Smutzc said:

Bergman would be the best wildcard America could pick. As for Tyler, not this year but the previous year, he might have been the best performer for USA. I always say Tyler has all the skills and knowledge to be a top 10 player, he just needs that breakthrough win to get his mind right and become as good as I know he can be !

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iusedtoberich said:

I think just changing table sizes would require a few hours of serious play to be up to speed. The shotmaking ability won’t change. More the decision making of when to be aggressive vs conservative.

I’ll give an example where it didn’t matter. When the DCC fatboy event first changed to the Bigfoot event (9’ to 10’), Corey was entered. I thought he’d have an edge over the field because he learned from Jimmy Caras, who was a 10’ champion. I thought some of those patterns from Jimmy would help him. Nope.

Another:
Bigfoot Tunica Earl vs Landon Shuffet. Earl had had a lot of 10’ experience in his life. Landon probably zero. Landon beat him.

Another:. I used to gamble a guy 25 years ago in 9 ball who was the 7 better than me. He only played 9 ball. I played one hole and backpocket 9 ball as much as regular 9 ball. I told him I’d play him an even set of backpocket to 7 for $200. I won the first couple of games. Then he tortured me. It took him less than a set to learn enough moves to beat me.

Another example is 3C. A few rooms left might still have a 3C table. You get a 9 baller on one that can really play 9 ball, he will be beating the weaker stroke players at 3C within a couple hours, probably sooner.

It’s just balls and a stick, as Eddie said to Burt.

Don’t forget, everyone is intermixed now. Even if the player in question rarely leaves his home room, his opponents, where he earned his rating by playing, probably have experience on all types of equipment, disciplines, and cities.

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lfigueroa said:

I hesitate to write this because it's somewhat personal but, here it is.

One morning very early this year I was practicing on my favored table in the back of pool hall. A young woman walked in with a small boy. I'm terrible at guessing the ages of kids but he was somewhere before a tween -- dark hair, skinny, well dressed in kakis and a rugby shirt. He had his own cheapie cue in a soft cue and seemed a very quiet, very intense type. They took a table several away from me while I was practicing some 14.1 and running a fair number of balls. And after about a half an hour the woman approached me and said, "Excuse me sir but it looks like you know what you're doing. Would you mind giving my son some pointers?"

Now, normally, I might have demurred -- I consider my practice time sacred but something about her gentleness touched me and I said, "Sure."

At his mother's urging (pushing) he approached me and stood at my table and I asked, "Are you ready to learn something?" And he imperceptibly nodded. And so I spoke to him softly, telling him, "Pool is a game of precision and repeatability. If you are precise in your set up and execution you will be able to repeat your setup and reliably pocket balls."

So we began. I set up a small series of shots. Corrected his stance, grip, and bridge and tell him, "I know it's a lot. But if you stick with it you'll be able to do it without thinking. Trust me." And, as I suppose you would expect, he has a modicum of success and after about 40 minutes the woman says, "Kevin, it's time to go. Thank the man." And, in a very serious fashion, he walks up to me and shakes my hand, and says, "Thank you."

Mom and son walk to the bar to pay time and she buys him a Coke and after a few minutes walks back to me and says, "I cannot thank you enough for what you just did. Kevin's dad died two months ago in a work accident and we're on our way to my mom's house. He seems kind of lost and still in shock." And suddenly she gives me a big hug, softly crying on my shoulder.

I don't know what else to say except that sometimes, even in the pool hall, there is room to do a good thing.

Lou Figueroa

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axejunkie said:

That's a good summary.

And what exactly is American pool? 9 ball only? Are one pocket and 14.1 factoring in? I wouldn't think so but stirring thought on those rankings.

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lfigueroa said:

I hesitate to write this because it's somewhat personal but, here it is.

One morning very early this year I was practicing on my favored table in the back of pool hall. A young woman walked in with a small boy. I'm terrible at guessing the ages of kids but he was somewhere before a tween -- dark hair, skinny, well dressed in kakis and a rugby shirt. He had his own cheapie cue in a soft cue and seemed a very quiet, very intense type. They took a table several away from me while I was practicing some 14.1 and running a fair number of balls. And after about a half an hour the woman approached me and said, "Excuse me sir but it looks like you know what you're doing. Would you mind giving my son some pointers?"

Now, normally, I might have demurred -- I consider my practice time sacred but something about her gentleness touched me and I said, "Sure."

At his mother's urging (pushing) he approached me and stood at my table and I asked, "Are you ready to learn something?" And he imperceptibly nodded. And so I spoke to him softly, telling him, "Pool is a game of precision and repeatability. If you are precise in your set up and execution you will be able to repeat your setup and reliably pocket balls."

So we began. I set up a small series of shots. Corrected his stance, grip, and bridge and tell him, "I know it's a lot. But if you stick with it you'll be able to do it without thinking. Trust me." And, as I suppose you would expect, he has a modicum of success and after about 40 minutes the woman says, "Kevin, it's time to go. Thank the man." And, in a very serious fashion, he walks up to me and shakes my hand, and says, "Thank you."

Mom and son walk to the bar to pay time and she buys him a Coke and after a few minutes walks back to me and says, "I cannot thank you enough for what you just did. Kevin's dad died two months ago in a work accident and we're on our way to my mom's house. He seems kind of lost and still in shock." And suddenly she gives me a big hug, softly crying on my shoulder.

I don't know what else to say except that sometimes, even in the pool hall, there is room to do a good thing.

Lou Figueroa

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Oikawa said:

ChatGPT is basically just a sophisticated text prediction machine, using the entire internet as its source material. So asking it for a list of best pool players is analogous to reading the average opinion of everyone who has posted about the topic online. Not particularly useful.

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lfigueroa said:

I hesitate to write this because it's somewhat personal but, here it is.

One morning very early this year I was practicing on my favored table in the back of pool hall. A young woman walked in with a small boy. I'm terrible at guessing the ages of kids but he was somewhere before a tween -- dark hair, skinny, well dressed in kakis and a rugby shirt. He had his own cheapie cue in a soft cue and seemed a very quiet, very intense type. They took a table several away from me while I was practicing some 14.1 and running a fair number of balls. And after about a half an hour the woman approached me and said, "Excuse me sir but it looks like you know what you're doing. Would you mind giving my son some pointers?"

Now, normally, I might have demurred -- I consider my practice time sacred but something about her gentleness touched me and I said, "Sure."

At his mother's urging (pushing) he approached me and stood at my table and I asked, "Are you ready to learn something?" And he imperceptibly nodded. And so I spoke to him softly, telling him, "Pool is a game of precision and repeatability. If you are precise in your set up and execution you will be able to repeat your setup and reliably pocket balls."

So we began. I set up a small series of shots. Corrected his stance, grip, and bridge and tell him, "I know it's a lot. But if you stick with it you'll be able to do it without thinking. Trust me." And, as I suppose you would expect, he has a modicum of success and after about 40 minutes the woman says, "Kevin, it's time to go. Thank the man." And, in a very serious fashion, he walks up to me and shakes my hand, and says, "Thank you."

Mom and son walk to the bar to pay time and she buys him a Coke and after a few minutes walks back to me and says, "I cannot thank you enough for what you just did. Kevin's dad died two months ago in a work accident and we're on our way to my mom's house. He seems kind of lost and still in shock." And suddenly she gives me a big hug, softly crying on my shoulder.

I don't know what else to say except that sometimes, even in the pool hall, there is room to do a good thing.

Lou Figueroa

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Santosha said:

Great deal. Fantastic seller.
Buy with confidence

GLWS

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Jmw88 said:

Do you have anything coming in that has points?

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