Went over to Buffalo's...

gulfportdoc

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Jun 25, 2004
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12,654
From
Gulfport, Mississippi
Went over to Buffalo's yesterday to see some of the 2 P.M. matches, see some old friends, and see the new room.

First of all Buffalo's is very nice, a huge improvement over the Metairie facility. It's spacious, with 30' ceilings, plenty of walking room, and even clean bathrooms! Due to the high ceilings and good air movement, I probably wouldn't have known that people were smoking, except to see them. My clothes didn't even smell when I got home.:) They offer a pretty good sandwich & plate menu (which was sorely lacking at the older place), and the ubiquitous full bar. There is an arcade room for the younger set, although presumably the poker machines will be going in there following the wait time.

A little bird told me that Buff's rent will remain the same as the smaller facility, due to the deal he struck with the amusement company who will provide the video poker machines! If true, that's like a 200% improvement for his money.

I did chat with Tony C., who told me that he was only 7 minutes late in the forfeit snafu. I talked with others, who said that he was much later than 7 minutes. Reportedly it was JJ who raised the issue, which he had every right to do. In any case Tony's integrity should not be in question here. He's an earnest down to earth guy who just didn't get up in time. I've known Tony over a period of 25 years or so. He's a big tough looking individual, but basically he's just a nice guy from a good family.

I don't know who is actually running the event, so I did not actually talk with him about the forfeit circumstance. However, Joe Long (BRLongarm) told me that in future events they will just penalize a late-comer one game for each 15 minutes late. That seems like a good rule to me, and after this year's penalty, the guys will probably be more careful in future.

Had a very nice chat with Maurice LeBlanc, who came over from Houston with his pal Mr. Gonzales (can't recall his first name). He offered me one of his ring side seats for the streaming table matches. He said that Jeff Sparks and John Rizzo had also come over from Houston to sweat and bet, but that they were presently making deposits over at Harrah's casino.;)

Had a very nice chat with Alex Lely, whose screen name I think is Eengat. He and his pal were visiting the U.S. for a few weeks. They're from The Hague, Netherlands, where Alex's friend owns a pool room. He said no one plays billiards there any more. The younger set all want to play pool, and listen to loud music. BTW, Alex is a very good pool player. He made it to the final rounds in the 80-man 9 ball tournament on the 7' tables. Hope he can get into the good dough in this very strong field.

Also had a nice chat with Gerald Huber ("Humphrey"), who wrote the well received book, The Green Felt Jungle. For the past several years he's lived down in Thibodaux, in Vapros' country.

I watched part of the Reyes/Gray match. Gray plays well, but he was no match for Reyes' experience. The Roberts/Pagulayan match was another matter. Roberts played extremely well for the first 3 hours or so. He has a great touch, and is a good banker. Alex was missing shots, and even missed one or two with ball in hand. Roberts got to 4-1, needing only one game. Roberts had a good chance to win the sixth match, but he made a mistake, Alex got a great roll, and Alex won that game. When it became 4-2, defeatism started to creep in. Josh missed a couple of banks that he normally would make, got a couple of bad rolls, and Alex actually slopped a couple of balls in. From then on you could tell that Alex became more confident. From that point everything went Alex's way, and against Roberts. Alex won 5-4. Whether there was an "Alex factor" at play, like there used to be an "Efren factor", I don't know. But how often that does happen, where a guy is substantially ahead, should cruise home with cautious play, but ends up going south mentally, as the other man gets on a roll...

A word about the streaming table. It was not in great condition. The pockets were probably 4-1/8 (I measured the pockets with 2 pool balls, but I couldn't tell if they were 4-1/4 or 4-1/8), which is too tight IMO. But the cloth was worn, and needed vacuuming. Although the pockets would not accept firm or hard shots unless the ball rolled into the center of the pocket, the pockets were forgiving if rolled in-- even after contacting both facings. Table 7, used for the Reyes/Gray match, would have been a better choice, but they probably didn't want to move it, and the table they did use was already set for the arena and streaming features. I am surprised they didn't change the cloth for the tournament however. Perhaps their table guy wasn't available.

