The True Record Hi Run

None of the people who currently have the ability to break the record find that it is worth their time and effort to do so.

Since a reoccuring theme seems to be "dwelling on the facts", how do we really know that NONE of the top level 14.1 players have any interest in topping Mosconi's "easy" to beat record?

We don't.

How do we know that they aren't or haven't been trying all this time and have simply failed to do so?

We don't.


...Like I said, I highly doubt anyone wants to spend weeks at the pool hall all day trying this. They will want to do it from the comfort of their home.

They will? Even though it would not be recognized by any authoritative body, or league, and barely any of the general public?

How can you possibly know what so many other people are thinking?
There seems to be a pattern of presumption here.

Not to mention the fact that Mosconi didn't spend weeks "trying" to set a record.
He just did it, on the spot, multiple attempts not needed.
If todays players are equally as awesome, they should, in theory, be able to just walk up to any table and knock it out without weeks of trying.

I think most of the elite 14. players of today would give their eye-teeth and left nut to have a video of themselves breaking the record.

You're dam right they would. Titles like that sell dvds, tshirts, lessons, endorsements, etc etc.

The record will be broken, no doubt. But if it was easy it would have bee already done. Les[t] we forget, the record has stood for over 50 years.

Bingo. Give that man a ceegar.

If they can beat it, they should grow some hair and beat it.
Mosconi didn't sit down and say "they don't pay me enough for this BS"
He stepped up and said "this is why you cant beat me "

I'm not saying nobody today can beat it, I'm saying that if you're too much of a vagina to prove it, then I'm not giving you the same respect that I give Mosconi.

end rant /]
 
Since a reoccuring theme seems to be "dwelling on the facts", how do we really know that NONE of the top level 14.1 players have any interest in topping Mosconi's "easy" to beat record?
Logic. The payoff would be minimal in relation to the amount of work involved. Who does lots of work for little pay/benefit? Plus you would hear about some of them making a serious effort trying to do it and video it if they were (and John videoing a few of his runs was not a serious effort at breaking the record). I haven't heard of any doing that, have you?

And I never said it was easy. In fact, I very specifically said it was not easy. If you are going to respond to someone, at least know what they said and get it right. Reading comprehension is a necessity for participating in discussion forums.


How do we know that they aren't or haven't been trying all this time and have simply failed to do so?
See the answer above.

Even though it would not be recognized by any authoritative body, or league, and barely any of the general public?
As if there is some almighty authoritative body. LOL. But the same entities that recognize Mosconi's run would recognize anyone elses, particularly if it exceeded it by 14 balls or more. And almost the entire public would recognize it. Why wouldn't they, it will have been beaten.

How can you possibly know what so many other people are thinking?
That seems to be your specialty. Tell me, why do you think you know what so many are thinking?

Not to mention the fact that Mosconi didn't spend weeks "trying" to set a record.
He just did it, on the spot, multiple attempts not needed.
So this was the only time Mosconi tried to see how many balls he could run? Really? What a dumb thing to say, particularly since there are many first hand accounts of Mosconi continuing his runs until he missed to see how many he could run. Multiple attempts were needed. He tried it many, many, many times in his life. You act like that day he said "watch this, today I am going to break the high run record and run over 500 balls" and that it was the only time he ever tried it in his life and that he could have done it on demand any time he had tried it. That is not what happened at all.

If todays players are equally as awesome, they should, in theory, be able to just walk up to any table and knock it out without weeks of trying.
Well that isn't the way Mosconi did it, why should they be able to? That was the best (verifiable) that Willie was able to do in 80 years, with lots of attempts.

Titles like that sell dvds, tshirts, lessons, endorsements, etc etc.
They do, but not nearly enough to make the amount of hours and work involved worth it. And because so much luck is involved in any high run, including Mosconi's, it would be even harder for someone to want to devote weeks or months in pursuit for a relatively small payoff because you can't just be good, all the luck has to fall into place too. But like I said, get $30,000 together in escrow and you will find out how likely it would be that one or more of today's players does it with not nearly the difficulty you think it would be.

