1. YOu are living in a dream world if you think that is ture
2-3. Same is true of the US, a company can't hire a foreigner if it can't prove a US citizen is unavailable.
4. What is your point...WTF?
Why don't pool's best and brightest try to break into the snooker scene in the UK?
- Thread starter snarzberry
- Start date
2-3. Same is true of the US, a company can't hire a foreigner if it can't prove a US citizen is unavailable.
4. What is your point...WTF?
Remember what an extra foot and smaller pockets did to SVB? Now expand the surface by 44%. Make the pockets and balls smaller. Change the cloth. Change the rails and the way they react. Change the game and strategy.
Equals = No Chance.
You might as well send Derek Jeter to India to play cricket.
Now send Derek to India at 7 and he's a killer.
Equals = No Chance.
You might as well send Derek Jeter to India to play cricket.
Now send Derek to India at 7 and he's a killer.
Efren's action, while clearly pretty useful in pool, is loaded with variables which would likely cause problems on the bigger table with the smaller pockets. Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DYDMMw5TtE&NR=1
See how far his cue moves up and down, and how far it actually comes off the line of the shot on his backswing. Also note how early his head and upper body move - long before he actually strikes the cue ball. Compare this with any top snooker pro and you'll see much less movement across the board. You would struggle to find many examples of top players whose cue visibly departs from the line of aim, and none would come anywhere close to what you see from Efren in that first straight-on view.
In snooker terms, Efren's action leaves him with far too much that can go wrong. Next to someone like Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, just about any professional player, his action is pretty chaotic. This is in no way a dig at the great man, he just plays a different game. None of the snooker players I've mentioned would like to play him at his own game for their living. When it comes to snooker on a 6x12, though, there are harsher limits to what you can get away in terms of technique. I don't think the Filipino-style would translate all that well.
If you play snooker after pool you can feel like a machine which has had some of the nuts work a little loose. Everything feels nice and easy, but there is some play where there shouldn't be.
The other trap is not being conscious of a need to shift the the balance of concentration more away from getting shape and more towards making the ball (until after you have missed!). It sounds obvious, but it is actually quite subtle
He told Phil Windham (Owner of the Chattanooga Billiard Club) and myself pretty much the same thing back in the mid-90s. He also said something to the effect that as far he was concerned the "transition from pool to snooker is 100 times harder then the other way around". (Then he beat up on me bad .... real bad
.)
I never played snooker on 12' tables to speak of - most were 10'. But at age 16 (1966), I quit playing for awhile because nobody in this part of the country could touch me at that game... it had became boring. With some of the same training and practice that many of the foreign born pros have, I think I could have made it to top tier back then. But that wasn't even a remote possibility.
The single best snooker player I ever encountered was someone that called himself "Canadian Pete" and that was about 1990. I (and those betting on me) busted him and his backers three nights in row. Surprisingly, he came back for a fourth night with some new backers and I was begged into going in and playing him even though I was quite ill. Even told the guys that I was NOT going to bet on myself because I wouldn't be able to play well, but they dived in anyway.
I watched him play 8 frames (his choice, playing only 6 red) while barely getting out of my chair and when I did it was nothing but frustration. I quit after his 8 straight wins and even then the guys betting on me were urging me to continue. I refused. There was no point as I was too sick to even aim properly... and I believe he was chemically enhanced.
He told me that I was the only player in the States that could and had faded his game.
This is not a brag, just some ancient history and I would still like to know who that fellow really was.
I can also tell you that David Matlock would surely have made an excellent snooker player anywhere. Louis Roberts would probably not have.
The single best snooker player I ever encountered was someone that called himself "Canadian Pete" and that was about 1990. I (and those betting on me) busted him and his backers three nights in row. Surprisingly, he came back for a fourth night with some new backers and I was begged into going in and playing him even though I was quite ill. Even told the guys that I was NOT going to bet on myself because I wouldn't be able to play well, but they dived in anyway.
I watched him play 8 frames (his choice, playing only 6 red) while barely getting out of my chair and when I did it was nothing but frustration. I quit after his 8 straight wins and even then the guys betting on me were urging me to continue. I refused. There was no point as I was too sick to even aim properly... and I believe he was chemically enhanced.
