Experience, pockets balls well, good with cb near rail, plays money matches regularly, have patience, knows when to shoot and when it is best to play effective safe. You mentioned Scott, Chris, those two are not good one pocket players, they cannot contain the urge to shoot low % shot, losers at the long run, Cliff does, as well as Efren , the canon , and many others.
Who makes the best one pocket players?
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Experience, pockets balls well, good with cb near rail, plays money matches regularly, have patience, knows when to shoot and when it is best to play effective safe. You mentioned Scott, Chris, those two are not good one pocket players, they cannot contain the urge to shoot low % shot, losers at the long run, Cliff does, as well as Efren , the canon , and many others.
Wow, Scott and Chris are not good one pocket players? I've seen both play some of the best one pocket I've ever seen!
I changed my mind on Scott after he lost to Alex, he is great shooter and runs balls, but too aggressive for one pocket, same as Chris their patience runs out quickly.
Old men who've lost the nuts in rotation games. :grin:
Sorry, couldn't resist. IMHO, as a rule, straight pool players make the best one hole players, due to their experience making small, precise moves, reading packs and thinking far enough ahead to see all the moves. Close second are banks players, they have great comfort in making the most difficult/low percentage moves and always seem to see a way out no one else can. Rotation players bring up the rear. Guys like Efren and SVB aren't human, so you really can't cite them as the rule; they're the exception.
Sorry, couldn't resist. IMHO, as a rule, straight pool players make the best one hole players, due to their experience making small, precise moves, reading packs and thinking far enough ahead to see all the moves. Close second are banks players, they have great comfort in making the most difficult/low percentage moves and always seem to see a way out no one else can. Rotation players bring up the rear. Guys like Efren and SVB aren't human, so you really can't cite them as the rule; they're the exception.
i have heard many say the style of play is different then it used to be its more aggressive,they dont try and make a ball or 2 and play safe,they try and run as many as they can then play safe. The old timers didnt take as many chances as the young guns do today,plus all the advanced knowledge of the game today makes better players,understanding the 30 ,45,and 90 degree rule and being able to know pretty close where whitey is going,i dont know of the old timers had a clue about some of this,and if they did they sure didnt share it like they do today,on the www...;) tougher equipment and better equipment probably makes the younger guys game better; Just my 2 cents worth.
Grady Mathews says, one time about Cory Duel, he will keep shooting low % shots until it starts hurting his pocket then he will know what one pocket game all about? Same thing all aggressive one pocket players, if they need to be on the winner side all the time with players of their caliber they have to apply Grady's style / strategy on 1st game, not after 4 games down! and keep it going, patience wins in one pocket, maybe in every game IMO, the strongest assets a player can have; and it has to be practiced just like potting balls!
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A player need to have a balance between aggression and laying back and know the difference. No one is advocating playing stupid but passing on good shots because they may have a small element of risk is not good either. I knew guys years ago that just NEVER took a shot. They payed on the theory that is you never leave anything you will win. Who knows, maybe against certain players that will work but how many games are they also denying themselves in doing so. They will never know.
I used to watch Mike Caralla play and he treated one pocket like it was nine ball. He did not over-value any one game. There is nothing worse then playing an hour long game and losing it. I saw him play guys and they may see-saw for a while then he beats them 8 in a row before they know it and they fold.
They can't believe what a barrage was just unleashed on them. This applies to gambling not tournament play. Tournament play is sudden death and throwing away games you feel you can get back later does not exist. In a tournament every player no matter what his preferred style will usually play more conservative.
In Ohio at a big all around tournament they were playing the first round of one pocket. The tournament room had four tables side by side. The announcer said to start the games and everyone broke for the first game. Caralla was playing I think Freddy the beard. This was in 1973 and every time I tell the story I say he was playing Freddy. If I am wrong who he was playing, Freddy please correct me but that is what I remember.
Long story short, Caralla wins 4 ( 4 out of 7) to nothing. On all the other tables they were still playing their first game. Caralla ran out first or second inning every game including making a ball on his own break and running out.
I should also add that at this same time Ronnie Allen would give Caralla a good bit of weight. Ronnie Allen brought something extra to the table back then that was hard to define. He just seemed unbeatable and went about proving it on a regular basis.
Steve Cook was the ideal one pocket player. He had it all and knew how and when to use it.