Mosconi didn't sit down and say "they don't pay me enough for this BS"
He stepped up and said "this is why you cant beat me "
Not even sure what you are trying to say here. All I know is he was paid good salary for years to travel around giving exhibitions. There are lots of players today that would do that. But yes, he played tournaments. So does everybody else. He didn't play tournaments to prove he was best, he did it to earn money. Again, same as everybody else.

I'm not saying nobody today can beat it, I'm saying that if you're too much of a vagina to prove it, then I'm not giving you the same respect that I give Mosconi.
Well at least you have backed off from the thought that nobody today can compare and that they couldn't break the record. As soon as it was pointed out that you could easily get the money together and get a definitive answer on whether it could be broken by someone of today you sure back pedaled on that real quick.
 
Logic. The payoff would be minimal in relation to the amount of work involved. Who does lots of work for little pay/benefit?

Lots of people. Every day of every year, and on purpose.
It appears to defy what you consider to be logical, but its a fact.


Plus you would hear about some of them making a serious effort trying to do it and video it if they were ....

Maybe, maybe not.
I personally don't see any benefit in announcing to the world that you are a failure.


That seems to be your specialty. Tell me, why do you think you know what so many are thinking?
I don't mind if you deflect. It's not my particular modus but to each his own I guess.
And to answer your question, it's called evidence. It's all around us. People WANT to keep, set and break records. Its a fact. As a very simple example, stroll over to the 14.1 forum and you'll find a list of high runs. Or pick up a copy of the Guinness book of records. Or watch the Olympics. There are bus loads of people out there striving to set and break records with little to no financial incentive..



So this was the only time Mosconi tried to see how many balls he could run? Really?
What a dumb thing to say, particularly since there are many first hand accounts of Mosconi continuing his runs until he missed to see how many he could run. Multiple attempts were needed. He tried it many, many, many times in his life.

Your insults are not flattering. And they certainly don't help to make your point. I never said, or implied, that it was his only attempt at setting a record.
"If you are going to respond to someone, at least know what they said and get it right. Reading comprehension is a necessity for participating in discussion forums." LOL
What I said is he didn't spend weeks or months (steadily) trying to set or break a record. It was done in the course of playing a typical exhibition match, rather than being a specific task that he set out to do that day.


And because so much luck is involved in any high run, including Mosconi's, it would be even harder for someone to want to devote weeks or months in pursuit for a relatively small payoff because you can't just be good, all the luck has to fall into place too.

You can't just be that good? Wow. That's disappointing.

Well at least you have backed off from the thought that nobody today can compare and that they couldn't break the record. As soon as it was pointed out that you could easily get the money together and get a definitive answer on whether it could be broken by someone of today you sure back pedaled on that real quick.

Back pedal? Jeez man. Don't flatter yourself.
Where did I say or imply that nobody can compare or that the record can't be broken?

"If you are going to respond to someone, at least know what they said and get it right. Reading comprehension is a necessity for participating in discussion forums".
 
Bond brother, no need to go low and use his own words you back pedaler. Ha.

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk
 
We are talking primarily about best player in regards to high runs in regards to could a player of today beat Mosconi's record. For prettiest game I might agree with you. But for whether Mosconi was so good that he has a run so high that no player today could break it? Nah, several players today could break it.



You are too smart for this Lou. My argument has nothing to do with and is not dependent on any particular game, or any particular era, or any particular players. It holds true regardless of game, regardless of era, regardless of individuals being discussed. And that contention is simply that how much someone dominated in one era, is not evidence that they would be the best in another era. Nothing more, nothing less. And I only brought this up because SEVERAL people offered Mosconi's dominance in his era as evidence that he is better than anyone today. I know you are smart enough to see the flaw in that logic and I was trying to explain it to them in a number of ways.


ah, the old "you are too smart for this" gambit. Actually I don't know about that but I am smart enough to note that you did not answer my question as to whether you are a straight pool player. I suspect not, not because you didn't answer, but because you don't get how important pretty is.

Lou Figueroa
 
That is exactly my point,well said.

