Judd Trump to play U.S. Open.................

Not sure if you saw these two short videos with Joe Magee, but they could give some very, very rough indication of his skill level. It isn't much to go on but my best guess is that he could fall anywhere along the line in the 530-630 fargo range, and probably isn't a short stop. Seems to be having fun with the whole thing though. Also looks like he is fairly local to your old stomping grounds, so one of your buddies back home may know of him and have a better line on his play. Share if you hear more. Or maybe 9andout, who posted the second link and seems to know or at least be familiar with him, will share. Personally I hope he does well in the match.

What a great story. A guy (presumably a very solid amateur pool player) who just wants to pay $750 to play in the US Open, and see what he can do, drawn against a snooker world champion who has been thrown into the mix to promote the tournament. Win-win situation for bar owner and league player Joe Magee.
 
What a great story. A guy (presumably a very solid amateur pool player) who just wants to pay $750 to play in the US Open, and see what he can do, drawn against a snooker world champion who has been thrown into the mix to promote the tournament. Win-win situation for bar owner and league player Joe Magee.

that bar business and it's location would be printed all over my shirt if i were him. sweet to get that exposure, and just by chance too.
 
Not sure if you saw these two short videos with Joe Magee, but they could give some very, very rough indication of his skill level. It isn't much to go on but my best guess is that he could fall anywhere along the line in the 530-630 fargo range, and probably isn't a short stop. Seems to be having fun with the whole thing though. Also looks like he is fairly local to your old stomping grounds, so one of your buddies back home may know of him and have a better line on his play. Share if you hear more. Or maybe 9andout, who posted the second link and seems to know or at least be familiar with him, will share. Personally I hope he does well in the match.

Wow, thanks for sharing that. I completely missed it. He looks super familiar in the video. I searched for pictures from his room McGee's, and I recognized the floor and the tables. I did indeed play there 2 or 3 times, 3 years ago. I was traveling back up to Philly, and my buddy from there took me to McGees and the 4 tables were jumping with action and I got a few games. I think I briefly might have met the owner, but I can't recall if I saw him play.
 
Well, Trump got soooo lucky to draw a low level amateur (no disrespect to Magee - i would probably have played as bad as him if I was on that TV table!).
He made a few horrible mistakes which didn't cost him, but against a pro, that will cost 2, 3 or even 4 frames so I still don't see him beating any pro, but he can definitely scare them .... a little bit ...

His break was really good, it will be amazing if he can carry that on.
He compiled 3 break and runs in 9 breaks (33%) and only 1 dry break.

His touch got really good after a couple frames adjusting, he was able lay out some pretty solid snookers which would have been tough to get out of even for the pros.

As a fan of both pool and snooker, I'm enjoying this soooooo much!! (y) :)
 
Nerves probably had a lot to do with it.
And skill level. Someone who knows him said he's an APA 3 maybe a 4 and he played like it. No disrespect to him. It is what it is. Obviously Judd has skill. He is a world champion after all. That being said, I think a decent short stop drills him. He's too new to 9B. Now, give him a six months to a year and he would probably be a very dangerous rotation player.
 
And skill level. Someone who knows him said he's an APA 3 maybe a 4 and he played like it. No disrespect to him. It is what it is. Obviously Judd has skill. He is a world champion after all. That being said, I think a decent short stop drills him. He's too new to 9B. Now, give him a six months to a year and he would probably be a very dangerous rotation player.
Honestly, I think even an established APA 7 would have looked like a clown out there. Watch the 7s on the APA World Championship streams.

They play like shit on Valleys. Being on the TV table probably reduces your skill level by 25% if you aren’t used to it, and anyone who isn’t at least well into the 600s Fargo Rate is going to look like a joke with that many eyes on them.

Anyway, I’m not disputing his SL. He very well may be a 3. I just thought that setup wise, he looked solid for a 3 but was completely overcome by stage fright.
 
Trump is used to playing under the television lights with 20 million viewers,a half million dollars at stake and what are knowledgeable live fans usually cheering on his opponent.

The point? Judd may have weaknesses in this tournament but one will not be ‘pressure’. Judd is under pressure every snooker match he plays. He could win a half dozen snooker matches, make it to the finals and is still picked apart if he loses.

an aside: Trump likely made some questionable shot choices in today’s match. This isn’t just due to inexperience. He’s known to do this in Snooker. He’s one of those players that beats himself now and then. His skill at the table is only second to Ronnie O’Sullivan but his ‘judgement’ sometimes isn’t that of a top 16 ranked snooker player.
 
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The guy won his second match there is no way he is an APA 3. Some of you guys are unreal lol.
From the US Open update thread:

Screen Shot 2021-09-13 at 6.42.13 PM.png
 
Honestly, I think even an established APA 7 would have looked like a clown out there. Watch the 7s on the APA World Championship streams.

They play like shit on Valleys. Being on the TV table probably reduces your skill level by 25% if you aren’t used to it, and anyone who isn’t at least well into the 600s Fargo Rate is going to look like a joke with that many eyes on them.

Anyway, I’m not disputing his SL. He very well may be a 3. I just thought that setup wise, he looked solid for a 3 but was completely overcome by stage fright.
We had a couple 600s on tv today and they couldn’t string more than a few balls together.

If Joe is an APA 3 player, he is either sandbagging or the greatest APA 3 of all time. My understanding of that rating system may be innacurate but my understanding is that APA 3s are 350-400 players. Joe had some sense of cue ball control and safety play which that level of player generally doesnt. So if he is a 3, he somehow managed to play his best game on TV against one of the greatest cueists of all time and then followed that up with a win on the losers side.
 
We had a couple 600s on tv today and they couldn’t string more than a few balls together.

If Joe is an APA 3 player, he is either sandbagging or the greatest APA 3 of all time. My understanding of that rating system may be innacurate but my understanding is that APA 3s are 350-400 players. Joe had some sense of cue ball control and safety play which that level of player generally doesnt. So if he is a 3, he somehow managed to play his best game on TV against one of the greatest cueists of all time and then followed that up with a win on the losers side.
That's kinda what I was getting at. It's possible Joe is a 3 but generally 3s LOOK like 3s. They are unsteady in their stances, their bridges are wobbly, their pre-shot routines are all over the place (if they exist at all), and they cannot make long shots on a 9' table. Joe had, IIRC, a 3 or 4 ball run that I don't think many 3s would be able to string together on a table with 4.25" pockets. Plus, he just looks more steady than basically any 3 I've ever seen. Again though, anything is possible, and he may play in a super competitive league and would be a 5 in other parts of the country. Or perhaps he played 12 hours a day over the past month and really shored up his game in preparation for the tournament.
 
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