Ronnie O'Sullivan

[gromulan]

You are completely off your gourd. As a matter of fact we do have access to Ronnie and if you want to get the bet right I can get him to come here and take the six and the last four from Efren. As much as I revere Efren there is NO WAY ON EARTH that he beats Ronnie O' Sullivan giving up that weight.

Well, unlike you and Ronnie, I do not speak for Efren, I was just offering my opinion. If you want to set it up, it shouldn't be too hard - just go to the Derby City Classic next year and ask Efren. I don't think there's a number you won't be able to bet. If I'm there we can bet on it too.

As for what Kelly Fisher knows about 9 Ball; since you offered to give Ronnie the 7 and you completely dismiss Kelly as a player I will make you this offer: You can give her the five out and the breaks for 10 dimes or more if you can afford it. I bet a million that you won't do it. God it is SO EASY to be an internet nit when you don't actually have to BET SOMETHING. You just tell me where and when and if it doesn't conflict with Kelly's schedule we'll be there to play with that spot. Every set you lose we'll give up a ball up to and including giving you weight until you finally win a set.

In the first place, I don't discount Kelly as a player, I think she plays well. I do, however, discount anyone who has been playing nine ball in the US for as short a time as she has, as having a reliable opinion on a game between someone like Efren and someone like Ronnie. She can play the game, that doesn't mean she knows anything about it.

In the second place you call me a nit yet your offer with respect to Kelly is as nitty as they come. The five out and the break is something you give to people who can't play at all, not to a woman on the pro tour (no wonder you're willing to bet so high).

Having said that, I think I would give her the 6 ball, if she wants to take it. I can maybe get $5,000 on the light for that game.

 

[Cornerman]

Well, unlike you and Ronnie, I do not speak for Efren, I was just offering my opinion. ...

In the first place, I don't discount Kelly as a player, I think she plays well. I do, however, discount anyone who has been playing nine ball in the US for as short a time as she has, as having a reliable opinion on a game between someone like Efren and someone like Ronnie.

This would have been a good time to bring up the fact that Ronnie didn't get past his first round, making several mistakes along the way. This really shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone. Is anyone surprised?

Ronnie will get better at the game, once he figures out the nuances. But, as with anything, there's work to be done, even for a World Champion cueist. Fortunately, Ronnie is humble enough to note this over and over in his interviews.

Fred

 

[Solartje]

id love to see ronnie play 14-1 though. without the break problem he has in 8b and 9b compared to the top, this isnt such a big issue in straight.

Hell , id even Pay for a small video of him playing straight.
*goess of to email ronnie and offer him 5$ if he can run 250balls in straightpool*

 

[TheOne]

I sure wasn't suprised, I was more suprsied to see Drago beat Engert 9:3 to be honest or Imran losing 9:2, but thats 9 ball!

I have to agree Sol, and I have said this many times before if I can almost run a 100 at straight pool in a few days ROnnie could probably run 200 or 300, hes that that much a better cueist/shotmaker/break builder than I.

 

[onepocketchump]

Well, unlike you and Ronnie, I do not speak for Efren, I was just offering my opinion. If you want to set it up, it shouldn't be too hard - just go to the Derby City Classic next year and ask Efren. I don't think there's a number you won't be able to bet. If I'm there we can bet on it too.

- Ha - there is no way that Efren's backers or ANYONE in the building will bet on Efren giving up that weight against Ronnie. You might be the only one silly enough to try it and I very much doubt that.



In the first place, I don't discount Kelly as a player, I think she plays well. I do, however, discount anyone who has been playing nine ball in the US for as short a time as she has, as having a reliable opinion on a game between someone like Efren and someone like Ronnie. She can play the game, that doesn't mean she knows anything about it.

In the second place you call me a nit yet your offer with respect to Kelly is as nitty as they come. The five out and the break is something you give to people who can't play at all, not to a woman on the pro tour (no wonder you're willing to bet so high).

Having said that, I think I would give her the 6 ball, if she wants to take it. I can maybe get $5,000 on the light for that game.

Oh, I am sorry, it must be a total lack of understanding on my part when you say that everything Kelly knows about nine ball can be written on the head of a pin. I call BS - you totally discounted Kelly as a player AND as a world champion and lastly as an intelligent person capable of forming her own valid observations of relative strength. IF, as you say, Kelly knows nothing about 9-ball then YOU should have no problem giving up the weight I asked for. Sucks when you have to eat your words doesn't it?

The six ball? Against a "helpless" girl who knows nothing about nine ball? Up against the guy who has beaten so many champions? Wow, you are going out on a limb here?

I told you how we can play. Kelly gets the five out and every set she wins we'll drop a ball until you quit. When she beats you even then we'll give up a ball for every set she wins until you win a set. Since she is so helpless I doubt she'll win a single set but hey we'll take a shot.

