I had seen a clip from this but not the whole thing. Matlock showing his bar table prowess to Mizerak and Archer. Mizerak asks about the different cue balls and such. Both the big cueball and smaller magnetic ball are used. So here is some pool on old equipment, they broke with their playing cue and used Master chalk. Somehow not a skid recorded.
Vintage Bar Table Tutorial
- Thread starter JPB2
- Start date
I had seen a clip from this but not the whole thing. Matlock showing his bar table prowess to Mizerak and Archer. Mizerak asks about the different cue balls and such. Both the big cueball and smaller magnetic ball are used. So here is some pool on old equipment, they broke with their playing cue and used Master chalk. Somehow not a skid recorded.
I watched part of this earlier. It’s an interesting artifact, but I found the presentation very stilted.
It’s not a modern instructional video and no Academy Awards were handed out.
I know there were some quips, but I didn’t take Mizerak to be simply making fun of bar table players. Matlock could play and they knew it, even if Mizerak and Archer were champions.
Also, I think it’s safe to say Mizerak made more money from the bar table than he did in all his straight pool wins. Probably all his prize money combined on the 9’. You can argue and say it was a commercial etc…. But they didn’t film a dead ball 14.1 trick shot at a room where they played 14.1, and, to paraphrase Freddy the Beard, where no NY player ever fired a second $5 barrel. They did it on a bar box and Mizerak wasn’t too proud to do it. I dunno his detailed thoughts on the issue though.
I had the pleasure of playing The Miz in a Sunday $5 eight ball tournament. 8 ft bar box either punkin cueball. Single game. I broke and ran, so had a little of his respect. On Wednesday night he was at P J Pockets in federal way getting ready to fly out. He gave me a lesson at darts. I bought a copy of his book and thanked him for the free lesson.
Still mid video as I have to comment on the size of the big ball at around the 7:30 mark. He either miss spoke or well the big ball isn't 2 and 5/8. More like 3/8. It just needs to catch a overhead detour rail in the ball return or over balance on a mid rail that splits the path. 2 and a quarter to 2 and 3/8 is my answer and I am sticking to it.
The just showing off commercial that the Miz made sure looks like the same production crew's work.
So far it is educational and I am enjoying it.
Oh yeah did I tell you about the time I beat The Miz?
Still mid video as I have to comment on the size of the big ball at around the 7:30 mark. He either miss spoke or well the big ball isn't 2 and 5/8. More like 3/8. It just needs to catch a overhead detour rail in the ball return or over balance on a mid rail that splits the path. 2 and a quarter to 2 and 3/8 is my answer and I am sticking to it.
The just showing off commercial that the Miz made sure looks like the same production crew's work.
So far it is educational and I am enjoying it.
Oh yeah did I tell you about the time I beat The Miz?
They don't get into the finer details of the magnetic balls.
Some had a metal framework that added the least possible weight. The framework was never perfectly balanced which could lead to funny curls at the last rotation of the rolling ball. Those cueballs had a belly button looking circle produced by the casting techniques. The closest to a regulation ball of which the red circle was prefered for quality and consistency.
The mud ball is what we called the small cueball that was cast with metal grains. It made the ball darker and much heavier. Great for the break but draw wasn't my prefered path. Like the big ball follow was prefered.
Some had a metal framework that added the least possible weight. The framework was never perfectly balanced which could lead to funny curls at the last rotation of the rolling ball. Those cueballs had a belly button looking circle produced by the casting techniques. The closest to a regulation ball of which the red circle was prefered for quality and consistency.
The mud ball is what we called the small cueball that was cast with metal grains. It made the ball darker and much heavier. Great for the break but draw wasn't my prefered path. Like the big ball follow was prefered.
I gotta just shake my head in dis belief. These guys are leaking knowledge.
Gotta breathe and we'll, it's hard for me to imagine. Well as a successful gold prospector, there's nuggets for the beginners and fines for the more refined player. I always enjoyed playing youngsters that thought they knew it all.
I always enjoy burglarized conversations between the World Class players.
Definitely more than 1 lesson, Definitely more.......Rain man exit stage right.
"Right! Am I right?" to quote a favorite player.
Gotta breathe and we'll, it's hard for me to imagine. Well as a successful gold prospector, there's nuggets for the beginners and fines for the more refined player. I always enjoyed playing youngsters that thought they knew it all.
