Contents
Part 1: Jumping into Pool!1
1 My First Love Was a Game 3
I Started Playing Because of a Boy...................................................4
Pool Is Cool......................................................................................5
No Sweat!......................................................................................6
Who Plays Pool?............................................................................6
Looking at the Social Side................................................................7
It's Fun at All Levels......................................................................7
Leagues of Opportunity..................................................................8
Gathering Around the Family Table.............................................10
Billiards Is Sexy..............................................................................10
Billiards and Business.....................................................................11
2 Welcome to Pool World 15
It Started as a Lawn Game.............................................................16
The Hustlers versus The Tuxedos..................................................16
The 1900s...................................................................................17
Going to War, Then Pausing for Peace..........................................19
Everything (Pool, too) Changed in the '60s....................................20
Pool and Billiards Today................................................................21
To Paul Newman, With Love.......................................................21
It's a Game and a Sport................................................................22
Is It "Pool" or Is It "Billiards"?.....................................................23
Take It with You: Pool Is International.........................................24
Shooting for the Olympic Goal.....................................................24
Discovering the New Image of Pool..............................................25
Why I Turned Pro..........................................................................25
3 It's a Home and an Away Game 29
The Home Game............................................................................30
The Away Game.............................................................................31
Upscale Rooms.............................................................................32
Neighborhood Rooms...................................................................34
Sports Bars...................................................................................35
Club Rooms.................................................................................36
Tavern Pool.................................................................................36
A Blast from the Past: The Action Room.......................................37
How to Spot a Hustle.....................................................................38
Pro Shop Till You Drop..................................................................39
The Billiard Mail Mall....................................................................41
The New Haven: Etiquette.............................................................44
Don't Move!.................................................................................44
Don't Stall........................................................45
Chalk It Up..................................................................................45
Keep It to Yourself........................................................................46
Odds and Ends ............................................................................47
Billiard Sportsmanship ..................................................................47
My Mental Game...........................................................................49
Cueing with Confidence...............................................................49
Dealing with Distractions.............................................................51
Deadstroke...................................................................................53
Dressed to Skill...............................................................................54
Part 2: The Home Court Advantage 57
5 Buying Your First Table 59
Tracking Table Trends....................................................................60
Sizing Up Your Situation...............................................................61
Size Wise.....................................................................................62
Convertible Tables.......................................................................63
Commercial-Style Tables versus Home-Style Tables.....................63
Table Options and My Recommendations....................................63
Deep Pockets................................................................................64
Cushion the Blow.........................................................................65
It's Not Felt.................................................................................65
Bed Rock......................................................................................67
Table Prices.................................................................................68
Move It or Leave It?.......................................................................68
6 That's Your Cue! 71
The One-Piece Billiard-Club Cue...................................................72
Two-Piece Cues Aren't Just for Professionals.................................73
Picking Out Your Two-Piece Cue...................................................74
Two Matters of Comfort...............................................................74
Matters of Personal Preference......................................................75
Things That Affect the Way That a Cue Plays..............................76
My Recommendations for Your First Cue.....................................78
Special-Purpose Cues.....................................................................79
Breaking Cues..............................................................................79
Jumping Cues..............................................................................80
The Case for Cues..........................................................................81
Cue-Tip Hardness........................................................................82
Chalk It Up! ...................................................................................83
7 Having a Ball with Accessories 87
Buying Balls...................................................................................88
Spotting Quality...........................................................................88
All Cue Balls Are Not the Same....................................................89
The Fashion Ball.........................................................................90
Money Balls.................................................................................91
Must-Have Table Accessories................91
Pick Your Rack...............................................................................92
Billiard Bridges............................................................................93
Spots...........................................................................................93
Table Cover.................................................................................94
Must-Have Tableside Accessories...................................................94
Cues for Company.......................................................................95
Cue Keepers.................................................................................95
Chalk It Up..................................................................................96
Talc About Smooth......................................................................96
Tool Time for Tips.........................................................................96
8 Your Billiard Sanctuary 99
How Much Room for Your Billiard Room?.................................100
A Multiple-Table or Multiple-Game Room..................................101
Billiard Balls Are Harder Than Glass..........................................103
Home Room Seating....................................................................103
Optional Furniture and Decorations...........................................104
Keep It Clean................................................................................105
On the Level.................................................................................107
Part 3: Let's Get Physical109
9 The General Rules 111
Legal Shots...................................................................................112
Fouls.............................................................................................113
It's a Table Game......................................................................114
