Best way to get better at pool?

[bholdr]

The last few months, I've been playing a lot of pool, mostly 8-ball, a little 9-ball. I've gotten to the point where i actually think i'm starting to play well. I can usually beat most of the better players in the bars that i play at, I'd estimate that i can run about 1 out of 15 racks that i play, i win a great majority of the games that i play, etc... bottom line: I feel like i'm decent and could be a good player- the best player in the neighborhood has encouraged me to work on my game some more and he seems to think that i could be pretty good. He is a total shark- i totally respect his game and i still lose to him about 90% of the time. I can't understand a damn word that he says, though, otherwise i think i'd learn a lot more from him.

I want to get better- can anyone reccomend the best way to do this? Books, websites, technique, etc? I have not played any real money games, but i've been winning a lot of drinks lately- I'd love to get good enough to play for cash (i just LIKE gambooling) and hold my own against serious players.

TYIA

[Mr. Peanut]

The best way to get better is to keep playing a lot and play against better players. You could start by doing some drills to really dial in the different types of shots that come up all the time in games. A couple of websites that are good to look at are BareNada (the pool section, there is a separate section with his blog about daily life) which has a very good practice drill with nice diagrams (it's called the shotmaker's workout) and Easy Pool Tutor which is somewhat disorganized but has a quality selection of articles on various topics.

Next for gambling purposes I would recommend learning the game of one pocket. In my opinion that is the best gambling game and it is really easy to make very even games. The handicaps in one pocket hold up much better than those in nine-ball although nine-ball is also a good game. Playing one pocket will also develop skills in other parts of your game such as combinations, kicking, and safety play. You can read more about one pocket at One Pocket.Org. I would also suggest any videos by Grady Mathews if you decide you want to learn one pocket. His website can be found here Grady Mathews.

Good luck on both green felted tables.

[MHarris]

I made this post a week or so ago on a similar topic:

Post

[bholdr]

ty for the excellent reply, mr peanut.

[mosta]

read robert byrne's books Period. do you play position? how is your cueball control? you should be doing all sorts of exercises. don't bother playing in bars. you need a table to yourself, a full-sized table, in good condition, wth good equipment. find a poolhall or a college gameroom if you are a student. do you own or have access to a cue with quality leather tip, which you can dress and maintain. if not, don't bother. practice 10-20 hours a week. even then, I think any random (or self-selecting) person hads a much better chance of winning a $10,000 buy-in poker tourney than ever, say, running 50 in straight pool. don't even call yourself a pool player till you expect to run out a bar table of 8-ball. aside from the shot after the break, there's really not a missable shot on a 3X6 table of 8-ball.

[tek]

This has nothing to do with your question, but I was wondering about the movie The Color of Money. I know Cruise dumped his match with Newman and won $8k. But how was Paul Newman using Tom Cruise? tia

[MHarris]

If you saw the prequel to it, The Hustler, you'd see how Eddie basically got his wings clipped in his prime. It seemed to me that he was really looking for a reason to return to the game and stick around. I think maybe he found this talented kid, developed this kid's killer instinct, then threw him by the wayside to create a rivalry for himself. Not really sure, just my thoughts.

[bholdr]

[ QUOTE ]
read robert byrne's books Period. do you play position? how is your cueball control? you should be doing all sorts of exercises. don't bother playing in bars. you need a table to yourself, a full-sized table, in good condition, wth good equipment. find a poolhall or a college gameroom if you are a student. do you own or have access to a cue with quality leather tip, which you can dress and maintain. if not, don't bother. practice 10-20 hours a week. even then, I think any random (or self-selecting) person hads a much better chance of winning a $10,000 buy-in poker tourney than ever, say, running 50 in straight pool. don't even call yourself a pool player till you expect to run out a bar table of 8-ball. aside from the shot after the break, there's really not a missable shot on a 3X6 table of 8-ball.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will order Byrne's book next time i get a batch of poker books. The neighborhood shark reccomended it to me last night as well as everyone on this board that appears to know their stuff.

Luckily, my father (who lives about 10 minutes from me) owns a full size table that's in good shape- it's perfectly flat, thought the felt is old and way too fast for my taste- that might be a good thing while I'm learning, no? My grandfather also owns a nice table, though it's not as well kept as my father's (the dude is 84 years old and he still beats me most of the time) My cue ball control is developing, I rarely require more than one or two turns to finish a game of 8-ball. Breaking is a pretty big hole in my game. I think i break the hell out of the rack, but i only seem to pocket a ball about 65-70% of the time, is this not way too low?

My goal is not to become an excellent player, I'd settle for 'respectable'. I figure I'll have about 4-8 hours/week to practice for the next couple months, probably a little more after summer's over.


how much should i expect to spend on a quality cue? is $100-$200 realistic? is there any to be had cheaper?

[bholdr]

One thing i really enjoyed about the hustler-color of money movies was the recurring themes- the girlfreind, the backer-player interaction, the backer-gilfreind interactions, etc... I like it when sequels pay homage to the originals without being cheezy or repetitive.

great movies even without the good pool.

on a related note, "poollhall junkies" is utter, utter garbage. don't waste your five bucks renting it.

[tek]

[ QUOTE ]
If you saw the prequel to it, The Hustler, you'd see how Eddie basically got his wings clipped in his prime. It seemed to me that he was really looking for a reason to return to the game and stick around. I think maybe he found this talented kid, developed this kid's killer instinct, then threw him by the wayside to create a rivalry for himself. Not really sure, just my thoughts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. But as far as The Hustler goes, I think Fast Eddy (why are guys named Eddy nicknamed "Fast") clipped his own wings. He may have had talent, but Fats put it all together--proper rest, clear mind while playing, not going on tilt, etc.