All in all it is a great tournament at Buffalo's, and my guess is that it will continue to be a major annual event for some time.

~Doc
 

LSJohn

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Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Messages
8,530
From
monett missouri
Went over to Buffalo's yesterday to see some of the 2 P.M. matches, see some old friends, and see the new room.

First of all Buffalo's is very nice, a huge improvement over the Metairie facility. It's spacious, with 30' ceilings, plenty of walking room, and even clean bathrooms! Due to the high ceilings and good air movement, I probably wouldn't have known that people were smoking, except to see them. My clothes didn't even smell when I got home.:) They offer a pretty good sandwich & plate menu (which was sorely lacking at the older place), and the ubiquitous full bar. There is an arcade room for the younger set, although presumably the poker machines will be going in there following the wait time.

A little bird told me that Buff's rent will remain the same as the smaller facility, due to the deal he struck with the amusement company who will provide the video poker machines! If true, that's like a 200% improvement for his money.

I did chat with Tony C., who told me that he was only 7 minutes late in the forfeit snafu. I talked with others, who said that he was much later than 7 minutes. Reportedly it was JJ who raised the issue, which he had every right to do. In any case Tony's integrity should not be in question here. He's an earnest down to earth guy who just didn't get up in time. I've known Tony over a period of 25 years or so. He's a big tough looking individual, but basically he's just a nice guy from a good family.

I don't know who is actually running the event, so I did not actually talk with him about the forfeit circumstance. However, Joe Long (BRLongarm) told me that in future events they will just penalize a late-comer one game for each 15 minutes late. That seems like a good rule to me, and after this year's penalty, the guys will probably be more careful in future.

Had a very nice chat with Maurice LeBlanc, who came over from Houston with his pal Mr. Gonzales (can't recall his first name). He offered me one of his ring side seats for the streaming table matches. He said that Jeff Sparks and John Rizzo had also come over from Houston to sweat and bet, but that they were presently making deposits over at Harrah's casino.;)

Had a very nice chat with Alex Lely, whose screen name I think is Eengat. He and his pal were visiting the U.S. for a few weeks. They're from The Hague, Netherlands, where Alex's friend owns a pool room. He said no one plays billiards there any more. The younger set all want to play pool, and listen to loud music. BTW, Alex is a very good pool player. He made it to the final rounds in the 80-man 9 ball tournament on the 7' tables. Hope he can get into the good dough in this very strong field.

Also had a nice chat with Gerald Huber ("Humphrey"), who wrote the well received book, The Green Felt Jungle. For the past several years he's lived down in Thibodaux, in Vapros' country.

I watched part of the Reyes/Gray match. Gray plays well, but he was no match for Reyes' experience. The Roberts/Pagulayan match was another matter. Roberts played extremely well for the first 3 hours or so. He has a great touch, and is a good banker. Alex was missing shots, and even missed one or two with ball in hand. Roberts got to 4-1, needing only one game. Roberts had a good chance to win the sixth match, but he made a mistake, Alex got a great roll, and Alex won that game. When it became 4-2, defeatism started to creep in. Josh missed a couple of banks that he normally would make, got a couple of bad rolls, and Alex actually slopped a couple of balls in. From then on you could tell that Alex became more confident. From that point everything went Alex's way, and against Roberts. Alex won 5-4. Whether there was an "Alex factor" at play, like there used to be an "Efren factor", I don't know. But how often that does happen, where a guy is substantially ahead, should cruise home with cautious play, but ends up going south mentally, as the other man gets on a roll...

A word about the streaming table. It was not in great condition. The pockets were probably 4-1/8 (I measured the pockets with 2 pool balls, but I couldn't tell if they were 4-1/4 or 4-1/8), which is too tight IMO. But the cloth was worn, and needed vacuuming. Although the pockets would not accept firm or hard shots unless the ball rolled into the center of the pocket, the pockets were forgiving if rolled in-- even after contacting both facings. Table 7, used for the Reyes/Gray match, would have been a better choice, but they probably didn't want to move it, and the table they did use was already set for the arena and streaming features. I am surprised they didn't change the cloth for the tournament however. Perhaps their table guy wasn't available.

