Resurgence of Straight Pool

SJDinPHX said:
Softshot,

I admire you for sticking up for YOUR game. You are not alone in enjoying the game. However, even your chosen God/Hero/Idol, (Mosconi) admitted that "straight Rotation" was the most challenging game ever played on a pool table.
10 ball is a shortened version of that game, and it has become the accepted game of the elite player's' and rightfully so.
You must surely realize that One Pocket, competes with 10 ball, as a popular choice of determining the most skilled player. Have your fun with YOUR game, but don't expect a "resurgence" in your lifetime. It is even more boring than Bowling, and will NEVER make live TV. And that's a fact.
The hotbed of the pool world, at present, is the Phillipines and Asia. Do you really think they'll be playing any 14.1 at the WCP ?
Have your fun, but stay out of the way, REAL pool is on the upsurge. ;)

Dick

P.S. There might be a "regurgitation" of straight pool, but a resurgence, NO WAY ! :)
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10 ball is a shortened version of a top skill game.. I agree

so why not play rotation properly?

are the pro's not skilled enough to compete in a difficult game?

is it to far over their heads?

we should keep it simple.. nothing too tough... running 9 balls is impressive enough... no need to expose the masses to the best we have to offer..

it is best to keep it simple.. as long as we edit out the missed shots...

bullshit... play the real games.. not the condensed version of the real games..

are you the best in the world? or do you just want to pretend to be the best?

the best straight pool player is the best player period ... 99.999999% of the time.
 
ForumGhost516 said:
Perhaps it cyclical. Perhaps its a vintage retro thing that the new guys are finally catching on to and the old guard always knew about. However you want to look at it Straight Pool is having a resurgence. With big names like John "Mr. 400" Schmidt, Thorsten Hohman, Steve Lipsky (our local long island hero), even Jasmin Ouschan the wonder girl of pool are now being held in an even higher regard than they were before because of their straight pool prowess.

When I was seventeen and first started learning the game everything was nine ball. If there was gambling it was nine ball, if there was a tournament it was nine ball. Very occasionally you would see eight ball but always nine ball. However in the last year and a half my home pool room has done a turn around and the majority of the players are now playing straight pool myself included.

Now Im not a world class player or even an open level or A player but I love the game. My high run is in the upper forties and that only happened recently lol. I have to say that even though I know there was mixed opinions about the Dragon Promotions Event that the dress code being enforced definitely harkens back to a day of gentleman playing the game we love.

In my opinion I love watching amateurs play. I have a buddy of mine who can barely run five balls but I explained the infamous straight pool triangle to him for the first time and not only did he get out of a rack (five balls on the table) but he got perfect on his break ball AND MADE IT!!!!! The look on his face was pure pride and there was a little more strut in his step after that. About ten minutes later I overheard him explaining the triangle to one of his friends who plays worse than him lol. More importantly I owe my love of this game to the guy who showed me that same infamous triangle. Watching him is like watching Crane or Mosconi. Not in the high runs and not in the shots but his demeanor at the table. The focus, the determination and sheer will at the table.

Im not sure what I was trying to do with this little rant but I know one thing I love straight pool and Im going to bust those balls until I hit a hundred and when I do im throwing a party and every Az'er and i do mean every az'er even the ones that dont like me are invited.

Keep the high runs coming guys shoot well out there.

Charlie
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Good thread...

thanks Charlie.
 
SJDinPHX said:
Jon, I'm really having trouble wrapping myself around your last sentence. Do you like punishment ? That has always been my major beef with 14.1
Quite often, the best player sits in the chair for hours on end.
Sorry, but give me a game where I get a chance to defend myself, by
shooting every so often. Then if I screw up, at least I'll know that it wasn't because rigor mortis had set in. :rolleyes: JMHO

Dick
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dick,

i gotta call you out on this one. this is not the first time i have seen you post comments like this. all i can say is are you nuts?

1 if you are sitting in your chair that long in a staight pool match that you are probably NOT the better player

2 have you never sat in your chair whilst your opponent slapped a 6 pack on you and you only came to the table is to rack? can you really defend yourself with your racking skills?

