Is the money real or an illusion?

I know that if/when I reach a level where I could compete in another country and make significantly more than I would as an ASP programmer, I will likely travel abroad and try it out for a while to see how it works for me. I doubt it will be north China, but maybe the UK or Germany if I feel I can make a hefty profit while still paying very high taxes.
 
We play eightball. No-one plays nineball.
The rules are unique. Have to pot in the pocket youre going for. Game isn't over till the eight goes in the right pocket otherwise its respotted. You can hit your opponents ball or the eight to pot your ball. Only one shot for a scratch, then its shot from the baulk line. If the remaining balls are behind the baulk line, on the opponents scratch, you can respot one where the eight is racked. Another rule is 'ji-li' in that if a ball is partially blocking a pocket and youre shooting your ball into that pocket, you have to call whether its going to touch the blocking ball or not. If, say, you don't call it and it brushes the blocking ball, then your shot is over and you take the sunk ball out to respot after the other guy has his turn. Theres no tabletime, usually, per hour but the loser pays 'fifty cents' a game.
The chinese guys play each for money at times, using playing cards to play killer pool but usually they don't play for cash. Sometimes, some people do. Most of them won't play me for money. Theyre too wary. Five times I've been asked to play for cash but I don't.
One if I won their money, I wouldnt feel good about it. Its a lot for them but not so much for me. One time I did, I gave it back and two, its just gets too serious too quickly. And three, I would have had my arse kicked that time as he beat me 17-2. He was an uncanny x-men. Thats ok, I got someone 18-1 the other day.
I never know who I'm playing tomorrow as I move around different venues. Usually they pitch me against their best and we have a one to three hour, one on one session thats goes up and down. Lots of guys walk away if they being got the better of and find someone better to replace them. Then I might play multiple guys who want a chance to play a westerner. National pride, I guess.
Another time I dropped a hundred at twenty a game after a couple hours shooting on an outdoor table with about fifty people watching their afternoons entertainment. I actually liked that.
At a thousand dollar pool comp(chinese dollars) there was about three hundred people around the place and it went all day and night. That was a certain kind of pressure being the only westerner there but theyre right friendly to me. Theres more railbirds than crows at a feast. They applauded my defeat.
Cues, well they have pool shops like anywhere else. They seem to be copies. I've had four and one snapped off at the ferrule and two, the shafts bent. They cost me a hundred and eight chinese dollars (twenty five US) each. They're actually pretty good. I just break hard. Yeah, so they are production cues that come up from Shenzen, in the south.
I use an extension handle so I have a three piece cue as I have a large wing span.
Theres no professional players here. Shanghai, Macau, Hong Kong is where the money is. Although that would be in finding your man to match up against I guess.
There are quality players though. Two guys I saw at the thousand dollar comp impressed me..They could play anyone, anywhere
I watch youtube so I see what people are doing on the table around the world...
They do have match ups, like everywhere else I guess. I was shooting pool onetime with the manager,a young guy who said he was the best in the city and this guy comes in. They talk fast and the three of us (the backer, the player and me) get a taxi to another pool hall to play another guy, who I'm pretty sure was from another city. So theres your road player. Theyre playing serious enough money for them. So theres a similar format there.
 
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BlackDragon said:
We play eightball. No-one plays nineball.
The rules are unique. Have to pot in the pocket youre going for. Game isn't over till the eight goes in the right pocket otherwise its respotted. You can hit your opponents ball or the eight to pot your ball. Only one shot for a scratch, then its shot from the baulk line. If the remaining balls are behind the baulk line, on the opponents scratch, you can respot one where the eight is racked. Another rule is 'ji-li' in that if a ball is partially blocking a pocket and youre shooting your ball into that pocket, you have to call whether its going to touch the blocking ball or not. If, say, you don't call it and it brushes the blocking ball, then your shot is over and you take the sunk ball out to respot after the other guy has his turn.
Click to expand...

Interesting. We have a variety of 8-ball rules here. 8-ball happens to be my game of choice when I used to play frequently. The version of 8-ball you play is call shot (not pocket) and 8-ball is neutral.

A strange rule I encountered was if you are shooting on the 8-ball and you don't pocket it, then you lose the game.

What are the table brands that are most popular in the Black River Province area pool rooms? Though Brunswick has a large overseas popularity, I am curious what tables the Chinese players enjoy.

JAM
 
I think the Canadians have the strangest rules in that they may have multiple balls on the table and I'm snookered on the black, if I don't hit the black I lose. Thats perverse. To win a game without potting the black never happens here.
But the strange thing here for me, you can sink the black and white simultaneously and win. Visiting americans flip over that.
All the tables are net pockets. Theres no coin operated tables. I don't know the brands but I 'll look. Brand names don't mean anything here as the chinese copy everything and use the same brand name with a slight change. Like 'Mister Cue' for "Master Cue'. They would all be made in China.
I see Riley cues and I ask the guy how much he paid and he says sixty dollars. Thats eight american dollars so its not really a Riley even though thats the brand name and thats what it looks like.
I bought Bob Byrnes instructional and trick shot vcds here. A vcd I play on my tv and it looks like a compact disc. I'd bet Bob Byrne doesn't know that up in the north of china, his pirated videos, dubbed in chinese are stocked.
The most known 'pool' player from the west is Stephen Hendry.
I see snooker posters all the time and of Jennifer Lee and Jennifer Chen.
No American player has been heard of, apart from Bob Byrne.
The pool players only know some snooker players. O'Sullivan, they say.
They have a computer in one pool hall where I was today. Its as dirty as can be dirty and he's got Bob Byrne on his computer....:cool:
The rules here promote an attacking game. One, because theres never two shots for a foul like they have in the UK or Australia, and they call that World Rules! And two you can be snookered but you can shoot any ball on the table as you can play your opponents ball. Get it done over with.
Do you have a two ball foul in the US? Not, I think.
Sometimes I see guys play, ball in hand anywhere on the table but its not traditional and this is a traditional place.
Yeah, I read you have a pool cue and you draw pretty good.
And macguy. my apologies that this thread went tangential. Bit of a curve ball there...

footnote: the tables are Xing Pai, Lai Li. Most tables have no brand name. The manager said that one table cost five hundred american and the Xing Pai cost two thousand.
 
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JCIN said:
Good questions.

I wonder, if the top guys....Efren, Dennis, Fransico etc. etc....are making MILLIONS, why would all of them travel half way around the world to play something like Derby City where the most they could probably win is 50-75 thousand. Let alone smaller tourneys that pay out 5-10 grand to win.
Click to expand...

Their tie-in incomes depend on them winning prominent tournaments. In Efren's case, he actually collects appearance fees from invitational tournaments (probably depends who is inviting him) and you can't really do that if you got nothing to show, so he goes out and tries to mix-in with the best even if the reward is not that good.

SIDE NOTE: Dennis Orcollo actually came home richer than Efren because of side games.

But yes, there is no million-dollar pool god (maybe accumulative earnings).
 
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