One Pocket in KC this weekend

Thursday evening starts the next One-Pocket tournament at Shooters in Olathe, KS this weekend. Should be a great tournament and turn-out. Already spotted in town in John Hennessee and the word is Buddy is coming. Talked to a few regional players and they all seem to be planning on attending.

Check az forums for more info.

Results

Results

1st-Larry Nevel
2nd-James Walden
3rd-Danny Harriman

As I posted in a thread last winter....

....Some people don't know precisely or underrate Larry Nevels one pocket game....I've played him many times and I know his one pocket game very well...and I've also closely scrutinized all of the top one pocket players games. All of that said, in my opinion the only two players in the world that I rate above Larry in one pocket are Efren and Cliff.....The other champions who might be in a bunched up tie with Larry for third best in the world would be guys like Corey, Gabe, Scott, Alex, and maybe Billy Palmer ( unfortunately I haven't had the chance to see Billy play very many times, so I don't precisely know his game )

....Another thought - and a question to throw out to you guys...If you took a few of the mega-champions like for instance Thorsten, Ralf, Marlon Manalo, or Dennis Orcullo...and they played absolutely nothing but one pocket for the next 5 years and totally learned the game - how good would they get ?........Would they get to be as good as Efren ?, better ? - or if not, then better than Cliff, better than Ronnie Allens in his prime ?, or ??? - wadda you guys think ?

One Pocket Ghost said:

If you took a few of the mega-champions like for instance Thorsten, Ralf, Marlon Manalo, or Dennis Orcullo...and they played absolutely nothing but one pocket for the next 5 years and totally learned the game - how good would they get ?........Would they get to be as good as Efren ?, better ? - or if not, then better than Cliff, better than Ronnie Allens in his prime ?, or ??? - wadda you guys think ?

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I'm not sure, Ghost. But one thing IS for sure. None of those guys would be as crazy for the game of one-pocket as YOU are! Jokes aside, it seems to me that ball pocketing talent does not necessarily make for a good one-pocket player. One thing that seems to be in common with all good and great one-holers is that they LOVE the game. They love figuring out tricky little kiss and kick shots, love the strategy, and love the accuracy it takes to play good one-pocket. Cliff, Efren, Buddy-- all of them.

So the top nine-ballers would not necessarily make top one-pocket players. Earl is a great example. No one played much better 9ball than Earl in his prime. You could see he just loved playing 9ball, running rack after rack. One pocket never appealed to him. It's not his idea of fun, therefore he'll never be a good 1P player, despite the fact that he's an excellent pool player.

Some of the guys you mentioned probably would never get interested in one-pocket. They're 9ball experts. Period. On the other hand, there's no money in tournament one-pocket...

Doc

gulfportdoc said:

One thing that seems to be in common with all good and great one-holers is that they LOVE the game.

So the top nine-ballers would not necessarily make top one-pocket players. Earl is a great example. No one played much better 9ball than Earl in his prime. You could see he just loved playing 9ball, running rack after rack. One pocket never appealed to him. It's not his idea of fun, therefore he'll never be a good 1P player, despite the fact that he's an excellent pool player.

Some of the guys you mentioned probably would never get interested in one-pocket. They're 9ball experts. Period. On the other hand, there's no money in tournament one-pocket...

Doc

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Hiya Doc, You slightly misinterpreted my 'fantasy' question.....You were supposed to assume that for serious monetary reasons ( pretend there were one pocket tournaments paying $250,000 for first place ) and/or for a new-found love of the game, these four guys were completely and totally dedicated to excelling at one pocket......Now then, how good do you think they'd play one pocket after 5 years of playing nothing else but ?

one pocket KC

one pocket KC

When is the next scheduled one pocket tournment? who made up the rest of the field in the last one ?

I Need An Asprin

I Need An Asprin

One Pocket Ghost said:

....Another thought - and a question to throw out to you guys...If you took a few of the mega-champions like for instance Thorsten, Ralf, Marlon Manalo, or Dennis Orcullo...and they played absolutely nothing but one pocket for the next 5 years and totally learned the game - how good would they get ?........Would they get to be as good as Efren ?, better ? - or if not, then better than Cliff, better than Ronnie Allens in his prime ?, or ??? - wadda you guys think ?

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I think that when I think about that, my head feels like it's on fire... and I don't think I like that.
Doug

One Pocket Ghost said:

Hiya Doc, You slightly misinterpreted my 'fantasy' question.....You were supposed to assume that for serious monetary reasons ( pretend there were one pocket tournaments paying $250,000 for first place ) and/or for a new-found love of the game, these four guys were completely and totally dedicated to excelling at one pocket......Now then, how good do you think they'd play one pocket after 5 years of playing nothing else but ?

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Well, in that case, they'd all play JAM-UP! Of those you've mentioned I suspect Souquet would excel more than the others at 1P, due to his analytical aptitude and his precision. But I think great one-hole players have to have a distinct spatial feel for the business end of the table. The capacity to move several balls around toward an objective is not something that the average good 9baller possesses.

Unfortunately, by it's very definition, one-pocket will never be popular with the public, nor even the average pool player. There is simply too much strategy involved. The very concept is completely uninteresting to the masses.

Doc

Smorgass Bored said:

I think that when I think about that, my head feels like it's on fire... and I don't think I like that.
Doug

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When I think about being responsive and responding to a response like this my head feels like a blazing inferno....and I like it........^_^

The next tournament

The next tournament

Talk was the next one will be the first weekend in february. Will post it as soon as I know.