Behind the 8 Ball.......................................................................115
One Foot on the Floor!................................................................115
The Intentional Foul..................................................................116
Spotting a Rack of Balls................................................................117
Who's on First?............................................................................118
Rules, Rules, and More Rules.......................................................119
10 Taking a Firm Stand 123
The Approach, Coach..................................................................124
Aligning Your Body.....................................................................128
Getting Down..............................................................................130
Special Stances for Special Shots..................................................131
Standing Up to the Break............................................................131
The Mechanical-Bridge Stance....................................................132
Getting a Leg Up........................................................................133
The Jumping Stance...................................................................134
Standing Up to Combinations.....................................................134
11 Get a Grip on It 137
The Back Hand.............................................................................138
Loose as a Goose........................................................................138
Ewa's First 90-Degree Rule of Billiards.......................................139
The Human Grip for the Mechanical Bridge................................140
The Bridges of Billiard County....................................................141
The V Bridge..............................................................................142
Make a Fist................................................................................144
The Rail Bridges...........................................................................146
Spanning the Specialty Bridges....................................................148
Lifting the Bridge to Shoot over a Ball.........................................148
The Suspended Bridge.................................................................150
12 Brushing Up Your Stroke 151
The Hit and the Pendulum..........................................................153
The Preparatory Strokes: Your Test..............................................154
The Rhythm Method..................................................................155
Following Through.....................................................................757
Stay Down!...................................................................................159
Stroking: The List.........................................................................160
Part 4: Rack'Em Up!163
13 An Aim That's True 165
The Contact Point versus the Aiming Point................................166
Aiming with the Ghost Ball.........................................................168
Working the Ghost Ball Concept................................................170
Aiming at the Cushion................................................................171
Aiming to Cheat..........................................................................172
What's the Last Thing You Saw, Ma'am?....................................174
14 Watch Your Speed 175
What Do Hard and Easy Mean?...................................................176
From the Tortoise to the Hare.....................................................177
Pocket Speed..............................................................................178
Speed Transfer...........................................................................179
Slow?Curves Ahead....................................................................179
15 Hit 'Em High, Hit 'Em Low 181
Getting Centered.........................................................................182
Are You Following Me?................................................................186
Drawing a Ball..............................................................................189
Passing It On................................................................................192
Following and Drawing with Variables.......................................193
The Half Step................................................................................194
Learning Draw and Follow..........................................................195
16 English, Anyone? 197
English: The Reason for the Mystery Miss...................................198
Railing Against English................................................................200
The Gear Effect.............................................................................203
Killing the Cue Ball......................................................................206
Bring On the Spin Doctor!...........................................................207
17 The Drill Bit 213
Perfect Practice.............................................................................214
Drilling for Speed.........................................................................215
The Basic Speed Drill.................................................................215
Variations on the Basic Drill......................................................215
The Paper Speed-Control Drill....................................................215
Stroke Drills: Pop 'n' Prop............................................................216
The Soda-Pop Drill.....................................................................216
The Mirror Drill.........................................................................216
Ball-Spinning Drills......................................................................217
Drilling the Draw.......................................................................217
Following...................................................................................218
An English Drill That's Not About Grammar..............................219
Drilling for Position.....................................................................219
L Drill.......................................................................................220
Circle Drill.................................................................................221
Concentrate...Concentrate...You're Getting...Better!...................222
The Rail Drill............................................................................223
Part 5: Ewa's Super Strokes 225
18 Getting All the Breaks 227
Breakpoints.................................................................................228
Check the Rack, Jack..................................................................228
A Rail Break..............................................................................230
The Body Break..........................................................................231
A Word About Your Break Stance...............................................232
In Search of Position..................................................................233
In Search of the 1 Ball................................................................234
Hitting the Highs and Lows in 8-Ball..........................................235
Diamond Cutting: The 9-Ball Break............................................236
Breaking Open a Safe...................................................................238
Breaking Safe in Straight Pool.....................................................239
Breaking Safe in One-Pocket.......................................................239
19 Bank Deposits 241
Plane Talk.....................................................................................242
You Can Bank on It.....................................................................244
The Ghost Table........................................................................245
The First National Bank of the Parallels.....................................246
System X..................................................................................247
Feeling from a Bank...................................................................248
The Easiest Banking System.......................................................248
Multiple-Cushion Banks..............................................................249
Change at the Bank.....................................................................250
The Gear Effect and Banking......................................................250
Speed Shortens...........................................................................251
Slow! Wet Bank Ahead..............................................................251
The Long Line at the Bank.........................................................251
