Magic Chalk & ChicagoRJ Review

[KRJ]

So would Willie have run 600 balls if he had used Master Chalk back at that time.......and how many have come even approached that run even with the emergence of LD shafts, MC et al????? Truth is that chalk is chalk when regularly & properly applied ........and 526 would probably still be the number regardless of the chalk Willie used.....and his miscues wouldn't have improved using MC becuz he just didn't miscue.......zero is zero. I suspect MC helps the player that exhibits poor application of chalk but that's about it.

Sorry, post does not make a lot of sense. Why do you still use BD if it does NOT matter, and BD is 10 times the price of Masters ?

If you can explain that one, it might make a lot more sense. just asking.

I mean, you knock a chalk that works as good or better than what your using, and then can't understand why anyone would use premium chalk ? Sorry, that just makes no sense to me.

 

[KRJ]

all i have to say is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQmO2J52FRM

see post #108 w/ pic of 8 AZBers & reviews from March
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=5114112#post5114112

thanks again, RJ!
:happydance:

Well, to be fair, you had a room full of players. Maybe somebody should tell Karen Corr that chalk is just chalk

 

[ExilePreacher]

So would Willie have run 600 balls if he had used Master Chalk back at that time.......and how many have come even approached that run even with the emergence of LD shafts, MC et al????? Truth is that chalk is chalk when regularly & properly applied ........and 526 would probably still be the number regardless of the chalk Willie used.....and his miscues wouldn't have improved using MC becuz he just didn't miscue.......zero is zero. I suspect MC helps the player that exhibits poor application of chalk but that's about it.

Who knows? But I can tell you this, Willie, genius demigod that he was, played straight pool. I love the game, partially cut my teeth on it and would never criticize it or those who play it. But it ain't nine ball. Straight pool, when played correctly does not require the use of spin, follow, or draw that is often necessary in rotation games. So while you might not be quite comparing apples and oranges I do think what you're saying is Granny Smith vs Rome Delicious at best. All chalk is not the same. Masters is horribly inconsistent at times cube to cube. Silver Cup is just crap IMO. Not to mention humidity variations etc. So far I haven't experienced anything negative with Magic, though I admit it's only been one cube. And the stuff is lasting so long and the application has been so uniform without a hole being burrowed out through the middle (because I don't let others use it) that I suspect it'll be awhile before I get to another cube to see if it is consistent but I'm betting it will be good to go. I apply chalk properly, and I still think it helps. Preventing miscues isn't the only reason. Consistent application of spin without slippage is the key. And yes, chalk as well as a properly dressed tip does factor in that. Anyone who thinks differently either hasn't played long enough to discern the difference or is too dull witted to notice.

 

[Ron Swanson]

Sorry Limey it's an American thing, you wouldn't get it. See, over here when someone can back it up we consider bragging as acceptable behavior. Especially if that bragging is backed up with a sizable chunk of change. As Dizzy Dean supposedly said, "It ain't braggin' if you done it." And there are a few forum members here who can attest to the fact that "I done it."

I do wonder though. I play about 70 to 80 percent of my usual ability with the off hand. With my dominant side I'm an A player with occasional A+ days. You Brits seem to worship O'Sullivan and call his ability to shoot with the off hand genius. Why am I such a braggart for being proud of the fact that I can play a solid B to B+ player game doing the same? Oh I know, I'm an American who believes in a product that Swanson likes to ridicule because British blowhard knows there can't be better chalk than green Triangle because the "snewka playas" use it.

Lol.

What?

 

[Colonel]

Sorry Limey it's an American thing, you wouldn't get it. See, over here when someone can back it up we consider bragging as acceptable behavior. Especially if that bragging is backed up with a sizable chunk of change. As Dizzy Dean supposedly said, "It ain't braggin' if you done it." And there are a few forum members here who can attest to the fact that "I done it."