This is why I think that at least a couple or 3 players of todays generation could play as good or better than Mosconi, and not just in 9Ball or other rotation games, but in 14.1 as well, as long as they could have dedicated their life to play 14.1

To me watching Orcollo run 141 the 2nd day he played Straight Pool, justified the point poolplaya9 is trying to get across.

What we will never know is if Mosconi would had been the greatest if he woulda been born in our era, but what we do know (or at least I believe), is that he would not have been the best player of today.
In my opinion.

I think the top straight pool players and even the ones that don't particularly play straight pool but are top players have way more firepower.

Appleton broke the high run record in tournament competition and he's been playing pool for less than 10 years.He's been playing Straight pool for even less time at an average of maybe 1 week per year, the rest of weeks of the year he's playing 9Ball or 10ball only. He won the Derby City Classic 14.1 challenge in 2006 or 2007, and that was the first time he played Straight pool in his life)
He may not have played 100 games in his life time yet.

Is that not prove enough?


No, that is not proof enough. We will probably never know how good the players of today might be in comparison to Mosconi and Greenleaf and Crane because 14.1 is not the game of choice nowadays.

Might someone break the record? Sure. But that does not mean today's generation could play as good or better than Mosconi.

Lou Figueroa
 
No, that is not proof enough. We will probably never know how good the players of today might be in comparison to Mosconi and Greenleaf and Crane because 14.1 is not the game of choice nowadays.

Might someone break the record? Sure. But that does not mean today's generation could play as good or better than Mosconi.

Lou Figueroa

Well said, Lou. Not many pros play a lot of 14.1 these days, but several of them could set the record. I'd say Hohmann, Ortmann, Schmidt, Feijen and Appleton are the ones with the best chance right now, but it's not beyond the possible reach of a few others like Mika Immonen, Stephan Cohen, Nick Vandenberg, Max Eberle and Jayson Shaw.

The real issue, though, is the absence of any real reason for anybody to try to make a really high run. Also, beating Mosconi's 526 ball exhibition run, or Cranfield's 768 ball practice run, doesn't make one better than those greats of the past. The only record of Mosconi's that one can beat and expect mention as the greatest is his competitive record.

In the end, and it's been pointed out often by the wise members of this forum, a player can only be measured by performance against his/her own contemporaries. Mosconi's dominance against his peers will be very hard to top, and to be fair, Jean Balukas' dominance over her peers also sets a standard that will be very hard to match in the women's game.
 
Last edited:
Might someone break the record? Sure. But that does not mean today's generation could play as good or better than Mosconi.

Lou Figueroa

Of course it doesn't.

In the same way that Mosconi's 526 doesn't necessarily mean he plays better than today's generation.

Maybe I'm over simplifying things, but it seems there's only one true way to determine the better 14.1 player. That being average # of balls made per inning.
 
Of course it doesn't.

In the same way that Mosconi's 526 doesn't necessarily mean he plays better than today's generation.

Maybe I'm over simplifying things, but it seems there's only one true way to determine the better 14.1 player. That being average # of balls made per inning.

Irving Crane sure wouldn't have impressed you. His defensive tendencies made his balls per inning counts pretty low, but he was the best player not named Mosconi in their respective primes.

BPI is not the real measure of skill, the only good measures of skill are wins and titles.

Where you are correct, however, is that Mosconi's 526 does not prove he was the best ever. It is his competitive track record that makes him the best ever and nothing else.
 
Well said, Lou. Not many pros play a lot of 14.1 these days, but several of them could set the record. I'd say Hohmann, Ortmann, Schmidt, Feijen and Appleton are the ones with the best chance right now, but it's now beyond the possible reach of a few others like Mika Immonen, Stephan Cohen, Nick Vandenberg, Max Eberle and Jayson Shaw.

The real issue, though, is the absence of any real reason for anybody to try to make a really high run. Also, beating Mosconi's 526 ball exhibition run, or Cranfield's 768 ball practice run, doesn't make one better than those greats of the past. The only record of Mosconi's that one can beat and expect mention as the greatest is his competitive record.

In the end, and it's been pointed out often by the wise members of this forum, a player can only be measured by performance against his/her own contemporaries. Mosconi's dominance against his peers will be very hard to top, and to be fair, Jean Balukas' dominance over her peers also sets a standard that will be very hard to match in the women's game.


