today, i went to a pool hall a half hour away from my home, just so i could play on 4 and a quarter inch pockets, like there will be at the ipt. well, i was quite suprised, truth be known. the pockets were tight, don't get me wrong, but all in all, not too scary. i feel that snooker players may do very well, with tight pockets and slow napped cloth, for that's what they are used to, however, the strategy in 8-ball, is more like chess than snooker, so they will have to bring that up, to match their potting skills. i feel that players, who play up and down the vertical part of the white, will excell, for instance, thorstan hoemann, allen hopkins, earl strickland, bernie friend, karen corr, with tighter pockets, center, slightly above center, and slightly below center, (varied stun) is what's important. a shorter bridge (distance from tip to bridge hand) slower warm-up strokes, and staying down longer, combined with less angle, for instance 0to7 degrees help make the game easier, for your not playing thin snicks into deep small hidden corner pockets. more of a condenced compact set-up, helps, for instance fong pang chao type of traditional style, rather than a loosey goosey efren reyes style, helps hone into the splitting of the bags. all in all a good workout, and i await the updates for the offical rules, and cloth brand, my guess the Henry William Theodore Mali & company since 1826. the largest and oldest cloth manufacturers in america. p.s. for those who weren't aware, Mali got their start working for simonis way back when! interesting.