3 14.1 is making a resurgance. last year you would never have seen a it being played at anyof the rooms i go to locally. now there are always pple playing or willing to play. check out kev vidal (selftaut) and his 14and1.com (staight pool league coming to your area soon). he has had good success getting a national league system off the ground and may be taking it internationally (see thread in staight pool section).

i agree 14.1 isnt made for tv, but it is made for players. its an elegant game that requires more skill that just blasting the cb into the rack and running 9 balls. do you even play 14.1? btw you can learn plenty when your sitting in the chair if youre paying attention.

brian
 
It's probably well known both from my screen name here and my previous posts that I love straight pool, and it makes me feel good to see the resurgance in the game. I love it because to me it is the purest form of pool. Since I'm only 24 and have only been playing pool for 12 years straight pool was a game I like partly because it was an anachronism. I feel priviledged that I am actually getting to see some of the best players in the world compete at the game I love. I think part of the rise in its popularity has to do with the fact is that others are like me have realized that professional pool may never hit the big time so instead take it back to its roots and love it for what it is.
 
SJDinPHX said:
Jon, I'm really having trouble wrapping myself around your last sentence. Do you like punishment ? That has always been my major beef with 14.1
Quite often, the best player sits in the chair for hours on end.
Sorry, but give me a game where I get a chance to defend myself, by
shooting every so often. Then if I screw up, at least I'll know that it wasn't because rigor mortis had set in. :rolleyes: JMHO

Dick
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But isn't setting in the chair for hours and then having to get up and run more then the last guy one of the challenges?

Personally I hate the game simple because i can't run 2 balls in it. ;)
I can run 25-30 balls in rotations but give me a wide open 14.1 rack and I'll miss every 3 shots:banghead:

I do love watching it though.
 
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14.1 is a great pool game. What happened was TV wanted a faster game(9-ball), Movie COM(9-ball), table time prices to gamble killed it the rest of the way. IMO. Johnnyt
 
Huh?

SJDinPHX said:
Sofshot,



Well that's funny, cause what you say about 14.1, is what alot of people say about one pocket! I would rather have a dead rat in my mouth than play or watch one pocket! It is like watching grass grow, or old people fu&*ing, it is slow and boring and it is amazing how people who can barely play pool(other games), can play onehole at a high level!
14.1 is the chess of pool,one pocket is like chinese checkers!

Jeremy!!!!!!!!!
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The 5 most chanllenging games out there are, Straight Pool, Full Rack Banks, One Pocket, Honolulu and Equal Offence.

Although I enjoy all discplines, I'd much rather shoot in a tournament with any of these 5 Disciplines mention above, on any given day, than I would play in a tournament of 8ball, 9ball or 10ball.

This is just my preference though because I prefer games that have a proper challenge and difficulty to them, rather than playing a game that litterally anyone can win :)

Willie
 
TheWizard said:
The 5 most chanllenging games out there are, Straight Pool, Full Rack Banks, One Pocket, Honolulu and Equal Offence.

Although I enjoy all discplines, I'd much rather shoot in a tournament with any of these 5 Disciplines mention above, on any given day, than I would play in a tournament of 8ball, 9ball or 10ball.

This is just my preference though because I prefer games that have a proper challenge and difficulty to them, rather than playing a game that litterally anyone can win :)

Willie
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Not to split hairs, but do really consider Equal Offense to be that challenging? To me it is easier than any of the rotation games.JMO

Jeremy
 
I give full credit to NYC Randy and Bob Jewett for resurrecting a dying game. Randy staked a major tournament and Bob created a form of 14.1 that spectators could enjoy. Everyone likes to see a high run. It's the protracted safety battles that can be boring. One of the major problems with Straight Pool, has always been SLOW play. When a player takes minutes to study every shot, fans either go to sleep or get up and leave.

We played the 1989 U.S. Open Straight Pool with a 45 second shot clock and that helped a lot. I'd like to see it played with a 30 second clock and one extension per rack. Now that would be exciting! JMHO once again. :wink:
 
And one other thing, players who grow up on Straight Pool, usually become very good pool players, who can play all games. It combines all the fundamental aspects of good pool, most particularly good cue ball control.

For me the most difficult games to master are Rotation, One Pocket and 14.1 in no particular order. If you had an All Around tourney with these three games, you would find out who the best pool players on the planet really are. I'd probably still pick Efren to win, with Niels Feijen my dark horse.
 
jay helfert said:
For me the most difficult games to master are Rotation, One Pocket and 14.1 in no particular order. If you had an All Around tourney with these three games, you would find out who the best pool players on the planet really are. I'd probably still pick Efren to win, with Niels Feijen my dark horse.
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and I'd pick Allen Hopkins as my dark horse! :).....especially if the games were to about 1000 points!:grin:
 
jay helfert said:
And one other thing, players who grow up on Straight Pool, usually become very good pool players, who can play all games. It combines all the fundamental aspects of good pool, most particularly good cue ball control.
Click to expand...

