Pics of the "Fatboy" Rails and Pockets for TAR 21. Yeah they are a wee bit tight.

JCIN

TheActionReport.com
Gold Member
Pics of the "Fatboy" Rails and Pockets for TAR 21. Yeah they are a wee bit tight.

I talked with Fatboy and we decided it made sense to use his rails for this match since they were ready to go. I want to thank him for letting us use them for this match. One of Alex's stipulations was he wanted TIGHT pockets. These are that but will take a ball down the rail. I have no doubt we will soon hear from the dude who made them and why they are the best rails ever in the history of pool or rails.

Here are a couple pics. Thanks for the loan Eric.

6151383304_2592442769_b.jpg


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Will this change the line?
 

Fast Lenny

Faster Than You...
Silver Member
Wont change the line but will certainly make the run outs tougher and hopefully us morons out there can appreciate how easy these guys make the game look. Go SVB! :thumbup:

P.S. Anyone who wants Alex even, PM me. ;)
 

brandoncook26

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Damn those are tough. What is that, 4 1/8"? Gonna be a great match. I would love to see some packages put together with that beast.
 

HereWeGo

♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫♬·¯·♩
Silver Member
I can't wait. I will be in Vegas this time next week doing my own "warm-up" for the match, Thanks Justin :thumbup:
 

Tom In Cincy

AKA SactownTom
Silver Member
Are these rails double shimmed or cut to length?
Great work regardless, super tight pockets. Less than 4 inches?
 

Celtic

AZB's own 8-ball jihadist
Silver Member
Welp, I am now way more interested in the match then I was previous to seeing these pockets. THIS is how the pros should play (well 10-foot diamonds would be even better but those are still in the works). This is not just going to be a breaking contest with those pockets, this is going to be a shape playing, ball potting, and safety battleing contest. Whoever wins this is going to have done it with better playing and not lucky swings or a hot break stick. Awesome.
 

gunzby

My light saber is LD
Silver Member
Now those are pro cut pockets. I practice on a Diamond with pockets the same size every week. I must say it is very humbling. I will also say that I have never been happier running a rack than when I did it on that table.
 

Oregonmeds

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have to agree that's just a bit rediculous. Why not play pool on snooker tables so everyones game is really off? Oh and make the balls different sizes.

This reminds me of the IPT where they did 8 ball on slow nap cloth on 9'ers with tight pockets, made me feel it was just set up to give that edge to Seigel who probably practiced on tables like that for quite some time while everyone else was used to simonis.
 
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Celtic

AZB's own 8-ball jihadist
Silver Member
my point is that the game changes completely when you change the table conditions. for example, you make the pockets tighter the game turns tactical rather than a potting game in the same sense you cut an attacking boxers arm off he turns defensive.

I have watched too many matches between two top pros on fairly easy tables turn into breaking contests. Potting for either of these players on a normal cut 4.5 inch pocket table is a non-issue. If they played on a table like that the swings would take place based on who is breaking better at any given moment because either guy gets out on 90%+ of their open tables on a loose cut table.

This table is going to require better shape play, you are not going to get to "create" an angle to play shape on the next ball, you are going to need to play shape with the angle already built in. You are going to need to have a straight stroke to pot balls, a routine 6 open ball runout is now going to still take concentration on each shot and no lazy pool. It is going to test two of the top players in the game today. I already know they both break great and I know who breaks better and who would win on a normal cut table because of their break alone.

A proper analogy is that this is the "Augusta" table where par is a good score. A table that tests the top pros in the world and where people are playing great to get below par instead of a tournament that is a shootout where 25 and 30 below par after 4 days is needed to win. I love watching professional golfers play golf on courses that are designed for "THEM" and where they are tested to the peak of their proffesional level abilites and where an even par round of golf is a quality outing for them.
 

richiebalto

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
my point is that the game changes completely when you change the table conditions. for example, you make the pockets tighter the game turns tactical rather than a potting game in the same sense you cut an attacking boxers arm off he turns defensive. i don't know maybe you are not a player...do i really have to spell this out?..HOW DOES THAT RESULT IN BETTER PLAYING

1 should know what 1 can do,no matter what the play ground looks like!
 

scsuxci

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
so cutting off Floyd Mayweathers left arm will result in him boxing at a higher standard?
Actually I agree with this analogy and I think this will favor Alex playing on the tighter pockets alot.And even with one arm Mayweather is going to destroy Ortiz ;)
 

#Cruncher

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Such a thing as too tight?

I used to think you couldn't make the pockets too tight. I've revised my theory. It looks like this table would be too tight for all but the very best, which is exactly what we'll be in store for next week.

The Morra - Oscar match in Cali was a good example of perhaps being too tight. I definitely want to see them earn their run out but not make it so they struggle to run a wide open table. Its a very fine line, and I believe this table will be a good test of skill.

JMHO.
 

scrappy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
this is my 8 foot table with 4 inch pockets, Erics setup looks to be even tighter
27ydtl.jpg
 

JAMSGOLF

Golf & Pool-I'm addicted!
Silver Member
I guess I'm confused about something. Why is it okay in pool to change the pocket size from tournament to tournament? Is it because there's no official "one governing body" in pool?

The reason I ask, is in the PGA tour in golf (yep...most of my examples surround golf...sorry) the conditions of courses vary from place to place with regards to speed of the greens, length of the rough...and yet there's still non-variables that are a "requirement":

"Under the Rules of Golf, a golf ball weighs no more than 1.620 oz (45.93 grams), has a diameter not less than 1.680 in (42.67 mm), and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits."

"Regulation for a golf cup is: size 4 1/4" diameter, 4 1/4" deep and 4 1/4" wide."

So, if there are regulations in place in pool to determine the acceptable ball size that must be played with, why not the same with the pockets...the same as golf balls and the cup?

PERSONALLY, I think that every pro tournament should be held to the same standards with regards to pocket size...that way the pros have a "known" standard that they are playing with...the variables could still remain with regards to the felt used (speed of golf greens) as well as the type of table used (keeps the sponsers...).

Just my $0.02,

Jason
 
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