I always enjoy burglarized conversations between the World Class players.
Definitely more than 1 lesson, Definitely more.......Rain man exit stage right.
"Right! Am I right?" to quote a favorite player.
Funny you mention that.
The only skids I've noticed have been lately on diamond tables using master chalk. My go to chalk for decades. Is it my stroke, or something else going on.
I've run across CB's all diff sizes in some of the dives I played in over the years. You never knew what was going to pop out the chute. I know for a fact that some were bigger than 2 & 3/8" Greg. Not trying to start an argument here, but some were fricken huge!!I had the pleasure of playing The Miz in a Sunday $5 eight ball tournament. 8 ft bar box either punkin cueball. Single game. I broke and ran, so had a little of his respect. On Wednesday night he was at P J Pockets in federal way getting ready to fly out. He gave me a lesson at darts. I bought a copy of his book and thanked him for the free lesson.
Still mid video as I have to comment on the size of the big ball at around the 7:30 mark. He either miss spoke or well the big ball isn't 2 and 5/8. More like 3/8. It just needs to catch a overhead detour rail in the ball return or over balance on a mid rail that splits the path. 2 and a quarter to 2 and 3/8 is my answer and I am sticking to it.
The just showing off commercial that the Miz made sure looks like the same production crew's work.
So far it is educational and I am enjoying it.
Oh yeah did I tell you about the time I beat The Miz?
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The best chalks are better now. More skids with Master I think. Good conditions are better. But…. People get too sensitive to conditions now IMO.
We called it the pumpkin ball because it looks huge.
I just searched the internet for oversize cueball and only get 2 and 3/8 listings. Sooooo.......
Well my wife's favorite story for The Girls is to hold her fingers 3 inches apart and say, "My husband is a carpenter and uses his tape measure daily. He tells me this is 6 inches.
well she tells it better.
Upon further review, I get;
Billiard balls range in diameter from the largest in Russian pyramid and kaisa at 2 11/16” (68 mm) to the smallest in British-style at 2” (51 mm). Other variations of billiard ball sizes are Carom at 2 7/16” (61.5 mm), American-style at 2 1/4” (57.15 mm), and Snooker 2 1/16” (52.5 mm).
So a carom ball could have been used. They call it caroms, I call it billiards.
Billiard balls range in diameter from the largest in Russian pyramid and kaisa at 2 11/16” (68 mm) to the smallest in British-style at 2” (51 mm). Other variations of billiard ball sizes are Carom at 2 7/16” (61.5 mm), American-style at 2 1/4” (57.15 mm), and Snooker 2 1/16” (52.5 mm).
So a carom ball could have been used. They call it caroms, I call it billiards.
Let's hear from some of the old bar box bangers from back then. Did you ever play with a mud ball or one of those big ol valley balls that subbed on weds night's bowling league??
Well I am an old bar box Master. Bar box banger was a popular slur back in the day. Valley tables were the ones that offered the smaller magnetic cue balls. The rest used the punkin ball.
The tables that used a light sensor in the ball return to reroute the cueball and an occasional stripe that hit the sensors just right. Diamond tables. allowed a normal size and weight cueball.
My internet detective found this.
Diamond Smart Table uses an internal battery-powered laser optical density sensor to separate and return the cue ball, unlike traditional magnetic Valley tables. [1, 2,
Well Wednesday night was the $5 nine ball tournament at the White Spot in Fife. If you call it The Right Spot your not an old timer.
The gals that worked at the White Spot did have a team in the bowling league on Mondays. They asked me to join their team as they needed my 118 average to keep the teams average below the allowed maximum. They all carried 160+ averages. My time bowling with them got my average up to almost 130.
My pool league trophy is from 84-85 Pierce King County league.
We (the guys) had a nightly ring game on the first table. The after work ring game with the big cueball led to the demise of a couple of one balls.
Cleanliness is next to Gawdlyness. The friction at contact is the culprit. Friction at tip to ball is good. Cueball to object ball Friction is variable, depending mostly on the condition of the balls. Some taverns never clean or polish the balls. The 211 in Seattle not only cleaned them daily but also used a silicon spray to provide the most Friction free contact possible.
Bar box banging provided my lunch money for many years. I budgeted trips to the 211 for lessons on the regulation tables with the slippery balls on the slippery cloth. Taverns back in the day generally had slow wool cloth and dirty balls, a whole different world.
The mud ball.
