Roland Aravena

SirBanksALot

NoMakeANoBallANoMoreA
Silver Member
I was given a copy of an old 14.1 instructional tape that featured Roland Aravena (sp?). Who is he and where is he from?

It was actually a good tape with some nice basic info.
 

marknyc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
SirBanksALot said:
I was given a copy of an old 14.1 instructional tape that featured Roland Aravena (sp?). Who is he and where is he from?

It was actually a good tape with some nice basic info.


Rolando lives in upstate New York and works part-time on the weekends at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC. He gives lessons, performs cue repairs, etc., and is an all around great guy. He has definitely helped in improving my game, as well as, providing lots of background and history on the game of billiards.

I addition to being an exceptional teacher, he is also a very good player. You may have also heard his name from some of the Accu-Stats 14.1 videos - he served as one of the primary referees for the past two U.S. Open 14.1 Championships.
 

SirBanksALot

NoMakeANoBallANoMoreA
Silver Member
Thanks!!

marknyc said:
Rolando lives in upstate New York and works part-time on the weekends at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC. He gives lessons, performs cue repairs, etc., and is an all around great guy. He has definitely helped in improving my game, as well as, providing lots of background and history on the game of billiards.

I addition to being an exceptional teacher, he is also a very good player. You may have also heard his name from some of the Accu-Stats 14.1 videos - he served as one of the primary referees for the past two U.S. Open 14.1 Championships.

He certainly looks like he's a good player and seems like a nice guy. That tape has some good info on but it looks like a home tape copy. I'll take it down to my friendly computer nerd video guy and see if he can clean it up and put it on DVD for me.

Thanks for the info Mark.

Keith
 

dmgwalsh

Straight Pool Fanatic
Silver Member
Rolando Aravena

SirBanksALot said:
He certainly looks like he's a good player and seems like a nice guy. That tape has some good info on but it looks like a home tape copy. I'll take it down to my friendly computer nerd video guy and see if he can clean it up and put it on DVD for me.

Thanks for the info Mark.

Keith

Rolando gave me a copy of that vhs and I converted it to dvd. Didn't change the quality, though.

He qualified for and played in the 2006 world championship 14.1 last year.

he was mentioned in a Billiards Digest article a while ago as the instructor of a young man that had some learning disorders but through pool was getting better at many things.

He may have been the ref in the match between Schmidt and Sigel where Sigel broke his cue.
 

Williebetmore

Member, .25% Club
Silver Member
I meet Rolando last year when he visited a professional player friend of his here in Indy. He was extremely nice, and was more than willing to share some of his experiences in straight pool. He was very interested in the make-up and handicapping system of our straight pool league. You can see him refereeing on a host of Accu-Stats 14.1 tapes.

I believe sjm has played 14.1 with him, perhaps he will weigh in on the subject.
 

SirBanksALot

NoMakeANoBallANoMoreA
Silver Member
Interesting Statement From Rolando -

He said in the early part of that video that the AVERAGE RUN in many top level tournaments in only 7 (maybe he said 17) balls.

Is that correct?
 

Vahe

Registered
Rolando

Williebetmore said:
I meet Rolando last year when he visited a professional player friend of his here in Indy. He was extremely nice, and was more than willing to share some of his experiences in straight pool. He was very interested in the make-up and handicapping system of our straight pool league. You can see him refereeing on a host of Accu-Stats 14.1 tapes.

I believe sjm has played 14.1 with him, perhaps he will weigh in on the subject.


It doesn't surprise me that Rolando would show an interest in make-up and handicapping systems of other leagues. He was, until he moved to the Saratoga Springs area of upstate New York, the league director for Amsterdam Billiards' 8-ball, 9-ball, and 14.1 leagues at their original location on the west side.

He didn't just set up matches and record results, Rolando would take a keen interest in watching matches from a distance during league nights. Although he had a "formula" for maintaining handicaps he was cautious or new and seasoned league players and would "observe" and adjust handicaps often.

SJM, Steve Lipsky, and possibly Tony Robles, and Ginky, may have played Rolando at some point during the many years he was with Amsterdam.

Last i spoke to him he was concentrating on making cues and honing his skills in that regard.

He is/was also considered on of the top cue mechanics in NY.
 

Steve Lipsky

On quest for perfect 14.1
Silver Member
SirBanksALot said:
He said in the early part of that video that the AVERAGE RUN in many top level tournaments in only 7 (maybe he said 17) balls.

Is that correct?

14.1 average runs are not very meaningful in my opinion. They are based on innings, which, of course, are not always offensive. If you get into just a couple safe battles with your opponent, even an otherwise well-played game will have an average run somewhere below 10.

Thorsten blew the statistic out of the water when he finished a tournament with a grand average run (of all his games put together) around 50! To put that into perspective, in the older days, people could win tournaments with a grand average around 15, I think.

I think the average run stat in 14.1 would make a whole lot more sense if innings consisting entirely of a safe were discounted from the denominator.

- Steve
 

howaboutnever

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
rolando...the soul of amsterdam

...I think he's the main reason alot of people look foward to going to
amsterdam at all....he's their great treasure.
 

justnum

Billiards Improvement Research Projects Associate
Silver Member
From Rolondo Aravena's philosophical approach to billiard instructions I was able to place well in his straight pool league. Gotta pay attention to the details if your going to catch everything he is saying, and having a solid foundation in knowledge helps.

I oughtta get back to that league but you know how work can get, I do not want to burn out by doing to much this season.
 

Gerry

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Steve Lipsky said:
I think the average run stat in 14.1 would make a whole lot more sense if innings consisting entirely of a safe were discounted from the denominator.

- Steve


I couldn't agree more Steve! safety innings should be throw aways when computing BPI. An inning should only count if you pocket a ball, no safeties, no breaks, no intentional called safe and pocket a ball.......just when you are trying to score points!

Gerry
 
Top