I was taught to play straight pool to improve my 8 ball. I recall a video of Earl playing 8 ball and the expert commentary giving up on analyzing the out when Earl was shooting. He never went the way they thought best but he still got out . 
The Legendary Pearl to Take On 14.1 Attempts
- Thread starter lfigueroa
- Start date
I hope he competes and wins.Hall of Fame player Earl "The Pearl" Strickland will participate in The Legends Of Pocket Billiards 14.1 challenge beginning December 28.
Though known primarily as one of the greatest 9 Ball players of all-time, Earl also has a 14.1 high run of 480. We will be announcing a start time when we get closer to the 28th. No doubt his participation in this event will generate some lively discussion. Goferit.
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Lou Figueroa
But the whole point of straight pool is the fact that it takes a greater degree of mental discipline to consistently compete on the highest level. That mental discipline is an integral part of the "knowledge".I may be in the minority with my opinion on this but I'll share anyway
I feel many make too much out of "straight pool knowledge". It ain't differential equations! There's some basic concepts that you need to know and apply, but there's no "deep secrets or technical knowledge that takes years to acquire". I don't believe Vlahos knows anything more about straight pool than Earl. If anything, he probably just has more mental discipline to execute his knowledge every time he's at the table and on every shot.
A superstroker like Earl can catch his rhythm and put together long runs when everything is going right. But as you can see by watching the DVD with Vlahos, his problem is* that way too often he attempted low percentage shots out of frustration, and then got put in his chair while Nick ran what he could and then put Earl right back in jail. Wash, rinse, repeat.
And as we've seen time and time again in 9 ball tournament play, or in the "Color of Money" match with Efren, when things aren't going right he all too often goes into a funk and mails it in. The question isn't whether he's got the talent to be a world class 14.1 player. Of course he does. It's whether he has that mental discipline, and can maintain it when things aren't going his way. And I'll believe that when I see it.
* Or was; hopefully he's learned something about mental discipline over the past 30 years.
I was thinking the same thing. You can have great knowledge of the game and what do to with difference situations. Actually executing it and keeping in the right mind that long to do it, that is something else. I definitely want to see what Earl does.
He had enough mental discipline to run over 400 , so he's qualified on ball pocketing alone
Shooting and making balls, in my opinion, is easier in 14.1 than 8B because you get to shoot any ball and into any pocket, it's the defense strategies and breakout that are key to 14.1. I think Earl could rip off some great runs in 14.1 given his years of experience at this point and the fact he has been practicing, from what he says, more than ever for the Mosconi Cup.
I'm looking forward to watching his attempts, I just hope he doesn't get into his own head. I know he excels when he's talking and having fun so I'm wondering if the format of this is going to be a detriment to him?
When did vlahos die and where in dmv did he call home?
I may be in the minority with my opinion on this but I'll share anyway
I feel many make too much out of "straight pool knowledge". It ain't differential equations! There's some basic concepts that you need to know and apply, but there's no "deep secrets or technical knowledge that takes years to acquire". I don't believe Vlahos knows anything more about straight pool than Earl. If anything, he probably just has more mental discipline to execute his knowledge every time he's at the table and on every shot.
hmmm, no.
There is a certain logic to the game that takes a while to learn. Along with that are a multitude of positional shots you need to know which, when a good player executes them, look simple. Often it is easy to overlook the precision being deployed -- in many cases it is fractions of an inch -- and that is a skill set that also takes time and effort to develop. Lastly, a knowledgable straight pool player has come to learn, usually the hard way, where the hidden perils in a run lie and what patterns are most likely to continue a run.
Good 14.1 players make all this look like child's play but it is not. So sure, a great player/shot maker can run a lot of balls but as the run goes on the odds they are running afoul of will catch up with them faster than with someone who knows the game.
Lou Figueroa
IMO, there is no way running any eight balls is easier that getting to 100, 125, or 150 in 14.1
Lou Figueroa
I would agree with this.
I also think Earl knows quite a bit about 14.1 and is a sure threat to put up a big number.
