Who was the last player that really impressed you?

[tenballjoe]

Billy Palmer from Northern California

--2007 Jay Swanson Memorial tournament--- I drew Billy Palmer in round 2who I had never seen play until then. He beat me and I only won 3 games. Neither of us were breaking good and as I remember the score was 3-3 and I had to play a safe on the 9 ball and I left the cue ball frozen to the head rail in the middle of the table and I left the nine ball frozen to the foot rail in the same position......I THOUGHT I WAS IN CONTROL AT THIS POINT......Billy looked at the balls for about 25 seconds and then shot a extremely thin hit on the 9ball which moved about 1/8" and then the cue ball came back down table and sat about an inch from where it started.........I COULDNT BELIEVE HIS TOUCH ON THIS SHOT....I proceded to sell out the game trying something similar and then Billy took control and started breaking better and I stayed seated for rest of match....BILLY PALMER WENT ON TO WIN THE TOURNEY WITH A FULL FIELD OF 192 PLAYERS and played great the whole event........The next month in Arizonas Desert Dust Off $5000 added ten ball bar box event he defeated Jose Parica in Semi Finals and then Jeremy Jones in finals. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT HE IMPRESSED ME MORE THAN ANYONE AT BOTH EVENTS AND I HAVENT SEEN ANYONE IMPRESS ME LIKE THAT SINCE....BILLY IS TRUELY a nice guy and great player and I often wondered what would happen if he travelled and played more events. Thanks for letting me share!

 

[jay helfert]

--2007 Jay Swanson Memorial tournament--- I drew Billy Palmer in round 2who I had never seen play until then. He beat me and I only won 3 games. Neither of us were breaking good and as I remember the score was 3-3 and I had to play a safe on the 9 ball and I left the cue ball frozen to the head rail in the middle of the table and I left the nine ball frozen to the foot rail in the same position......I THOUGHT I WAS IN CONTROL AT THIS POINT......Billy looked at the balls for about 25 seconds and then shot a extremely thin hit on the 9ball which moved about 1/8" and then the cue ball came back down table and sat about an inch from where it started.........I COULDNT BELIEVE HIS TOUCH ON THIS SHOT....I proceded to sell out the game trying something similar and then Billy took control and started breaking better and I stayed seated for rest of match....BILLY PALMER WENT ON TO WIN THE TOURNEY WITH A FULL FIELD OF 192 PLAYERS and played great the whole event........The next month in Arizonas Desert Dust Off $5000 added ten ball bar box event he defeated Jose Parica in Semi Finals and then Jeremy Jones in finals. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT HE IMPRESSED ME MORE THAN ANYONE AT BOTH EVENTS AND I HAVENT SEEN ANYONE IMPRESS ME LIKE THAT SINCE....BILLY IS TRUELY a nice guy and great player and I often wondered what would happen if he travelled and played more events. Thanks for letting me share!

Billy has a full time job, so it is not easy for him to get away that often. He did manage to make it to DCC one year and finished second to Efren in the One Pocket.

 

[BLange]

In the 1990's and early 2000's I watched Scott Kido play a couple tour. here in CR. he's an Elite Master in Iowa. I've also been watching another player, his name is Travis Mulnix, very nice shot he's a State Master of Iowa. Both have helped my game by just watching them.


BL

 

[grindz]

Jose Parica

In the Desert Shootout a couple of years ago I was able to watch.. close up... a match between Jose and a very good local player. While he is not only fun to watch because of his personality and disposition, Jose is the most precise player I have ever seen. Safety play with kicks and return safes as well as exacting cue ball routes for safes and/or position was like watching a pool dream.... or a "nightmare". Our local player played nearly as outstanding that match but fell short.

It was just one of those thousands of matches out there, that went unnoticed by many but was a thrill to watch. I've been a fan ever since.

td

 

[tenballjoe]

yes I remember that... also Jessie Engel and Fabio Petroni

Billy has a full time job, so it is not easy for him to get away that often. He did manage to make it to DCC one year and finished second to Efren in the One Pocket.

He actually beat Efren in that tournament 3-1 and Efren bought back in and then made it to the finals and returned the favor by the same margin...Palmer is a GOOD SOLID ALL AROUND PLAYER WITH LOTS OF TALENT..................U mentioned Jessie Engel and I had never heard of him until I saw him at the US Open 9 ball this year when he beat Earl Strickland and Mike Sigel back to back! I second the Jesse Engel he is gonna be a huige threat to win any rotation tournament in near future if he keeps playing well , practicing , and keeps the solid composure/mental game up. Seems like a nice guy also but I have never spoken to him............I once played Fabio Petroni from Italy in a one hole tournament at Q Masters prior to the Us Open in 2008 and we were both in losers bracket which was a race to 2 games. I won the lag and broke he played a bank off the stack and made it and ran 8 and out only to break make a ball and then run another 8 and out....needless to say I was not upset because all I did wrong was lay down a pretty descent break the entire match!!!! THANKS ALOT FABIO...then he told me "good game you shot well" I thought that was a little arrogant of him to say lol

 

[Black-Balled]

...THANKS ALOT FABIO...then he told me "good game you shot well" I thought that was a little arrogant of him to say lol

Kinda makes one wwant to bang his head on a table!!