He told me that I was the only player in the States that could and had faded his game.
This is not a brag, just some ancient history and I would still like to know who that fellow really was.
I can also tell you that David Matlock would surely have made an excellent snooker player anywhere. Louis Roberts would probably not have.
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I remember it well - they played 9 ball, 14.1, and Snooker, which meant
the match was heavily weighted in Miz's favor.
This was before Davis had played much pool, and he was very generious
in his assesment of players. I can't recall details but Davis did run more
than just a few balls in Straight Pool and Miz actually won one 'frame'
of the Snooker.
Dale
Would that be Peter Giacinti by chance? I don't know if he went by the handle of Canadian Pete or not but I do know he was Canadian and one hell of a snooker player. Sorry to say he passed away about a year ago.
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I really couldn't say for certain. He surely doesn't look like the guy I remember but 21 years can change appearances pretty dramatically. I recall the guy being about 6ft tall and of medium build. I know he was known at Shooter's in Olathe.
I also think he looked more like he had northern European features. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. :embarrassed2:
After reading the article you linked, I'm sure that isn't him. I would bet my shorts the fellow I played was NOT a family man.
I also think he looked more like he had northern European features. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. :embarrassed2:
After reading the article you linked, I'm sure that isn't him. I would bet my shorts the fellow I played was NOT a family man.
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I feel a precise 'piston' stroke is mandatory for snooker....
..if you don't have long distance accuracy you're dead.
That's also why aged players can no longer win.
That is also why I feel Buddy Hall's stroke could work at snooker...
...in his prime I like his stroke as much as Steve Davis'.
Alex has beaten 3 Canuck champs in tournaments and a two-time champ
for serious cash...but it's too late for him to switch...even though he has
the 'piston' stroke required.
Danny Diliberto can run a century on a 6x12 but to have the long distance
range he would've had to change his whole approach.
Rempe has been the best pool player to play snooker in Britain but like
I said he went too late in life.
my opinion, of course
With his name being Pete and his being a well known and very accomplished snooker player (won many tournaments going undefeated) from Canada I took a shot. Don't sound like the same guy cause the Pete I knew was very much a family man.
When talking with Rempe (See post 46) he made mention of wishing he had started as soon as he could pick up a snooker cue and that if he had he would have certainly fared better.
snarzberry
Registered
Alain Robidoux, that's the guy that threw a hissy fit when Ronnie O'Sullivan started playing him left-handed right? That was one of the more excruciating things I've seen in a snooker match when they were both just bashing the colors around when the frame was already well decided.
Great to see former world No. 1 Cliff Thorburn still competing in Canada, much later than I knew he'd kept playing, up to a high standard being the champ in 1974 and then runner up nearly 30 years later.
I have many fond memories of watching big Bill Werbenuik as well. Also I'll never forget that Kirk Stevens 147 in the white suit - the last 5 or 6 pots to clear up the colors and take the maximum prize were sensational under pressure.
Ah, just saying those names makes me miss the glory days of snooker.
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I just sent an email to my father, If there was a Canadian Snooker player that was well known, He would remember. He use to travel most of the southern Ontario reigon's playing snooker.
Thanks :thumbup:
Well, Your welcome. I am still waiting for a answer from my father. But, I did get answer from my Aunt that remembered a Canadian Pete. She said she couldn't remember if he came from Ontario or not. She believed that he was more from the west BC area. So I will try to confirm this with my father at the same time.
I think there was a different fellow that went by the nickname of Canadian Pete (different than the one I played although the name would have fit just the same... if he was telling the truth).
The guy you call Canadian Pete came through Indy and got busted playing golf on the snooker table at Executive. He didn't even have a chance really. But there were lots of Canadian snooker people who came in to try to win some playing Golf and it was a rare occasion when the horse lost.
Golf requires "special" :wink: skills and one must be intimately familiar with the individual table to really play it well. I loved to play golf but actually felt it hurt my stroke when it came to playing snooker. I think he would have left a different impression in a pure snooker game.