Recent content by sjm

Fedor remains a superstar of the highest order, one of the best all-around players we've ever seen. In a chat he and I had in November, I told him that if he exceeds Efren's total of five Derby City Classic Master of the Tables awards, I will deem him to be the best all-around player in pool...

Yeah, a well-played match up to 3-3, but a lost safety battle sent Josh to the chair for five racks. Only ball Josh missed after 3-3 was a long bank of the two ball. Roda was just sensational. Well done!

No, the six would not qualify as one of the last two in this scenario. This is a spot that is less than it might sound, because an astute player giving this spot will sometimes knock the eight ball in on a pushout to, effectively, reduce the spot.

Unfortunately, the proposition that the hundredth best player must make a good living at pro pool cannot be accepted as gospel. We would all like it to be that way, but in the end, whether the sport grows has little to do with the economics of being the hundredth best player. Even the...

For all the complaints about single elimination, the cream has seemed to rise to the top at the Arizona Open. Looks like a very strong last sixteen that is sure to produce a worthy final four by day's end. There are some good story lines out there. The four that are catching my eye: 1. Can...

Uhh, let's make that third best.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so now we should love AZB even more!

Right now, with due respect to Woodward, Tyler Styer looks like America's second-best player. Late addition: Third best if Fedor is viewed as American

By Fargo, Makkonen is the 25th best European player and the 78th best player in the world. An unseeded player like Bergman will draw a top 64 seed in a 128-player major. Drawing Makkonen was an average draw, not a tough draw. As Team USA Mosconi worthiness is, at least in part, about whether...

That's the answer. The WNT consists of events that are produced by Matchroom and those that are not (satellite events). The ones produced by Matchroom generally pay out a lot more.

The legitimate complaints about the day 6 arena setup should not be allowed to obscure the fact that the Florida Open was a superb event. As the play has been covered already in this thread, I won't repeat it other than to say "Well played, SVB, the deserving champion." The first five days...

If you ever took pictures of your stolen cue, you should post them here in case anyone ever runs into it, and don't overlook the possibility that he sold it.

Ralf Souquet probably had more staying power than anybody who ever chose pro pool as a career, having won his first European Championship in 1989 and his last thirty-three years later in 2022. As has been suggested by some of our most prominent European posters on this forum, it is arguable...

Yes, and I think he has been around Lee Van Corteza a lot, too. Lee has one of the best tactical IQs of all the Filipino players.

Thanks for that, Jay. It is not surprising to learn of his diligence, but from 2024-25, he made virtually no progress in adding the tactical conceptualization skills and, given his strong work ethic, it was almost certainly because he failed to give it sufficient priority in his developmental...