Lou Figueroa
....and listing what's wrong with pool today in alphabetical order.
You gotta love Earl. He's going to be playing with intensity...
I agree, simply stating that pocketing balls in 14.1 is an easier proposition than 8B as there are no limits at which balls you can shoot.
I didn't articulate it very well but basically, remove your opponent and you are your worst enemy in 14.1
I think he died of a brain tumor sometime in the mid-to-late 90's, but that's secondhand information. He moved to New England around 1969-70 and I lost track of him after that.
I first saw him play when he was attending Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD in the late 60's, and used Roman Billiards as his home base. Two memories of him at the time stand out.
The first one was in 1967 when he came down to Brunswick Billiards at 1419 Irving St NW in Washington, which featured a 5' x 10' 1920's era Brunswick with extremely tight pockets. He was about 14 or 15 at the time, and nobody down there would play him after just watching him run rack after rack while practicing. Like Geese's, his stroke was poetry in motion.
The second one was when Roman Billiards had a one pocket tournament that drew all the top players from the area. This was when Nick was about 15. Not only did he go through it undefeated, he didn't lose a single game, and in most games his opponents wound up owing balls at the end. In the last game of the finals, he started playing one handed with barely a noticeable letdown.
Roman Billiards had some other great young talent at the time in there, including Geese, Jerry Stevens (a fabulous 9 ball player), and Tom Wirth, the author of One Pocket: A Game of Controlled Aggression. At the time, Tom (or Tom-Tom, as he was later called) was just learning the nuances of the game, but he's always had a strong observational eye, and the last time I talked to him he agreed that for pure talent and pool intelligence, Nick Vlahos was as good a player as he's ever seen in his lifetime coming out of the Washington area. I've seen Strawberry, Geese, Gump, Beanie, you name it, but I've never seen anyone around DC with "Little Nicky's" sheer talent for the game, especially one pocket.
It's hard to get a peg on him only because he mostly stayed local and undercover, never playing much in tournaments, but he also was a great money manager and invested his winnings in real estate. He was confident almost to the point of arrogance about his game, as you can see in that interview after he beat Earl, but as Dizzy Dean once said, "It ain't bragging if you can do it."
Watch how many times Efren Reyes breaks from the BACK of the rack, NOT from the side! This is a 141 ball run.
Here's a truism compliments of moi:
The better the pool player, the less relative "value" straight pool knowledge and experience has. For example: for me, running the best patterns may improve my game 50%. That's because I fall out of line often or am likely to miss more often than, say, Earl. On the opposite side of the spectrum, shots that cause me anxiety Earl two-strokes and fires them in without thought. Same thing with falling out of line. I may utilize my safety valve ball once every rack or two. The value of that safety valve ball is much smaller for Earl because he falls out of line a lot less.
On a side note, most people may not know this, but Earl used to play a LOT of straight pool when he was an up-and-comer. He once told me he forced himself to run 100 balls before he took his morning pee. Could you imagine that? Talk about pressure!
Well sure, he did that, but consider that Efren brings a different tool kit to the game than most players.
By that I mean he is a specialist in 15 ball rotation; plays carom and 3C at a high level; and on top of that he is no slouch at 1pocket. But even so, Efren plays 14.1 in a very non-traditional manner that almost ensures he's not going to put up super high numbers with any consistency.
Lastly, while the back of the rack break is easy to get on and will open the balls up, there is a reason experienced players prefer the side of the rack break. That is to keep more balls down table. The more balls you drive up table the more work you have to do to go pick them up. But more importantly, if you drive balls up table then you have fewer balls to use as break balls, or potential break balls, and key balls.
Of course, a 163 ball runner like you knows all that.
Lou Figueroa
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It makes sense though.I agree, simply stating that pocketing balls in 14.1 is an easier proposition than 8B as there are no limits at which balls you can shoot.
I didn't articulate it very well but basically, remove your opponent and you are your worst enemy in 14.1
Who knows? If Earl actually puts up a big number, the video might actually be seen by pool fans, instead of languishing in a cabinet somewhere.. *cough* *cough* Smitty *cough*