League Night, MLK Day

League last night went poorly again. I went 1-3 and the team lost 2-8. Two of the racks I lost were from breaking dry and my opponent running the table. Guess I need to work on my break shot. The other game I lost had a tactical endgame. I was faced with the following layout as stripes, with cue ball in hand.

The aggressive option would be to pocket the 12 and try to carom off the 13, making the 3 and hoping you still have a play on the 13. I ended up taking the safe route, contacting the 13, pocketing the 3, and running the cue ball up table. A few back-and-forth safeties later, and my opponent came with a long bank on the 7 and won the game.

I suppose the ultra aggressive play would've been to play straight into the 13-3 with draw, squeezing the 13 into the corner and likely leaving a shot on the 12, but I didn't think about that until I got home.

VNEA League Week 4

This was my second week playing in the VNEA bar box 8 ball league since I missed the first two weeks. It's still a little weird playing four games, one game at a time, but at least it makes for shorter nights than other formats. I made a crucial mistake in one my matches because I didn't realize how easily the side pockets accepted balls. You can fire them in from sharp angles and they'll still go down. I ended up trying to slow roll a ball and ended up scratching giving up that game.

In the last game of the night, for me and my team, I ended up with ball in hand in the following situation (I had stripes):


I'm sure I didn't pick through all of my options all that well, but I ended up shooting this:



Just to get the 13 out of there and leaving the 8 covered up. I ended up leaving a long 1 rail kick, but my opponent missed, and after I dogged a few more shots, he also missed the 1 rail kick a few more times before I finally got out.

Anyways, I ended up winning 3 of my games and losing 1. Realistically, I should have gone 2-2 since one of my opponent's slow rolled the 8 ball which was on a direct line for the corner pocket, but ended up not hitting a rail giving me ball in hand with only one my balls still up. The team won 10-0 again. My captain thinks he'll bump my handicap up though, so that might change things.

Trick Shot Magic 2014

ESPN's Trick Shot Magic took place on October 9, 2014 at Harrah's Resort in San Diego, CA. A four-man field battled out for supremacy including Florian Kohler, Nick Nikolaidas, Andy Segal, and Gabi Visoiu. This was reduced from the typical eight man tournament, but there was no shortage of action.

In the first semifinal, Andy "The Magic Man" Segal took on Nick "Quick Nick" Nikolaidas. They share 5 WPA World Championships between them, including the last 4 in a row, so the heat was on from the get go. The tight match ended 8-8 and went to a sudden death tiebreaker featuring an 9 rail bank on to a hundred dollar bill. Segal got inches closer for the victory and a spot in the finals!

In the second semifinal, two of Europe's finest (and World Cup teammates) took battle with Gabi "Mr. Perfect" Visoiu taking on Florian "Venom" Kohler. The match started out tight and was 5-5 by the midway point. Kohler then started to pull away in the second half of the match to take a 10-7 victory!

With Segal and Kohler in the finals, everyone was on the edge of their seats! Segal though took an early lead and while Kohler fought valiantly, he never closed the gap completely and Segal took a 9-7 victory to claim his fourth Trick Shot Magic championship in a row!

The 2014 Trick Shot Magic will be airing on the ESPN networks on December 28sometime in November. Stay tuned for future updates!

How To Do Trick Shots

In December, Dr. Cue held Artistic Cup 7 in Florida, the first one on 9-ft pool tables, featuring a beginner-friendly shot program. While I was unable to attend, I put together these video walkthroughs and tutorials so other players could see how I shoot each shot and perhaps help them out in the competition. If anyone is interested in playing in tournaments, this is a great place to start. So download the program and watch the videos on a non-mobile device to see the overlays and click through all of the shots to get some expert tips and advice!

Why you want the worst(ed) cloth

In my previous post, I discussed the technical differences between pool table felt and cloth. For recreational players, the biggest choice is what color cloth to get while paying as little as possible. Why should you pay for more expensive cloth? Let's go over what makes one cloth better than the next.