I do wonder though. I play about 70 to 80 percent of my usual ability with the off hand. With my dominant side I'm an A player with occasional A+ days. You Brits seem to worship O'Sullivan and call his ability to shoot with the off hand genius. Why am I such a braggart for being proud of the fact that I can play a solid B to B+ player game doing the same? Oh I know, I'm an American who believes in a product that Swanson likes to ridicule because British blowhard knows there can't be better chalk than green Triangle because the "snewka playas" use it.

Priceless & on point. Greenie for you sir.

 

[KRJ]

The only benefit I can see is a reduced amount of castoff.

Shooting multiple shots without re applying is merely courting disaster. I'd have to use my beads to count my shots, and not balls made.

Actually, I never counted when in a game. I know it can go for dozens of shots. Thus, I just chalk before each game, and play the game without ever chalking. Though, just for kicks I decided to try and go an entire match (6 games) without chalking.

I admit I was a little nervous shooting the 8ball on the 6th game, cause I had to draw the cb to avoid a scratch.... but I made it. I was in mid 40's for shots based on the final score, not counting them. I'm confident I can always play a 6 game match without chalking. Funny, my opponents whisper he never chalks his cue.... so I got them thinking at least

Yes, I know folks think they need to chalk before every shot for their PSR, and still can if they want to. I don't. I personally like the freedom of just shooting, making the ball and already analyzing my next shot, stepping into, and using my practice strokes, pause and pulling the trigger.

Of course, it's even more fun doing drills without chalking. maybe I'm just an odd duck, but I prefer to play than practice, so when I do "have" to practice, I just wanna do my specific drills and not chalk on every single shot ....

But like I always say, use what you like, as long as you're shooting pool. Not every chalk, cue, bridges, etc will fit every person. After all, we don't want to "own" the chalk market, just bringing chalk "From Russia with Love"

 

[ExilePreacher]

Actually, I never counted when in a game. I know it can go for dozens of shots. Thus, I just chalk before each game, and play the game without ever chalking. Though, just for kicks I decided to try and go an entire match (6 games) without chalking.

I admit I was a little nervous shooting the 8ball on the 6th game, cause I had to draw the cb to avoid a scratch.... but I made it. I was in mid 40's for shots based on the final score, not counting them. I'm confident I can always play a 6 game match without chalking. Funny, my opponents whisper he never chalks his cue.... so I got them thinking at least

Yes, I know folks think they need to chalk before every shot for their PSR, and still can if they want to. I don't. I personally like the freedom of just shooting, making the ball and already analyzing my next shot, stepping into, and using my practice strokes, pause and pulling the trigger.

Of course, it's even more fun doing drills without chalking. maybe I'm just an odd duck, but I prefer to play than practice, so when I do "have" to practice, I just wanna do my specific drills and not chalk on every single shot ....

But like I always say, use what you like, as long as you're shooting pool. Not every chalk, cue, bridges, etc will fit every person. After all, we don't want to "own" the chalk market, just bringing chalk "From Russia with Love"

RJ makes a good point that may not have come out in my review. I'm a nervous type who chalks a lot as I've pointed out earlier. But I'm human, pressure affects me just like any other. Bad rolls, a butchered shot I KNOW I should have made, a poor positional error or my my most dreaded nemesis: bad equipment causing errors that aren't my fault. All these can factor in to how I play. Even the opponent getting on a roll or getting lucky can cause a mental lapse on my part. I usually persevere but we all have our bad days and make uncharacteristic mistakes. With Magic Chalk the thing is, let's say I get out of my routine due to some of these things and forget to chalk. So what? I have confidence, based on personal observation of empirical evidence that I can shoot 40 shots without a miscue using more sidespin than I would ever use in a real game. That, by itself, is enough to spend the extra money on a cube of chalk that so far has already lasted longer (with 3/4 still unused) than any piece of Masters I've ever had.

 

[Darkridder]

The chalk is great! I like it more then predator chalk.. Not messy either.