All in all it is a great tournament at Buffalo's, and my guess is that it will continue to be a major annual event for some time.

~Doc

Thanks, Doc. I REALLY wanted to be there.

Regarding the cloth on the TV table: My understanding is that they wanted broken-in rather than slick new cloth for the TV matches. (Scott complained last year, and perhaps others did as well.)
 

chicagomike

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Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
1,559
Went over to Buffalo's yesterday to see some of the 2 P.M. matches, see some old friends, and see the new room.

First of all Buffalo's is very nice, a huge improvement over the Metairie facility. It's spacious, with 30' ceilings, plenty of walking room, and even clean bathrooms! Due to the high ceilings and good air movement, I probably wouldn't have known that people were smoking, except to see them. My clothes didn't even smell when I got home.:) They offer a pretty good sandwich & plate menu (which was sorely lacking at the older place), and the ubiquitous full bar. There is an arcade room for the younger set, although presumably the poker machines will be going in there following the wait time.

A little bird told me that Buff's rent will remain the same as the smaller facility, due to the deal he struck with the amusement company who will provide the video poker machines! If true, that's like a 200% improvement for his money.

I did chat with Tony C., who told me that he was only 7 minutes late in the forfeit snafu. I talked with others, who said that he was much later than 7 minutes. Reportedly it was JJ who raised the issue, which he had every right to do. In any case Tony's integrity should not be in question here. He's an earnest down to earth guy who just didn't get up in time. I've known Tony over a period of 25 years or so. He's a big tough looking individual, but basically he's just a nice guy from a good family.

I don't know who is actually running the event, so I did not actually talk with him about the forfeit circumstance. However, Joe Long (BRLongarm) told me that in future events they will just penalize a late-comer one game for each 15 minutes late. That seems like a good rule to me, and after this year's penalty, the guys will probably be more careful in future.

Had a very nice chat with Maurice LeBlanc, who came over from Houston with his pal Mr. Gonzales (can't recall his first name). He offered me one of his ring side seats for the streaming table matches. He said that Jeff Sparks and John Rizzo had also come over from Houston to sweat and bet, but that they were presently making deposits over at Harrah's casino.;)

Had a very nice chat with Alex Lely, whose screen name I think is Eengat. He and his pal were visiting the U.S. for a few weeks. They're from The Hague, Netherlands, where Alex's friend owns a pool room. He said no one plays billiards there any more. The younger set all want to play pool, and listen to loud music. BTW, Alex is a very good pool player. He made it to the final rounds in the 80-man 9 ball tournament on the 7' tables. Hope he can get into the good dough in this very strong field.

Also had a nice chat with Gerald Huber ("Humphrey"), who wrote the well received book, The Green Felt Jungle. For the past several years he's lived down in Thibodaux, in Vapros' country.

I watched part of the Reyes/Gray match. Gray plays well, but he was no match for Reyes' experience. The Roberts/Pagulayan match was another matter. Roberts played extremely well for the first 3 hours or so. He has a great touch, and is a good banker. Alex was missing shots, and even missed one or two with ball in hand. Roberts got to 4-1, needing only one game. Roberts had a good chance to win the sixth match, but he made a mistake, Alex got a great roll, and Alex won that game. When it became 4-2, defeatism started to creep in. Josh missed a couple of banks that he normally would make, got a couple of bad rolls, and Alex actually slopped a couple of balls in. From then on you could tell that Alex became more confident. From that point everything went Alex's way, and against Roberts. Alex won 5-4. Whether there was an "Alex factor" at play, like there used to be an "Efren factor", I don't know. But how often that does happen, where a guy is substantially ahead, should cruise home with cautious play, but ends up going south mentally, as the other man gets on a roll...

