Recent content by jay helfert

The winner of the 2025 Hanoi Open is...............Rasson! This table seems to have befuddled the pros gathered here, with one exception, Moritz Neuhausen. It's like a U.S. Open course in golf, making the best pros look like amateurs. For those of you saying today's pros are so much better than...

Vietnam does not have the long pool history that the Philippines does and that is where the difference in experience lies. That said, I'm sure there are some good officials working the event. I've seen one for sure.

A lot closer. There is a way to see who wins the lag and it is not by standing close to or over the balls. Once again, officiating problem.

I tend to agree with you Bob, oh wise one.

Proper position to start. He's never in the right place! I saw one Vietnamese official get into good position to see a close hit. Good on him. By the way you should see better officiating in Manila, if MR is smart enough to use local officials. They have many good ones here who have been playing...

I would have to disagree with you here. I would think the quality of your product, including how matches are officiated, is vitally important and the responsibility of those in control to make sure it's done properly. I can refer you to Major League Baseball, NFL football, NBA Basketball and...

I've watched several matches from the Peri and now Hanoi. I saw many two way shots. It's an integral part of the game.

Straight Pool, which was the premier pool game for decades was always played with all ball fouls!

They lost me in that respect when they saw the need to change the centuries old colors of the balls. Back to the current issue. The overhead camera is a one dimensional look at a three dimensional game and I've never really liked it. You can watch pool much better from a 30-45 degree angle. Even...

You can't teach someone to be a good pool referee ina few minutes. It literally takes years in the trenches to truly understand this game. MR did have some good referees, Nigel Rees and Machaela (spellcheck pls). I also worked for them pre Emily era and so did Ken Shuman. John Leyman has learned...

It was a tough call, all the more reason why the referee has to be in the right position to see the shot properly. I suspect Marcel was not on this one or he would have seen the bad hit. We have the technology in place for video replay so why not use it on shots like this?

Not the Shaw I remember. He used to be a killer. I'm seeing the same thing. This tough Rasson table is keeping them honest. It requires full 100% focus and concentration on all shots, easy or hard. It's a good test for the top players. Not a bad looking table either. Very few one inning games...

You couldn't let Taylor see a bank shot after a push. They would push out for tough cut shots and Taylor would pass it back to them. Guys like Ervolino and Kelly could make those shots and sometimes beat Eddie. It still was a toss up between them.

You pretty much nailed it there. All the reasons why I liked pushout. Big advantage over the shotmakers. I outsmarted a lot of guys who could out shoot me. My biggest asset was that I could bank better than them. It was often a razors edge between a bank and a cut shot after a push out, if you...

Love that story. Billy got it right too. Toby spotted the world back then at pushout 9-Ball. He used to spot a young Buddy Hall the eight ball and beat him as well. Guys like Kelly, Jersey Red and Johnny Ervolino had to play him even, but they couldn't get there. Some other name players of that...