I had an early DP cue in ebony with ivory floating points and a uni-lock joint. It played very well, to the point where a friend traded me a Joss West with two shafts for it. We both ended up happy with the trade.
P.S. This all happened well before the E-bay cues.

straightline said:

Besides I only recognize Danny D, I don't get it.

On a side note, if he wasn't the Penguin, he shoulda been.

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One on the right looks like Brandon Herrera


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The best Shane played was around 2007-2012. He was dominating everything and everyone! Both in tournaments and action matches. The main game was 10 ball, and he had the break down better than anyone else alive. Now the game is back to 9 ball, and his break advantage is not as large. Plus he was younger, hungrier, and probably shooting a bit straighter than now.

Rocket354 said:

Do you really believe the 5th best player from about 10 years ago would only be the 70th best player today?

I'm a big believer that the level of play is higher now than ever, even 10 years ago. But even I can see there's more than just that one factor at play here.

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One caveat, that older list was not the entire fargroate list (as is the new list from today). It was only the players entered in the 2015 US Open who were established.

Bob Jewett said:

SVB is 20 points higher. I think that could be legitimate improvement. I think the increased competition and motivation has improved a lot of players.

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Do you really believe the 5th best player from about 10 years ago would only be the 70th best player today?

I'm a big believer that the level of play is higher now than ever, even 10 years ago. But even I can see there's more than just that one factor at play here.

iusedtoberich said:

Nothing surprised me. There has been enough time now for the superiority of the Filipino's who don't travel much to get on the biggest lists.

The players are not any better because they are in the higher 800's now. Thats FargoRate creep. See this list from 2015 of many of the same names:

https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/us-open-fargo-ratings-of-field.407858/

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Yes, the more players in a rating system means the more granularity needed to differentiate the players, meaning the top end will drift upwards.

Dead people have had their Fargo ratings move upwards.

Fargo is not comparative across time.

It could be bracketed with a 1/4-ball and a 3/4-ball aim, but overall I think it's easier to visualize 3 parallel lines. To me, using the angled (blue) line between ball centers helps to locate the centerline, but it makes more sense to move the end of the blue line to the right edge of the cueball, to make it parallel to the other lines--even considering the 3D view causing the lines to converge (towards a vanishing point). I know this is still all the same equal-distance/double-the-distance aiming, but is there an advantage that I don't see, with using the center-to-center line, angling *across* the midline (red)?

Bob Jewett said:

SVB is 20 points higher. I think that could be legitimate improvement. I think the increased competition and motivation has improved a lot of players.

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Not a chance in hell!

iusedtoberich said:

... The players are not any better because they are in the higher 800's now. Thats FargoRate creep. See this list from 2015 of many of ...

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SVB is 20 points higher. I think that could be legitimate improvement. I think the increased competition and motivation has improved a lot of players.

skogstokig said:

that's probably true, but it's also true that some of the "same names" were less complete players in 2015, like jayson and lil ko.

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Yes, for the younger players for sure. The ones who were 40 then, and 50 now, and have a much higher rating now.....doesn't pass the sniff test.

Ģüśţāṿ said:

This list is wrong. It states right on the Fargo website that fewer than 20 people are over 800.

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This list is from the Fargo website.

iusedtoberich said:

Nothing surprised me. There has been enough time now for the superiority of the Filipino's who don't travel much to get on the biggest lists.

The players are not any better because they are in the higher 800's now. Thats FargoRate creep. See this list from 2015 of many of the same names:

https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/us-open-fargo-ratings-of-field.407858/

Click to expand...

that's probably true, but it's also true that some of the "same names" were less complete players in 2015, like jayson and lil ko.

This list is wrong. It states right on the Fargo website that fewer than 20 people are over 800.

Nothing surprised me. There has been enough time now for the superiority of the Filipino's who don't travel much to get on the biggest lists.

The players are not any better because they are in the higher 800's now. Thats FargoRate creep. See this list from 2015 of many of the same names:

i like my horses, murphy going like a train after that tight L32 match, selby through very comfortably.

but i have a feeling that mark allen may "surprise", that this is his time. the way he played the last frames in L32 looked like a man on the mission. and he's lost weight, which shows motivation and character.

bbb said:

please explain how ?

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Go to the table and mark the balls for a problematic shot like in the video, so you can repeat it exactly. Try different spins and speeds. One pocket players deal with ducking kisses all the time.

I install the collar first. If the shaft doesn't have a center drilled hole I do that first.
When the collar is installed. I turn everything to size, then do the threads, then I finish the shaft, so I take into account the thickness of the finish when turning down the shaft collar.