US Open 9-Ball, 2023, Atlantic City, Sep 25-30

Flakeandrun said:
I'm really confused what you guys are actually talking about here. Does anyone know the actual size of the pockets? And are they uniform with other MR events? Because again, I thought that was one of the selling points of MR. Standardising a game (which is an essential in my opinion). I mentioned before how the Spanish open tables seemed to have enormous pockets. Not many complaints about UK/Euro open. But many people, commentators, players and obviously forum members, moaning about the tightness of these tables.
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Yes Marchroom has moved towards standardizing them. As someone previously pointed out JV posted a picture of them. I don't recall if they are 4" or a hair larger.

I'm not really complaining, I've just noticed A LOT of balls end up in the jaws, especially as the tourney progresses and the cloth breaks in. There's sort of a spectrum where you have snooker pockets on one end, where few balls hang up, and on the opposite end you have Diamond's nearing parallel facings that leave balls sitting in the jaws. In between the two extremes, you have a more flared pocket like a Gold Crown that spits balls out.

I'm not saying anything needs to change here, as I think Matchroom is doing great getting this dialed in. It's just another variable to keep an eye on.
 
Flakeandrun said:
... Does anyone know the actual size of the pockets? And are they uniform with other MR events? ...
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These 2023 Matchroom 9-Ball events have all used tables with 4" corner pockets:
September -- US Open Pool Championship (Diamond tables)​
August -- European Open Pool Championship (Diamond)​
July -- World Cup of Pool (Rasson)​
June -- Spanish Open Pool Championship (Diamond)​
May/June -- UK Open Pool Championship (Diamond)​
May -- World Pool Masters (Rasson)​
March -- Predator Premier League Pool (Diamond)​

These 2023 9-Ball events used tables with 4¼" corner pockets:
May -- JFlowers Scottish Open (Rasson)​
Feb. -- World Pool Championship (Diamond -- dimension unsubstantiated)​
 
AtLarge said:
These 2023 Matchroom 9-Ball events have all used tables with 4" corner pockets:
September -- US Open Pool Championship (Diamond tables)​
August -- European Open Pool Championship (Diamond)​
July -- World Cup of Pool (Rasson)​
June -- Spanish Open Pool Championship (Diamond)​
May/June -- UK Open Pool Championship (Diamond)​
May -- World Pool Masters (Rasson)​
March -- Predator Premier League Pool (Diamond)​

These 2023 9-Ball events have used tables with 4¼" corner pockets:
May -- JFlowers Scottish Open (Rasson)​
Feb. -- World Pool Championship (Diamond)​
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Thanks for sharing. If they've been the same throughout each tournament, I think that's how it should be... Uniformity is key. Perhaps there is something in the atmosphere/temperature/cloth combination that affects the way the tables are playing, and how wide those pockets seem? Or, perhaps it is the standard of some of the players in the US open :censored: (...fishing like a gnome in a garden pond, please don't bite, I'm only part-serious)
 
Taxi said:
That was the worst I've ever seen either of those two play, with the possible exception of some of Corey's Mosconi Cup matches.
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yes, lil ko played great in the european open (same table specs) and has in general been looking good lately. corey has been like this for years and reportedly doesn't practice much these days
 
smoochie said:
They are destroying pool forever. It's so crazy to me when I hear people saying smaller pockets are good for pool, they dont seem to grasp the bigger picture I can write a book about it and how bad it is. In fact, smaller pockets will favor more luck long-term than your old big pockets.
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Smaller pockets do ONE thing: make the game harder. Not better, but harder. Removes the ability to cheat the wicket thus making 'cinch pool' almost mandatory. At the highest levels its not quite so bad but for everyone else anything tighter than 4.5 is a joke.
 
Greetings from the US Open. The story of day one was surely the 6:00 pm round, in which a) Jesse Engel came within a whisker of beating Moritz Neuhausen in a double hill loss and b) YL Chang, just as he did a few days ago in Connecticut, beat Anton Raga.

The setup of the tournament room is superb. There are six practice tables in the very front of the room, although a few players with whom I spoke said it wasn’t always easy to get onto one of them.

I caught up with Emily Frazer for a few minutes and she seemed relaxed and ready to preside over what will surely prove an enjoyable week here at Harrah’s in Atlantic City.
 
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sjm said:
Greetings from the US Open. The story of day one was surely the 6:00 pm round, in which a) Jesse Engel came within a whisker of beating Moritz Neuhausen in a double hill loss and b) YL Chang, just as he did a few days ago in Connecticut, beat Anton Raga.

The setup of the tournament room is superb. There are six practice tables in the very front of the room, although a few players with whom I spoke said it wasn’t always easy to get onto one of them.

I caught up with Emily Frazer for a few minutes and she seemed relaxed and ready to preside over what will surely prove an enjoyable week here at Harrah’s in Atlantic City.
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Thanks for the insight. How's the spectator areas? Is there going to be room for a crowd?
 
Flakeandrun said:
But many people, commentators, players and obviously forum members, moaning about the tightness of these tables.
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Sry, been busy, so I'm just catching up...

I haven't used a tape measure but these pockets appear to be 4" corners and not much larger for the sides.

I had ("had" as in 2 and out had) a very difficult time with the pocket size. I'm not complaining. Just saying that it's above my spd. Out the dozens of racks I've hit on these tables. I may have broke/ran maybe a handful.

