Russian Pyramid runout

H

henho

I Beat Fidelshnitzer
Silver Member
I've never seen a video of anyone running out in Russian pyramid before seeing this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80pWQKehTp0&NR=1

They are playing with a variant of the rules where if you pocket the (black) cueball on a scratch you get ball in hand and get to drop a white ball. First to drop any 8 ball wins.

To give you an idea of how tough the tables are, here is a video of some pros who miss with ball in hand more than once. You can also see the impressive power strokes they employ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dpMMLdum4s&feature=related
 
I've watched this game a few times and always found it to be really interesting. I don't know how small the pockets are for this game, but they seem to be about a ball and a half or maybe even a ball and a quarter.
 
Maybe this is my game, I seem to have a talent for pocketing the cue ball.
 
Russian Billiards or Pyramid seems to be very challenging, the balls are bigger and heavier, then there's the small pockets (I don't think anymore then a ball and quarter width). You would have to posses a deadly accurate stroke to move those mamoth balls around and then also potting in those pockets, which would make Pyramid a great training game for Pool.
Do any of you think Pyramid would just throw out your stroke, causing you to slam balls around? Stalev seems to switch between games pretty well, bet then he is Stalev.
 
JAW725 said:
Russian Billiards or Pyramid seems to be very challenging, the balls are bigger and heavier, then there's the small pockets (I don't think anymore then a ball and quarter width). You would have to posses a deadly accurate stroke to move those mamoth balls around and then also potting in those pockets, which would make Pyramid a great training game for Pool.
Do any of you think Pyramid would just throw out your stroke, causing you to slam balls around? Stalev seems to switch between games pretty well, bet then he is Stalev.
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Man I miss that guy. He was fun as hell to watch. I wish he would come back to the States.
 
JCIN said:
Man I miss that guy. He was fun as hell to watch. I wish he would come back to the States.
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Stalev was in Hardtimes (Bellflower, CA) a couple of weeks ago messing around on a 3C table. He said he hasn't played pool for awhile - just cards these days. (But the locals there turned down his offer to play a little one hole:rolleyes:)
 
The balls are 68 mm, corner pockets are 72-73 +/- 0,5 mm and center pockets are 82-83 mm +/- 0,5 mm.

I think they are slamming the balls for accuracy and also you can cheat the point just a little bit hitting it hard.
 
There is a pool hall in florida with a Russian Pyramid table, I have played it many times. My high run is 5 balls and I did that 3 games in a row. Here are a few pics that I took with my camera phone.

photo.jpg
photo(7).JPG
photo(8).JPG
 
eddieindetroit said:
Why do they crush it ???

Eddie
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If you look at stevea's post, you can see that the pockets are cut so that the tightest part is the points. So the pockets play a little looser if you hit the ball so hard that it will bend the points of the pocket out of the way on its way in.

-Andrew
 
Pocket clearance on a Russian Pyramid table

gunzby said:
I've watched this game a few times and always found it to be really interesting. I don't know how small the pockets are for this game, but they seem to be about a ball and a half or maybe even a ball and a quarter.
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gunzby:

They're smaller than that! There's only 2mm of clearance on either side of the ball, as stevea's pics show. Here's another pic:

Russian_billiards_ball_at_a_corner_pocket.jpg


Notice also how the "horns" of the pocket are worn to the effect that there's no longer any cloth covering those horns. That's due to the very specific skill that Russian Pyramid players have, in using a very powerful stroke to have the horn "bend" out of the way and let the object ball (or cue ball, in the case of a carom) through the mouth of the pocket.

It's indeed a very interesting and very difficult game. It's quite popular here in NY, especially in the Brighton Beach (Brooklyn) area, with its high concentration of Russian population.

Here's more, if you'd like to read about this interesting game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_pyramid

Hope this is helpful!
-Sean
 
That game makes my head hurt. Those pockets look intimidating.

I see Stalev & those guys shoot those incredible power shots & scratch from everywhere & I just can't wrap my head around it. It must take an inordinate amount of skill to do that.

No wonder he has a monster pool break...he's shooting mini-breaks every shot on the pyramid table! Watch his wind up, he's lifting his arm (for leverage) just like he does on the break.
 
mosconiac break analysis on Evgeny Stalev

mosconiac said:
That game makes my head hurt. Those pockets look intimidating.

I see Stalev & those guys shoot those incredible power shots & scratch from everywhere & I just can't wrap my head around it. It must take an inordinate amount of skill to do that.

No wonder he has a monster pool break...he's shooting mini-breaks every shot on the pyramid table! Watch his wind up, he's lifting his arm (for leverage) just like he does on the break.
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mosconiac:

Russian Pyramid is a variation of English Billiards (where you can either pocket a ball, or carom off a ball into a pocket), played on a mutant snooker table. :D Seriously, the table is regulation snooker size -- 6' x 12', and as you already know, the pockets are even smaller than snooker pockets (in relation to the ball itself, that is). Speaking of Russian Pyramid balls, here's a pic illustrating the size difference from a standard pool ball:

781px-Russian_and_American_pool_ball_comparison.jpg


You're right about Stalev having a monster break! Some folks are saying that he has a silly break because of that YouTube 8-ball video going around showing him climbing up on the table post-stroke. But if I remember correctly, that was a "gaff break" by Evgeny -- he likes to partake in showmanship for sure.

A good video for studying Stalev's controlled version of his patented "clock spring" break is this U.S. Open match against Warren Kiamco:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PkCG3q2PDa4#t=560

(The "#t=560" takes the viewer right to Evgeny's first break shot in the match. Of course, he has break shots throughout, and it's encouraged to watch the whole match.)

Would love to see a mosconiac break analysis on Evgeny Stalev!

-Sean

P.S.: so we Americans can pronounce his name correctly, the "e" is pronounced "yeh" -- so his name is correctly pronounced "Yev genny Stah lyev" (the "g" sound is hard, like in "guinea pig", but the "e" sound following is pronounced normally).
 
the guy in the first video has "The monster Stroke of All Time" I also think their cues are a boit longer and sounded heavier. I have watched a bit of this game, I'd love to play it.

You could have one hell of a one pocket game on those boxes with those balls, one rack might last for a week:eek:
 
I watched 2 guys play one pocket on this table, they weren't taking it to seriously and they ended up quitting it was taking to long!
 
If I ever come across a proper video of Stalev breaking, I will post an analysis...believe me, I have A LOT of requests for that. I need something showing him from side view. If anyone ever stumbles across something, tip me off. ;)
 
I have an old BcN match of stalev vs. davenport, I think from 2002. I'll try to upload some views of him breaking. Looking at the video, it seems like he actually dialed his break down! Playing Davenport, he not only wound up ridiculously high, he often ends with his right leg on the table over the pocket!
 
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