Search results

I know the BigFoot 10-Ball Challenge is popular with many Derby attendees and viewers. But is it really worth 40% (4-days) of the Accu-Stats Arena table and live-streaming time? And, how much is it really in demand? It’s limited to 16 players, doesn’t count towards Master of the Table, and...

This is a quirky little stat, but it caught my eye. This year at the DCC, Fedor Gorst won five matches in a row — on the Accu-Stats TV table, and only counting that one table — by a margin of 3 - 0. He beat SVB, Sky, Sky, Scott, and … well, I don’t remember who the fifth victim was. (He also...

Fedor Gorst is an easy player to like, to root for. And, I do. Yesterday, at the DCC, was a particularly rewarding time for his fans who were streaming the event. In the Accu-Stats Arena, Fedor defeated: > SVB in Banks 3 - 0. > Sky in One-Pocket 3 - 0. > Sky in Banks 3 - 0. Then, just a...

To a young pro from Nantucket Each pocket looked big as a bucket. The Ayatollah of One-Hola Easily won the gorgonzola 'Cause when he stroked it, he stuck it.

Make it the coolest that I’ve ever seen. How? Focus. Focus on the TV table. Live-streaming has come so far over the past few years. Quality, reliability, availability. But too often, the TV table sits empty; or hosts players some of us have little interest in watching. The streamers and...

I invested in the 50th anniversary Texas Open stream to catch the one-pocket action. But while I was channel-surfing, I came across the finals of the Scotch doubles. Sky Woodward and Billy Thorpe each had a talented female partner. But I found myself rooting for Sky’s gal, a petite gamin who...

How about including that most basic of pool-streaming services — showing the ball count for each game? The video quality is good, the commentators are blue-ribbon. (Although they could benefit from describing the action in front of them rather than talking through it.) Another question — why...

New Yorkers learn that mantra in the crib; perhaps in the womb. So, I met this cue-maker at a social event. We got to talking and he ended up discounting a never-used cue by 20%. Back story: he had custom-made it for a left-player who had fallen on hard times. I’m right-handed — hence the...

Boy, has live-streaming (pool-edition) come a long way. Concomitant with video improvements, there has been an uptick in the quality of commentary. Dr. Billy was an early articulator of the action, personalities, history, and prophetic shot-by-shot evaluations. Like him or loathe him (place me...

Okay, my first DCC. Coming from a non-professional tournament-observer’s perspective … the event was simply astounding. For the first time, I got to see Efren, Gorst, Filler, T-Rex, SVB, Shaw, Alex, and so many others — in-person, in-action. Even though my visit was truncated at both ends...

When Efren began his graceful glide into retirement, my favorite one-pocket player to watch became T-Rex. Now, Alex has a more outgoing personality, and many believe he’s a better player; perhaps the best. But for sheer shot-delight … give me Tony. Dennis has amazing skills, but his...

You’ll probably want to expedite your order: https://www.bugatti.com/lifestyle/ixo-pool-table/ Sunny

He’s making a list. He’s checking it twice. LV has a line of pool tables that look pretty sporty: https://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/magazine/articles/billiards-2020#the-selection Sunny

So Alex is spotting T-Rex 9-to-8 in a one-pocket match — a four-day race to 36 games. With what appears to be a consequential amount of spondulicks in the middle. My guess — with zero empirical evidence to back it up — is that a 10-to-9 race would tilt the odds a little in the favor of the...

Chess grandmaster Savielly Tartakower once said, “The winner is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.” Wonder if that would apply to one-pocket? Sunny

I’m revisiting a terrific book — Addie Pray by Joe David Brown. It’s about scufflers and hustlers looking for, and finding, creative ways to separate folks from their money. While it’s not specifically about pool, it’s a fascinating glimpse into the hardscrabble life that prevailed back in the...

Intriguing look at the life and times of Walter Tevis: https://www.theringer.com/tv/2020/11/9/21555790/the-queens-gambit-netflix-book-walter-tevis Stay safe and stay smart, Sunny

Granted, the new Netflix series — “The Queen’s Gambit” — is about chess, not pool. But, based on a Tevis novel, ‘Gambit’ shows that there are parallels between the two sports. Sharking and barking. Strategy and stamina. Experience v. natural talent. Booze and other drugs. Mentors and rivals...

You can still lick the jar, right?” So sayeth the luminous Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as she twits Paul Newman in “The Color of Money”. (My mom and I caught it last night on Amazon Prime.) Mi madre reminded me that this was the second Newman film with that same disparaging observation. In...

Like a lot of folks these days, I have more free time than usual. In fact, I’m quarantined at my parents’ home in NYC with my mother, father, and one older brother. I watched some of the Quarantine 10-Ball Match between Filler and James Aranas. What a spanking! When Filler hits a certain gear...