what are your favorite (one pocket) books?

jrhendy

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I met Eddie Robin at CA Billiards in the early 80’s when he was there for a while giving lessons. He sold 3 x 5 cards for $30 with shots and descriptions on them. He was very meticulous and interesting to talk to. Being from or around Chicago, he told me he was into bank pool before three cushion. If i recall, he was not too fond of Allen Gilbert, who I knew as Lefty Gold in the early 60’s.
 

Seb Pauchon

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Vevey - Switzerland
There are unfortunately not that many books focusing on 1P.

- Both Eddie Robin's a definitely must-reads, but you really need to slowly go through them several times as they are kind of dense to just read through. So buying them is way better as for instance borrowing them, but as stated, their prices are quite steep.

- I was somewhat disappointed by Koehler's book on 1P, mostly because his Science of Pocket Billiard was such great an eye-opener for me. I was probably expecting something of the same depth and caliber and found his 1P book to be a bit light instead. It's worth reading, but I think it can be considered more of a "getting started" book.

- Tom's book is a great read, with many useful concepts. Also, it is nicely completed by his YouTube videos. And even better, Tom is available for lessons, which makes the whole Wirth package really worth it. I spend a complete week with him last November (2019) and had a blast. I can only highly recommend him to any serious 1P student.

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- If you're like me and hardly ever in contact with 1P players in the flesh, you'll have to draw your experience where you can and Accu-Stats remains a great well of knowledge. There are several channels today that cover whole events or specific matches, very well filmed and all, but the commentary isn't always useful/educational.
If you buy matches from the Accu-Stats catalogue and favor those commentated by Billy Incardona, Grady Mathews and Dany DiLiberto (especially those three in my opinion) you really get more than "oh what a great shot!", which is quite useless in terms of educational purposes. What you get are debates on what shots and options make more sense in a given position and why (even if they don't always agree), and that I have found priceless over the years.
 

NH Steve

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There are unfortunately not that many books focusing on 1P.
<snip>
If you buy matches from the Accu-Stats catalogue and favor those commentated by Billy Incardona, Grady Mathews and Dany DiLiberto (especially those three in my opinion) you really get more than "oh what a great shot!", which is quite useless in terms of educational purposes. What you get are debates on what shots and options make more sense in a given position and why (even if they don't always agree), and that I have found priceless over the years.
That's what I like about the older Accustats -- they featured wonderful arguments about shots between for example, Grady, Billy, Freddy, and many other legends of the game that are sadly gone now.

One year at DCC, back when it was at the Exec West, after the match and recording session was over, one of those arguments spilled out of the booth, and down onto the tournament floor late at night, and there was quite a heated brouhaha around the TV table. Those guys honestly disagreed about shots, and they felt strongly enough to make that clear! Personally, I think that added a A LOT to the commentary!!


 
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Ratamon

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If you buy matches from the Accu-Stats catalogue and favor those commentated by Billy Incardona, Grady Mathews and Dany DiLiberto (especially those three in my opinion) you really get more than "oh what a great shot!", which is quite useless in terms of educational purposes. What you get are debates on what shots and options make more sense in a given position and why (even if they don't always agree), and that I have found priceless over the years.

Of all the Accu-stats commentators, I always liked Freddy and Billy most. It was a special treat when they were co-commentating (2006 DCC, 1998 World One Pocket and 1996 US Open spring to mind). They always explained the "bigger picture", options available to each player and also had some great stories to boot when the match was getting a bit dull.

I also like Ken Shuman a lot - I think he's grossly underrated as a commentator.

The best commentator of the modern era to me is Jeremy Jones. He used to give me sensory overload by explaining each and every shot (even the obvious ones) but he has got a lot better recently.
 

Tom Wirth

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Hi Seb, thank you for your kind words. The experience of going to your beautiful, home town, and working
with you on your One Pocket game is not something I will ever forget. Meeting you and your lovely family
and the hospitality you all showed me has provided many pleasant stories which I still share with my friends
and family. You all taught me a lot about graciousness. I too, had a blast.

I feel WOP and SMS at the time of their writing were the best books ever written and many still feel that way.
I wouldn't disagree with them. I did however feel the two books to be a bit overwhelming and never got
around to seriously reading either of them. I did however study a number of the situations and found many
of them more of an exercise by the players trying to impress the reader and outdo the others with their
inventiveness. Still, great books, with a wealth of valuable information.

I was once asked by Eddie R. to work with him on one of his later books but as things turned out we never
worked it out. Years later I began working on my own tome, and "Controlled Aggression" was the result.
I intended my book to be the working man's version. By the look of things after five years on the market,
and roughly two thousand copies sold so far, I think I have succeeded. Yes, I'm proud. I hope you don't
hold it against me.

Tom
 

Hard Times Carla

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I love Tom Wirth's book, and now that I have my home table, I have been setting up his shots and trying them out.

But for history, the most outrageous book is Freddy Bentivegna's The Encyclopedia of Pool Hustlers. Great stories.
 

NH Steve

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New Hampshire
Of all the Accu-stats commentators, I always liked Freddy and Billy most. It was a special treat when they were co-commentating (2006 DCC, 1998 World One Pocket and 1996 US Open spring to mind). They always explained the "bigger picture", options available to each player and also had some great stories to boot when the match was getting a bit dull.

I also like Ken Shuman a lot - I think he's grossly underrated as a commentator.

The best commentator of the modern era to me is Jeremy Jones. He used to give me sensory overload by explaining each and every shot (even the obvious ones) but he has got a lot better recently.
And the thing with Jeremy that makes him good for learning, is he seems to approach his commentary with that in mind, and he freely shares the little "truisms" that he has picked up along his own journey, many from Jersey Red for example. I am particularly impressed at how freely he shares valuable tidbits, given that he is still actively competing himself.
 

jrhendy

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Placerville, CA
And the thing with Jeremy that makes him good for learning, is he seems to approach his commentary with that in mind, and he freely shares the little "truisms" that he has picked up along his own journey, many from Jersey Red for example. I am particularly impressed at how freely he shares valuable tidbits, given that he is still actively competing himself.

If you are lucky enough to be invited in the booth with them, and I have been in with Billy and Jeremy, they make you look good right along with them.
 
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