i was talking to thorston in the hall of the ventian, while smoking my cigar, and we wer'e talking about if straight pool helped his 8-ball game, and he replied, "not really,8-ball is a different game" he went on to say something that shocked me, he said~~~~"8-ball is much more difficult than straight pool" this i found fascinatating!! coming from the horses mouth,he said "there is so much more involved with 8-ball, so much more that can go wrong, rather than right,for instance the break alone, could be a disaster" i said hmm, interesting, i figured he would say straight pool helped him a lot with 8-ball,and that straight pool would be more challenging and more difficult, but no, it didn't help him with 8-ball, and 8-ball he said is more difficult to him. i found that insightful and interesting, hope you did as well,Bernie Friend IPT player 2006. p.s. that conversation took place, while he was in the last 32 or so players. i personally pegged him to win it all, once i saw he was in the last 32, he's too damn strong! i said to myself.