A word about the streaming table. It was not in great condition. The pockets were probably 4-1/8 (I measured the pockets with 2 pool balls, but I couldn't tell if they were 4-1/4 or 4-1/8), which is too tight IMO. But the cloth was worn, and needed vacuuming. Although the pockets would not accept firm or hard shots unless the ball rolled into the center of the pocket, the pockets were forgiving if rolled in-- even after contacting both facings. Table 7, used for the Reyes/Gray match, would have been a better choice, but they probably didn't want to move it, and the table they did use was already set for the arena and streaming features. I am surprised they didn't change the cloth for the tournament however. Perhaps their table guy wasn't available.

All in all it is a great tournament at Buffalo's, and my guess is that it will continue to be a major annual event for some time.

~Doc

Thanks for the report Doc...I'll have to put it on my list of rooms to check out!
 

Jimmy B

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Joined
Aug 17, 2007
Messages
6,897
Thanks, Doc.. Great write-up.. If they can operate poker machines, they should be just fine...
 

Wayne

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Joined
Nov 26, 2004
Messages
444
Went over to Buffalo's yesterday to see some of the 2 P.M. matches, see some old friends, and see the new room.

First of all Buffalo's is very nice, a huge improvement over the Metairie facility. It's spacious, with 30' ceilings, plenty of walking room, and even clean bathrooms! Due to the high ceilings and good air movement, I probably wouldn't have known that people were smoking, except to see them. My clothes didn't even smell when I got home.:) They offer a pretty good sandwich & plate menu (which was sorely lacking at the older place), and the ubiquitous full bar. There is an arcade room for the younger set, although presumably the poker machines will be going in there following the wait time.

A little bird told me that Buff's rent will remain the same as the smaller facility, due to the deal he struck with the amusement company who will provide the video poker machines! If true, that's like a 200% improvement for his money.

I did chat with Tony C., who told me that he was only 7 minutes late in the forfeit snafu. I talked with others, who said that he was much later than 7 minutes. Reportedly it was JJ who raised the issue, which he had every right to do. In any case Tony's integrity should not be in question here. He's an earnest down to earth guy who just didn't get up in time. I've known Tony over a period of 25 years or so. He's a big tough looking individual, but basically he's just a nice guy from a good family.

I don't know who is actually running the event, so I did not actually talk with him about the forfeit circumstance. However, Joe Long (BRLongarm) told me that in future events they will just penalize a late-comer one game for each 15 minutes late. That seems like a good rule to me, and after this year's penalty, the guys will probably be more careful in future.

Had a very nice chat with Maurice LeBlanc, who came over from Houston with his pal Mr. Gonzales (can't recall his first name). He offered me one of his ring side seats for the streaming table matches. He said that Jeff Sparks and John Rizzo had also come over from Houston to sweat and bet, but that they were presently making deposits over at Harrah's casino.;)

Had a very nice chat with Alex Lely, whose screen name I think is Eengat. He and his pal were visiting the U.S. for a few weeks. They're from The Hague, Netherlands, where Alex's friend owns a pool room. He said no one plays billiards there any more. The younger set all want to play pool, and listen to loud music. BTW, Alex is a very good pool player. He made it to the final rounds in the 80-man 9 ball tournament on the 7' tables. Hope he can get into the good dough in this very strong field.

Also had a nice chat with Gerald Huber ("Humphrey"), who wrote the well received book, The Green Felt Jungle. For the past several years he's lived down in Thibodaux, in Vapros' country.

I watched part of the Reyes/Gray match. Gray plays well, but he was no match for Reyes' experience. The Roberts/Pagulayan match was another matter. Roberts played extremely well for the first 3 hours or so. He has a great touch, and is a good banker. Alex was missing shots, and even missed one or two with ball in hand. Roberts got to 4-1, needing only one game. Roberts had a good chance to win the sixth match, but he made a mistake, Alex got a great roll, and Alex won that game. When it became 4-2, defeatism started to creep in. Josh missed a couple of banks that he normally would make, got a couple of bad rolls, and Alex actually slopped a couple of balls in. From then on you could tell that Alex became more confident. From that point everything went Alex's way, and against Roberts. Alex won 5-4. Whether there was an "Alex factor" at play, like there used to be an "Efren factor", I don't know. But how often that does happen, where a guy is substantially ahead, should cruise home with cautious play, but ends up going south mentally, as the other man gets on a roll...

