New Playing Cue

It has been one of my goals for this year
to upgrade from my plain-jane Predator cue
to something a little more stylin'...

After a lot of looking, there's really only
one new production cue that "spoke" to me:
the new Predator LE-11.
This cue was made in a Limited Edition (LE)
of only 175 cues, manufactured by Mezz.

Actually, only 174 cues were released.
Number 139 was defective,
and they are not going to rebuild it.
Interestingly, number 139 is the exact number I wanted!
Such is life!

So I decided to get another number...
It took a lot of calling around to find
a serial number that I could live with,
and the deal that I needed,
but with the excellent help of the
good people at Billiards Direct
(ask for Ben)
I finally got everything right.

The design reminds me a lot of a
Mobius strip.

I'm looking forward to a lot of excellent pool with it!

Bridge by Miltonio

A few weeks ago I visited Miltonio
to discuss building a custom playing cue.
We played a few games of 9-ball on his table,
and I had a chance to use a bridge he built from some scrap.
I liked the design, and suggested a couple of improvements.
And I never thought about it again until a week or so later
when he said he wanted to build a couple of bridges for me
using some nice wood he knew I would like and using
a grommet instead of a cup to hold it on the end of a cue.

So I gave him the go-ahead.
And today I get this photo e-mailed.
Classy stuff, eh?
I like the wood, and the signature.

Great gift item.
Just in time for Christmas!

Winning One Pocket: "The Book"

By a stroke of good fortune, and good timing,
I was lucky enough to get a copy of the
very rare and best book on the subject,
in outstanding second edition,
never touched by human hands
(except for the author's autograph).

This book is unavailable on Amazon.com
(Amazon didn't even have a photo of the book cover
so I uploaded a photo they are using now).
Only once in a blue moon will it appear on eBay,
but they are usually beat up used copies.
This one is mint.

And I also got the companion book:
Shots, Moves & Strategies -
as taught by the game's greatest players.

These two volumes are probably the best
pool books I have ever read.

The source?
Bob Henning's Bebob Publishing

Google Video for Pool

Google keeps expanding.


Check out the new free hosting service for video.
Now in beta testing,
this service will soon help Google rule the world.

Check out video.google.com
and search on "billiards"

There are many videos which are worthless,
but there are some that are of value.

Here's one:
Keith McCready vs. Ryan McCreesh
2004 US Open 9-ball Championship.

The Protector: New product idea

From the folks at CueCare.com:

For years we searched for an alternative to gloves and powder. Something cleaner, more convenient, and far more effective...

The PERFECTOR is an interwoven sleeve worn on the cue, that expands and contracts with the motion of the shaft. Now every player can master the Standard Closed Bridge. With the Perfector your stroke will never be smoother. Friction, moisture, powder mess and drag will immediately be eliminated. The Perfector will increase your accuracy and consistency -- instantly! For the perfect stroke every time!

The PERFECTOR will immediately elevate your game ... or they will refund your money -- Guaranteed.

Only 10.95 at CueCare.com

Gimmie a Break!

In search of a respectable 9-ball break shot,
(as opposed to my normal girly break)
I recently ordered a new break cue.
After extensive research on the AZ Billiards forum,
(check this thread)
I settled on the new X-Breaker jump/break cue,
ordered it from Beads & Billiards online.

This latest-technology cue does not use phenolic.
Instead it is some secret formula stuff,
which is supposed to be much stronger,
and with a better feel.
Check out their website.

I have been playing a little with it for the last few weeks,
but during today's 8 hour lesson with El Maestro
I really got into it.
The jury of one (El Maestro himself) is in.
I now have a "manly" break.
Anything resembling a compliment from El Maestro
is an extraordinary event.

If he says my break is manly,
you can be sure it borders on spectacular.
I kinda like it myself,
although I am a perfectionist.
I would prefer to make several balls on every break,
and leave the cue ball with an easy shot on the lowest ball,
with easy position on the next one,
and no clusters.
But, hey, that's just me.

If I were going to rate the X-Breaker cue,
I would have to say that it is excellent.
The tip is hard as nails,
seems to take chalk ok,
and is not as slippery as other phenolic tips
that I have tried in the past.

I haven't tried to jump with the cue,
because I have yet to learn that part of the game.