LOL indeed.

 

[Ratta]

myself...............lol, sorry, couldn t resist

 

[Koop]

Evgeny Stalev

Couple of years ago at Valley Forge I watched him dismantle Frankie Hernandez. I don't remember him missing a ball the entire set and included a couple of kicks and 3 rail banks. You could see after about 6 racks that Frankie knew he was out of the match. Would just rack and sit and repeat.

Simply an amazing talent.

 

[peteypooldude]

Gabe running 16 an out.

 

[ccshrimper]

I didn't see it but I can't believe nobody has mentioned Busty running an 8-pack of 10-ball in the fatboy challenge. That had to be up there.

 

[measureman]

Being from NJ I have seen many great players but the OP asked who was the last one to impress you.
Allen Hopkins was the best I can remember seeing in person in the last 20 years.

 

[cuesmith]

Shannon Murphy, Lee Van Corteza, Dennis Orcullo, not necessarily in that order. Of course I'm talking about recently. There were too many to list before the Derby.

 

[Jaden]

Jose Parica

I watched him play a perfect race to 9 in the swannee a few years back.

Broke and ran the first seven, then broke played a breakout lockup safe, then ran out and ran out the last rack.

Jaden

 

[UPlayLucky]

I watched him play a perfect race to 9 in the swannee a few years back.

Broke and ran the first seven, then broke played a breakout lockup safe, then ran out and ran out the last rack.

Jaden

Were you in the chair or in the stands, I'd prefer that view from the stands?

 

[PoolBum]

Unfortunately he spent most of his life in a mental institution.

Is that what they're calling pool halls these days?

 

[book collector]

Last player who impressed

Alex Pagulayan when he won the bank pool championship.
I thought John and Ronnie were unstoppable but Alex played fantastic.

 

[JudgeDredd]

I'd have to say it's "Jumpin" Sammy Jones". I was lucky enough when my son and I walked into Pools Tables Plus one day and we got to talking about cues. One thing led to another and we both found out that not only did we share a love for the game, but a respect for all the cue makers out there and the art they produce. I feel that I am cheating Sammy every time I go to see him and watch him shoot, because I'm getting free lesson's whether he knows it or not. He's one of the most genuine player's that I can think of or ever hope to meet. For someone like me that could only be thought of as "backroom" . I am honored to know him or anyone like him.

 

[imagemker]

Bakersfield Bobby (Hernandez)?

in the early 90's I believe he was living in yuma, az. i was going to school at ASU. He came into one of the local rooms and got into 10/game action with basically anyone who would play. guys just kept calling there pals, Everything was shot with speed and even the long cuts down the rail never seemed to touch a cushion. ( he was certainly past his prime at this point) which made it all the more impressive, glenn bond and I sat for quite some time (after glenn lost a hundred or so) and just watched in awe. this was probably my first time actually seeing a "legend" play. I was not disappointed. Jay can probably chime in with some more info on this fellow.

 

[krelldog]

Dennis Orcollo....His action match against CB at the Derby was very impressive. Some on this forum have even mentioned that he didn't even play that well.....I thought he looked extremely good.

 

[genomachino]

Dave Wiebelhuas.

This young man 2 months ago would have been considered an AA player. I personally watched his struggles with his game over the last year. He's a real good kid so I helped him with his aim seeing that it is my specialty. Each week he would ask me a question or 2.

Last weekend I went to a $50 entry 9 ball tourny in Wausau,Wi. First place was $1000 and second place was $750. So you know there was some talent there for sure.

Dave drove there from Minneapolis with some friends.

I got knocked in the losers bracket myself in my fourth match.

I fought my was back to the final match and didn't realize until I got there that Dave was on the hot seat. And this was a tough field. I almost couldn't believe my eyes.

I ended up winning the tourny but not without a great fight. In the final match I pretty much controled the set to be ahead 5 to 1 only to miss shape on the next game and watch Dave run 3 racks to make it 5-4.

He not only shot great but showed some great focus under big pressure.

Sure you have to have the knowledge to do what you need to do but HEART is something that is hard to teach.

This kid is another champion waiting to happen. He's going to beat alot of players and win some good tournys in the future.

I was very impressed. I still smile everytime I think about it.

Last weekend Dave Wiebelhaus was my Hero...........