Cue Sport Group

Archive for February, 2010

Billiards and Pool are generally grouped as one and referred to as cue sports, although, technically, there are vast differences between the two games.

Cue Players consider “billiards” to be “carom’ games only, it is hitting two balls with one stroke of a pool cue, and three balls are used; white, yellow and red. Both the white and the yellow ball can act as the strikers. Billiards is basically pool without pockets; while on the other hand, Pool is hitting the ball into a pocket. It all depends on what style of the game you would like to play.

Pocket billiards takes on many forms, each differentiated largely by the number and size of balls used in play. Most traditional pool games are “8-ball pool” played with 16 balls: 15 colored and one white “cue ball.” And the “9-ball pool” using 9 colored balls and one white cue ball.

Today, Billiards and Pool can be exchanged and mean the same thing. When people refer to one, it is assumed the other is also being included.

Who wouldn’t be stunned by the sexiness and beauty of her face, and surprisingly by her billiard skills that’s quite surpassing? This Fil-American Pool Player is gaining some popularity not only in the pool world but in the World Wide Web, too. Meet the gorgeous & seductive lady cue artist from Orlando, Shanelle Lorraine. She played in the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship held in the Philippines (June 2-6, 2009), showing her skills to Filipino billiards enthusiasts. Although, she does not belong to the top pool players in the world, Shanelle is more than satisfied as the #1 women’s player in Guam. She began playing pool in 2000, and played on the University of Central Florida pool team for four years. Shanelle trained in Orlando, FL and coached by top world ranked Pro, Charlie Williams and Senior Tour Pro, Wayne Catledge. She had the personal assistance and insight in 3-cushion by World Champion, Semih Sayginer of Turkey. Shanelle also had the assistance with trick shots from World Champions Mike Massey and Stefano Pelinga.

With all those beautiful pool players coming out, Shanelle included, it looks like their having a mini beauty pageant while pooling. She’s a pretty player with nice billiard skills plus she pulls a number of audiences, an absolute International Pool Star.

After competing for the series of billiard championships last year, all the cue players have not bring to an end their passion for the craft and even prepare for the upcoming pool competitions ahead of time, it’s just at the top of their list. And now what awaits them has been set forth. The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) is pleased to announce that the next World 9-Ball Championship will happen in Doha, Qatar starting June 25 until July 5, 2010. Invitations will be done according to WPA rankings and via the WPA members and should commence during the spring of 2010. Expect in the entourage the names of the top professional players like Efren Bata Reyes, Ralf Souquet, Mika Immonen, Django Bustamante, and the rest of the high profiled pool players. Qualifiers for this contest will compete from the 25^th to 27^th of June in Doha. All successful cue players will battle from June 28 for eliminations all the way to July 05 for the championship.  The prize fund for this initial appearance and in 2011 in Qatar is $250,000 and will increase to $300,000 for both 2012 and 2013.

Meet Ronato Alcano, recently nicknamed “The Volcano”, a native of Calamba, Laguna, who won the 2006 WPA Men’s World Nine-ball Championship at age 34. He defeated Ralf Souquet of Germany. He is also the 3rd Filipino to win the championship – Efren Reyes in 1999 and Alex Pagulayan in 2004. In 2007, Alcano bagged the WPA World Eight-ball Championship by defeating his compatriot Dennis Orcollo in the final match 11-8. Also on the 11^th of December 2007 Ronato Alcano won the Philippines’ 31st gold medal in the 24th Southeast Asian Games Men’s 8-Ball Pool Singles at the Sima Thani Hotel Grand Ballroom. These are just few of his achievements in the billiard sports. Who would have thought, that the poor guy from Laguna, and just an elementary graduate will be given so much recognition for his contribution as a champion pool icon. Alcano is now in the peek of his career and still continues to exhibit his mastery of the sports.

Playing the games of professional pool, snooker and billiards is not for an average joe, it takes talent, skills, knowledge and a good cue stick.

