Snooker to Pool vs Pool to Snooker

R

RichSchultz

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok, so I know this isn’t an original thought, but what is anymore?

Looking at Steve Davis, Ronnie and Melling, we have concrete examples of snooker players who can excel at pool.

What are some names of people who have done the opposite (i.e., pool to snooker) with equal success?

And to infer the obvious, are there any conclusions that can be made about the two games in comparison to one another? They say 9 ball is like checkers and 8 ball is like chess. If that’s the case, what would snooker be?
 
It will happen. There will be a player, representing the the USA, that features heavily in the TV stages of the snooker World Championships. Patience!
 
From my little experience snooker is quite harder to play with the small pockets and round edges and the safety part plays a more important role than in pool. One guess will be that a pro pool player would not have the patience and time to practice both pool and snooker.
Plus pool is so much more popular around the world. Look how many pool tournaments are there given the variations (9,8,10, 14.1, one pocket etc). A pro player can make so much more money playing in all these tournaments. There are only a few snooker competitions that have important prize money and those are dominated by the top 20-30 players from the UK and Ireland (and recently from China). It would be super hard for a pool player to compete. I heard a commentator say once that John Higgins said he was practicing 8-10 hrs a day before he was a pro to improve his game.
I don't think is worth it for any of the pool players to spend the time to improve the snooker skills.
 
RichSchultz said:
Ok, so I know this isn’t an original thought, but what is anymore?

Looking at Steve Davis, Ronnie and Melling, we have concrete examples of snooker players who can excel at pool.

What are some names of people who have done the opposite (i.e., pool to snooker) with equal success?

And to infer the obvious, are there any conclusions that can be made about the two games in comparison to one another? They say 9 ball is like checkers and 8 ball is like chess. If that’s the case, what would snooker be?
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Efren. We beat that dead horse.

First off, huge congratulations to Chris Melling. Chris Melling is a pool player. Just because he's from England doesn't make him a snooker player. He started off with with English 8-ball and had been playing American pool for 10+ years. Of course he's played snooker, but that doesn't make him one.

Ronnie had no success in pool, and his interview said that he would essentially have to change his entire game to be competitive, and that snooker players would think American pool would be so easy, yet (we) "get thrashed." https://www.rte.ie/sport/snooker/2005/1005/196972-osullivan/

Steve Davis is one the greatest gifts to American Pool, as I credit him with really spreading its popularity in Europe starting in the late 80's and early 90's. And he also said (before Ronnie did) that Snooker players are underdogs playing American pool.

Snooker concentrates on potting skills. Billiards concentrates on cueball motion. The American pool games blend both, with varying percentages (9-ball favors shotmaking, while one pocket favors cueball control). Why're all great games. If you happen to love billiard games, I'm sure the one you grew up around becomes the one you pattern your shooting style to match.

8-ball is not like chess.

If 9-ball is like skeet shooting
Then Snooker is like long range target shooting.
And 8-ball is like shooting water pistols in the clown' mouth at he county fair


Freddie <~~~ likes 8-ball best
 
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Cornerman said:
Efren. We beat that dead horse.

First off, huge congratulations to Chris Melling. Chris Melling is a pool player. Just because he's from England doesn't make him a snooker player. He started off with with English 8-ball and had been playing American pool for 10+ years. Of course he's played snooker, but that doesn't make him one.

Ronnie had no success in pool, and his interview said that he would essentially have to change his entire game to be competitive, and that snooker players would think American pool would be so easy, yet (we) "get thrashed." https://www.rte.ie/sport/snooker/2005/1005/196972-osullivan/

Steve Davis is one the greatest gifts to American Pool, as I credit him with really spreading its popularity in Europe starting in the late 80's and early 90's. And he also said (before Ronnie did) that Snooker players are underdogs playing American pool.

Snooker concentrates on potting skills. Billiards concentrates on cueball motion. The American pool games blend both, with varying percentages (9-ball favors shotmaking, while one pocket favors cueball control). Why're all great games. If you happen to love billiard games, I'm sure the one you grew up around becomes the one you pattern your shooting style to match.

8-ball is not like chess.