A word about the streaming table. It was not in great condition. The pockets were probably 4-1/8 (I measured the pockets with 2 pool balls, but I couldn't tell if they were 4-1/4 or 4-1/8), which is too tight IMO. But the cloth was worn, and needed vacuuming. Although the pockets would not accept firm or hard shots unless the ball rolled into the center of the pocket, the pockets were forgiving if rolled in-- even after contacting both facings. Table 7, used for the Reyes/Gray match, would have been a better choice, but they probably didn't want to move it, and the table they did use was already set for the arena and streaming features. I am surprised they didn't change the cloth for the tournament however. Perhaps their table guy wasn't available.

All in all it is a great tournament at Buffalo's, and my guess is that it will continue to be a major annual event for some time.

~Doc

Someone on AZ clarified Tony's lateness: Apparently you could be 10 minutes late with no penalty but if you were later you forfeit. Tony arrived 7 minutes after the 10 minute late period.
 

Jeff sparks

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Joined
Apr 2, 2015
Messages
3,317
From
Houston, Texas
Went over to Buffalo's yesterday to see some of the 2 P.M. matches, see some old friends, and see the new room.

First of all Buffalo's is very nice, a huge improvement over the Metairie facility. It's spacious, with 30' ceilings, plenty of walking room, and even clean bathrooms! Due to the high ceilings and good air movement, I probably wouldn't have known that people were smoking, except to see them. My clothes didn't even smell when I got home.:) They offer a pretty good sandwich & plate menu (which was sorely lacking at the older place), and the ubiquitous full bar. There is an arcade room for the younger set, although presumably the poker machines will be going in there following the wait time.

A little bird told me that Buff's rent will remain the same as the smaller facility, due to the deal he struck with the amusement company who will provide the video poker machines! If true, that's like a 200% improvement for his money.

I did chat with Tony C., who told me that he was only 7 minutes late in the forfeit snafu. I talked with others, who said that he was much later than 7 minutes. Reportedly it was JJ who raised the issue, which he had every right to do. In any case Tony's integrity should not be in question here. He's an earnest down to earth guy who just didn't get up in time. I've known Tony over a period of 25 years or so. He's a big tough looking individual, but basically he's just a nice guy from a good family.

I don't know who is actually running the event, so I did not actually talk with him about the forfeit circumstance. However, Joe Long (BRLongarm) told me that in future events they will just penalize a late-comer one game for each 15 minutes late. That seems like a good rule to me, and after this year's penalty, the guys will probably be more careful in future.

Had a very nice chat with Maurice LeBlanc, who came over from Houston with his pal Mr. Gonzales (can't recall his first name). He offered me one of his ring side seats for the streaming table matches. He said that Jeff Sparks and John Rizzo had also come over from Houston to sweat and bet, but that they were presently making deposits over at Harrah's casino.;)

Had a very nice chat with Alex Lely, whose screen name I think is Eengat. He and his pal were visiting the U.S. for a few weeks. They're from The Hague, Netherlands, where Alex's friend owns a pool room. He said no one plays billiards there any more. The younger set all want to play pool, and listen to loud music. BTW, Alex is a very good pool player. He made it to the final rounds in the 80-man 9 ball tournament on the 7' tables. Hope he can get into the good dough in this very strong field.

Also had a nice chat with Gerald Huber ("Humphrey"), who wrote the well received book, The Green Felt Jungle. For the past several years he's lived down in Thibodaux, in Vapros' country.