Most pool players believed that if they have the right cue stick, they would shoot better and that gives them an ace up in their sleeve. Every cue artist is in search of a perfect cue and they can tell whether it feels right by weight, balance, leather and shaft characteristics. An experienced billiard player can determine by the stick’s vibration if the stick flexes too much or not. The way the stick feels is important and the sound of the hit is likewise essential. Some players play for keeps that will pay more just to find the cue that feels superior, it’s an investment of high yield for a competition. For them it’s like a wand that gives magic to every game. And if this is the case, Efren “BATA” Reyes one of the world’s best pool players must have found the right wand for it makes him the magician.  But every player should know that it’s always the skill and mastery of the sport that means a lot and the cue stick will be as much use as a chocolate teapot.

For the 2010 “St. Louie” Louie Roberts Action and Entertainment Award at the Derby City Classic, a woman stood among the others. This is in the person of the Black Widow or Jeanette Lee as she got landslide votes from the DCC attendees and members of various internet forums. Lee got ahead of famous pool players like Harry Platis and Richie Richardson. The award entitled Lee to have lifetime free access to tournaments as well as DCC hotel accommodations.

The Black Widow, now on the Louie Roberts Action and Entertainment banner at the Derby City Classic tournament room, took the limelight every time she was in the action room. With elegant and graceful acts, Lee entertained spectators with her championship-caliber plays which were highly spectacular for this year.

The idea with trick shot practice requires you to set up the balls and do the shot over and over again until you nail the techniques, the right stroke and every necessary detail to get it done. When you miss a shot, don’t just give up. Study why it happened and what went wrong to modify the next shot until you master it. That is not easy, of course. It would consume lots of time and effort just to make a single trick shot accurately performed. And there’s more than one trick shot in the bank.

A trick shot player needs patience, precision and the willingness to learn unlike recreational ones that just play regular games and leave everything to chance. Recreational players don’t usually take time to learn how the shot goes and the effect of one ball to another.

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So what’s so special with the cue ball? As a player, you know that this ball is the only ball on the bed that really touches with your cue stick and the most important for you is to control its movement, direction and impact. If you are aiming for a shot, you can apply different speed and spins on the cue ball to produce a desired effect. The Aramith Pro Cup Cue Ball is one of the most famous in the market because of its measles or six red dots that stand out among others. The dots will help the players to determine the kind of spin and how long it would probably last as well as for the audience to clearly see the spin.

The factors that influence the cue balls are the playing table, cue ball’s weight and magnet center. If the cue ball weighs more than the standard, it would be more difficult to give it a spin. The low-quality magnet centers on the other hand can make the cue ball wobbles. These variables would push you to use your own on your next game.

By raising the butt of the cue, the shooter, especially a beginner or intermediate player, invites serious problems. It will be very difficult for a student to learn how to aim if the ball does not follow a straight line. Advanced players use curve and massé shots to their advantage, but they know how, and it is not an accident. Beginners should never curve the cueball, and raising the butt of the stick invites just such a mistake.
Don’t start off with bad habits. Keep the butt of the cue stick as level as possible for all shots. When you become advanced, you will learn when and how much to raise the butt for specialty shots, such as curves, massés and jump shots. One side benefit of keeping the stick level: you are less likely to be charged with the cost of replacing the cloth. Driving the stick downward can force the tip into the cloth. The cloth, on most tables, is not glued to the top, but stretched across it. It can easily be torn.

Many top players suggest that the use of side spin (right or left english) is not critical to shooting good pool. I agree. Most of what can be achieved with side spin can be accomplished with top or bottom, if there is a clear path to the position point. However, knowledge of side spin can offer alternative “paths” to the position desired if the preferred path is blocked.

It is not the spin alone that makes it possible to alter tangents and rebound angles. It is the combination of spin and speed that makes the possibilities infinite. Consider the following:

1) Using top spin will bend a tangent path forward.

2) Bottom will bend the tangent path backward.

3) Shooting hard will close the rebound angle off the rail.

4) Shooting easy will widen the rebound angle off the rail.

By combining the appropriate top or bottom spin with the right speed, the shooter can send the cue ball off the object ball to about any place on the table, assuming interfering balls can be avoided.