First of all, it's important to consider what kind of qualities you want in a cloth. It should be consistent over the entire bed of the table, obviously, but how much do you care about characteristics like durability and stain resistance or more technical features such as speed? Some of the answers will depend on the environment your table is being used (indoor, outdoor, commercial, tournaments), how much use it will get, and what kind of players will be playing on it.

Cheaper cloth will often be made of napped wool. It looks and feels fuzzier. On other hand, more expensive cloth is made of worsted wool, so it feels smoother. You can think of napped wool as what is used for sweaters and worsted wool as what is used for expensive suits. The cloth is rarely pure wool; it's generally blended with 10-30% of nylon helping with strength and durability. The nap can lead to an uneven playing surface as well as wearing out differently over time. Worsted wool, on the other hand, will play more consistently both in terms of across the whole surface as well as over time.

Touching on durability, the fuzziness of the cloth can pill up and pulling these out can damage the fibers. This is more difficult, if not impossible, with worsted wool. But the other thing you have to look for is the weight of the cloth. The greater the weight, the more material there is per unit area. This should make the cloth more durable as well.

The weight can also contribute to the stain resistance of the cloth. The more tightly woven the fibers are, the more difficult it will be for the cloth to absorb liquids. The nap will generally help absorb liquid. You can also get cloth that is coated in Teflon to help repel stains.

As you might imagine by now, napped wool will play slower than worsted wool due to increased friction from the nap. This requires you to put in more effort to play a faster shot and to put the same amount of spin on the cue ball. Also the nap will 'take' the spin faster if you can generate it. On a worsted wool, the cue ball will have a tendency to slide more before the spin grabs the cloth and changes the trajectory of the cue ball. This can affect your cue ball control.

Making an investment in a worsted wool cloth is important if you want to have the highest standard of play. It will generally play faster, more evenly, and last longer than a napped wool. It will be more expensive in the beginning, but it will pay for itself and give you more enjoyment for the game.

Pool table felt or cloth?

The fabric that covers the pool table bed is often referred to as felt or cloth. Most people don't care which one you say, but there are those out there that are passionate about it much like a grammar snob. In the latter case, they always prefer cloth. Let's take a look at why.

Felt, in textile terms, is generally defined as fabric that is made from pressing fibers together. What this means is the fibers aren't interwoven and, with enough work, you can pick and tear individual fibers out. Also, if you try to stretch felt, such as needed when covering a pool table, it should fray and separate.

Cloth, on the other hand, is a woven fabric, meaning all of the fibers are intertwined and run from one end to the other. It is difficult to pull individual fibers apart from the weave and you can stretch cloth without tearing since you're pulling on the entire length of a fiber.

One of the more reputable brands of cloth out there is Simonis. You can certainly go cheaper, such as with Mercury Ultra, if you're not that much of an enthusiast. As far as what to call it though, cloth is technically correct. However, you'll see felt used all over the place since it's used more often, especially by people who don't know or don't care about the technical differences.

The Myth of the Trick Shot Artist

This may be one of the best kept secrets. When people see me shooting trick shots, they automatically assume I'm a great pool player as well. While I can generally hold my own, I'm generally not a threat to run racks on a consistent basis. Most people would assume that you have to be a great pool player first and then you can become good at trick shots. That's not really accurate. There are other examples of this as well, Florian 'Venom' Kohler and Steve 'Triple C' Markle mastered trick shots well before honing their 8 ball or 9 ball games.

Certainly, being good at pool already will quicken the learning curve for trick shots, but there is more to it than that. Most good pool players will have a decent stroke, good aiming, and can control the cue ball. To be a great trick shot artist, it takes a monster stroke, ability to make fine adjustments, and coordination (think speed shots or one-handed shots). One of the biggest weaknesses in my pool game is the ability to control the cue ball. I tend to overhit it because I'm used to juicing it up so much for trick shots.

So, next time you see a trick shot artist, don't be so quick to assume they're great at pool. There are a fair number that made the crossover from typical pool to trick shots, but there are plenty of others that became trick shot specialists without developing their general game.