I watched part of the Reyes/Gray match. Gray plays well, but he was no match for Reyes' experience. The Roberts/Pagulayan match was another matter. Roberts played extremely well for the first 3 hours or so. He has a great touch, and is a good banker. Alex was missing shots, and even missed one or two with ball in hand. Roberts got to 4-1, needing only one game. Roberts had a good chance to win the sixth match, but he made a mistake, Alex got a great roll, and Alex won that game. When it became 4-2, defeatism started to creep in. Josh missed a couple of banks that he normally would make, got a couple of bad rolls, and Alex actually slopped a couple of balls in. From then on you could tell that Alex became more confident. From that point everything went Alex's way, and against Roberts. Alex won 5-4. Whether there was an "Alex factor" at play, like there used to be an "Efren factor", I don't know. But how often that does happen, where a guy is substantially ahead, should cruise home with cautious play, but ends up going south mentally, as the other man gets on a roll...

A word about the streaming table. It was not in great condition. The pockets were probably 4-1/8 (I measured the pockets with 2 pool balls, but I couldn't tell if they were 4-1/4 or 4-1/8), which is too tight IMO. But the cloth was worn, and needed vacuuming. Although the pockets would not accept firm or hard shots unless the ball rolled into the center of the pocket, the pockets were forgiving if rolled in-- even after contacting both facings. Table 7, used for the Reyes/Gray match, would have been a better choice, but they probably didn't want to move it, and the table they did use was already set for the arena and streaming features. I am surprised they didn't change the cloth for the tournament however. Perhaps their table guy wasn't available.

All in all it is a great tournament at Buffalo's, and my guess is that it will continue to be a major annual event for some time.

~Doc

Doc,
Rizzo and I were going to stay awhile on Saturday, but we decided that we'd rather dodge the bulk of the Memorial Day traffic, so we split at 6:00 AM Saturday morning... We are both sorry we didn't get a chance to visit with you while we were in Nawlins... I fully expected to see you there on Thursday or Friday as we spent most of those days and nights in the pool room...

Contrary to popular belief, we escaped with our scalps and a little of Harrah's money... We got to see the new Buffalo's and sweat quite a few one pocket matches... All in all, it was a nice visit and we will probably go again next year...

Nice report Doc, and spot on...:)
 

JAM

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Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
1,041
Great trip report, Doc! Thanks for sharing! :cool:
 

Renegade_56

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Feb 10, 2011
Messages
383

A word about the streaming table. It was not in great condition. The pockets were probably 4-1/8 (I measured the pockets with 2 pool balls, but I couldn't tell if they were 4-1/4 or 4-1/8), which is too tight IMO. But the cloth was worn, and needed vacuuming. Although the pockets would not accept firm or hard shots unless the ball rolled into the center of the pocket, the pockets were forgiving if rolled in-- even after contacting both facings. Table 7, used for the Reyes/Gray match, would have been a better choice, but they probably didn't want to move it, and the table they did use was already set for the arena and streaming features. I am surprised they didn't change the cloth for the tournament however. Perhaps their table guy wasn't available.

All in all it is a great tournament at Buffalo's, and my guess is that it will continue to be a major annual event for some time.

~Doc

I watched all the streamed matches from home, and the commentators repeatedly said the pockets were 4 1/8 inch, but that they felt that wa generous, so likely maybe less. I did see alot of easy shots rattled and stopped runs due to the tight pockets. If you play pockets that tight the shelf depth should be less in my opinion. In order to rattle a ball you have to have hit the pocket facing, so you should technically have made the shot. So Dennis and the guys either had to baby the shot at times and sacrifice position, which they rarely did, or go for the position, rattle the ball, and sell out, which happened too often imo. I think all tables for this caliber of play should consistently be on like 4 1/2 inch pockets, again, my opinion. If pockets were meant to be this tight there would be a rule stating it. All it does is slow down game play, and could, again imo, affect the outcome of the match, as I saw several game balls rattled.
 

LSJohn

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monett missouri
If pockets were meant to be this tight there would be a rule stating it. All it does is slow down game play, and could, again imo, affect the outcome of the match, as I saw several game balls rattled.

I have the impression that Greg Sullivan agrees with you. Diamond's standard is 4 1/2, and I imagine that the shelf depth was designed to be whatever Greg tought was compatible with that (and I understand he studied the sh*t out of it for several years.) He's also very specific about the way the "official" size of a pocket is measured.