The pocket size and wild skidding action of the rails has, for me, redefined what qualifies as a valid safety play.

The best will still rise to the top. I'd do it again. Rather have tough/quality conditions, then tough shitty ones.
 
BasementDweller said:
Yes Marchroom has moved towards standardizing them. As someone previously pointed out JV posted a picture of them. I don't recall if they are 4" or a hair larger.

I'm not really complaining, I've just noticed A LOT of balls end up in the jaws, especially as the tourney progresses and the cloth breaks in. There's sort of a spectrum where you have snooker pockets on one end, where few balls hang up, and on the opposite end you have Diamond's nearing parallel facings that leave balls sitting in the jaws. In between the two extremes, you have a more flared pocket like a Gold Crown that spits balls out.

I'm not saying anything needs to change here, as I think Matchroom is doing great getting this dialed in. It's just another variable to keep an eye on.
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They did announce 4" on the broadcast yesterday. I have no idea what Matchroom is thinking. They are obviously amazing for the sport, but this decision is disappointing. They've taken all of the exciting shots out of the game. Players are ducking instead of shooting banks or difficult shots. Why would you want to take out caroms, kiss-shots, tough combos, banks, even jumps - all out of the game. And replace them with what? Just ducking and kicking. I mean, they don't even want to spin the ball right now. I know snooker does really well, but then watch snooker. To me, this takes a lot of the knowledge out of the game from guys who play banks, straight pool, 1-pocket, etc., and just gives the advantage to people who work more on mechanics and fundamentals than learning all the shots and all the other games.

Another thing I found interesting yesterday, after watching for several hours. I always heard that we need to tighten the pockets to take out some of the luck aspect of 9-ball. Yesterday, from what I saw - the opposite is true. Everyone was missing so many balls that these short races came down to whether you hooked your opponent when you missed or left it in the jaws. It only takes one or two rolls to turn a race to 9, and you're better off missing by a lot - at least from what I saw. I can handle the snooker fans complaining when a ball rattles in on a 4.5" pocket, I don't know about the rest of you. That's tough enough, and at least the players will shoot at their hole, when the pockets are 4.5 - right now, they don't even want to apply side-spin on a lot of shots. Hopefully, they go back next year.
 
sjm said:
The setup of the tournament room is superb. There are six practice tables in the very front of the room, although a few players with whom I spoke said it wasn’t always easy to get onto one of them.
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Getting practice time is near impossible. Day 1 they opened the room at 9am but gave preference to the 10am players. Which of course makes sense. However, beyond that. If you didn't force yourself into the group of 5-6 already on a practice table. You got 2mins to warm up on your match table. Maybe that's enough for the young guys but it was rough for me.
sjm said:
I caught up with Emily Frazer for a few minutes and she seemed relaxed and ready to preside over what will surely prove an enjoyable week here at Harrah’s in Atlantic City.
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I haven't spoken to Emily, but I have seen her in action of the last couple of days. Even saw her correct bar staff for dumping empties into a trash bin. After she left, the bar tender told me that she'd never been scolded in such a nice way...lol

Emily is pure class from what I've seen
 
skip100 said:
The pockets are so small that they are playing safe on open balls by giving their opponents long shots. This is boring as F. I see enough of that style of play on league night.
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Extremely small, but balls can be made. A ton of cat and mouse being played. Baiting players into low percentage shots has been the theme thus far.
 
Zerksies said:
Let’s talk about the real issue with the open. Lunch $42 for a freaking burger, fries and a fountain soda :oops: and $20 parking
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I had a $14 burger at the Bobby Flay place last night. Not worth it at all. Tasted good but not a value in the slightest.

I also used the valet parking $25 for the regular week. Bit more over the weekend.
 
The_JV said:
Sry, been busy, so I'm just catching up...

I haven't used a tape measure but these pockets appear to be 4" corners and not much larger for the sides.

I had ("had" as in 2 and out had) a very difficult time with the pocket size. I'm not complaining. Just saying that it's above my spd. Out the dozens of racks I've hit on these tables. I may have broke/ran maybe a handful.

The pocket size and wild skidding action of the rails has, for me, redefined what qualifies as a valid safety play.

The best will still rise to the top. I'd do it again. Rather have tough/quality conditions, then tough shitty ones.
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I've lived that story too.

The conditions at top events are unique and very hard to adapt to quickly.
 
DAZN just gave me 2 months for 12.99 each month after I cancelled my previous one month subscription. So pretty much same price for 2 months, that covers most of the Matchroom event over the next 60 days. Great deal if you ask me.

Some more great pool today... Let's Go!
 
The_JV said:
Sry, been busy, so I'm just catching up...

I haven't used a tape measure but these pockets appear to be 4" corners and not much larger for the sides.

I had ("had" as in 2 and out had) a very difficult time with the pocket size. I'm not complaining. Just saying that it's above my spd. Out the dozens of racks I've hit on these tables. I may have broke/ran maybe a handful.

The pocket size and wild skidding action of the rails has, for me, redefined what qualifies as a valid safety play.

The best will still rise to the top. I'd do it again. Rather have tough/quality conditions, then tough shitty ones.
Click to expand...
Did you have a tough draw? Hope you at least had fun.
 
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