Great point, Stu -- it is about how a player does against their contemporaries.

And when you consider 14.1 was the standard competition and that there was a group of legendary players who, for decades, lived and died by straight pool, it would be hard to argue against Mosconi.

Lou Figueroa
not that a few
won't anyways
 
Of course it doesn't.

In the same way that Mosconi's 526 doesn't necessarily mean he plays better than today's generation.

Maybe I'm over simplifying things, but it seems there's only one true way to determine the better 14.1 player. That being average # of balls made per inning.


hmmm, no. BPI is not the way to go. You have to remember that different styles of play emphasis the safety side of the game. I seem to recall at least one championship was won and the guy never ran more than 40 but gave the other guys fits always leaving them tied up and at the far end of the table.

Lou Figueroa
 
ah, the old "you are too smart for this" gambit. Actually I don't know about that but I am smart enough to note that you did not answer my question as to whether you are a straight pool player. I suspect not, not because you didn't answer, but because you don't get how important pretty is.

Lou Figueroa

Ok, maybe you aren't then. My point was clear and absolutely accurate, sorry if you didn't get it (me thinks you are still thinking in terms of the imaginary ghost player who might be better in another era IF they were in that other era because they were born later, as opposed to just taking the person as they were which is what I was referring to and which makes the most sense in the context of this thread about his record). As for straight pool player, it depends on your definition of straight pool player. I have enough knowledge of the game to have an educated opinion on the things we are discussing, which is what you are really wanting to know, so in that respect I am certainly a straight pool player. I like the game, I play the game, although not terribly often since most others (in my area) have zero interest in playing it (and it isn't usually my first choice either for that matter), I have watched a ton of the game played at the highest level, and I'm certainly not anywhere near good enough to enter the World Straight Pool Championships. Hopefully that gives you your answer.
 
Player A has a high run of 150 and they run balls they way you think they should be run.
Player B has a high run of 300 and their runs are done all the wrong way in your opinion.
You really think player A is favored to beat player B?

Over the long haul: yes.

First off in the context of my example, favored (not who was guaranteed to win, but who was favored) didn't depend on long haul or short haul or any other time frame. If you are favored, you are favored, and the answer was either yes or no and additional clarifier's about the haul were meaningless. I disagree with your opinion though. In this particular case, I think player B is more likely to have a higher per inning average, and would be favored to win a match up. The reason for that is that based on those statistics player B appears have enough extra firepower to still outclass player A in the game all things considered.
 
Yes Lou that is how yesterday went in England. Selby was torturing O'Sullivan after a miss by outmoving him. He was aggressive at times, but winning by defensive techniques. He had very low breaks (runs) through the first 23 or so games. He is a champion of world snooker through a defensive discipline.

Basically the 526 was a practice drill in that the rules of the game require 2 players. The record stands as non-competitive. Remember that most governing sports bodies only recognize "numbers" achieved in competition. So to me the numbers that count most in 14.1 have the word "win" associated with.

Did I just say that ?

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk
 
First off in the context of my example, favored (not who was guaranteed to win, but who was favored) didn't depend on long haul or short haul or any other time frame. If you are favored, you are favored, and the answer was either yes or no and additional clarifier's about the haul were meaningless. I disagree with your opinion though. In this particular case, I think player B is more likely to have a higher per inning average, and would be favored to win a match up. The reason for that is that based on those statistics player B appears have enough extra firepower to still outclass player A in the game all things considered.

Allow me to answer your question in the form of a question.

Thomas Engert (0 world straight pool titles) has a high run of 492
Thorsten Hohmann (3 world straight pool titles) has a high run of 408 (less than 492)

Do you really think Engert is favored to beat Thorsten?

..................
 
I don't mind if you deflect. It's not my particular modus but to each his own I guess. And to answer your question, it's called evidence. It's all around us. People WANT to keep, set and break records.
I didn't deflect, the answer was obvious. I had already provided evidence. People don't like to do a lot of hard work for little reward. This is fact. And if you listen to today's pro's talk you will know it is even more true today than it has ever been. You are right, there is a desire to break records. But when doing it would be a lot of hard work, with little reward, that more than offsets the desire for the record especially in a game that is largely considered gone and irrelevant today.