If 9-ball is like skeet shooting
Then Snooker is like long range target shooting.
And 8-ball is like shooting water pistols in the clown' mouth at he county fair


Freddie <~~~ likes 8-ball best
Click to expand...


Da dum pow!! Close the thread :thumbup:
 
Cornerman said:
Efren. We beat that dead horse.

First off, huge congratulations to Chris Melling. Chris Melling is a pool player. Just because he's from England doesn't make him a snooker player. He started off with with English 8-ball and had been playing American pool for 10+ years. Of course he's played snooker, but that doesn't make him one.

Ronnie had no success in pool, and his interview said that he would essentially have to change his entire game to be competitive, and that snooker players would think American pool would be so easy, yet (we) "get thrashed." https://www.rte.ie/sport/snooker/2005/1005/196972-osullivan/

Steve Davis is one the greatest gifts to American Pool, as I credit him with really spreading its popularity in Europe starting in the late 80's and early 90's. And he also said (before Ronnie did) that Snooker players are underdogs playing American pool.

Snooker concentrates on potting skills. Billiards concentrates on cueball motion. The American pool games blend both, with varying percentages (9-ball favors shotmaking, while one pocket favors cueball control). Why're all great games. If you happen to love billiard games, I'm sure the one you grew up around becomes the one you pattern your shooting style to match.

8-ball is not like chess.

If 9-ball is like skeet shooting
Then Snooker is like long range target shooting.
And 8-ball is like shooting water pistols in the clown' mouth at he county fair


Freddie <~~~ likes 8-ball best
Click to expand...
Great post. Having said that, I still think you continue to understate that it much easier to transition from snooker to pool. That isn't to say that a snooker champion would automatically be a pool champion (there still hasn't been one), but that it's much more likely a snooker pro can be competitive playing pro pool than the other way around.

I've made this analogy before, but snooker is to baseball as pool is to cricket. Sure there is no guarantee Bryce Harper would be a world class cricket player, but he'll certainly have an easier time making contact playing cricket with cricket equipment compared to a champion cricket player attempting to make contact with a 92mph slider with a baseball bat.
 
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Agree Freddie ( I always agree with your posts); but Ronnie was on a Mosconi Cup team...so he couldn’t have been terrible at pool. We know Davis was too, and I don’t recall if Melling has been.
 
I switched from snooker to pool roughly a year ago and I would say, that you can`t really compare the two games and the skills that are connected to them...and I think, that many people overestimate the significance of a snooker background when playing pool.

In fact I would say, that essentially snooker isn`t very complex as a sport. If you can master the technique to pot balls, you have done it. Position play is easier, because you have a lot of room to position and maneuver the cue ball. Tactical play is easier because of the size of the table and the difficulty to pot long shots or balls along the rail.
(We all know, that all this is of course easier said than done).

Pool has more facets to it.
Pocketing a ball on a pool table isn`t that difficult. The problem is, that it is easy for your opponent too, so your safetygame has to be much more precise. But then there are those nasty things like jump cues or people who can bank balls or are very good at kick shots...so if you want to be competitive, you should learn those things too.
Do I have to mention, that as a former snooker player, I break like a little girl? Not to mention, that my position play looses me, when playing with a lot of side or on shots that involve more than two rails.

In my eyes the main reason for snooker players being successful in pool is, that the pool scene is much easier to enter. Everyone who is willing to pay the entry fee can play Eurotour, at the US Open or try his luck at the DCC. There they have the opportunity to play against the top players, they learn quickly and combined with solid fundamentals they have a good chance to become successful. Double eliminations, group stages or the chance to rebuy into a tournament also helps to gain experience fast.

Compared to that, it is much more difficult to get onto the snooker circus. It might take years to just qualify for the tour and even then its not guaranteed to play in the big tourneys against the top stars.
 
Oze147 said:
I switched from snooker to pool roughly a year ago and I would say, that you can`t really compare the two games and the skills that are connected to them...and I think, that many people overestimate the significance of a snooker background when playing pool.

In fact I would say, that essentially snooker isn`t very complex as a sport. If you can master the technique to pot balls, you have done it. Position play is easier, because you have a lot of room to position and maneuver the cue ball. Tactical play is easier because of the size of the table and the difficulty to pot long shots or balls along the rail.
(We all know, that all this is of course easier said than done).

