Not for banning players from playing in tournaments by pool’s best promoter?
Predator WPA World 8 Ball Championship 2023 (17-22 Oct 2023), Austria, Winner $75K
- Thread starter spartan
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...or the poolitics have been sorted out by then. let's hope so.
congrats to shane! he can still get it done
What was the final count? I had to miss the finals. Maybe I’ll watch a bit tomorrow.
Not willing to keep this to irrelevent thread, but to give you a reply - not. We don't know if it had not been vice versa, and as long as I give credit to MR for some of their efforts I assume calling them 'best' is a very tall order. I've got to know too much of the opposite probably about the dark side of MR.
EDIT: here is how MR acts about their players (their property one may say)
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You'd better watch the whole thing. And nada, you won't have any spoilers from us
Some stats on the event are now available here: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...orld-8-ball-championship-october-2023.558204/
Thanks for that. To me, the most telling stat is that a safety was played in just 9% of all games, compared to 46% of the games in the recently completed Hanoi Open 9-ball.
Put another way, you got safety play in eight ball in about one of every eleven racks, but in nine ball, you got it in about one of every two racks at Hanoi.
Do fans like safety play? I think most of us agreed that the double hill rack in the SVB vs Szewczyk semifinal, which featured a lot of safety play, was the most exciting rack of this World 8-ball championship.
Congratulations to all who staged this event, but you can keep the current version of eight ball.
Stu, how an expert of your caliber can compare safety play percentage of completely different games is mind-boggling 
What's next - let's compare 9-ball defensive % to One Pocket?
It is obvious 8-Ball needs some tweaking at pro level. But why beating the dead horse, is beyond my understanding.
As if Matchroom came up with a decent way to break at their events overnight
What's next - let's compare 9-ball defensive % to One Pocket?It is obvious 8-Ball needs some tweaking at pro level. But why beating the dead horse, is beyond my understanding.
As if Matchroom came up with a decent way to break at their events overnight
Racks were so bad... That why they break from side. If you dry break from middle then it is most likely very easy table for opponent. Side break slug rack leave chance to get back on table.
Not speaking for Stu, but for me the games are both offensive-minded games. 8-ball and 9-ball are the two most popular pool games by participation. Safeties and defensive play are exciting and skillful aspects of pool games. Having two versions of pool, one of which has regular defensive/safety play and the other which does not is a clear distinction between the two in terms of spectator enjoyment.Stu, how an expert of your caliber can compare safety play percentage of completely different games is mind-boggling
It is obvious 8-Ball needs some tweaking at pro level. But why beating the dead horse, is beyond my understanding.
As if Matchroom came up with a decent way to break at their events overnight
That said, I'm not sure how much opportunity there is for increasing safeties in 8-ball to a point that it moves the needle. Make-it-take-it often punishes the breaker. Games on seven-foot tables are not fun to watch. It could just be that 8-ball is a fun game for less skilled players because it does bring in strategic play that isn't too common in rotation games, but at the top pro level it's just not that interesting no matter what's done to it.
I did enjoy watching, learning, and trying to predict the patterns and shots that players would play for this tournament. I think it helped my 8-ball game. But I still would rather watch 9- or 10-ball on 4.25" pockets.
If you happen to know Mikko Jantti by any occasion please feel free to ask him a question whether it was 'slug racks' as many viewers rush to claim it, or maybe something else.
I suggest anyone willing to watch a good game of 8-Ball try digging World Series of Pool 8-Ball events introduced by Darren Appleton back then.
I suggest we create a separate thread only for this question. Already asked and even given some replies (let'em be as weird as they are) in other threads
Because the two balls behind the head ball don’t go into the sides unless the rack is perfect or at least the first 4 rows of balls. The side rack distorts the rack and hopefully you fluke a ball. Otherwise there is no natural repeatable break.
You have a slight chance of making head ball in the side or opposite corner.
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You have a slight chance of making head ball in the side or opposite corner.
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I know where you're coming from, but ....Stu, how an expert of your caliber can compare safety play percentage of completely different games is mind-boggling
It is obvious 8-Ball needs some tweaking at pro level. But why beating the dead horse, is beyond my understanding.
As if Matchroom came up with a decent way to break at their events overnight
To be honest, this stat surprised me. As you note, the comparison underscores the difference between 8-ball and 9-ball, but it does not clearly establish one game as better than the other. Some may prefer this kind of pool, and I fully respect that, but I'm just not one of them. I feel that pool, at its best, should provide a solid offering of both offensive and tactical play, but that doesn't mean I'm right.
Agreed that each of the games played on a pool table requires a different skill set, and there is room for all of the disciplines, but were eight ball on a nine-footer to ever replace rotation pool as the primary pro discipline, my days as a tournament attendee will come to an end.
Yes, eight ball needs tweaking and the problem is that the tweaking in our generation has been in the direction of making it easier, with the elimination of take what you make and abolition of ball in hand in the kitchen after an opening scratch.
Matchroom's nine ball tour is in just its second full season and they've found their way pretty rapidly and efficiently. 9ball, as played Matchroom style, is an established version of the game that was exactly the same at every Matchroom major this year.
To each his own.
Late Correction: I've been advised that ball in hand after a scratch on the break is in the kitchen. My mistake.
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I wonder if tighter pockets would solve most of the issues with this event. I don’t really think the break was the problem, it was just that, in eight ball, you’ll virtually always have a shot after the break, and almost always run out from there. The game is too easy for them, the break is t too difficult.