Am I being nitty? Probably but then again I am not the one who said Kelly knows nothing about nine ball. How did that go again? "What Kelly Fisher knows about nine ball can be written on the head of a pin with room left over for the Lord's Prayer." Was that it? Is that how you put it? Pretty strong statement, let's see if you have the cojones to back it up.

Oh and let me know if you find anyone willing to back that silly proposition with Efren. There are plenty of Filipinos on this forum that can get word to Efren of your proposition. How much of YOUR money are you willing to risk will tell us all how sure of your position that you are.

John

 

[Nostroke]

I sure wasn't suprised, I was more suprsied to see Drago beat Engert 9:3 to be honest or Imran losing 9:2, but thats 9 ball!

I have to agree Sol, and I have said this many times before if I can almost run a 100 at straight pool in a few days ROnnie could probably run 200 or 300, hes that that much a better cueist/shotmaker/break builder than I.

Tony Drago can play!!!He finished what 4th in the WPC and won the Masters before or was it the World Pool league?

Anyway i was down to nothing in my Stan James acct and i bet it all on a parlay with Tony Vs Thomas and Ralf vs Efren, both getting odds. Ca-Ching baby- Im back in business. Tony can take the heart out of you when he runs out a few on you in a minute or two.

 

[TheOne]

Tony Drago can play!!!He finished what 4th in the WPC and won the Masters before or was it the World Pool league?

Anyway i was down to nothing in my Stan James acct and i bet it all on a parlay with Tony Vs Thomas and Ralf vs Efren, both getting odds. Ca-Ching baby- Im back in business. Tony can take the heart out of you when he runs out a few on you in a minute or two.

I wasn't suprised really, was just being half sarcastic. I've gone on record saying Ronnie won't have it all his own way early on but look what the likes of Snooker player Tony has done. My main point though was that anyone can win a set of 9 ball, especially at that level. 9-5 isn't a great start from Ronnie, but along with he results in Rotterdam its not a bad one either. I was only talking to someone about how disheartening it would be to be playing Tony and find yourself 5 frames down in 5 minutes given the speed he plays, but Tony isn't half the player Ronnie is (and I don't say that lightly)

Good to hear you won a few quid (dollars

 

[gromulan]

Oh, I am sorry, it must be a total lack of understanding on my part when you say that everything Kelly knows about nine ball can be written on the head of a pin. I call BS - you totally discounted Kelly as a player AND as a world champion and lastly as an intelligent person capable of forming her own valid observations of relative strength. IF, as you say, Kelly knows nothing about 9-ball then YOU should have no problem giving up the weight I asked for. Sucks when you have to eat your words doesn't it?

The six ball? Against a "helpless" girl who knows nothing about nine ball? Up against the guy who has beaten so many champions? Wow, you are going out on a limb here?

I told you how we can play. Kelly gets the five out and every set she wins we'll drop a ball until you quit. When she beats you even then we'll give up a ball for every set she wins until you win a set. Since she is so helpless I doubt she'll win a single set but hey we'll take a shot.

Am I being nitty? Probably but then again I am not the one who said Kelly knows nothing about nine ball. How did that go again? "What Kelly Fisher knows about nine ball can be written on the head of a pin with room left over for the Lord's Prayer." Was that it? Is that how you put it? Pretty strong statement, let's see if you have the cojones to back it up.

Oh and let me know if you find anyone willing to back that silly proposition with Efren. There are plenty of Filipinos on this forum that can get word to Efren of your proposition. How much of YOUR money are you willing to risk will tell us all how sure of your position that you are.

John

I did discount Kelly's knowledge of nine ball and I don't hide that fact. If Steve Davis had offered the same opinion I would have had the same response. I did not discount her 'capability to offer her opinion' or any nonsense like that. It's a free country and she can say and think what she wants. I also really do think that she's a decent player, but my offer of the 6 stands. Anything else is out of line and you know it. If she's as good as you say you should jump at it.

As for Efren vs. Ronnie, like I said, I am not in charge of Efren, his games, his backers or anything like that. I told you how to get the game down and I offered my opinion on what Efren COULD give Ronnie, but make no mistake, I in no way made any assurance that he actually WOULD offer Ronnie that. If you're stupid enough (and let's face it, you sound pretty stupid) to do that and they play I will most definately bet on Efren in any game they negotiate, provided a) that I'm there and b) that I'm not broke. However, what you can win from me pales in comparison to what you can win from the rest of the 4,489,021,567 people who will bet on Efren.

And, with all of that said, if you really want to set up a game between Ronnie and Efren, I can MAYBE get in touch with the necessary people and put you in touch with them. Do you want me to try? You probably should because, if Ronnie manages to win, you might just make the biggest score in pool since Toby played the Greek. As an added bonus you'll get to bust me.