When I learned the game or 14.1, I was only allowed to use the top corner pockets and the side pockets. I was not allowed to use the two corner pockets in the kitchen, nor was I allowed to have my cue ball go down table. It's much tougher than it sounds, I recommend this type of practice to anybody that wants to improve their game.

As far as the resurgence of the game, I believe that the current interest in the game began when John Schmidt caught his 245 ball run on tape. IMO, that was the spark that lit the fire that is burning today.

Thanks to players such as John Schmidt, Danny Harriman, Thorsten Hohmann, Ralf Souquet, Oliver Ortmann, Tony Robles, and Niels Feijen -and the suport we have received from EVERYBODY that has held tournaments over the past 3 years - as well as Kevin Vidal for starting the www.14and1.com straight pool league - the game is alive and well today.

A special thank you goes to Bob Jewett for all he has done for straight pool - especially the DCC Straight Pool Challenge.

If anybody wants to learn about the game, the Straight pool forum on this site is a great library of information from a lot of people, including a few World Champions, thanks to Mike Howerton for providing that space for us on this website.
 
jay helfert said:
And one other thing, players who grow up on Straight Pool, usually become very good pool players, who can play all games. It combines all the fundamental aspects of good pool, most particularly good cue ball control.

For me the most difficult games to master are Rotation, One Pocket and 14.1 in no particular order. If you had an All Around tourney with these three games, you would find out who the best pool players on the planet really are. I'd probably still pick Efren to win, with Niels Feijen my dark horse.
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You just stole my thoughts!!! This was my post, I had just not yet written it! :thumbup:
 
I hope it gets more popular all over the world. I don't play tournaments simply because I don't like 9 ball as a competitive game (although I'll start due to lack of competition as result of messed up working hours).

If we had snooker and 14.1 tournaments every week where I live, I would be in heaven.
 
softshot said:
10 ball is a shortened version of a top skill game.. I agree

so why not play rotation properly?

are the pro's not skilled enough to compete in a difficult game?

is it to far over their heads?

we should keep it simple.. nothing too tough... running 9 balls is impressive enough... no need to expose the masses to the best we have to offer..

it is best to keep it simple.. as long as we edit out the missed shots...

bullshit... play the real games.. not the condensed version of the real games..

are you the best in the world? or do you just want to pretend to be the best?

the best straight pool player is the best player period ... 99.999999% of the time.
Click to expand...
Oh really! In my home room the owner had a recent high-run of 139 balls, and he is hard-pressed to win the 9-ball tournaments in his room. So your opinion is inaccurate. Also, you claimed you don't get lucky in straight pool...which is also wrong. You cannot tell me someone who runs 100+ has not gotten a sweet rool or two to help them along.
 
jay helfert said:
I give full credit to NYC Randy and Bob Jewett for resurrecting a dying game. Randy staked a major tournament and Bob created a form of 14.1 that spectators could enjoy. Everyone likes to see a high run. It's the protracted safety battles that can be boring. One of the major problems with Straight Pool, has always been SLOW play. When a player takes minutes to study every shot, fans either go to sleep or get up and leave.

We played the 1989 U.S. Open Straight Pool with a 45 second shot clock and that helped a lot. I'd like to see it played with a 30 second clock and one extension per rack. Now that would be exciting! JMHO once again. :wink:
Click to expand...
I am all in favor of a shot clock. In my home room we have a straight pool league, and I have stopped playing because some of the players are waayy too slow. No one should be taking 15 - 20 minutes to run a rack!
 
inside_english said:
You cannot tell me someone who runs 100+ has not gotten a sweet rool or two to help them along.
Click to expand...


In my experience, for every 100 balls, you need about 3-4 lucky rolls at some point in the run. The racks don't always open the way that you like, and there is a lot of skill required to develop break balls, secondary break balls and key balls. A few millimeters to the left or right of the key ball can spell the difference between getting good position on a break ball, or no workable shot at all.

If you watch some of the high runs that are available on google or youtube, you will see that whenever any player goes into the balls, luck becomes a factor more times than it doesn't.
 
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