Garreth Potts

Okay don't get your knickers in such a twist. He is wasted whether you like it or not. His talent could take him to bigger and better things. Granted his hall takes up a lot of time and if he is happy with the income it generates then fair play. I would still like to see him mix it with the big boys on a world stage.
 
AtLarge said:
Freddie -- I think it might be easy for the top C8B players to play American 8-ball even though the American 8-Ball players have some difficulty going the other way.

The C8B table is tougher because of the pocket size and rounded cushion noses. Yet I just watched some of the top guys on those tables do just as well breaking and just as well running out as the top players do on the A8B tables. Why would the C8B players do any worse on an easier table? They might produce ever better stats than they do on the C8B tables. I don't think it would take much time at all for the C8B players to learn to benefit from easier down-the-rail shots on an A8B table. And anyone who thinks that top C8B players can't hit shots forcefully when they need to didn't watch the same games I did this week.

The A8B players, on the other hand, face tougher/different conditions than they are used to when they go to the C8B table, and have not coped so well.

But maybe the stats I gathered this week on C8B are an aberration. This is the first time I have watched C8B. Unfortunately, doesn't the big C8B event coming up in a couple weeks conflict with the DCC? We need more data (and possibly some different data?).

Edit -- Also, I certainly acknowledge that the small C8B sample size I posted may be a bit biased by the extraordinary performance of Yang Fan (and probably an unusually good match by Melling)..
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News I read on the winner, Yan Fang (sp?), said he made 10 break and runs, in a 13-9 match. Waiting for that video to be uploaded, but from what I have seen, the top players in this game break & run way higher than US 8 ball and English 8 ball, despite a 9 foot table and 2 1/4" balls on 3.5 to 3.75 inch rounded pockets.

I know from experience, bigger tables open up options, but only if your potting and positional play is great.
 
Colin Colenso said:
Mick's a legend in 8-ball and would turn a lot of heads in the US if he put time into that game.. though he had a little try on the IPT as I recall.
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Quite a few players expressed an interest in this and took part. We all know how it ended and quite a few went back to sure ground having in their words had their fingers burnt by AP. Appleton and Boyes, it could be argued, were lucky to have good backers and a tie free life at the time that allowed them to make the gamble.

Also, I haven't seen 2 other English 8 ball players who have gone on to win US Pool World Champs in the last decade... Daryl Peach and Karl Boyes. And has Melling been mentioned.... and Selby would kick serious butt in the US if he would take the pay cut.
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A few about..

The fundamentals of UK and nowadays Chinese players are superior. God knows what these new Chinese players, who are getting hold of Potts now, would do to US pool if there were money to win there.

Yeah, a few skills to adapt to, but these top Chinese 8 ball players are 2 balls ahead of Appleton as pot & positional players, and he's as good as the US game has seen in years, with SVB a little behind... note, they both have been way off competitive in the Chinese 8 ball tournies. Earl got smashed like he wasn't there.
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Appleton was brought up playing 8 ball, albeit English 8 ball, and as Potts said in his pre tournament interview, 8 ball patterns are 8 ball patterns and once you get used to the equipment, it falls in to place.

I think Appleton could compete at C8B with no problems. It's more a case of adapting back to napped clothes and differently cut pockets.
 
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Pidge said:
Okay don't get your knickers in such a twist. He is wasted whether you like it or not. His talent could take him to bigger and better things. Granted his hall takes up a lot of time and if he is happy with the income it generates then fair play. I would still like to see him mix it with the big boys on a world stage.
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He does play on a world stage, just in a different discipline of pool.
 
E8B is hardly a world stage. Its played in such a small number of countries. No one takes the game seriously. The snooker players laugh at it for the size of the table and the smaller cue ball. The US players laugh at it for the exact same reasons. He would take to C8B straight away. Its a shame he doesn't get his hands in the Chinese money pot.
 
Pidge said:
E8B is hardly a world stage. Its played in such a small number of countries.
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Since when?

No one takes the game seriously.
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E8B players take it seriously.

