1993 Straight pool
- Thread starter pwd72s
- Start date
Badpenguin
Well-known member
What sort of black magic is going on with the cue ball on Zuglan's shot at the one ball at 00:01:18?
video warping, just as it does a few times at the beginning of the tape
it was tape in those days
Yes, I remember buying the tapes back in the early 90s. Mike Zuglan had such a great stroke- just watch his cue tip come straight down to the cloth on so many shots, with total speed control, timing, and rhythm. From the late 80s to the mid 90s, prior to Mike having to devote so much more time to his Joss pool tour, I see Mike as easily being in the top 10 U.S. born 14.1 players for about an 8 year period.
Matches played on the old Gandy huge pocket tables- sooo different than today's Diamond Pro Cuts. being at the American 14.1 this year I still marvel at how the pros run so many balls on those Diamonds- the precision required is way beyond the old Gandy set ups.
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Does anyone have any information as far as results from this event? I was not able to find anything in National Billiard News.
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He put some voodoo on that cue ball!
I am watching this match, and from what I see I can agree with you on mr. Zuglan's stroke. It really is beautiful.
The same can not be said about Grady Mathews' stroke. I know he is a hall-of-famer and a legend, has a lot of admirers and I mean no disrespect but damn, that pokey wobbly stroke of his --- it's stunning to me that he got where he got as a pool pro.
Just look at this stun shot at the 9:45 mark. A lot of luck and all the help from the generous Gandy pocket was needed here.
From what I can tell, that was a round-robin event involving both 9-Ball and 14.1. But I'm not sure how many players they had (9?) or how they finished. I looked in both Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest and didn't find anything.
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When you read Mark Wilson's Play Great Pool, he talks about how there are some very, very good pool players who achieved success with much less than ideal pool mechanics simply because their time on the table- pocketing millions of balls overcame their stroke deficiencies.
You see this less today, the pool training and videos available, as well as video feedback, help beginners achieve more ideal stroke mechanics right from the start.
Zuglan was one of those rare players who's began back in the 1960s and got the stroke stuff down correctly early in his pool career- guys like Mizerak, Hall, Varner, Sigel are other examples. However, Alan Hopkins would be an example of a guy with a much less than ideal looking stroke, yet, at times, he could be successful against top competition.
The guys who became successful with poor looking stroke mechanics all have a few things in common- at the moment their cue strikes the cue ball they are totally focused and are able to get that cue tip through the cue ball in such a way so that they achieve their desired cue ball speed and cue ball position.
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At TIMES Hopkins could be successful? There was a period where he was #1 at everything...and #1 gambler. He was a legit monster for decades and multiple hall of famer. Just saying. His name lies right up there with the best of the best.
I know- it was an understatement! He was the man to beat during a period.
Thanks for looking. As I am adding these videos to the AzB database, I am trying to also add the events with payouts. Guess this was just a small niche event.
I have a great Hopkins story.
When he was starting to become number 1, and had a world championship or so under his belt - maybe late 70s, he came through Richmond and played a local legend Bobby Beaston (RIP). Now, Bobby was a grump old man when I knew him...retired truck driver...cared nothing about pool unless he could make money but was a legitimate pool savant. One of those guys where you say, well, that's not fair. I'll give you an example.
We had the American Straight Pool Championship come through one year. I said to Bobby, you should play. Bobby was in his 70s at this time. On the tightest 9 ft diamond we had he is grumbling as he sets up a break shot and runs like a 70 something. I'd NEVER seen him play straight pool before or after. He said, Ughhh...I'm terrible at straight pool. Well, not that the pros were setting up break shots and the circumstances were certainly different in the tournament - but I was in that tournament and watched the entire thing, and no pro ran over 50 on that table and Darren Appleton won it with Karen Corr coming in second. So, how does this relate to Allen Hopkins? I'll tell you.