 

[PINKLADY]

maybe this angle will help?

you get what you pay for - there IS a difference in quality.

if you spend $200 for IKEA/RTG, vs $2000 for Thomasville, vs $20,000 for Gamma leather - how often do you want to replace it? how inconvenienced do you want to be? they all look the same (even crap looks good in good lighting!) - but the difference is 6mos to lifetime.

we've all been conditioned to chalking ASAP. (cause we were raaised on crappy chalk which required said.) i even caught myself over-chalking with Russian. it's a habit worth breaking.

perhaps Kamui & other hi-end brands are just as good. i wouldn't know & don't need to look further.

 

[Lynch]

RJ

I received the chalk in the mail last week and have played and used it twice since. For the most part, I've used nothing but Blue Diamond for the last couple years and to be honest, didn't have real high expectations. I've used silver cup, masters, and predator in the past and liked Blue Diamond by far the best. I was pleasantly surprised. I would say I played about 4 hours each session and I thought it was actually similar to Blue Diamond and after a while, didn't even realize I was using anything different. It seems to stay on the tip well and go on easily with a couple swipes. Furthermore, I don't recall any miscues and I had to load up with draw more than a few times. I tend to wash my hands every hour or two (when playing) and it seemed like I had less chalk on my hands than usual, which is a major plus!

I'm curious how much your chalk goes for per cube? Blue Diamond is somewhat expensive and even though I have a stockpile, I'll run out eventually....

Thanks for the free chalk, I really appreciate it!

 

[Bavafongoul]

Using eBay for my chalk purchases.........I paid $3.58 per cube for MC and my normal BD chalk is $1.30 less per cube.($2.28 each).
Of course, BD & MC are both sold in a 2 cube box....the aforementioned pricing for both chalks includes shipping.

Matt B.

 

[KRJ]

RJ

I'm curious how much your chalk goes for per cube? Blue Diamond is somewhat expensive and even though I have a stockpile, I'll run out eventually....

Thanks for the free chalk, I really appreciate it!

It's $8 per box on AZB, Ebay and now available at Seyberts. yeah, it's a little more expensive than BD, but it's also LOT better, as you've seen and as proven by Dr. Dave. In the testing, BD is good chalk, but was barely rated higher than Masters.

So, it's up to anyone to determine if it's worth a little bit more for more chalk staying on the tip much better, chalk staying off your hands, the shaft and your table. Not for everyone, but that is why there are lots of choices out there now. Pick the one best for you

This is just a little "Pop & Son" side business bringing the best chalk to the USA. I'm the national distributor for Magic Chalk, and my teenage son is the one who packs all the orders. We now sell to Seyberts as well :thumbup:


Here are the results of Dr. Dave's test;

The number of shots taken using off-center hits before miscue:

Silver Cup: 7
Master: 8
Master pre-flag: 8
Lava: 9
Blue Diamond: 11
Kamui: 15
Magic Chalk: 29

 

[Lynch]

It's $8 per box on AZB, Ebay and now available at Seyberts. yeah, it's a little more expensive than BD, but it's also LOT better, as you've seen and as proven by Dr. Dave. In the testing, BD is good chalk, but was barely rated higher than Masters.

So, it's up to anyone to determine if it's worth a little bit more for more chalk staying on the tip much better, chalk staying off your hands, the shaft and your table. Not for everyone, but that is why there are lots of choices out there now. Pick the one best for you

This is just a little "Pop & Son" side business bringing the best chalk to the USA. I'm the national distributor for Magic Chalk, and my teenage son is the one who packs all the orders. We now sell to Seyberts as well :thumbup:


Here are the results of Dr. Dave's test;

The number of shots taken using off-center hits before miscue:

Silver Cup: 7
Master: 8
Master pre-flag: 8
Lava: 9
Blue Diamond: 11
Kamui: 15
Magic Chalk: 29

Thanks for the response. It's also nice to see testing results by Dr. Dave. Once again, I really appreciate the couple cubes!

 

[KRJ]

Using eBay for my chalk purchases.........I paid $3.58 per cube for MC and my normal BD chalk is $1.30 less per cube.($2.28 each).
Of course, BD & MC are both sold in a 2 cube box....the aforementioned pricing for both chalks includes shipping.