 

[Solartje]

i heared from friends that Tony is better then most think. i thought he poolgame was even lower then his snookergame. but seems thats not true, and in the eurotour he is a tough guy to win from. his poolgame seems way above his snookergame, and where he cant run racks of 100 in snooker, he does strings racks in pool. was surprised too, so i did some questioning.

but i agree, there are not many players that can tough ronnie's tallent and skills. no matter who u are and i think ull see ronnie playing efren in finals in a year or 3.

 

[gromulan]

bump..........

 

[predator]

At recent tornament in Trieste, Italy I had a chance to chat a little with Sandor Tot. We were talking a little about IPT and stuff, so I also asked him about how match with Ronnie went. Sandor won that one by 8-6.

Sandor about the 8ball match with Ronnie in group stages:
In a pre-match interview I was asked if I was afraid of Ronnie O'Sullivan. I thought that was a rather silly question, so I responded:

'I don't fear anyone, in fact Ronnie better be scared of me...'
'Why would you say that?' - interviewer asked
'Well, I've played this game at top level for many years and the fact is that Ronnie is just recently getting into pool...that's a serious disadvantage no matter how talented he is...'
'So, how do you think the match will progress?' - interviewer again
'Well, if my break works well, he has got no chance whatsoever...if it doesn't work, it will be a dogfight...'

And the dog fight I was because my break wasn't working well...Ronnie actually had me at 6-4, but I managed to run out some crucial racks. After the match they interviewed only him, even though I was asked to be interviewed too. I wonder if they would interview me if I lost that match...they would probably ask me 'well don't you feel a little shitty right now after everything you said before the match'...LOL.

About Ronnie's pool game:
He's good, but he doesn't yet have proper vision of the game...makes runouts a little tougher than they should be. Oh, and he doesn't have the break yet too.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Well, Ronnie didn't make the impact at the NA Open as some people thought he would. Quinten Hann did much better. Hann has been playing pool for quite a few years, however. I think that no matter how good a snooker player is, when he/she makes the transition to pool, they need to learn the game before they can be counted as top players.

 

[jay helfert]

I have to agree with Mark (and boy is that rare). I mean, I'm not a pro, but he can get the 7 from me right now at nine ball.

???? Gromulan ????

Is this a pseudonym for Stevie Moore or Dee Atkins

 

[jay helfert]

I really don't understand why people hold the opinion that Ronnie O'Sullivan would struggle with 9 ball. Do you think there are pots in 9 ball tougher than the ones he makes incredible percentages on playing snooker? Do you think there are position routes in 9 ball that he hasn't navigated to perfection in snooker, all while putting his object ball on target with incredible accuracy? If so, watch more snooker.

Sure, it'll take him some time to adjust to the different balls, cue feel, rails, cloth, etc. It'll take him some time to learn the thought patterns and make the best decisions about position routes, safes, etc.

But his cue ball control? Absolutely out of this world. I totally second what onepocketchump said: "He controls his rock as good as anyone alive." I don't know if he'll ever be as good a 9 ball player as Reyes or Strickland in their prime, but I doubt anybody outside the top 20 in the world could give him the 7. Even now, before he's learned the game as well as he's going to.

You can't underestimate someone who can spin their cue ball and position it on a dime on a 7 or 8 foot shot into a tiny pocket, and do so 36 consecutive times in a frame!

-Andrew

The diificult thing for a Snooker player is adjusting to the larger Cue ball and how it plays. That doesn't happen overnight or even in six to eight months.

Maybe Dennis Orcullo could spot him the 7 or more. He is the best 9-Ball player alive today in my opinion. Talk about cue ball control.

 

[Boro Nut]

The diificult thing for a Snooker player is adjusting to the larger Cue ball and how it plays. That doesn't happen overnight or even in six to eight months.

In my limited experience the ball size wasn't too much of an issue. Although bigger balls play slightly different angles, which takes a bit of adjustment, it was more than made up for by having a bigger margin of error in both the target area on the object ball and the size of the pockets.

The biggest difference for me was the balance between cushion speed and cloth speed. The cushions seemed to kill the ball, yet it seemed to roll that annoying extra 6" on the cloth. The cushion effects of side etc also seemed very different. Pool table cushions are definitely very different beast. So the potting wasn't an issue. It was the muscle memory cue ball control you bring from playing for years on uniform standardised equipment suddenly going out of the window. You have to start guaging and estimating what you've taken for granted for ages.

The middle pockets can also be both easier and harder than those on a snooker table. As long as you are 100% accurate you can fire a ball into the middle pockets on a snooker table from quite oblique angles, or even pot a ball using just dead weight and the nap effect with absolutely nothing to shoot at. By contrast, pockets on the pool tables I played on seemed to start off like buckets, but closed down quite early depending on the shelf and pocket angle set-up.

Boro Nut