In case you haven't seen it, there's a video of him describing this stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG9CqK95U2E
 

gulfportdoc

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Jun 25, 2004
Messages
12,654
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Gulfport, Mississippi
I watched all the streamed matches from home, and the commentators repeatedly said the pockets were 4 1/8 inch, but that they felt that wa generous, so likely maybe less. I did see alot of easy shots rattled and stopped runs due to the tight pockets. If you play pockets that tight the shelf depth should be less in my opinion. In order to rattle a ball you have to have hit the pocket facing, so you should technically have made the shot. So Dennis and the guys either had to baby the shot at times and sacrifice position, which they rarely did, or go for the position, rattle the ball, and sell out, which happened too often imo. I think all tables for this caliber of play should consistently be on like 4 1/2 inch pockets, again, my opinion. If pockets were meant to be this tight there would be a rule stating it. All it does is slow down game play, and could, again imo, affect the outcome of the match, as I saw several game balls rattled.
I agree with you. True 4-1/2" pockets are just right. Seems like the tendency is for guys to "ooh and ahh" about very tight pockets, like it's some kind of macho thing. To me it just screws up the game.

~Doc
 

Cory in dc

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Nov 21, 2012
Messages
1,657
I agree with you. True 4-1/2" pockets are just right. Seems like the tendency is for guys to "ooh and ahh" about very tight pockets, like it's some kind of macho thing. To me it just screws up the game.

~Doc

I couldn't agree more! And 4.5" makes all the more sense if you're trying to finish a tournament in a reasonable amount of time.
 

Cory in dc

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Nov 21, 2012
Messages
1,657
I would rather watch others play on 4 or 4 1/8 than play on them myself.:D Makes those guys look almost human.

Yeah, that's better. Or even better, I take the 4.5" pocket and the inhuman shooter gets 4.125!
 

One Pocket Ghost

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May 25, 2004
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Ghosttown
I agree with Renegade, Doc & Cory 1,000% - 4" pockets are macho idiocy - they are not at all conducive to the beauty of pocket billiards - can you imagine the World 14.1 Tournament being played on 4" pockets? - wouldn't be much hope of seeing a stellar 150-and-out run anymore...imo all tables for serious play should be 4-3/8'' at the smallest, or 4-1/2" at the largest.

- Ghost
 
Last edited:

keoneyo

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Mar 31, 2014
Messages
2,883
I had a long running disagreement with the pro who covers the tables at HOB.
During the time we were having 14.1 tournaments I told him he was making the pockets too tight. He said it wasnt tight but it was because of the expertise of the shooter and his inability to shoot straight.
Mike Massey came in and tried to spot a guy 50 no count. He gave up. He said he couldnt do it on the tables with such a tight pocket.
Yeah great for the pro expert player but most of us are normal human beings and we enjoy a good game.
These tiny pockets are ridiculous and cause you anxiety instead of levity.
 

Kybanks

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Jul 27, 2015
Messages
1,140
Thanks for the report Doc. I agree that 4.125" pockets are too tight for below average players like myself. Imo the tighter the pocket the more it favors guys like Dennis because of his ball striking ability.
 

Jeff sparks

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Apr 2, 2015
Messages
3,317
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Houston, Texas
One area of seating which provided viewing of several matches at a time was behind a pool table which was covered by a plastic tarp... Out of curiosity I lifted the tarp off a corner pocket to examine the pocket size on that table...

I took a credit card, stood it on edge length wise, and slid it from the pocket opening towards the back of the pocket... The card just barely fit in the opening, it got stuck and stood up by itself less than a half inch into the pocket... If I bent the card to resemble a somewhat flat "C" it would fit in the back of that pocket...

I measured that credit card just now... It is 3 3/8 inches exactly... Which means that corner pocket opening was no wider than 3 1/2 inches and the back of the pocket facing was about 3 1/4 inches wide...

Granted, they had that table covered, and not in use during the tournament, but they must have had a reason to cut the openings that small... And brother, they were small!

Maybe one of the locals could comment on that table and if it's ever used and how it plays...
 
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