RandyinHawaii said:

I just got 48 hr pre-order notice, since I signed up for it, and ordered the package.

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Me too

Lowell said:

I've also played on brand new CPBA cloth not that long ago and don't remember it being overly fast.

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I haven’t played on it, but reports from when it was introduced on the tour was that it was faster than Simonis but not crazy. The cloth at the Reyes Cup seems noticeably faster.

GideonF said:

I wonder if it’s a new formulation of the CPBA cloth. These guys have been playing on the WNT with CPBA cloth for months - so it shouldn’t be that foreign to them unless it’s changed.

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I've also played on brand new CPBA cloth not that long ago and don't remember it being overly fast.

Chili Palmer said:

She definitely made a few mistakes, her break definitely went by the wayside too.

Are the other matches streamed somewhere? I checked this particular streamer and this was the only video posted.

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The prior ones were all on his FB page. About impossible to find. This was the first week he did it on YT instead.

RichT said:

Hardly but it isn’t really a legit sport if the challenge is not there. I played snooker when I was younger and it took me five years of effort to make my first century. When I started playing pool on 9-footers I spent two years doing mostly drills until I was happy enough to play matches against anyone who is A ranked in Japan. Then I had more fun because I could actually compete and focus on specific weaknesses rather than needing to work on everything. For me, tighter pockets have made 9-ball into a sport. Before it was just a pub game.

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Many players quietly maintain ultra tight GCs and such. There is probably a world network of who to call for a real tuneup. lol...

I think the answer is whatever gets you to "total immersion" more often. I think step improvement happens when you're in this space. This is what has held my game back for years. It's really hard for part-timers to see their practice game on the competitive table. It's just always such a grind. Even weekend tournaments usually involve more sitting around than playing. When is the last time you locked horns with someone for a whole weekend? You can do this when you're gambling. You can sometimes do this during a good tournament run. Doing it is the important part and the missing piece for many players.

skogstokig said:

for the sake of argument, screw the modern day challengers of mosconi's record;

were there any other contemporary player paid by brunswick (or other manufacturers) to travel around and even have the chance to meet these golden requirements for a legit straight pool record? ever in history?

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The same arbitrary standard could easily be applied to Mosconi's actual record, but he gets a pass. Likely for the sake of nostalgia. His record being set on an easy NON-PROFESSIONAL caliber table is just glossed over. It's more fun to discredit the accomplishments of Schmidt because he's not well liked. The whole conversation about these high runs are TOTALLY clouded by personal animus against Schmidt. It's obviously clear if you're just a bit objective.

iusedtoberich said:

No spot. It's a king of the hill type format every Friday night. Winner stays every week and bets 200 minimum on a new challenger. Rachel won 5 weeks in a row, and most of her opponents were higher in rating. She was running out like water in the beginning, then fell apart 3/4 of the way through.

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She definitely made a few mistakes, her break definitely went by the wayside too.

Are the other matches streamed somewhere? I checked this particular streamer and this was the only video posted.

Help yourself...

No spot. It's a king of the hill type format every Friday night. Winner stays every week and bets 200 minimum on a new challenger. Rachel won 5 weeks in a row, and most of her opponents were higher in rating. She was running out like water in the beginning, then fell apart 3/4 of the way through.

The "amateur" version is not lazy.
You still need a very good spread, with few or no tied up problem balls, and you still would want to make as many balls as possible on the break to limit the number of balls you have to run.