When to Use the Variables..........................................................252
Back-Cutting a Ball......................................................................253
20 Combos, Caroms, Kisses, Clusters, and the Two-WayShot 255
Breaking the Combination..........................................................256
Square the Error.........................................................................257
Aiming a Combination Shot.......................................................258
Throwing a Ball into a Pocket....................................................260
The Carom Corner.......................................................................261
Caroms with Draw and Follow...................................................262
A Pair of Special Caroms...........................................................263
Kiss the Balls Goodbye.................................................................264
General Clusters...........................................................................266
The Two-Way Shot......................................................................267
21 The Flying Cue Ball and Other Weird Tales 269
Get Over It, Already.....................................................................270
How to Jump.............................................................................270
When to Jump...........................................................................272
Drawing a Jump........................................................................273
Ewa's Bank Jump.......................................................................273
The Mighty Masse........................................................................274
Curves Ahead...............................................................................277
How Did We End Up Here?.........................................................277
22 Position and Safety Play 279
You Get What You Play For.........................................................280
Look At What You've Gone and Done........................................280
How to Make a Plan..................................................................282
Sew Up the Balls with a Pattern..................................................282
Get On the Right Side of the Ball................................................283
Area Position Play and Pinpoint Position Play............................285
Playing It Safe..............................................................................286
Playing the Odds........................................................................287
How to Play a Good Safety.........................................................288
Kicking Your Way Out of a Safe..................................................290
Kick Start...................................................................................291
Ewa's Favorite Kicking System....................................................293
23 Tricks of the Trade 295
Types of Tricks.............................................................................296
Setup Shots................................................................................296
Skill Shots.....296
It's a Setup!...................................................................................297
The Butterfly Shot......................................................................298
The Football Shot.......................................................................300
The Pick a Pocket Shot...............................................................307
The Coin-Wrapper Shot.............................................................303
How Did She Do That?................................................................304
The Over and Under the Bridge Shot............................................305
The Steady-Jump-Draw Shot.......................................................306
Crazy 8s........................................................................................307
Part 6: The Games People Play309
24 Playing It Straight 311
What It's All About......................................................................312
Special Rules.................................................................................314
How to Win.................................................................................316
The Winning Opening Break......................................................316
The Winning Break After the Opening Break...............................319
Special Safeties for Straight Pool.................................................327
Picking Your Break Ball..............................................................322
More Straight Strategy................................................................323
Handicapping..............................................................................325
25 Eight Is Enough 327
What It's All About......................................................................328
The Rack and the Break.............................................................328
The Rest of the Game.................................................................337
Special Rules.................................................................................332
Break Rules................................................................................332
Stripes or Solids?........................................................................334
The 8 Ball.................................................................................334
Call-Shot 8 Ball.........................................................................335
How to Win.................................................................................336
The Most Important Thing to Know About Winning
8-Ball......................................................................................336
The Second-Most-Important Thing to Know About
Winning 8-Ball.......................................................................337
Ultra-Defensive 8-Ball................................................................337
Not Shooting the Easy Shot.........................................................338
Handicapping 8-Ball....................................................................338
26 The TV Game: 9-Ball 341
What It's All About......................................................................342
The 9-Ball Rack and the Break...................................................342
The Rest of the Game.................................................................346
Special Rules.................................................................................347
Three Consecutive Fouls.............................................................347
The Pushout Rule......347
How to Win.................................................................................348
Handicapping..............................................................................349
27 Games for Threesomes, Foursomes, and
Moresomes 353
Adapting 8-Ball for Foursome or Team Play................................354
Cut-Throat...................................................................................354
Pill Pool........................................................................................355
Mr. and Mrs. Pool........................................................................356
28 A Slate of Other Popular Games 359
Snookered!...................................................................................360
What It's All About...................................................................360
Scoring Points............................................................................361
Snooker Tables and Balls...........................................................361
Variations on the Game.............................................................363
Special Rules..............................................................................363
Golf on a Snooker Table.............................................................363
One-Pocket: Billiard Chess...........................................................364
What It's All About...................................................................364
Special Rules..............................................................................365
How to Win and How to Handicap............................................366
Carom..........................................................................................366
Rotation.......................................................................................367
Bank Pool.....................................................................................369
Equal Offense and Internet Equal Offense..................................369
Same Table, More Games.............................................................370
Appendices
A Pocket Dictionary 373
B Resources
383
C Who's Who 409
D The BCA General Rules for Pocket Billiards 423
Index 431