Great Trick Shots

I've seen plenty of trick shot videos on the internet, from professional pool players to aspiring amateurs to friends just having fun. The range of shots on display is immense, but there are only a few that end up catching my eye as interesting and elegant. I want to explain what makes a good trick shot from my point of view. Trick shots, or artistic pool, is certainly a form of art and its beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so what I think is an interesting trick shot may not be so fascinating for others.

1. Creativity
There are hundreds of standard trick shots. Books are filled with them and often you can see the same ones all over the internet. This makes the original creations stand out. Even finding minor ways to tweak the classics can be refreshing. What's really impressive is when someone finds a new setup shot, arranging three or more balls in a cluster and making them all in one shot. I was quite proud of inventing Y Not. Creativity can also be evident on the other end of the spectrum too, if you can make the cue ball dance in ways no one has done before.

2. Simplicity
Some of the best trick shots are the simplest ones. Anyone can create a random trick shot using an esoteric prop that only they have, but it takes real genius to come up with something so simple that no one else has thought about it beforehand. Take something like Gene Catron's domino trick shot, it's probably the most complicated shot ever set up. And while it's impressive for what it is, it's not worth anyone's time to try to repeat it.

3. Repeatability
The more you practice a shot, the more you should make it. While a shot you can make one in a million tries certainly has a 'wow' factor, if you can't repeat it, I almost think it's not worth doing. And if no one else can do it either, it's soon to be forgotten.

4. Skill
I was debating whether or not to even include this on the list. There are certainly amazing trick shots that don't require any more skill than being able to shoot straight. But there are also shots that involve stretching your skills to the absolute limits, much farther than you would ever need if you only played typical pool games. Seeing what's possible with how much spin you can put on the cue ball or what you can do with a monster stroke pushes this sport to its boundaries.

These are some of the aspects that I recognize in great trick shots, but there are certainly others. I like to put shots on my site that I can do more than once and that I can teach others to do as well. If you have a shot you think I might like, leave a link in the comments!

Las Vegas Trick Shot Scene

As many have found out by now, I recently moved to Las Vegas, NV. In theory, this sounds great for my pool career. Smoking and gambling are prevalent here, which are two activities most pool players engage in (unfortunately, not myself), so there should be a large built in audience. There are quite a few pool halls in the area supporting the assumption that the number of pool players is high. In addition, most of the national leagues hold there championships here throughout the year which only adds to the number of pool players here. Finally, Las Vegas is a destination town with plenty of parties, so there should be more opportunities for gigs.

Admittedly, I haven't leveraged my position here to its full potential, but there are other factors in play. First of all, there are actually a number of trick shots artists in the area including Ken 'Sarge' Aylesworth, Stefano Pelinga, and Jamison Neu. Recently, Jason Kane also moved here. Not to mention, many pros are moving here at least semi-permanently with the advent of Bonus Ball. This obviously increases the competition on my end.

What's perhaps most aggravating at this point is that I live near Fremont Street Experience with poor practice options within walking distance. This limits my practice time and quality of practice, which definitely showed during the 2013 Masters Trick Shot Championship.

First off is Drink and Drag. I don't mind that it sells itself as a gay bar or that it's staffed by drag queens. At least this place has 9-ft tables and Brunswick's at that. Pool's $1/hr up until 9pm too! That's about where all of the advantages end though. The cloth on the tables is super slow and some of the rails play funky, not quite dead, but not true either. Being a club, it doesn't open until 6pm and they like to keep the lights low. Even the table lights aren't super bright. Making it worse is that there are disco lights above which flash bright spots intermittently on the table while you're shooting which is a huge distraction. Even when I go when it opens and there's no one else there, it's tough to see anything.

Around the time I moved here, Backstage Bar and Billiards opened up about a block away from my apartment. The big plus is they have Diamond tables with Simonis cloth. They are 7-fters though and they still charge $10/hr, which is probably a more typical rate among pool halls. But, also being a club, they don't open until 6pm, the lighting sucks (the lights over the table are blue), and it's super loud.

Just this past weekend, the Gold Spike held a grand re-opening, repositioning itself as a bar/lounge instead of  a casino. They put in two 7-ft, coin-operated pool tables. I didn't even bother checking the brand. At least the lighting was decent and the place will be open 24/7.