So, Allen Hopkins was still able to get out and hustle even after some initial big wins in the late 70s/early 80s. He was the man to beat, as you said. He still had a beard back then and was a kid basically. He came through Richmond and not everyone knew who he was. Someone who apparently did, called Bobby trying to set him and whomever else up and bet against Bobby with whomever would. Bobby was home from driving his truck and available to come out. They started at $300 a game one pocket, which was a super healthy bet for 1980. This was no hustle this was....who is your best guy, let's bet it up. Bobby (who played beautiful, and I dare say world class one pocket until he passed into the next life) started strong and had the world champ stuck 7 games....the guy who was trying to set him up was panicking...so he came up and whispered to Bobby, do you know you're playing the world champ?? This worked and rattled Bobby, and Allen won the next seven in a row and quit (he could find easier action at $300 a game). (This is how I remember the story being told, but if a Richmonder remembers better feel free to correct me).
I like thinking about that because I loved watching Bobby play, and he was in his 70s when I knew him. He was fussy and grumbly...and sincere when he said he hated pool....it was just a way to make money for him...but when he played, he was a maestro. He could never get a big game where he wasn't giving up the world, or it was some young world beater who wanted to play him even. He knew his limitations. He was old, so young bulls, new to the game, would play him eagerly every day - even and cheap ($5 to whatever Bobby could convince them to bet)...and they learned a lot playing Bobby, who I believe was on a pension, and he was still clearing maybe a few hundred a day playing pool, plus his tab (and he loved to drink the giant BEERS).
I remember people would come in with these expensive cues (like me HAHA), and Predator shafts, etc, etc...and Bobby ALWAYS had a super cheap, under $100 cue and would beat the brakes off everyone. He'd snarl and say, that don't make you play better...you don't need that. I remember just how beautiful his cue ball was. IT was ALWAYS on a string, and he almost ALWAYS used a ton of english on every shot. Like he had it on a remote control. He held the cue SO LIGHTLY with his fingertips on every shot, and his timing as he got through the cue ball was lovely. The only thing he cared about on his cue was having a tip he liked (and I don't know what kind he preferred, probably just a lepro)...and having the shaft smooth. He was chubby and I remember those chubby fingers making a closed bridge. I think he did have his shaft kind of skinny because he liked using a closed bridge.
As I type this I vaguely remember one decent game of his. Shuff was the house pro there at that time, and while in town he gave Bobby 8-7. Bobby beat him, it seemed, pretty easily with this game...maybe 3 games, and Brandon pulled up. Maybe it was 9-7, but I think it was 8-7. And we know how fantastic Shuff is at one pocket (and every game). I asked Bobby after, do you need a spot from Shuff at one pocket? He kind of smiled (which wasn't often) and said, He's the Mosconi cup champion...I can't play him even. RIP Bobby.
I'll share one more story. I knew an old time who lived in KY and hung out at Varner's dad's pool hall in those days (late 70s/early 80s). He said that he specifically remembered when Allen was number one, and Nick's father - Mr. Varner said, "Well, he knows he has an open invitation to come play Nicky some $20K pool anytime he's ready." He said, there was absolutely no animosity between the two of them, but it shows you the ego and confidence it requires to be the best in the world. I don't think that match ever took place.
Well, in 1990 at West End Billiards in Elizabeth NJ which I think was Allen's home room at the time, he, Varner, Sigel, and Jimmy Fusco from Philly played for SIX straight days/nights at one pocket, 9 ball and 14.1 for $10K ! I believe that Allen won that event. I attended one night as I was in NJ for business that week. It was billed as the All Around Shoot Out- I still have my original program book from the event- see attached.
Wow - I wish I had seen that! Am I wrong in thinking that FUSCO was a few balls under the rest, at least? In 90...Varner was on the craziest 9 ball streak of winning. He won like 14 majors in one year and won the US OPEN in 89 and 90... so I like him for 9 ball. Sigel, almost right there with Nick for 9 ball, and the best of that group for straight pool, and Hopkins for one pocket (with Nick trailing closely at that time). I could see Allen being a legit threat in the other events as well if the odds on favorites didn't perform...so yeah...I can see that!
Fusco best game was one pocket, then 9 ball, then 14.1. On a given day he could play any of the three very well indeed. I wish that I could have stayed all 6 nights!