan said:

Circling back to this. It's not that I bemoan Fargo tournaments in general. It's that I want more opportunities to play in open tournaments. Open tournaments are more rewarding to me for sure. I understand that they are harder to win and cash in. Could pay deeper to encourage participation? Not that I care, I just want more opportunities for heads up play. There are only 3 open tournaments all year in my city. That is too few. That is all.

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I've made the adjustment, but like you I much prefer the open tournaments. They have become

HawaiianEye said:

Having lived in the Phillipines, I can tell you that being "broke" there is NOTHING like being broke in the USA.

In the USA, if you are broke you maybe can go sleep over at someone's house or get some kind of public assistance.

In the Philippines, the people who are around you are broker than you are and public assistance doesn't exist.

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I'm talking about Pool players not the unfortunate side of the society that the general public is suffering through, and that still doesn't explain the superior play of the other nations that dominant Pool. Not every player from Philippines came from adject poverty, especially these new young guys that are already playing as good as any of the USA's best.

If you go into a match knowing your advantage is how to play the dead rails on your table and you realize 10 games in that your table is different, your focus has changed and you start wondering what is going on. Your opponent seems to now understand your own table just as good as you, and now your advantage is gone. Perhaps at Oscars level he would figure it at some point, but maybe not until you had more games. You could probably end up sharking yourself. Oscar definitely did not cheat as he unknowingly addressed a basic "typical" requirement of a pool table.

The main bet was paid out and the side bets are in contention. Anyone that has been around gambling enough realizes that someone will try to avoid paying out if they can find any loophole to not pay. $5, 10, 100, people may pay to not deal with the hassle, but there is $50K plus on the line they will look for all excuses and Oscar provided them one.

DeeDeeCues said:

I've seen a few very old cues made from white oak. There should be no problem, per se. Oak is a very strong and stable wood. Both species are not horribly far off of hard maple in density.

The problem with oak is that it will look like you went to a house and cut balusters out of a staircase and made cues from them. Oak is not an attractive wood and has wide-open pores. Finishing to anything near what a cuemaker should be aiming for will not be easy. Oak also tends to shatter out when working.

I have used cherry and walnut in cues, so you don't have to buy a $200 piece of burl to start. There are 'exotic' species that are affordable and interesting. Things like purpleheart, sapele, canarywood, etc. work well and look the part.

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Thanks so much for the info! I agree it will not make a beautiful cue but at least it sounds like I can use a bunch to practice and learn on! Make a few for my kids to use when on my table so they stay away from mine lol. The ones you listed, can you use these and get by with not coring? I will not have gun drills for a while. Just trying to start off a little simple for now. Thanks!

What a long, strange trip it's been.

King T said:

Similar to what you stated I heard Johnny Archer say that the Philipino players are better because the Money means more?? Well as broke as most of the Pool players are in the USA it should mean as much to them as anybody. And poverty doesn't explain the amount of great players from all the other country's.

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Having lived in the Phillipines, I can tell you that being "broke" there is NOTHING like being broke in the USA.

In the USA, if you are broke you maybe can go sleep over at someone's house or get some kind of public assistance.

In the Philippines, the people who are around you are broker than you are and public assistance doesn't exist.

It's an old Bert Kinister drill from his VHS tapes... it is Gold!

garczar said:

100% on point here. well said.

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I wish I was way off.