While downtown Las Vegas may be undergoing a revival, they missed out on the pool scene. It's too bad I have to get out of the neighborhood to find a good place to practice because it's otherwise pretty nice here. I just hope I can get enough practice in to make a good showing at the 2013 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships.

Tapping Balls

If you've ever seen a trick shot exhibition or tournament, you've undoubtedly witnessed the performer hitting one pool ball on top of another. We call this tapping the balls. What it does is create a little divot in the pool table felt for the ball to rest in. As a trick shot artist, this is an important skill to learn to do correctly, and it can help you out in a number of ways.

Whenever I do a show, inevitably, someone in the audience always asks why I need to tap the balls. The main reason is so that the pool ball stays exactly where I want it. It's not half an inch to one side or the other.
Older, well-worn tables have divots or other irregularities in the pool table cloth already. This can make setting up a trick shot difficult as the balls will tend to roll one way or another. By creating new divots, the balls end up where I need them to be.

This is particularly important for artistic setup shots where a number of balls are set up in a cluster. These shots typically don't work if there are gaps between the balls. By tapping the balls in place, I can ensure that these balls are in the right place and that they are all touching. There are shots where the gap between balls needs to be precise as well, and tapping helps with that.

If the balls are tapped in well, you can usually find these divots again. When I'm doing exhibitions, I'll usually try to show up early to a venue and tap in a number of shots beforehand. During the exhibition, this makes setup of the shots faster and easier as they seem to just roll in to place. It also makes trick shots look effortless, but the audience didn't see the work I put in beforehand.

When I'm practicing, tapping the balls is helpful so I can set up the shot again in the exact same way. I can try different spins and speeds or other adjustments and see what effect they have on the shot. On the flip side, if I tap the balls in and miss, I can also set it up again and, if I know one of the balls missed to the left of the pocket, I can adjust it slightly to the right and make a new divot. It's certainly possible to have too many divots in a certain area which can get confusing.

In tournaments, if I'm shooting a shot someone else has made, sometimes I can find their divots. Then I usually don't have to worry about if my setup is correct. It's tougher if I'm the first guy up. In a head-to-head match, the other option is to make as many divots as possible so my opponent doesn't know which one I've used. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not. It depends how difficult the shot is otherwise.

Artistic Pool

Artistic Pool, as far as I can tell, is a term coined by Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman that encompasses the competitive aspect of "trick shots". It is governed internationally by the World Pool-Billiard Association - Artistic Pool Division (WPA-APD). It is defined by eight disciplines:

1. Trick/Fancy
2. Special Arts
3. Draw
4. Follow
5. Bank/Kick
6. Stroke
7. Jump
8. Masse

While there are technical definitions for each of these disciplines, there are shots that are interdisciplinary, demonstrating skills and characteristics across two or more of these. Interestingly, using these definitions, the term "trick shots" only applies to the first discipline and typically covers setup shots with multiple ball configurations. Hence, Dr. Cue will use the phrase "Trick shots and so much more" as a tagline for Artistic Pool. Oddly, the North American governing body is called the Artistic Pool and Trick Shot Association, implying they are separate entities.

Confusingly, the two of the most popular events of this nature have been titled Trick Shot Magic and the World Cup of Trick Shots, broadcast on ESPN, neither of which use the term Artistic Pool. One or both of these events have been sanctioned by the WPA in the past, so there are clearly some discrepancies within the organization about the enforcement of the use of the term. What's more, in the early days of Trick Shot Magic, they described shots as either being "artistic shots" or "skill shots", "artistic shots" being setup shots with multiple ball configurations and "skill shots" being everything else, essentially the inverse of what the WPA has drawn up.

Even though there has been sanctioning by the WPA of Trick Shot Magic and the World Cup of Trick Shots, neither has counted for official world ranking points. These tournaments are invitation only, have only 8 players, and do not necessarily cover all eight disciplines of Artistic Pool. In ranking tournaments, players shoot five shots of varying difficulty levels in each of the eight disciplines, for 40 total shots scoring points depending on the number of attempts it takes to make a shot. This score determines a players final position in the tournament and their ranking points.