It could be argued no one really takes AP seriously, with your joke pockets, no professional tour and mickey mouse prize money.

Do tennis players take ping players seriously? Do Table tennis players care?

Golfers laugh at us all

The snooker players laugh at it for the size of the table and the smaller cue ball. The US players laugh at it for the exact same reasons.
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Everyone laughs at AP with your huge bucket pockets and silly clothes.

He would take to C8B straight away. Its a shame he doesn't get his hands in the Chinese money pot.
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I would take to the violin straight away I am sure, but I'm not really interested and no amount of barracking from you lot really interests me much.
 
Its joke that you refer to 'your bucket pockets' as if I'm an AP player. I am not. I am a snooker player first and foremost and I laugh at your bucket pockets on the E8B tables.
 
The pockets on "American" pool tables are not "buckets". They are bigger, and cut differently, than snooker or E8B pockets because it is a different game and it plays differently. You can make shots that you can't make in E8B and snooker and that is the whole point of the game - eliminating those shots from pool makes it sub-pool (E8B is not pool it is a bastardised, snookerised version of the game made for English pubs). The top E8B players may well have better "fundamentals" and that is something to be admired. Emulating those "fundamentals" would be a waste of time for those that focus on"American" pool. Unless, of course they want to "move" to snooker or C8B (a silly game really - that is neither one thing nor the other). Now, it is of course easier for the E8B and snooker players to adapt to A8B than it is the other way because learning shots is easier than learning fundamentals - just watch a few games and you'll get a reasonable handle on it.

Come on guys, stop pretending E8B is pool. It isn't. I'm not saying it doesn't have its merits (aside from the different sized cue ball on non- coin tables, lol!) or that the players aren't skilled or the games aren't worth watching. But snooker and real pool are better games.
 
Swighey said:
The pockets on "American" pool tables are not "buckets". They are bigger, and cut differently, than snooker or E8B pockets because it is a different game and it plays differently. You can make shots that you can't make in E8B and snooker and that is the whole point of the game - eliminating those shots from pool makes it sub-pool (E8B is not pool it is a bastardised, snookerised version of the game made for English pubs). The top E8B players may well have better "fundamentals" and that is something to be admired. Emulating those "fundamentals" would be a waste of time for those that focus on"American" pool. Unless, of course they want to "move" to snooker or C8B (a silly game really - that is neither one thing nor the other). Now, it is of course easier for the E8B and snooker players to adapt to A8B than it is the other way because learning shots is easier than learning fundamentals - just watch a few games and you'll get a reasonable handle on it.

Come on guys, stop pretending E8B is pool. It isn't. I'm not saying it doesn't have its merits (aside from the different sized cue ball on non- coin tables, lol!) or that the players aren't skilled or the games aren't worth watching. But snooker and real pool are better games.
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Sigh.,..

I think you are missing the point.

Mick Hill plays E8B. Why should he attempt another cue sport any more than for a laugh?

E8B players don't really care what other cue sports players think about it.. Any more than I would imaging AP players care what snooker players think of it.

I would imagine its the same for any other sport enthusiast caring much about sports other than their own.

Did you know that some people also collect stamps?

What you do is what you do...

Speaking personally, I have only ever played AP recreational really. I've only entered two AP tournaments in my entire life and I won one of those.

Fun but not for me and I don't care what you think of my preferred game. I enjoy it.
 
Pidge said:
Its joke that you refer to 'your bucket pockets' as if I'm an AP player. I am not. I am a snooker player first and foremost and I laugh at your bucket pockets on the E8B tables.
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Just because you can't play E8B, that is your problem, not mine.

Snooker is too easy and gets boring too quickly.
 
Colin Colenso said:
News I read on the winner, Yan Fang (sp?), said he made 10 break and runs, in a 13-9 match. ...
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Sounds like you are talking about the finals of the recent C8B event. Yang Fan had 9 B&R's on 11 breaks in that match (alternating breaks).

The first 7 of those 9 were in a row, on his first 7 breaks. And he completed his semifinal match (against Potts) with 3 in a row, so he had 10 in a row spanning the two matches.
 