Matt B.

So, to be fair. You paid a little bit less for your chalk than MC, even though MC is at least 2 times better ? OK, if that's how you roll, that's how you roll Shoot straight !!

 

[SJDinPHX]

Sorry, post does not make a lot of sense. Why do you still use BD if it does NOT matter, and BD is 10 times the price of Masters ?

If you can explain that one, it might make a lot more sense. just asking.

I mean, you knock a chalk that works as good or better than what your using, and then can't understand why anyone would use premium chalk ? Sorry, that just makes no sense to me.

Chi-man...I understand your passion, but all this 'chalk' talk, is just getting me too excited !..Gotta watch the old ticker, ya know !..Cant we change the subject to CTE, or TOI..something a little less dramatic ? Or maybe, "What wrap should I use"? ..Thats always a thriller ! :boring2: :boring2: :boring2:

PS..Or we could always do some, martial arts, or yoga, or zen !...Those are sure-fire nail bitter's !

 

[Celophanewrap]

A while back because of all the hype here I found some and bought about a dozen pair of the Magic Chalk. I didn't care for it. It was OK, but I found that Blue Diamond, Balabushka,NIR Super Professional, or Predator worked far better for me. Perhaps one of the telling effects of cue chalk is climate, or more just personal preference. I find the chalks I mentioned to be a bit more "dusty" than the Magic Chalk, but maybe where I play, where I live, the weather and climate, my stroke, the tip and the cue are all determining factors in the visible qualities that chalk exhibits. If I were to move to slightly more humid climate it could be that Magic Chalk would be the sh!t, or if I were to switch to a harder, single layer tip and a standard maple shaft and if my game were to become more of an aggressive, power game, instead of a positional finesse type of game, and I lived in Illinois, or California, or somewhere closer to ocean level Magic Chalk would be the chalk for me. As it is now, I didn't find it so special, so I still have a few pair sitting on my shelf. Bad investment for me

 

[Ron Swanson]

A while back because of all the hype here I found some and bought about a dozen pair of the Magic Chalk. I didn't care for it. It was OK, but I found that Blue Diamond, Balabushka,NIR Super Professional, or Predator worked far better for me. Perhaps one of the telling effects of cue chalk is climate, or more just personal preference. I find the chalks I mentioned to be a bit more "dusty" than the Magic Chalk, but maybe where I play, where I live, the weather and climate, my stroke, the tip and the cue are all determining factors in the visible qualities that chalk exhibits. If I were to move to slightly more humid climate it could be that Magic Chalk would be the sh!t, or if I were to switch to a harder, single layer tip and a standard maple shaft and if my game were to become more of an aggressive, power game, instead of a positional finesse type of game, and I lived in Illinois, or California, or somewhere closer to ocean level Magic Chalk would be the chalk for me. As it is now, I didn't find it so special, so I still have a few pair sitting on my shelf. Bad investment for me

I would also add fresh chalk always appears more impressive than a cube that is well used. Could be people will feel differently with a few weeks play.

 

[Bavafongoul]

If you have lousy chalking habits, then MC is 2x, 3x, 5x better than any chalk you use because it apparently stays on longer......that's entirely meaningless to me because I chalk the same way....never varies....every other shot I brush BD chalk on my cue tiip.......I did the same thing with the MC I purchased.....no difference whatsoever...none...zilch...zero....nada.....zippo.....BD and MC plays the same when applied frequently.

If you exhibit poor chalking habits or routines, then MC is for you....but if you have a shooting routine and stick to it and incorporate frequent chalking of your cue tip, MC is all hype.....if you chalk every time and apply the chalk correctly,....again, I chalk every other shot.....MC isn't going to do squat for your game.

So far, of my four buddies I gave MC to test, only one has come back saying he likes the chalk, two have said I could have the chalk back and one is still undecided......I'm sticking with BD until something better comes along but so far I haven;t found anything.......and Kamui chalk isn't me......I received a cube as a present and it's sitting in my closet ......the chalk texture sucks.

Matt B.

