An artistic billiards competition

[Bob Jewett]

Here is a final match at Artistic Billiards which is a form of carom billiards that has been around for about 100 years as an organized competition. You will see some shots that look impossible. The balls and table are not doctored (although they may need a doctor after these shots ).

Some of the shots have no cushion required. Some require all balls to end up in a quarter-circle. Some require more than three cushions.

Among the shots are some piqués.

In the competition, both players try the same shots. Each gets three tries with varying points according to the difficulty of the shots. Misses are not counted against except as a tiebreaker, I think. Only the good shots are shown in this video with the exception of one shot that's within a mm of scoring.

 

[Tennesseejoe]

Thanks for sharing....awesome and complicated.

 

[Sealegs50]

Very good. Thanks for the link.

 

[pt109]

Thanx, Bob....the sound of a power spin shot is beautiful music.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Bob,

Just amazing.......makes me feel like a newbie and I’ve played 3 cushion for well over 50 years.

Thanks......a real treat to view.


Matt B.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Among the shots are some piqués.

And at least one fouetté...

But what the hell kind of ferrule is this?

pj
chgo

 

[Bob Jewett]

And at least one fouetté...

But what the hell kind of ferrule is this?...]

The masse cue ferrule I saw looked like metal.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

The masse cue ferrule I saw looked like metal.

This one looks like clear plastic on a short tenon.

pj
chgo

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Those kissback shots blow my mind - do they have the least aiming margin of error?

pj
chgo

 

[Bob Jewett]

Those kissback shots blow my mind - do they have the least aiming margin of error?

pj
chgo

Usually those shots are played with lots of spin which tends to correct the path.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Here is a booklet about the Artistic competition. It has changed some so the current shot catalog has 100 shots and a match between two players consists of only part of the shots.

http://www.sfbilliards.com/Misc/ArtisticBilliards1987.pdf

 

[erriep]

This one looks like clear plastic on a short tenon.

pj

that's indeed a Lexan/polycarbonat ferrule

 

[erriep]

Here is a final match at Artistic Billiards which is a form of carom billiards that has been around for about 100 years as an organized competition. You will see some shots that look impossible. The balls and table are not doctored (although they may need a doctor after these shots ).

Some of the shots have no cushion required. Some require all balls to end up in a quarter-circle. Some require more than three cushions.

Among the shots are some piqués.

In the competition, both players try the same shots. Each gets three tries with varying points according to the difficulty of the shots. Misses are not counted against except as a tiebreaker, I think. Only the good shots are shown in this video with the exception of one shot that's within a mm of scoring.

Bob, for the record , in this vid the -1st- referee , Patrice aka "Pat' , is Hector's close friend, one of his masters in the learning path of the game, and , of course, one of his favorite "sparring partner" .
(The 2d referee in the vid is Fabrice , Pat and him are members of the same billard club, in Marseille, France . Hectors lives around Marseille too)
nota : when it comes to play 3 cushions, Jean Reverchon isn't a newbie , his general & annual average being around 1.4 ...

 

[Clusterbuster]

Very impressive. I have to say I like this better than the typical (American?) artistic pool competitions where they end up using props like cue sticks, racks, pill bottles, etc. It just gets to gimmicky for me although, I’ll admit, I gotta love a good boot shot. This is really cool.

 

[CanadianGuy]

well yeah the difference between truly tough stroke shots and gimmicky set up trick shots

I've seen a ton of American and Canadian pro players do exhibitions and only Earl ever incorporated tough stroke shots

 

[Bob Jewett]

well yeah the difference between truly tough stroke shots and gimmicky set up trick shots

I've seen a ton of American and Canadian pro players do exhibitions and only Earl ever incorporated tough stroke shots

Mike Massey routinely shot stroke shots in exhibitions that very few other pro players would attempt.

 

[pt109]

well yeah the difference between truly tough stroke shots and gimmicky set up trick shots

I've seen a ton of American and Canadian pro players do exhibitions and only Earl ever incorporated tough stroke shots

Mike Massey routinely shot stroke shots in exhibitions that very few other pro players would attempt.

Cowboy Jimmy Moore probably shot more skill shots than the rest of them put together.

 

[alphadog]

Cowboy Jimmy Moore probably shot more skill shots than the rest of them put together.

Starting to sound like poolroom talk

He did have a hell of a stroke.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

well yeah the difference between truly tough stroke shots and gimmicky set up trick shots

I've seen a ton of American and Canadian pro players do exhibitions and only Earl ever incorporated tough stroke shots

But you ain’t seen too many South American or European ones tho

 

[briankenobi]

Artistic Billiards is fun to watch. Some of our shots are derived from this. I believe there are times where silicone is applied to the cue ball but I don't have the program to see. I saw an artistic billiards demo at the SBE years back and the first thing the guy did was spray silicone on a towel and wipe the cue ball. Silicone or not, it is still very impressive.