Search results

Hi Bob, As a former billiard player myself I can attest that the older generation of (very fine) billiards players could repeatedly go in-off into the middle pocket and play long jennys all night long, but found potting a ball a dark arcane art known only to 'the young-uns'. From your link of...

Yes and it has to be a ball 'not on' thats doing the obstructing. Quite often one red is obstructed by a colour, but is itself obstructing the red ball behind it, which wouldn't otherwise be snookered by the coloured ball, so it's not a free ball.

Not to denigrate a legend, but it was an annual challenge match, like heavyweight boxing, and all his oponents were first and foremost billiards players, just like Joe himself was.

Are you confusing him with Hendry The Eighth?

I'll leave it to Fatboy to regale you all with how imperious the BBC coverage has been as usual.

Can't see Ronnie missing from here.

No you dont' play the miss rule unless it's an obvious deliberate miss. It was introduced to the professional game because the pros are so good they can slyly 'just' miss and avoid selling the farm. It adds a penalty in all instances, though it is sometimes cruel it's a necessary evil at that...

Yes if you're snookered after a foul stroke you have the option of nominating a free ball, which counts the same as the ball 'on' for the purposes of that stroke. Judd could also have elected to have the balls replaced, (no chance in this instance), or to make Ronnie play out from where the...

It's shaved now and hardly a factor anymore. Playing a red slowly against the nap to curve around the pink into the middle pocket on a freshly ironed table used to be a thing of beauty. It's actually an English Billiards table tricked up for snooker, and billiards isn't half the game when...

Wow I can breathe again.

Have to admit I wanted Trump to win, but Mark Williams has been magnificent.

What a fantastic shot-to-nothing. Just at the right time. I've no fingernails left.

Can't say it isn't entertaining.

No it was lack of foresight. The first thing I was ever taught was "They only go where you hit them". You might not know why or how you hit them there, but that's not bad luck. The laws of physics hold true in any venue.

All balls 'on' are potable in any stroke. That's why you can pot any number of reds when reds are 'on' and score them all, and why you can pot both the nominated (free) ball and the snookered ball 'on' in a stroke, as they are both 'on'. Potting any ball that is not 'on' in a stroke is always...

I stand corrected - I just came across this: Doug Mountjoy did it too. This is the shot I fluked, but I got my white somewhere behind the green, so it was arguably better. If it was 1977 though, Doug did it first. Boro Nut

I once played the perfect break in a youth league match. I inadvertently hit the extreme edge of the pack causing the corner red to travel straight up to the top cushion and back into its original position. The red on the opposite corner of the pack went straight across to the side cushion and...

The trick is knowing that all balls 'on' (ie the snookered ball(s) and the nominated free ball) are all legally potable, so both can be potted in the same stroke, though your first impact must always be on the nominated free ball or else it's a foul. So you can't nominate yellow and hit the red...

This thread deserves 627 replies.

Logically, about half as long as a piece of string. Boro Nut