What's your favorite pool memory from 2025?

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
As 2025 is coming to a close, I’ve been reflecting on some of my favorite moments of the year.

I subscribed to WNTTV-dot-com for Matchroom's World Nineball Tour's U.S. Open Pool Championship in Atlantic City. There were lots of interesting matches, but this one really grabbed me. A local Virginia shooter who plays for the love of the game drew World Champion Fedor Gorst his very first round. And if that's not tough enough, they put them on the TV table.

Reginald Jackson stepped up to the plate and showed no fear. Though Fedor did win every game of the match, Reginald was a complete gentleman in defeat. Look at those smiles between these two. Reginald posted about the experience: "One of the best moments I've had as a pool player. What an experience. I've been working even harder on my game ever since. Can't thank Fedor enough for that goose egg."

If you have a favorite memory in 2025, please share.

The mutual respect shared by these two was captured at the right moment. I just love those smiles!


Fedor and Regiond 2025 US Open.jpg
 
For me, it's not even close. The pool year began in clouds of mystery, with 245 WNT players banned from WPA-sanctioned events. Those not banned had to carefully balance their participation in WPA and WNT events, while playing the diplomacy game where possible. To the WNT's disadvantage, Filler appeared to be in bad standing with Matchroom, having been deplorably persecuted through exclusion from both the 2024 Reyes Cup and the 2024 Mosconi Cup.

In May, however, WPA and Matchroom jointly offered “an agreement has been reached, ensuring that WNT events will be ratified by the WPA.” The WPA lifted the ban of the aforementioned 245 players and pledged not to suspend WNT players going forward.

The negotiated peace treaty between Matchroom and WPA was the highlight of the pool year for me, as it was a big step forward in the direction of allowing pro players freedom of choice in event participation.
 
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definitely not favorite but what stands out a lot is tyler's 3rd missed 9-ball at MC.. brutal.

i guess my favorite would be filler robbing buffalo's. crazy good performance throughout
 
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Getting my 70+ year old Brunswick table reset, new cushions for first time since the originals, new cloth - it was idle for a long time following a little bit of flooding a year ago (got it up and "safe" from the water which only just covered the carpet, but 1500 square feet of it, lol), but needed a complete going over and put back in its rightful place. Loving it!
 
JAM said:
As 2025 is coming to a close, I’ve been reflecting on some of my favorite moments of the year.

I subscribed to WNTTV-dot-com for Matchroom's World Nineball Tour's U.S. Open Pool Championship in Atlantic City. There were lots of interesting matches, but this one really grabbed me. A local Virginia shooter who plays for the love of the game drew World Champion Fedor Gorst his very first round. And if that's not tough enough, they put them on the TV table.

Reginald Jackson stepped up to the plate and showed no fear. Though Fedor did win every game of the match, Reginald was a complete gentleman in defeat. Look at those smiles between these two. Reginald posted about the experience: "One of the best moments I've had as a pool player. What an experience. I've been working even harder on my game ever since. Can't thank Fedor enough for that goose egg."

If you have a favorite memory in 2025, please share.

The mutual respect shared by these two was captured at the right moment. I just love those smiles!


View attachment 872183
Click to expand...
The Rumor........................................... MR.... Holding the 2026 US Open 9 Ball in TEXAS
 
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my memorable pool thing in 2025 was not a good one

local pool room all tables full with regulars and no one gambling at all except for the so called best player in town, who does bet , and he had to play with one guy for 3 dollars a game.
pool 2025.
 
SVB vs yapp in the finals don't remember the tournament

Biado beating gorst for 250k

Yapp beating gorst for the US open

Team Asia smoking Europe in the reyes cup

Arseni vs shaw Philippines open
 
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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 case 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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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
Click to expand...
Lou
Regardless of some of our past interactions
I respect you for what you did and sharing it
😍
 
It's been an interesting year for me.
Got back to the game and the world of pool after being a way for about 15 years.
Equipment changed, I changed, the top pro players have changed...
I signed up for an 8ball league and started to play in a weekly 9ball tournaments and been doing pretty good, much better than I thought that I would. Been getting into all the league's playoffs and last league I finished 2nd.
Won a bunch of the weekly 9ball tournaments and finished high in most of them.
Not a bad year.
 
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
Click to expand...
Thx for sharing. Super nice story.
 
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
Click to expand...
Now you got me tearing up. 👍
 
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