what are your favorite (one pocket) books?

evergruven

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hope this msg finds you all well-

just finished tom wirth's "controlled aggression" and loved it
I don't have the dough for any of those fancy eddie robin books
but appreciate advice on the subject
(pool) in general, non-fiction/fiction ok..I like stories
grissim and tevis and byrne, etc.
one thing I dig about tom's book
is how technical, but readable it is
he told of diagrams, and philosophies
that mix worked well for me
but I'm curious what you all might recommend
 

sorackem

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Dec 4, 2019
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Upscale One-Pocket
Jack H Koehler

I'm unable to compare it with other OP books, but it was helpful.
It is laid out, and indexed well, provides general points of attention and strategy.
It covers some situational thought processes re; priorities depending on the layout and score.
Not an encyclopedia, but informative.
 

GoldCrown

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hope this msg finds you all well-

just finished tom wirth's "controlled aggression" and loved it
Best book on the planet. If you are in Florida look Tom up and take a lesson with him. He's as good as it gets.... as an instructor/player/person. He teaches and produces instructional items for love of the game. Get some of his videos. All are good.
 

lll

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vero beach fl
Upscale One-Pocket
Jack H Koehler

I'm unable to compare it with other OP books, but it was helpful.
It is laid out, and indexed well, provides general points of attention and strategy.
It covers some situational thought processes re; priorities depending on the layout and score.
Not an encyclopedia, but informative.
i think this is a great book for a newbie
 

vapros

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baton rouge, la
For entertainment value I recommend Alfie Taylor's book "The Other Side of the Road". For one-pocket, Tom Wirth's. Also an old book by Bill Incardona, "Common Sense One Pocket". It's on DVD and Google can tell you how to order.
 
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Ratamon

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London, UK
Apart from Eddie Robin's books, I rather enjoyed Banking with the Beard and Gospool. The former is a great book for developing one's banking skills which is an essential element of any one pocket game.

The thing is there aren't that many one pocket books out there and most of them have already been mentioned. Of the other pool books, Fels' Mastering Pool and Willie Jopling's Book on Pocket Billiards have a section on one pocket each but that's about it. W.W. Woody's book on Buddy Hall (Rags to Rifleman) relays a couple of one pocket stories but it kind of hard to come by these days and the printing is horrible (it looks as if the font sizes have been selected by a random-number generator)

For the entertainment value, I liked both R.A. Dyer's books - Hustler Days and The Hustler and The Champ (about the Mosconi-Fats rivalry). McCumber's Playing Off The Rail and Byrne's Great Pool Stories are also quite good. Obviously, Byrne's McGoorty is a classic but I assume you have read it.

Honourable mentions go to Bob Henning's book on Cornbread Red, Wertheim's Running The Table and Jerry Forsyth's book on Danny Diliberto.

I'm sure I've neglected to mention many a good book but hopefully the above is useful as a starter for 10.
 

jrhendy

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Placerville, CA
Tom Wirth’s ‘Controlled Aggression’ for insights and a learning tool. For stories, pictures and flat out entertainment, Freddie The Beard’s ‘Encyclopedia of Pool Hustlers’ is my favorite.
 

Ratamon

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By the way, of the two Eddie Robin's books, Winning One Pocket has the most educational value, imho. His second book - Shots, Moves and Strategies - is mostly about those flashy gung-ho shots that won someone a game, way back when, and are really of little to no use in a regular one pocket game. So the title is a little bit misleading on the "strategies" bit, imho (but I'm sure other members on here may well disagree).

If you ever come round to buying the WOP book, I believe the 2nd edition is better as far as the educational value is concerned as there had been numerous errors in the first printing which were subsequently corrected.
 

evergruven

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For entertainment value I recommend Alfie Taylor's book "The Other Side of the Road". For one-pocket, Tom Wirth's. Also an old book by Bill Incardona, "Common Sense One Pocket". It's on DVD and Google can tell you how to order.
hi, thanks- was billy's book printed or is it just on dvd?

and thanks all for the replies! my list is growing ^_^
 

Billy Jackets

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I have it on DVD - I doubt if it was also in print. Google had only the one source.
By the way, of the two Eddie Robin's books, Winning One Pocket has the most educational value, imho. His second book - Shots, Moves and Strategies - is mostly about those flashy gung-ho shots that won someone a game, way back when, and are really of little to no use in a regular one pocket game. So the title is a little bit misleading on the "strategies" bit, imho (but I'm sure other members on here may well disagree).

If you ever come round to buying the WOP book, I believe the 2nd edition is better as far as the educational value is concerned as there had been numerous errors in the first printing which were subsequently corrected.

That is how I feel about it also , but I have had people get angry with me when I said it , I like Eddie Robin by the way , I talked to him a couple of times about some of the old hustlers 15 or 20 years ago , great fun.
 

NH Steve

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That is how I feel about it also , but I have had people get angry with me when I said it , I like Eddie Robin by the way , I talked to him a couple of times about some of the old hustlers 15 or 20 years ago , great fun.
He is a very interesting guy to talk to -- or listen to lol. A bit eccentric for sure but brilliant for sure in spades! Did you know he was the national 3 cushion champion twice -- and I believe about 20 years apart, which in itself is unusual.
 

lll

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vero beach fl
If you ever come round to buying the WOP book, I believe the 2nd edition is better as far as the educational value is concerned as there had been numerous errors in the first printing which were subsequently corrected.
Eddie put out an errata sheet that listed all the typos and corrections made for the second edition
its 18 pages
eddie robbins errata sheet pic.png
 

mr3cushion

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Cocoa Beach, FL
He is a very interesting guy to talk to -- or listen to lol. A bit eccentric for sure but brilliant for sure in spades! Did you know he was the national 3 cushion champion twice -- and I believe about 20 years apart, which in itself is unusual.

Indeed Eddie was US National Champ twice, in 72 & 79.
 

Tom Wirth

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Thank you Evergruven for posting your kind thread endorsing my book. It was a welcome site.
And thanks also to GoldCrown and Larry AKA (lll). You have always been there supporting and
promoting me. You two are true friends. Thank you Bill, AKA (Vapros) I appreciate that you
always seem to be there with your support. And thanks also to John H. I wish you lived on the
east coast. Playing One Pocket with you is always fun and a challenge. You are a giant in the
world of One Pocket. It is a pleasure to know you.

I'll take one more moment to endorse WOP. What a great book! I bought it when it first came out.
How could I not?

Tom
 

GoldCrown

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I'll take one more moment to endorse WOP. What a great book! I bought it when it first came out.
How could I not? Tom
It's great when people appreciate others work. That's a wonderful compliment. As for you TRW....You are for real as a person, player and friend. I appreciate quality people. Sadly Corona stopped us. I was having the best time of my life pool wise learning 1p from you. Regardless of my level I'm understanding the game more and more. Cannot get enough of it. The fun is endless. I thank you for the dedication and passing on your knowledge. It's people like you keep pool and mainly 1p alive. Keep your videos coming. It's impossible not to learn something from them.
 
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Ratamon

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London, UK
That is how I feel about it also , but I have had people get angry with me when I said it , I like Eddie Robin by the way , I talked to him a couple of times about some of the old hustlers 15 or 20 years ago , great fun.

He is a great guy. I never met him but he kindly signed my WOP, SMS and Position Play books and took time and effort to add personal and meaningful inscriptions
 
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