GideonF said:

... The WNT not allowing replay is bad (and weird, because WST snooker allows it and WNT is often influenced by WST policies). ...

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I was told that it is an expense issue. I think that if they used a 4k webcam and some kind of cheap computer as a storage/display device, it could be really cheap. Other tournaments stream every match, somehow.

They should be able to bring up any streamed table almost for free -- even on their cell phone. You can scroll back easily to the incident. Of course, the view may not be ideal, but it is something, and in the case at hand, I think it would have been enough.

Well, as soon as I get one, I’ll have to keep him in mind.

bbb said:

how do you know which of the 4(5) things is the cause of the problem?

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Well technically you don't....otherwise you would not do it......but you do know it is one of those things that is throwing your stroke off......by adjusting one you can see if it makes an improvement. Ideally at some point in practice you found a gear where everything clicks and you analized your G,S,P,A....so if you are off you can check if one is not the same as when you were on.

Sometimes your natural stroke changes....perhaps a grip that one day was naturally producing a straight stroke is now days (or even hours) later not producing a straight stroke but by changing it just slightly it now does produce a natural straight stroke.

I suspect pros make slight tweaks to their grip all the time...same as pro golfers.....I have seen video of Earl looking at his grip hand just prior to getting down on a shot....(especially the break shot)....That tells me that there are some specifics to his set up even though it looks completely natural.

Problem is......perfection is very hard to achieve and even harder to hold on to.....but by focusing on things you can control vs things you can't...in the long run you will perform better.

His scale may have a 1% error, but that's not random on each reading. Comparing weights near each other is going to be far more precise than the overall error. He seems to have a scale that reads to 0.5 gram. That should be fine for showing 4 gram differences.

Balls are known to get lighter over time. Some of that is due to wear, but I have a report from a reliable technical guy that he has an unused set that has gotten lighter over time. Some kind of outgassing/evaporation? Maybe he stored them next to his heater.

I wonder if the buyer can actually notice the difference in play. You mention 7 grams, but the important thing is the range of ball weights. If they are all 162 grams, he is unlikely to notice any problem. However, on a few shots, if the player is very skilled, it is possible that 4 grams difference -- the actual spread of ball weights you mentioned -- will be noticeable. I doubt he plays that well, or he would not be buying used balls.

There is a problem he might run into with those balls. If he gets a new cue ball, it will be 169-170, probably. That will not work so well with the lighter balls for draw shots. Again, he may not notice.

mdc said:

True, and yes, I already agreed to take the set back and refund his money. It just seems strange to me.

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Good move. The best way to handle crazy people is get away from them before you catch whatever they have.

Positively Ralf said:

Don't know if it would be much help, but here are some pictures I took. With the exception of the first piece which has been inside the company van since it was disassembled, Unfortunately I was too busy to put the other parts away. They were covered in snow and now some rain that dropped here in southern NY. They are still very solid but maybe I just let them get past the point of no return.

Again, I'm no expert but I figured maybe some of you guys wanted to see what I would have been working with.

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Looks like particle board with veneer. Take it to the dump.

sjm said:

[...] Matchroom and WPA/Predator won't collaborate on the world pool calendar until it is mutually beneficial to both of them and that day can't come before each of them accepts that the top pros will sometimes choose one over the other when their events run concurrently.

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WPA is not Predator. They play fundamentally different roles.

The problem with framing this as some kind of negotiation over the calendar is that framing is an unstable equilibrium. As soon as any private entity believes they are in a position they don't need to negotiate, they won't. At that point they will either 100% "win," or the fans and the players will pay the price. Neither is a good outcome.

To go where we want to go, there must be a disinterested calendar authority. And we as fans must expect and require fealty to it. If some organization dominates the battle to produce high quality high engagement high dollar events, then great. But if we allow an organization who is at some moment in the lead to wield the calendar club, then shame on us.

NOBODY who cares first and foremost about pool--player, fan, promoter--should fear a calendar authority.

iusedtoberich said:

Ok, I'll be back in 20 minutes

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I look forward to your informed critique.

iusedtoberich said:

Too long, 20 min! Need to make it 3 min. Not watching.

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“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” – Blaise Pascal.

I think the video is excellent as is. If you saw all the idiotic comments on social media you would realize that he needed to play wack-a-mole with the various wrongheaded arguments being thrown out to call it a foul.

The video also has an index to allow people to jump sections they aren’t interested in.

If there was no urgency in getting it out, could he have trimmed a few minutes off? Maybe, but to me getting it out sooner rather than later was more important.

I suppose viewers could skip the VNEA/DCC stuff at the end if they get bored, but that does point out sources of unfortunate confusion.

ok, I made an ass out of myself, I'll admit it. I too have made videos for pool, cnc hobbies, dayjob, friends, etc, and know it is a tremendous effort. I think getting good at making videos, and all that is involved with that (camera equipment, computer equipment, software, storytelling, selling it, etc) is MORE work than getting good at pool.

I'll watch the video and give my feedback. Without having watched any of it or read any of the summary (or this thread yet), I'll predict it goes like this:

Intro:
-replay of the shot
-screenshots of a bunch of angry comments all contradicting each other from FB, AZB, YT.
-audio of Karl saying how bad of a shot it was
-screenshots of Karl trolling FB

Then will come the technical part:
-the WPA rules will be sited
-the shot will be demo'd by dr dave, with the balls frozen, making a legal hit
-Shot demoed again with a small gap, making a double hit
-Then a legit "push" shot with only the CB
-Then a legit "push" shot with a CB and OB froze.
-may include slow motion from his iPhone, but not high speed footage (not enough time).
-Actually, will include high-speed footage from his prior videos on this topic made years ago. I know he has for double hits, not sure if he has for push.

Then will come the conclusions/suggestions:
-I'm assuming Dr Dave would NOT have seen the FB comment from the player that they were frozen since he was probably working non stop on this, so he will cover both scenarios.
-He will say either the ref called frozen, and was unfamiliar with WPA pool rules, and going by blackball rules, or, the ref called them non-frozen, and the player had a brain fart.
-He will have the blackball rules of shooting away here too, either in the conclusion section or the earlier rules section in the techincal part, and suggest the ref was used to officiating blackball.
-He will suggest Karl is either in the same boat that he is going by his blackball roots, OR, he is purposely trolling us all.
*edit- And he will suggest Marcel couldn't overturn because of WNT that a head ref can't overturn a table ref, only an area ref.

Ok, I'll be back in 20 minutes

sjm said:

[...] I'm surprised by Matchroom's choice to pay $500 to players finishing 65/128. That's money that, in my view, should have been added to the top spots, which would make their events more competitive with the top-heavy Predator events.
[...]

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Who are you? And what have you done with my friend Stu?

kingwang said:

Those two are far from bangers and they actually do seem to be getting out pretty consistently. Tong Lu specifically is a top 25 player in China.

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Ok but I saw banging. When they butcher slim ones to the corners that's banging.

Simple offsets and corrections. Wish I'd had this stuff back in the minute... lol