Pool has more facets to it.
Pocketing a ball on a pool table isn`t that difficult. The problem is, that it is easy for your opponent too, so your safetygame has to be much more precise. But then there are those nasty things like jump cues or people who can bank balls or are very good at kick shots...so if you want to be competitive, you should learn those things too.
Do I have to mention, that as a former snooker player, I break like a little girl? Not to mention, that my position play looses me, when playing with a lot of side or on shots that involve more than two rails.

In my eyes the main reason for snooker players being successful in pool is, that the pool scene is much easier to enter. Everyone who is willing to pay the entry fee can play Eurotour, at the US Open or try his luck at the DCC. There they have the opportunity to play against the top players, they learn quickly and combined with solid fundamentals they have a good chance to become successful. Double eliminations, group stages or the chance to rebuy into a tournament also helps to gain experience fast.

Compared to that, it is much more difficult to get onto the snooker circus. It might take years to just qualify for the tour and even then its not guaranteed to play in the big tourneys against the top stars.
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Why would anybody listen to you? You only have first-hand experience and facts as opposed to the fantasy world that these forums live in. Please control yourself. You're ruining a good story.

Freddie <~~~ not a good fantasy reader
 
jsp said:
Great post. Having said that, I still think you continue to understate that it much easier to transition from snooker to pool. That isn't to say that a snooker champion would automatically be a pool champion (there still hasn't been one), but that it's much more likely a snooker pro can be competitive playing pro pool than the other way around.

I've made this analogy before, but snooker is to baseball as pool is to cricket. Sure there is no guarantee Bryce Harper would be a world class cricket player, but he'll certainly have an easier time making contact playing cricket with cricket equipment compared to a champion cricket player attempting to make contact with a 92mph slider with a baseball bat.
Click to expand...

Just a quick question for you all… Have you actually ever played on a proper 12 foot snooker table? Have you ever been to England and played on a snooker table? Have you ever dedicated a day, just a day, playing snooker? Not an American tricked out table.

Since I have done all of the above, I can say by my personal experience, that snooker is just another billiard Cueist game. For sure it's tougher to pot balls, but if you play it like snooker and not like American pool, any decent Cueist can play this game . It's not like learning to ice skate when you've never skated before. I feel like if you are a B player, you should be able to run a 50 break within a week . I did it in an hour. I'm sure if I had a week I would've had a nice break or two. And I'm a nobody.


I just feel that a lot of people on these boards who like to compare snooker and pool have never actually played snooker or good pool to begin with. I'm sure there are a few of you that have plenty of time at both. But I've also met a handful of forum members who have started playing our games at snooker and transitioned to pool, but are afraid to let their experience been known to a lot of the people here who have this false non-first-hand idea about both games. Or worse: The people who actually have experience in both give their experience, but 99% of the forum doesn't bother reading or believing.

I hope the latest post from Oze147 lands. I won't hold my breath.
 
Cornerman said:
Efren. We beat that dead horse.
Click to expand...

Actually while I have immense respect for Efren the truth is Efren has beaten 15year old Ronnie in 1 frame getting 25-points headstart while making 130+points run. Running 130+ points takes tremendous skill yet it is just one part of the game. There are basically hundrers of players in UK who are able to make such a run, the difference is made by their consistency and defensive skills which is WAY bigger part of the game than in pool. Would Efren be able to make it on the main tour in his prime? If he dedicated himself fully to learn all of aspects of the game I believe it would be possible back then, he was/is that talented. Would he be able to consistently beat competition on the main tour to win trophies? Very very unlikely.
On the other hand Steve David won bronze medal at World pool championships and Tony Drago won World Pool Masters. I dont see any pool player Efren included coming even reasonable close to such achievement in snooker.
 
RichSchultz said:
Agree Freddie ( I always agree with your posts); but Ronnie was on a Mosconi Cup team...so he couldn’t have been terrible at pool. We know Davis was too, and I don’t recall if Melling has been.
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Yes they were, at a time where Europe had very few pool players. How many top snooker players have been picked for the MC last 10-15 years? It's like the Jamaican Bobsled team, had to pick someone to play.

