Best book?

play your best 9 ball is one of my all time favorites. play your best pool is probably the best all around book though.

Wait no i take it back. the pro book and the pro book advanced are the best books out there. lots of material in there on the mental game, goal setting and a few really helpful drill on key shots that are staples in any players bag of tricks
 
Instructional: One of the Play Your Best series by Phil Cappelle.

Non-instructional: I just read Running the Table and thought it was excellent. Pool Wars is a fantastic read as well. I'm reading Playing Off the Rail right now and it's very good too. Sorry, but I just can't pick one from there.
 
Break8Run9 said:
If you had to choose one book about pool which one would it be?
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For one book, and one book only, the clear winner is:

"Mastering Pool" by George Fels. His first and best all round.

The works of Bob Byrne, Ray Martin, and many others are contenders.

Bob Jewett has enough xlnt info - but I don't think it has ever been glued
together into book form.

Dale<so many books, so little time>
 
You can pick up all sorts of information on the web - for free.

What you buy depends on what you play.
Straight pool books and 9-ball books are different beasts.

When I buy an instructional manual - for say computers - I look for the one that has a solution or explanation for something I have not been able to find elsewhere. It is amazing how many purportedly useful manuals will flunk this test. Of course, to do this, I have to visit an actual store or library.:D

The other approach is to get four books on the topic. Anything any three of them agree on is probably right. :D

To put it another way, just about any book you buy will be deficienct in some way - explanation, omissions, graphics.

Wille Mosconi on Pocket Billiards
Banking with the Beard - Freddy Benivegna
Anything written by Phil Capelle

All these recommendations are based on a limited collection:D
But so are those of other posters :D
 
Best book

All the 'Play your Best' books are great. So are Bob Byrne's 'Standard Books of Pool and Billiards'. My favorite was always was George Fels' 'Mastering Pool' for advanced players. If I've got to pick one, though, it's 'Winning One Pocket'.
 
best book

Just my opinion on some books.

1 Very difficult to find, but Hal Mix's Pocket Billiards Secrets is one of the best ever. Especially to those who already have some experience. A+++
2 Bob Henning's Pro Book Series are well written with a good outlined training program and good mental analysis. A+++
3 Phil Capelle's series of books are well diagramed and easy to read and understand. Excellent for beginners. A++
4 All of Bob Byrnes stuff is well written and diagramed. Excellent for beginners. A++
5 Also very difficult to find are the Johnny Holiday books. Probably the first instructional books written with specific "how to's" for position play. The Red Book, Position Play for Pocket Billiards and the Encyclopedia of Pocket Billiards are A++.
6 George Fel's Mastering Pool is a must have for any rising pool player. A++
7 The Monk's Point the Way is very insightful, but best suited for player's who are already above fundamental stages. A++
8 Billie Billing's Pool Pointers is highly underrated. Well written with good diagrams. Very good for beginners, too. A++
9 The Willie Mosconi books should be in every pool player's library. A+
10 The instruction in all three major billiard magazines, Billiard Digest, Pool & Billiards, Inside Pool, is invaluable and priceless. A+

Any book is worth the read.
 
topcat1953 said:
Just my opinion on some books.

1 Very difficult to find, but Hal Mix's Pocket Billiards Secrets is one of the best ever. Especially to those who already have some experience. A+++
2 Bob Henning's Pro Book Series are well written with a good outlined training program and good mental analysis. A+++
3 Phil Capelle's series of books are well diagramed and easy to read and understand. Excellent for beginners. A++
4 All of Bob Byrnes stuff is well written and diagramed. Excellent for beginners. A++
5 Also very difficult to find are the Johnny Holiday books. Probably the first instructional books written with specific "how to's" for position play. The Red Book, Position Play for Pocket Billiards and the Encyclopedia of Pocket Billiards are A++.
6 George Fel's Mastering Pool is a must have for any rising pool player. A++
7 The Monk's Point the Way is very insightful, but best suited for player's who are already above fundamental stages. A++
8 Billie Billing's Pool Pointers is highly underrated. Well written with good diagrams. Very good for beginners, too. A++
9 The Willie Mosconi books should be in every pool player's library. A+
10 The instruction in all three major billiard magazines, Billiard Digest, Pool & Billiards, Inside Pool, is invaluable and priceless. A+

Any book is worth the read.
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I agree with all of these books I would add Jack White Come Let us to billiards away, hard to find but very good especially on the visualization section. Another book I would suggest is by Jon Denn Fundamental Guide to playing pool this book is written at a very basic level most pages are more illustration than text but this has a lot of information and is easily understood. The Wagon wheel system is good if you can find it. Of course the Eddy Robins books but they are expensive and specialized. I will finish with the 99 critical shots by Cool Cat Ray Martin. I have alot of books and these are all good. I will finish with no book will make you play better you have to read and practice what you learn to make it your own.
 
Depends what you want from a book.

Pleasure's of Small Motions is a good book.

I havent got many pool related books though.
 
I write books about pool, but I make sure to tell everybody that I come in contact with that The 99 Critical Shots in Pool by Ray Martin and Rosser Reeves is all that you need.
 
topcat1953 said:
Just my opinion on some books.

1 Very difficult to find, but Hal Mix's Pocket Billiards Secrets is one of the best ever. Especially to those who already have some experience. A+++
2 Bob Henning's Pro Book Series are well written with a good outlined training program and good mental analysis. A+++
3 Phil Capelle's series of books are well diagramed and easy to read and understand. Excellent for beginners. A++
4 All of Bob Byrnes stuff is well written and diagramed. Excellent for beginners. A++
5 Also very difficult to find are the Johnny Holiday books. Probably the first instructional books written with specific "how to's" for position play. The Red Book, Position Play for Pocket Billiards and the Encyclopedia of Pocket Billiards are A++.
6 George Fel's Mastering Pool is a must have for any rising pool player. A++
7 The Monk's Point the Way is very insightful, but best suited for player's who are already above fundamental stages. A++
8 Billie Billing's Pool Pointers is highly underrated. Well written with good diagrams. Very good for beginners, too. A++
9 The Willie Mosconi books should be in every pool player's library. A+
10 The instruction in all three major billiard magazines, Billiard Digest, Pool & Billiards, Inside Pool, is invaluable and priceless. A+

Any book is worth the read.
Click to expand...

Tap tap tap.
#1 Hal Mix's is a excellent book. I will never let that book get out of my collection. Byren's books are also good info.

As far as non-fiction Kid Delicious's book was ok and I am waiting to read playing off the rail. The next one I buy will be pool wars, I'm really looking forward to that one.

As far as specialty books, Banking with the beard is AWESOME. Good solid info, some great stories and a nice flow to the book. This book along with Ray Martins 99 critical shots is a must have for any serious student of the game.
 
Again depends on the topic, and I am suprised it wasn't mentioned here, but 8 ball bible for that topic is the best I have seen.
 
Mastering Pool by George Fels. Head and shoulders over the rest. Pleasures of Small Motions is the worst, in my opinion.
 
Robert Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards and his follow up Byrne's Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards are both my favorites. I bought them around 20 years ago and still enjoy reading them. He spends a lot of time on 3 cushion billiards, too, but most of that is worth reading for a few tips that translate to pool. Very entertaining, easy to understand diagrams and a great read.:thumbup:
 
The "Play Your best Books" are very good, but my current favorite is: Precision Pool (2nd edition), by Gerry Kanov.
 
jay helfert said:
I recommend Pool Wars if you want to play better, get games and go broke! :D
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Guess I have no reading comprehension.....
...haven't gone broke yet...did I miss a chapter?

I loved the book anyway and highly recommend it
 
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