WilliamK
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Does the Kelly Pool that you play use secretly drawn numbers to nominate the ball that each player needs to win?
Was pool better 50 years ago?
- Thread starter The Wolverine
- Start date
more interesting characters and maybe more fun to watch, but today's game is at a higher level
Really good thread here. What we have seen is that some interpret pool as the serious tournament scene, others interpret it as the action scene, and yet others interpret it as the culture in the poolroom itself. In fact, in this respect, this thread has been what AZB is all about. Most of us who post here do so because we love the game. but each of us loves different things about it. Through the eyes of many of this forum's very finest posters, we have learned that whether pool is better today than in the golden age of pool comes down to what it is that you enjoy the most about the game.
I'd be surprised if this does not prove to be one of the very best threads of 2026.
I'd be surprised if this does not prove to be one of the very best threads of 2026.
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in the end, it's matter of perspective or which angle you are looking it from. there are pros and cons for sure. I'm just glad that the game exists and still be able to enjoy it. Pros for me, a lot more equipment, a lot more options and a lot more people enjoying the game and not just being an old retiree's game (
). who knows in the near future that we will have a new game being invented just to make it more interesting.
So true. The game means many different things to people.
I have never played league and thought I would not enjoy it. But three of my children play in one and several of the players on that team were not able to play. I was asked to be a fill in, and I agreed to help out.
I had a blast and the team has been doing well. I don't play much on 7ftrs but you need to figure it out fast if you are going to win.
Don't bring your big table stroke when on a pony table.
All in all, what ever the situation I will adapt. Next week flying to Louisville for the real McCoy!
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Generally, "your" pill designates your ball. You make it and everyone pays you. But there are a lot of variations for gambling.
the genie is out of the bottle when it comes to the break. doesn't matter if it's 9-ball or 10-ball. joe tucker (may be wrong) started this dissection, and if a pro today doesn't have a thorough knowledge about the break and practice hours logged, he or she is at a big disadvantage. it's like not having a jump cue. there's no going back to random power break, because it's disadvantageous. it's rational choice, not "copying" others.
i think this is true, but also the tendency to view sport from ones youth / prime years in a brighter light. this seems true for all sports, it was true when i watched sports with my grandfather, and it's true now when i myself is middleaged and half crippled
. i admire your positive and rational outlook, and also agree on the points. my only gripe is probably that i would like to see more 1p matchups and 14.1 tourneys, but other than that there's a lot of great pool to watch.on the characters. the same is said in snooker, and it's likely true, at least subjectively. partly because the snooker players were drinking (and doing other stuff) back then, and partly because they were british or canadian, which is more relatable to other anglos/westerners. wu yize may be a real character, he certainly looks like one, but i really wouldn't know because i'm not chinese.
Now here would be a team match that would put asses in the seats: One team decked out in tuxedos, the other team in wifebeaters.I miss the time where they were wearing formal clothings.
Stu, I think you have to distinguish between the sort of players you'd find in tournaments and the sort of players you'd find in action rooms. Alex is certainly as entertaining as any golden age player you would've found in tournaments BITD, but once you got into gambling matches that's when you'd see characters coming out of the woodwork, woofing and showboating as a way of psyching out their opponents. When these players competed in tournaments they'd tone down their act, but removed from that restricted environment, that's when the legends were developed.
As one of the more learned pool mavens we have around here, Stu, I'm sure you've read Freddy The Beard's classic book, The 'Encyclopedia' of Pool Hustlers. The players are written up in alphabetical order, and you don't even have to get out of the "A's" to read about many players who for sheer personal color would easily be a match for Alex. Even in my relatively limited experience around Washington and North Carolina I ran into many like them. Of course you'll never find any of these players or their matches on Accu-Stats!
In a way I compare pool to my other favorite sport: Baseball.
I started following baseball way back in 1952, when I was all of 8 years old. Back then, with only 8 teams in each league and no interleague play, it was easy to keep up with nearly all the players. And except for the World Series or the occasional Big Game that might decide a pennant, good seats were cheap and easily attainable by just showing up at the ticket window when the gates opened. After a few innings, you could sneak into the box seats and for the most part the ushers wouldn't care.