This question really should be more on the YouTube comments sections under pool videos, where it is pretty much guaranteed someone will start a post about "those are huge pockets, bet they will lose to a snooker player" or something similar.
 
marek said:
Actually while I have immense respect for Efren the truth is Efren has beaten 15year old Ronnie in 1 frame getting 25-points headstart while making 130+points run. Running 130+ points takes tremendous skill yet it is just one part of the game. There are basically hundrers of players in UK who are able to make such a run, the difference is made by their consistency and defensive skills which is WAY bigger part of the game than in pool. Would Efren be able to make it on the main tour in his prime? If he dedicated himself fully to learn all of aspects of the game I believe it would be possible back then, he was/is that talented. Would he be able to consistently beat competition on the main tour to win trophies? Very very unlikely.
On the other hand Steve David won bronze medal at World pool championships and Tony Drago won World Pool Masters. I dont see any pool player Efren included coming even reasonable close to such achievement in snooker.
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All good information, but the OP asked a question comparing to Davis and Osullivan's "success" at pool, where there really is none. Melling really is not a snooker player that transitioned, using him as an example is wishful thinking.

Efren won the southeast games in snooker. Do southeast asians suck at snooker? Did they at the time (probably)?

And Efren beat Ronnie in a set, not a game. And Ronnie was some player at 15, not just another guy, and certainly not just some kid. And Efren beat Jimmy White in the back room during the same tournament, also a set, also running two century breaks with a pool cue. And Jimmy White was no 15 year old newcomer. Three centuries in two sets to 5 against world beaters on a 12' snooker table. For whatever that's worth, apparently.

So I don't disagree with anything you said, but the way you write it, it's as if 100 break by Efren was a fluke that he couldn't maintain. That's an odd conclusion at best. We're talking about Efren.

And when do we stop believing the story that Drago was a snooker player?The guy was born to play pool. Tony Drago is a cueist and a maniac.

These comparisons do nothing but divide cueist. I'd rather embrace my snooker brethren, not make some foolish divide.
 
Cornerman said:
Just a quick question for you all… Have you actually ever played on a proper 12 foot snooker table? Have you ever been to England and played on a snooker table? Have you ever dedicated a day, just a day, playing snooker? Not an American tricked out table.

Since I have done all of the above, I can say by my personal experience, that snooker is just another billiard Cueist game. For sure it's tougher to pot balls, but if you play it like snooker and not like American pool, any decent Cueist can play this game . It's not like learning to ice skate when you've never skated before. I feel like if you are a B player, you should be able to run a 50 break within a week . I did it in an hour. I'm sure if I had a week I would've had a nice break or two. And I'm a nobody.


I just feel that a lot of people on these boards who like to compare snooker and pool have never actually played snooker or good pool to begin with. I'm sure there are a few of you that have plenty of time at both. But I've also met a handful of forum members who have started playing our games at snooker and transitioned to pool, but are afraid to let their experience been known to a lot of the people here who have this false non-first-hand idea about both games. Or worse: The people who actually have experience in both give their experience, but 99% of the forum doesn't bother reading or believing.

I hope the latest post from Oze147 lands. I won't hold my breath.
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I have Freddy...countless hours on the baize while studying in England. And our pool hall in Atlanta has 2 full size snooker tables too
 
RichSchultz said:
Agree Freddie ( I always agree with your posts); but Ronnie was on a Mosconi Cup team...so he couldn’t have been terrible at pool. We know Davis was too, and I don’t recall if Melling has been.
Click to expand...

Steve Davis and Ronnie were on the Mosconi Cup team purely as a PR stunt to generate interest in the UK, although Steve did have limited success he never committed properly and Ronnie (I am lead to believe) freely admits he's not a pool player.

Chris Melling on the other hand, did have a short snooker career, but I don't think anyone would classify him as a 'snooker player', more a pool player that tried his hand at snooker. As for success in pool, Melling has won a few big events and off the top of my head has been in (possibly) 2 winning Mosconi Cup sides (possibly even one as MVP)?
 
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