 

[The Renfro]

A while back because of all the hype here I found some and bought about a dozen pair of the Magic Chalk. I didn't care for it. It was OK, but I found that Blue Diamond, Balabushka,NIR Super Professional, or Predator worked far better for me. Perhaps one of the telling effects of cue chalk is climate, or more just personal preference. I find the chalks I mentioned to be a bit more "dusty" than the Magic Chalk, but maybe where I play, where I live, the weather and climate, my stroke, the tip and the cue are all determining factors in the visible qualities that chalk exhibits. If I were to move to slightly more humid climate it could be that Magic Chalk would be the sh!t, or if I were to switch to a harder, single layer tip and a standard maple shaft and if my game were to become more of an aggressive, power game, instead of a positional finesse type of game, and I lived in Illinois, or California, or somewhere closer to ocean level Magic Chalk would be the chalk for me. As it is now, I didn't find it so special, so I still have a few pair sitting on my shelf. Bad investment for me

The whole humidity issue and the fact that tests were done on different days was the main issue I had with Dr. Dave's testing... MC and Silver Cup were done on a different day than the others... Humidity and other variables will change the friction properties of the chalk, balls, cloth and tip... Without controlling environmental variables I do not think the test results are accurate.

I also have looked at the sound wave forms of the video and while Dave could not detect slippage prior to misscue there were peaks on shots where the ball looked to not take all of the english that should have been imparted that indicate there was some slippage occuring or maybe one side of the tip had a hard spot or glue layer exposed...

Dave later redid the tests again on a different day and MC was down at 17 before misscue... He has rewritten the chalk section on his site several times since the first version and even retested the MC AGAIN after bias was established from having posted results...

I don't think Dave would ever consciously skew the data but I think after the initial results bias sets in. Bias can affect confidence and since stroke quality is also a factor even unconsciously it could have had an effect.. I would love to see someone without bias try the same test and publish the results.....

Based on use and microscopic examinations I am very interested and yes I manufacture and sell the Great White chalk so I do have bias even tho we were not in the test group so I cannot do the tests without skepticism being involved....

I would like to see Silver Cup, Master, Triangle, NIB, LAVA, Blue Diamond, Magic Chalk, NIR, Balabushka, Kamui .98 and Kamui 1.21 and our Great White put thru the paces.... You might even want to do Green Master AND Blue Master and throw in a piece of pre-flag...



Chris

 

[KRJ]

If you have lousy chalking habits, then MC is 2x, 3x, 5x better than any chalk you use because it apparently stays on longer......that's entirely meaningless to me because I chalk the same way....never varies....every other shot I brush BD chalk on my cue tiip.......I did the same thing with the MC I purchased.....no difference whatsoever...none...zilch...zero....nada.....zippo.....BD and MC plays the same when applied frequently.

If you exhibit poor chalking habits or routines, then MC is for you....but if you have a shooting routine and stick to it and incorporate frequent chalking of your cue tip, MC is all hype.....if you chalk every time and apply the chalk correctly,....again, I chalk every other shot.....MC isn't going to do squat for your game.

So far, of my four buddies I gave MC to test, only one has come back saying he likes the chalk, two have said I could have the chalk back and one is still undecided......I'm sticking with BD until something better comes along but so far I haven;t found anything.......and Kamui chalk isn't me......I received a cube as a present and it's sitting in my closet ......the chalk texture sucks.

Matt B.

Because it if was "all hype" why did Magic Chalk so thoroughly destroy BD in a head to head test. So, you pay 10 times the price for BD over Masters, and they are pretty close to the same chalk,

Sorry, that's the truth, can't argue with the testing done by Dr. Dave. BD barely beat Lava chalk... LAVA Chalk !!! Sorry, your using "Master Chalk Plus" at 10 times the price. Enjoy.

MC stays on the tip longer, leaves the cb clean, hands clean, table clean and can handle more English. And beat the snot out of other major brands, including Kamui in using off center shots. But hey, it's not MAGIC, you still gotta make the balls yourself.