That said, today's players are infinitely more talented than they were back then, with a few notable exceptions. How could it be otherwise, given the expansion of the talent pool from 95% White Americans to players from all over the globe.
So there are tradeoffs. Cheap tickets for good seats are a thing of the past, but for $130 a year I can watch every game every day on a cheap flat screen TV. And while today's players are far more talented, we also have to suffer through the explosion of strikeouts and the disappearance of starting pitchers capable of throwing complete games, not to mention the robotic personalities of most of today's Superstars.
And similarly with pool, which I started playing when I was 20. What we've lost in "color" and atmosphere, we've gained in talent and accessibility to scores of tournaments a year via youtube and streaming channels. You win some and you lose some. Tradeoffs.
One big change I have seen is the lack of pool halls in my area. I grew up in Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa. When I was a kid almost every little town had a pool hall. Snooker was very popular back then. All those pool halls are gone now. Sure we still have bars that will have a bar box or two but it just isn't the same.
My view.
1.) I consider myself lucky to have seen Efren play in person many times. He is the best I have ever seen, and I have interviewed and seen most players from 50 years ago.,
2.) The players today are stronger today than 50 years ago. I think alot has to do with equipment, but you look at the players on both teams of the Mosconi Cup and they are incredible.
3.) Everyone here and often in pool rooms, you hear that leagues have killed pool. Again, I disagree. If it wasnt for leagues, millions of players would have not been introduced to pool. Secondly, they pay the bills in most rooms.
I think while there were some great players years ago, the stories I have heard remind me of my parents walking to and from school in a blizzard uphill both ways. I watch some old videos on youtube and these champions wouldnt have a chance against, Shane, Filler, or Gorsht, and many others.
JMO
Ken
1.) I consider myself lucky to have seen Efren play in person many times. He is the best I have ever seen, and I have interviewed and seen most players from 50 years ago.,
2.) The players today are stronger today than 50 years ago. I think alot has to do with equipment, but you look at the players on both teams of the Mosconi Cup and they are incredible.
3.) Everyone here and often in pool rooms, you hear that leagues have killed pool. Again, I disagree. If it wasnt for leagues, millions of players would have not been introduced to pool. Secondly, they pay the bills in most rooms.
I think while there were some great players years ago, the stories I have heard remind me of my parents walking to and from school in a blizzard uphill both ways. I watch some old videos on youtube and these champions wouldnt have a chance against, Shane, Filler, or Gorsht, and many others.
JMO
Ken
changing times and a lot more other stuff to do. I was born in a time where entertainment was limited and you have to find yourself a hobby to pass the time. nowadays, we got streaming services, youtube, internet, VR, dating apps, etc... I can't even manage to keep up with things in my life. there is no constant anymore in this generation unless you wanted to get stuck in the past. so it was easier back then to just focus on one thing because there was less distraction. I got back to pool since I'm not that as active and young anymore to engage with my previous sports activities and hobbies and wanted something more relaxing and keep my mind off the busy life. also, pool does seem to get me back to concentrating better again.
Phila Warriors (pre 6'rs)...... cheapest seats and sneak down to the lower balcony.
The players are better now
But at the same time it’s not as interesting or entertaining as it once was
Could be familiarity
Could be the aesthetics of the times
Funny, you just mentioned one of my first sports heroes, Neil Johnston. Since Washington didn't then have an NBA team and my mom was from Philly, I attached myself to the Warriors in a year where they went something like 12 and 57. But IIRC Johnston still led the league in scoring.Phila Warriors (pre 6'rs)...... cheapest seats and sneak down to the lower balcony.
One night a year or so later, the Warriors came to Washington for an exhibition game, and afterwards I nervously handed Neil Johnston a self-addressed postcard. A few days later, I got it returned to me with a note: "Good luck to you in sports, Andy. Neil Johnston." It was my first and most memorable sports autograph, in pool matched only by a BreatheRight nose bandage that I got for my wife from Buddy Hall right after he'd won the '98 U. S. Open. Some souvenirs are truly unforgettable.
