Look I know the women players are can play world class pool, and can beat any man in the world (with a few exceptions) on any given day. This has to do with 1) The women playing at a exceptional level 2) The format of winners break (which is I think one of the most ridiculous aspects of professional pool women or men) and 3) The emphasis on technique rather than physical strength required to play the game professionally. It didn't matter if alcano was a 12 year old girl with his soft break at the world pool championships, if you can play like that your going to smoke whoever you play. I was basing my assesment of womens professional pool off of what ive seen on ESPN with them running out on buckets, and then watching them play in the US open with diamond tables that has tighter pockets with deeper shelves. It was like watching people below local shortstops play. Lots of errors, the weak breaks not pocketing balls, etc. When you make pool require more physical strength like the IPT did, the women just couldn't play with the men. Although I think in a couple of years they would have caught up. And 3 3/4 inch pockets are super tight, I don't even know (around my area southern cal) where I can find pockets that tight. The downstairs tables at hollywood billiards are all 4" flat. I don't know what table 1 at Hard Times is, but I think it might be 4" flat too, but having a WPBA event on tables with exactly 4" wide pockets is not standard. You play on a 4" tables and hit the side rail virtually at all and the ball will rattle, but you see the pros in the WPC hit the side rail and at the right speed it will drop. So I understand the WPBA women can PLAY, its just usually when a women beats a top guy, there is an equalizing factor, sometimes not, but usually there is. The tougher the equipment the longer the race, with alternate breaks, the better play will win. However I still don't see helena beating johnny on a WPC table, thats all.
. Johnnyt