2013 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships

If you're not on anyone's special email list, the 2013 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships have been announced and are taking signups. It will be held July 18-21, 2013 at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV during the BCAPL National Championships, which should ensure a great turnout for players and fans alike. Sign up fee is $300, but goes up to $350 on June 1, 2013, so get your entry in! Email me if you want more details on either the sign up process or the shot program.

Dr. Cue Classic Artistic Cup VI

From November 29 to December 2, 2012, I played in the Artistic Cup 6 event held at the Marriott East in Indianapolis, IN. The event was held in conjunction with the Indiana APA state invitation tournament, so there were lots of pool players around. I got grouped up with Dave Nangle and Gordon Hedges for the first 3 rounds. I guess we were a little speedy as we tended to finish 30-45 minutes ahead of the other groups we were shooting with. After the trick/fancy and special arts disciplines, I was barely gripping on to a top 10 spot, even though I scored enough points to take the special arts medal. I was able to make a move in the draw and follow disciplines up to 6th place though. The jump may sound small, but with a program of easier shots, you can't take anything for granted. After bank/kick and stroke, I was in fourth place, actually tied for 3rd but Tom Kinzel beat me on the tiebreaker. I was actually surprised at that considering that I missed a shot in each of those disciplines. For the final day, the groups were shuffled up based on position, so I was matched with Florian 'Venom' Kohler, Curtis Robertson, and Kinzel as the top four players. In the jump discipline, I made the first three shots on my second attempt and the last two shots on my first attempt. However, the other guys scored zero on the second jump shot, while Robertson and Kinzel faltered on at least one more each, leaving me in 2nd place heading in to the masse discipline, down by 3 points to Kohler. Oddly, we took a 'halftime' break between the jump and masse disciplines which threw things off a little bit. We cruised through the first masse shot and I made the second masse shot on my first attempt. Kohler missed his first two attempts, finally making it on his third attempt but his lead had shrunk to one point. We kept pace with each other for the next two shots. On the final masse shot, I went first, missing my first attempt by not putting enough spin on the ball. I made my second attempt though, but left Kohler with some breathing room. He needed it too as he clipped the wall of balls on his first attempt, gathered himself, and nailed it on his second attempt to preserve his one point victory! It was exciting all the way down to the last shot.

So second place, special arts medal, and a nice weekend hanging out with the guys again. It was a fun time and I'm certainly looking forward to the next one.

World Class Artistic Pool Masters Cup, Shenyang, China

The China tournament was quite the spectacle. I got picked up at the airport and taken to the hotel where they were getting the arena ready. All the other guys were milling around the lobby getting checked in as well. The first night had a big reception with dignitaries and press. A rep from the US Embassy was even there. Nice spread, but they didn't reload the food, so I only got one round. We were all anxious for the practice tables, but they were getting set up that evening. We finally got on one and rotated through for a while. The second one opened up a couple hours later. The opening ceremony was the next morning, again filled with dignitaries. My first round was on the TV table with searing lights, but our group shot well and finished in decent time. We had a bit of a break before our second round that afternoon. That was also on the TV table and I managed to keep myself in it. The third round that evening killed me. My group was on the other tournament table which was super slick, making some of the shots pretty difficult, especially after we had broken in the practice tables already. That's pretty much where I crashed out of contention, but it left me in 8th place that evening. The Sat morning round, we were re-grouped based on our rankings. The 9-12 guys went first, so I knew what I had to do to beat them. There wasn't a ton of motivation after that since 5-8 took home the same prize money and it would've taken catastrophe's from other players to make it to 4th. So I managed to squeeze into 8th while securing the follow discipline medal and putting myself in position for the masse medal as well. Gabi had a perfect masse discipline going into the final round, so I didn't hold out much hope. He shot in the next round and teased me by missing the shot twice before nailing the 3rd attempt.