But ask one of the top straight pool players of today sometime "do you think you could beat Mosconi's high run record on the same equipment, and if so why haven't you, and what would it take to get you to do it" and see what they say. Then let us know. Then neither of us have to think the other person is trying to read their mind. I think they will say what I have been saying which is yes they could, but the amount of work to do it isn't worth the payoff in their eyes. As to what payoff they would say would be enough to make it worth to them to actually do it, that I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing a cash prize of around $30,000.

I never said, or implied, that it was his only attempt at setting a record.
Here is what you said. "He just did it, on the spot, multiple attempts not needed." If not explicitly stating it, it sure seems to me that you were at least strongly insinuating that he didn't make multiple efforts at it and downplaying the fact that there might have been tons and tons of attempts. At best you worded it very poorly if that didn't at all say what you were trying to say, or if that was not the insinuation you were trying to make.

What I said is he didn't spend weeks or months (steadily) trying to set or break a record. It was done in the course of playing a typical exhibition match, rather than being a specific task that he set out to do that day.
At some point on that day he did indeed set out to see how many balls he could run. And in contrast to what you are saying, it could easily be argued that setting the record is actually easier when based on a circumstance such as in an exhibition where you already have a real nice run going before you decide to continue it to see how high you could get as opposed to someone that started out from ball one with the intention of trying to set the record (which comes with more pressure both because you are actually trying to break a record and because that intention started at ball one). I'm not necessarily making that argument, but it would sure have some validity.

And who cares if a record comes as a result of many tries spread out over the course of a lifetime (as with Mosconi's record), or many tries over the course of a few months (if someone today were to make a concerted effort to break it). I don't see that it makes any difference at all.

Not to mention that if one of the top straight pool pros of today were were being paid to do straight pool exhibitions for years on the same equipment they would have a pretty good chance of breaking it in the course of doing that as well. But nobody is paying them to go around doing that so the opportunity doesn't exist. But again, it wouldn't make a difference to the validity of how impressive it was anyway. How spread out your many attempts were doesn't matter. Now if somebody had never tried for a high run in their life, lets say Carlo Biado just to pick someone for whom that may be true, and he walked in a poolroom one day and said "ok everybody listen up, today I am going to break the straight pool high run record" and then he proceeded to do it, then that would be more impressive for sure. But whether the many attempts were spread out over years or months is meaningless.

Where did I say or imply that nobody can compare or that the record can't be broken?
It has been pretty clear to me that you have been implying that nobody can compare to Mosconi. As for the implication that nobody could break Mosconi's record, you are correct, you didn't explicitly make that implication and I stretched a bit on that one. Not nearly as bad as you characterizing my position that the high run record is easy to beat when I had already previously stated explicitly in no uncertain terms and multiple times that it was hard and would take a ton of work, but it was still a stretch none the less and my apologies for it.
 
Last edited:
..................

Like I said, when high runs are relatively close, then whoever does it "right" is more likely to be favored in a match up. And with just a bit more separation in high runs you might still find an exception where the player with the lower run is actually better. But the more the separation, the less likely to find an exception. Just because there can be exceptions doesn't change that what I said was correct, that the player with the higher run is more likely to be favored over the player with the lower run if there is a decent separation in run size (and they have both made enough attempts to give enough sample size obviously). And in the specific example I gave, player B was far more likely to be the favored player if they matched up.
 
No, that is not proof enough. We will probably never know how good the players of today might be in comparison to Mosconi and Greenleaf and Crane because 14.1 is not the game of choice nowadays.

Might someone break the record? Sure. But that does not mean today's generation could play as good or better than Mosconi.

Lou Figueroa
But if they do break the record it is a pretty darn indication that they are at least in the same general ball park of ability. We do agree with the fact that we may never know for sure how today's players would stack up to him in competition. There is some evidence to suggest or even strongly suggest things, but in the end it is still probably just speculation and opinion no matter which "side" you are on.
 
Back
Top