I would have to admit that my new super-powerful break
is not just due to the new cue.
In fact, my break has been much improved since
before I got the X-Breaker.
And that is entirely due to El Maestro's teaching.

He told me to do a highly exaggerated follow-through
and shoot down into the ball
causing it to jump ever so slightly.
This style felt very un-natural at first,
but I kept practicing it until it became routine.
It's amazing what a difference it has made.

Thanks, Tony!

"Alabama" Last Pocket 8 ball

Dan made the trip from Orange County
for his first visit to the Fun House to shoot some pool.
That's dedication, when you drive 3 hours
to shoot pool for 5 hours.

He introduced me to Last Pocket 8 ball,
where the 8 must go in the same pocket as
the last of your stripes or solids.
It adds a whole new dimension of strategy,
and he trounced me with superior knowledge
of the end-game.

For extra confusion, he added the "Alabama"
version of 8 ball, whereby the 1 ball must be
pocketed into the left side and the 15 must
be pocketed into the right side.
Or maybe it's the other way around,
but you get the idea.

This leads to all sorts of nuances of rules,
such as: if the 1 or 15 goes in any other
pocket, it is immediately spotted and you
continue to shoot.
This makes for interesting possibilities
for intentionally pocketing the 1 or 15
in some other pocket, spotting it,
and using it for position on another ball,
or breaking a cluster, etc.
The 1 and 15 are racked directly behind the 8 ball,
each positioned on the opposite side
to where they are supposed to be pocketed.

I had never heard of either of these 8-ball variations,
but Dan says he read about Alabama 8 ball in a book
called "Playing Off The Rail: A Pool Hustler's Journey"
by Dan McCumber.

We also shot some 9 ball,
and we both won some, but it was mostly a social
setting, with lots of chatter, so I think we
need to have some serious matches before we
can decide who is the Champion of the (our) World.

Good fun!

Pete Genovese: New US Amateur Champion

After qualifying for the event 4 years running,
Pete finally won the event.
Big Congratulations, Pete!

I qualified for last year's event,
which was held at Pete's pool room in Connecticut.
I saw him practicing alone,
so I screwed up some courage and
walked over and challenged him.
I was aware that he had finished 2nd
the previous year,
and I wanted to see how good
you had to be to beat a guy like that.
At the time, I had been playing
semi-seriously a little under a year.

I ran the first rack against him,
(I don't have to tell you how good that felt)
but then he pulled away with ease.
Then, he went on to finish 3rd in the event.
Read the full story. Click here.

The year before last, he finished 2nd in this event.
He is a very solid and determined shooter.

I think the trophies are butt-ugly.
The only thing I wanted out of the event
is the baseball jacket with
"US Amateur Champion"
on the back!
How cool would that be?

You Might Be a D Player If...

You GOTTA get this book!
It's hot off the press and just in time
for Christmas presents for all your pool shooting friends.
It totally funny, and even educational.
Heck, I learned that I'm not supposed to chalk with my feet.
Check it out. Get several. Only $12.95

Click this link to learn more and/or ORDER IT!

PS:
You may notice that my name is listed in the
Special Thanks section of this book.
This does not mean that I get any royalties.
I don't.
I'm just a giver...
;o)

The Wei Table

Sometime around the turn of the millenium,
a clever programmer named Wei
created a neat little tool for pool shooters
so they can easily arrange shots on a pool table,
and communicate that situation to
other people on the internet.

It has come to be a de-facto standard.

My first use of it was this year,
and I noticed that it is real slow
unless you download the program
from the New York University website,
and fiddle with installation and settings
so that it works on your computer.

So, being a programmer myself,
I spruced up a few things,
and now it is available anytime you want it
simply by clicking this link:
http://www.MichaelMcCafferty.com/PoolTable.htm

I have emailed the programmer (Wei) to request
some additional custom features.
Stay tuned...

Two Good Shots in a row

Here's a couple of sweet shots that came my way
during a game of 9 ball with The Ghost.
I broke and got a ball, then shot the 1 and 2 ball,
leaving me with the position shown on the 3 ball.
The other balls are not shown for clarity.

The shot on the 3 ball is a 90-degree cut to pocket A,
and must be made with lots of low left and a pop stroke,
and hitting the rail first.
I think it's one of the prettiest shots in pool.
El Maestro taught me that shot.