Masse's in Walnut Creek

Had a fun session with Juan who contacted me last week and wanted to get together. Man, my 8 ball and 9 ball game have gone to crap. We went out to Masse's in Walnut Creek. We played a few games and I showed him some shots. I had him hit a few too and he seems really excited to learn more. Maybe I can get him up to speed to play in one of the tournaments later. Masse's was ok. It's a sports bar but was pretty quiet for a Monday night. The tables are mostly 9-ft Olhausens with skinny rails. The cloth was quality except for all of the stains from spilled drinks, food, and who knows what else. And I think there was only one bridge in the whole place, so maybe we were lucky not many other people were playing. Anyway, should be a fun time to show Juan some more stuff.

World Rankings

The WPA world rankings have been updated to include the recently concluded 2012 WPA World Artistic Pool Championship. The first public release of these rankings is posted at the URL below:

http://www.trickshottim.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=99

The official WPA site hasn't even been updated, so we're ahead of the curve here, even if the event happened more than two weeks ago. Oh, yes, the high tech world of trick shots.

2012 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships

The 2012 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships were held this past weekend at the annual Super Billiards Expo. It brought together some of the best trick shot pros in the world along with some new faces, including 14 year old Iulian Cernatischi and 15 year old Ignacio Block from Argentina. It was also one of the largest fields we've had in recent years with 36 players.

I started off pretty hot with a total score of 70 after trick/fancy and special arts, winning the special arts medal along the way. That was good enough for 1st place, but things quickly went downhill from there. I wound up in 8th place after the preliminary round and had to face 9th place Jamie Moody in the playoffs. It went back and forth, but I pulled out the victory in the end which earned me a shot at Andy Segal in the next round. I kept it close but threw away a few points here and there and ended up losing by nine. My final position was 7th, which is solid but not spectacular. Andy went on to win the tournament for the 2nd year in a row, beating Nick Nikolaidis in the final.

Star Wars

I find it amusing that someone with an Iranian IP address thought it was worth their while to visit my pool trick shots page and give the first page of shots a 1-star rating!

2012 World Championship Sign Ups Announced

The sign up process for the 2012 WPA Artistic Pool World Championships has begun. I can't find the documents anywhere on the internet, but they were emailed to a list of players and promoters. If you're interested in signing up for this tournament, let me know. It will be held at the Super Billiards Expo, March 8-11, 2012, in Oaks, PA.

Pool Synergy: Practice - What Works For Me

This month's Pool Synergy is hosted by John Biddle. The topic is about practice - what works for me.

Practicing trick shots isn't always about setting up the same shot and hitting it over and over again until it goes in (and making sure the camera is rolling when it does!). In fact, it involves certain principles that can carry over to your typical pool games. I'm going to write about two things that have helped me practice more effectively: focus and relaxation.

When I was practicing for the 2010 Ultimate Trick Shot Championship, I knew I only had a couple hours each day to practice. Instead of trying to practice everything I wanted to each day, I broke it down and focused on certain skills each day. For trick shots, this broke down into something like one-handed jump shots, one-handed multi-cue jump shots, masse shots, stroke shots, fouette shots, backward jumps, contortion jumps, speed shots, and juggling shots. I would cycle through these as my practiced progressed and build up a base skill level for each one. For typical pool skills, this could include straight in shots, shooting off the rail, stop shots from different distances, and so on. It was faster learning by dedicating larger amounts of time to certain things rather than doing everything for a little amount of time.

Another thing that has worked well for me is knowing when to take a break. It's certainly frustrating when you're trying to get better but you're obviously not. While there's much to be said for perseverance, you also need to know when you reach the point of diminishing returns. I've given myself headaches, literally, trying certain shots or skills for hours on end. Now, when I feel myself reaching that point, I turn to something else. Usually I'll turn to straight pool or speed pool to break the monotony. It takes the mind off whatever was going wrong and speed pool, at least, gets the heart pumping again. But sitting down for a few minutes or taking a quick stroll outside can accomplish the same effect.

Hope these tips can help you as much as they helped me. Keep a narrow focus while you're at the table, and know when to let off when things get too intense. Let me know if they work or don't work for you (and perhaps why). Happy shooting!