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Winner breaks. I’ve tried to enjoy Alternate break for 15 years but I just can’t. I mean, it’s fine and better than no pool at all. But it’s just boring unless players are trading racks. But to grow the game I think that winner breaks is critical. Most cue sports that have thrived at any...

I think it has more to do with SVB having more fans so there was a bigger audience here. Omar’s a great player but he doesn’t have Shane’s following.

I agree that the template is not ideal, I much prefer the triangle for winner breaks. But I don’t like the trend of trying to make the break too difficult to figure out. I just find that doing so overemphasizes the break shot. I much rather watching this current set up to the, break from the...

They’ve resisted the trend and stuck with a winner break format which creates environment where such matches can occur. Even if Mika makes that 5 ball, it’s a great run out and a great story or the tournament. The lack of ball markers is indeed an oversight, but you have to partially put the...

This match is awesome. This is the type of thing you lose when you go to alternating breaks.

Ah ok, thanks. I guess that’s how 4 packs get turned into 7 packs. Someone like me just half paying attention lol.

Did Mika run 7 racks there? I’ve only had it on in the background and I just know that I haven’t seen Shane in a while.

I think it’s more about reducing time between racks rather than speeding up the games themselves. Although the latter may be part of it as well.

I can see how a performance coach could add some valuable analysis. Coaching and sports psychology can be sport agnostic. But I would have expected her to be discussing things like body language and routines and other aspects of psychology. It just seems like she isn’t paying attention or is...

I wish tournaments would track packages like they do breaks in snooker. Players casually say “everyone is running 4 and 5 packs” but when you tune in your rarely see anything more than a 2-3 pack. And then AtLarge posts his stats and the high run for the steaming table is one 6 pack and a...

The best advice I can give Sky is, he just needs to make more balls than the other guy. Specifically, more 9 balls. So if he can do that in the next tournament, he will have a legitimate chance to win it.

I think when you have two ambitious tours/promoters conflict will be inevitable. Matchroom can't easily move or dictate dates because they are limited by Sky Sports broadcasting schedules. On the other hand, CSI is aligning its events with various league championships. Another aspect I...

Even if they could make it 10/10 they couldn't make it 100/100. And 15/20 is a pretty low percentage for pool unless there is a guaranteed reward. Good percentage play means taking as many shots and patterns that you are 90-99% on. As already stated, there is no value to the bank. Its lower...

Absolutely it makes a difference. Just like with 9 ball and 10 ball, the balls open up easier. During the high run attempts it was noted that the players didn’t need to play nearly as many secondary breaks.

I think I read somewhere that the tables are 4.25”. So not as tight as the premiere league. It appears that matchroom is going with tight 4” tables for invitationals and 4.25” for the larger opens and majors.

Yes, they have replays. Sometimes they don’t have the first day up (possibly due to broadcasting issues). So if day 1 disappears after the live broadcast don’t panic yet. In general pool replays on DAZN stay up for about a week after the broadcast.

Correct snooker is more centralized. Even with more global events, the qualifiers for all events are in the UK which basically requires a pro snooker player to uproot and base themselves there. Not all do, but certainly any pro player who doesn’t reside in Europe does. For example, the pro...

How much do top American players, or even pro pool players in general, practice with each other? One thing that struck me about snooker is many of the top players practice with each other regularly and only play for maybe a tenner.

I had a chance to watch the podcast and I do support their aims. I think they have some great ideas, but I just don’t see where they have leverage to enforce the code of conduct or the changes they want to the game. Darren mentions getting the WPA house in order, but I’m not sure how they can...

That’s definitely why we need a proper global pro tour. They’ve assigned rankings to whichever event pays the sanctioning. But ultimately it seems like the top ranked players in the WPA are the ones that travelled to the most events. I’ve never cared much about their rankings because they...