After the 3 went in, I was left in position B, with a straight-on shot on the 4 and couldn't bank it because another ball was in the way of pocket A, so I had to kick it into pocket C. But even that was not easy because the 5 ball was in the way of a normal kick, so I had to hit the rail high and give it lots of right english to spin downtable. I hit the 4 just right to put it in pocket C.

The rest of the table was relatively easy to run out.

Amazingly, I had just got a new video recorder, set it up, and I got it all on tape. If I ever learn how to edit video, I'll probably post it here.

See this shot full-size on the Wei table with:
START(
%Cr9W1%DC8M7%EG1Z8%Pm6Y4%Qs4A8
%RJ6N6%SA9B0%TA7[5%Wr8D1%Xr8U9
%YD2R0%Zs1X2%[I7O8%\C2Q3%]r6X6
%^n4Y3%_C6O6%`I5[0%aK2P0
)END

Bring On The Spectators!

I have it good.
I can feed my addiction anytime I want,
as much as I want.

I have a pool table in my living room.

On a moment's notice
I can slip into my other self.
Fast Mikie, pool shooter.

Sometimes, when I'm shooting pool,
it's like I'm in another universe,
the cue dances in my hands,
my eyes can see every angle,
and I'm having so much fun.

All the hits are clean.
Click. Plop.

I'm alone, usually,
but sometimes shooting with another player.
Quiet, except for the sounds of the surf in the distance.
And the Click, Plop.

Ah, the sweet serenity of solitude.
To be alone with the most important thoughts in the world.
Mine.
And then, almost without notice,
to have no thoughts at all.

That's where pool comes in.
It's a meditation.
This is where I find peace.
Playing with the Laws of the Universe (physics)
on a table green with cloth,
and filled with celestial spheres,
and me, the Grand Mover, poking his toys with a stick.

What mankind-benefitting thought could you have
while fritter'n your time away with such trivia as pool?

And that's just the point: to think no thought at all.
To be of no conscious mind.
To let pool be played,
and let me be the player.

This is the meditation.
The person who gets to this place is Fast Mikie.

It is not a competition.
It is an exhibition of an altered state of cosciousness,
during which a beautiful performance occurs,
moments of improptu virtuoso,
a magic wand is waved and objects disappear,
while other objects spin wondrously 'round the table,
as if by some impossible, invisible force.

There is no competitor when I am like this.
He becomes a spectator.

Bring on the spectators!

;o)


(c) copyright 2005, all rights reserved

$320,000 painting "The Hustler" up for auction

"The Hustler" by Leroy Neiman

This great painting/investment is going up for auction on December 3, but before that it is available to the first buyer who comes up with the $320,000 price. It's a big painting (4'x8') and there's no place for it in my small condo so maybe you know someone who would like this in their pool room...

"The Hustler" is a realistic adult story of a small-time, ambitious, struggling, self-destructive, pool shark, commenting on winning/success and losing, life and love, loyalty, greed, self-respect, selling out and ultimate redemption. Paul Newman is the lead role as a brash, contending pool hustler.

Neiman spent time on the set on “The Hustler” and began to work on the painting that captures the story of a young punk challenging the old master. Neiman started the painting on the set, but did not complete the work until 1963; taking the time to perfect the feeling of tension, hope and failure in that smoky pool hall.

Franklin Bowles Gallery has been Neiman’s primary dealer for 35 years and has first right of refusal on all available works. The painting is framed in an authentic 18k gold leaf frame. The art comes with a certificate of authenticity and free annual appraisals. Neiman is 84 years old and the Smithsonian is mounting the archives of his work.

I get nothing out of this. I was told about this before it goes on auction because of my interest in pool and because of a friend of mine who collects art which he buys through this one person, who just happens to work as an art consultant and assistant to the Director at the Franklin Bowles Gallery (800-926-9535) which is the gallery which specializes in Leroy Neiman works.

It's just too big (4'x5') for my small condo. I'm thinking that this is the sort of piece that Kevin Trudeau (IPT founder) would be interested in having for the pool room in one of his homes. Who else would be interested in this one-of-a-kind piece with a neat history and a great future value appreciation potential?