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IMO- one pocket is the best pool game ever conceived. Its a perfect blend of all games. Checkers and chess are played on the same board. 9-ball players are to checkers as 1-pocket players are to chess. Brains over brawn any day. I would like to see a tournament where 5 disciplines are played. 8 ball, 9 ball, banks, 1 pocket and 14.1. that would be fun to watch.
Best line in the whole thread.
Argue against this line of reasoning at your own peril.
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OMG that's some of the worst championship 1P I've watched, but I did learn something so it was good in some respects.
Cory needs to give up commentary, but, he had a some very insightful views.
I could only watch the first hour. Now I need two aspirin
One Pocket players tend to be the smartest pool players and the reason is simple. They play to their strengths and more importantly to YOUR weaknesses. If you can't shoot long shots, guess what you're going to get a steady diet of? If you can't bank well guess what your going to get in your match. If you don't move well and are a good ball striker guess where the balls are going? You got it, up table. They manage you in the game. They have total control of you and what you can and can't do. You can't run the set out on them, they get you out of stroke and they SLOW the game down. If you are going to play this game for the cash, you better have patience and an ability to respect what the opponent is doing to you. But One Pocket is the game of choice for the big action. It always has been so……..
Banks
Banned
Lenny's got tons more experience in 1P than myself, but I'm a bit on the fence on this topic.
On one hand, you have the above.. shooters already having the pocketing, just not knowing the moves. The problem, though, is whether or not you need to only show some people a few moves to let them understand or if they may need to be told what to do every time a different situation comes up.
I usually lose at rotation games, only to turn around and play even or a little better at games like 1P, 8b or 14.1. Seeing banks and having a better idea of the CB control during them can blind-side some opponents. My biggest fault in 1P is either running out of patience or trying to do too much at once.
There isn't much bank pool in Portland, so I wouldn't know how a good player handles other games. I can relate to 8b, though, and think that it helps out my 1P game the most - there's strategy and a wide range of shooting.
How much weight do you think Ronnie would have given Alex or Shane....
Edited to add Scott and Fransisco....or maybe JJ and Cliff
Your joking, but if they would not play even, Ronnie would have figured out something to get them down.
"Frisco" was often in the action spots that I camped out in, like Morristown Tenn.
I had the opportunity to watch Jack play quite a bit around the country. He was often in the "action spots" that I camped out in, like Morristown Tenn, Dallas, and Baton Rouge.
Learned a lot watching Jack, and he played pretty good 9 Ball too. I tried to give him the 7 Ball one time and it was extremely tough.......we broke even, although I never ask him to play that game again.....we also played some one-pocket, and that's another story.
I had the opportunity to watch Jack play quite a bit around the country. He was often in the "action spots" that I camped out in, like Morristown Tenn, Dallas, and Baton Rouge.
Learned a lot watching Jack, and he played pretty good 9 Ball too. I tried to give him the 7 Ball one time and it was extremely tough.......we broke even, although I never ask him to play that game again.....we also played some one-pocket, and that's another story.
I'm glad someone brought up Steve Cook. There is an Accu-Stats tape where Steve turned Jose Parica inside out with the pinch and squeeze style,in the booth Grady claimed this may have been the best match he had ever seen played in his era.
Jose only pocketed 6 balls in a race to 5. Tommy D.
Jose only pocketed 6 balls in a race to 5. Tommy D.
My first inclination is to say that a progression from Rotation, to Eight-Ball, to Nine-Ball, to One Pocket, would be the way things went for most players. :smile:
No mystery here.
The best one pocket players are the players that like playing the game, but they have to be great pool players that shoot straight. Pagulayan..Orcullio...VanBoening. After you reach a certain level in the moving game then it's the player that shoots the straightest and knows the game of pool, period.
Frost is an exception, he's not the straightest shooter for sure, but could be the most dangerous of them all when he's in the zone.
Pagulayan and Frost could be the match that's remembered most by one pocket enthusiast, any one who enjoys one pocket shouldn't miss it.
Bill Incardona
The best one pocket players are the players that like playing the game, but they have to be great pool players that shoot straight. Pagulayan..Orcullio...VanBoening. After you reach a certain level in the moving game then it's the player that shoots the straightest and knows the game of pool, period.
Frost is an exception, he's not the straightest shooter for sure, but could be the most dangerous of them all when he's in the zone.
Pagulayan and Frost could be the match that's remembered most by one pocket enthusiast, any one who enjoys one pocket shouldn't miss it.
Bill Incardona