Swighey said:
The pockets on "American" pool tables are not "buckets". They are bigger, and cut differently, than snooker or E8B pockets because it is a different game and it plays differently. You can make shots that you can't make in E8B and snooker and that is the whole point of the game - eliminating those shots from pool makes it sub-pool (E8B is not pool it is a bastardised, snookerised version of the game made for English pubs). The top E8B players may well have better "fundamentals" and that is something to be admired. Emulating those "fundamentals" would be a waste of time for those that focus on"American" pool. Unless, of course they want to "move" to snooker or C8B (a silly game really - that is neither one thing nor the other). Now, it is of course easier for the E8B and snooker players to adapt to A8B than it is the other way because learning shots is easier than learning fundamentals - just watch a few games and you'll get a reasonable handle on it. Come on guys, stop pretending E8B is pool. It isn't. I'm not saying it doesn't have its merits (aside from the different sized cue ball on non- coin tables, lol!) or that the players aren't skilled or the games aren't worth watching. But snooker and real pool are better games.
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The bold part is the simple truth and it's the crux of the matter when talking about players switching over. It's why snooker and E8B players can have positive results in AP but we have yet to see it the other way around.

Nice post.
 
Yeah as it happens. I'm struggling to understand why anyone who thinks snooker is too easy isn't making an absolute killing from it. Regardless of if you thought it was boring, throwing some money down would soon make it interesting.

I suppose you find E8B challenging...hitting coloured balls into 6 pockets on a Toys R Us sized table. You keep playing on your 6yrs+ table mate and kidding yourself that its a difficult game.
 
Pidge said:
Yeah as it happens. I'm struggling to understand why anyone who thinks snooker is too easy isn't making an absolute killing from it. Regardless of if you thought it was boring, throwing some money down would soon make it interesting.
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I find running 100m equally boring. Also swimming. Very tedious.

I go to work for money. I'm a contract business consultant and charge £500 a day plus expenses so don't really need to play a sport for money but thank you for your concerns.

I work in the insurance industry, which is worth around £85bn a year in the UK - far far more than all the cue sports put together so a lot easier to earn from that, plus, as my experience increases (ie, as I get older) it in fact becomes easier to obtain work rather than in your typical sport form declines as you age.

Playing sports for money is not for many, in fact, I am more than happy to enjoy my chosen sport in my leisure time for my own pleasure and fun and thank the good Lord I do not have to rely on it for a living!
I suppose you find E8B challenging...hitting coloured balls into 6 pockets on a Toys R Us sized table. You keep playing on your 6yrs+ table mate and kidding yourself that its a difficult game.
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Sigh...

It's my hobby and I like it and thank you for your concern. I don't actually care what you play but I hope you continue playing your boring easy dying game and in the evenings when you are at home examine your stamp collection whilst listening to Fleetwood Mac LP's
 
Thanks for the in depth post on your job. Much appreciated. If you ever get banned and have to choose an alias to come on here and get your fix, I would suggest voiceofpedanticdrivvel be your new username. Just a suggestion... :-)

Still, id rather play snooker earning over a million a year than being a consultant in an office. Of course, only if the game was actually that easy.
 
Pidge said:
Thanks for the in depth post on your job. Much appreciated. If you ever get banned and have to choose an alias to come on here and get your fix, I would suggest voiceofpedanticdrivvel be your new username. Just a suggestion... :-)

Still, id rather play snooker earning over a million a year than being a consultant in an office. Of course, only if the game was actually that easy.
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I don't believe for one minute you are earning over a million a year playing snooker, in fact, the 2013-2014 figures show the highest earner (Neil Robertson) only earning a third of that.

http://www.therichest.com/sports/other-sports/top-10-highest-earning-snooker-players-in-2013-14/10/

Perhaps you should consider having a nice cup of tea before making another post? ;)
 
Never said I was did I? I was simply saying that if you were finding snooker so easy as you've said numerous times you could take down the worlds, masters, uks and several other smaller comps in the year with utter ease, surely. I wonder if Neil finds the game too easy...
 
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