I agree Mike is one of the best in the world as hes won 108 professional tournaments

I can't stand watching Mike play because of all his talking, but I do have to agree he's a great commentator.

Better to hear him in the commentary box than at the table

@@theburningelement.6447 +

Dude I was going to say the same thing! Can’t stand to watch him play, but he’s an excellent analyst.

You've got plenty of company in that opinion, Eli. People have been admiring "The Rifleman's" beautiful nine-ball game for many decades (everyone except the thousands of challengers he unfailingly sent home broke).

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 Is it really true what people say about buddy in the back room he is a different animal when gambling is at stake no one was ever better even efren wasn't as good.

Richard: Buddy rarely ever lost in wagering matches. Other *pros* in that special category would include Luther Lassiter; Don Willis; Boston Shorty; Cisero Murphy; Nick Varner; Efren himself; Dennis Orcollo, etc. Joe Balsis was occasionally defeated in tournament matches, but never in gambling ones. Harold Worst (actual name) *never lost* any *gambling* or tournament match he ever played during his active career (which prematurely and sadly ended at age 37 due to an illness). Willie Mosconi didn't like to gamble, but when he was goaded into it, he never lost. Only a fool would wager against him.

+Kempf Kempfson it is like watching a peace of movie, by the way Hatch looks like Tom Cruise from Color of Money:)

a damn shame.

_I'm glad you enjoyed it, Elmedhi. Thanks for the positive feedback. You can quickly see plenty of other videos that I have of this age_ *

This is such an *_accurate, balanced and perfectly phrased, almost poetic comment_* Thanks for posting. What a great salute to a worthy, world-class champion. I'll be sure that Buddy gets to read it.

Are you JJ's brother? He is an awesome player and the most knowledgeable commentator. Big fan from India

I totally agree with both observations, Freddie. Glad you enjoyed it. *

I agree. Buddy hall was a monster in the 80s and early 90s.. they say buddy hall robbed efren gambling years ago .... everyone always says efren is the best ever which he is def one of the top 5 alltime but buddy hall and earl the pearl was just as good if not tougher .

And not least, he's got that smooth, listen-all-day Southern-inflected baritone voice (much like Grady's) whenever they commentate.

Strickland said ESPN won't touch pool anymore. Poker killed it on tv in America too, as a filler sport. But there's always Matchroom covering big events on the internet

And not least, he's got that smooth, listen-all-day Southern-inflected baritone voice (much like Grady's) whenever they commentate.

Champ: Many thousands of his lifelong fans have felt exactly that way over the decades. You greatly enjoy reading this perfect article about Buddy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Hall

I think he’s the greatest 9-ball player ever.. I personally saw Efren duck him twice.. Stakehorse was ready, Efren said no..

Very on-target observation. Thanks for the comment.

He got lucky to pocket the ball…

Mike Sigel had (and exemplified) his own witty version of Teddy Roosevelt's famous presidential policy. Sigel's guiding principle was stated as *"Speak softly, but wear a loud shirt"* . . . which he routinely did for many of his -- generally victorious -- finals matches.

Jake: I know you love the game as much as I do, so here's a reading treat for you: forums.azbilliards.com/threads/if-you-could-go-back-in-time-and-watch-just-one-player.290825/

A widely-known comment, Eric, that clearly lauds his superb position play. For any pool fans who might misinterpret its intended meaning, I'll add that Buddy's 1995 bio book by W.W. Woody conveys that *Buddy has in fact, shot thousands of near-impossible, hard shots that "took down the cheese"* every time during his road days. Invariably he was faced with them when lesser-skilled local challengers missed badly, leaving Buddy seemingly trapped. Buddy's guiding principle was: *"When the safety is harder than the shot -- go for the shot."* Most pros do likewise. And that's when we see courageous and spectacular results from Buddy, Earl, Efren, Kim, Thorsten, Corey, Jason, Darren, Oliver, and countless new worldwide champions.

ray carlton billiards I usually don’t mention this, but I spoke to Johnny Archer today about this set, and Buddy running the set on him prior to this match. Johnny says Buddy might be the all time best and could come with the hard shots too! We talked for a long time about this tourney. I’m sending this to JA. Also Johnny missed a 9 and left Buddy a super hard shot he told me. Buddy made it(perfectly) and ran out the session. Hope you have been well. Best regards

I hear frequently from dozens of the "beyond-middle-aged" top-level pros whom I've known very well for decades. Amusingly, they very commonly say *"Wow -- was I really ever that young and playing so beautifully".* They, and their now-adult children (and grandchildren) regularly enjoy viewing videos of their bygone tournament performances. I love hearing from them and reminiscing about our mutually beloved sport.

Pleasant to read anecdotes like yours, Terry. Buddy essentially did you a lasting favor by playing you -- for whatever instructional value the matches provided. He's a wonderful credit to the world of our beloved sport.

Sigel's pool knowledge is profound and smoothly delivered in layman's terms. His excellent, predictive and instantaneous tele-strating skills greatly enhance anyone's understanding of every nuance of a given situation. Buddy, the Miz, and Rempe were also notable in these respects and in those decades.

Cree: You were among the estimated 247,000 babies being born *every day* during 1991. The world's population was roughly 5.4 billion then. It's estimated to be 7.7 billion now. In all countries where pool, billiards or snooker tables are abundant, about 10% of their populations average at least a few occasions of play during the year.

Couldn't agree more, Alex. I've known the man for 40 years. Love his positional mastery and his listen-all-day Southern-inflected mellow baritone commentating voice. Much like Grady's was.

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 idk if it's rare,I have the PBT trading card set. It's awesome

Indeed, Eric -- Dennis was, and still is, an immensely talented pro player.

Dennis had control of whitey at all times.. He didn’t play his best, here, but I’ve seen him in the grease a few times, and it was impressive.. Buddy is the greatest 9-ball player who ever lived, IMO..

That's precisely why I uploaded the video, Craig. ;-)

I did, right around this tournament year. Best stroke I've ever seen in pool. Phenomenal player!

Ted: Go to Google and enter in the search box "laser stroke training aid". On the first results page that comes up you will see that AZBilliards (dot com) has 4 forum threads containing 33 posts/reviews by experienced players discussing it in depth.

As we all were many moons ago.

Tell me who he was, Josh, so I can check whether his match/matches were among the recorded ones.

Sorry, I don't, World Class9. A major storm ko-ed TV in my region the night it was nationally telecast. Johnny himself asked me recently. He'd love to re-watch, because Buddy's victory over him was due to an impossible, spectacular, rail-to-rail shot that escaped Johnny's lock-up, table-length safety. *Johnny is a major lifelong fan/friend of Buddy.* After 30 years Johnny's still totally (and appropriately) awestruck about that shot. Wish I had seen it. Let me know if you hear about any source of the match.

ray carlton billiards I’m not sure if it was this tournament now. His name is rocky kono.

Short answer, Josh, is that no one of that name was videotaped playing in this particular tournament. Thanks for the question which was indeed a very understandable one. My suggestion would be to enter the name "Rocky Kono" in your KZfaq search box. That will uncover any existing matches in which he was recorded, if they still exist or were ever uploaded to YT.

It's almost certainly the reason for many pros atypical misses on certain shots. By 1995 after a dozen years of being televised, pros were fairly accustomed to cameras directly on the shot line, but they did occasionally get "camera-bit" as you'd expect. Absent today's computer-linked & remotely controllable setups, *up close & personal* was often unavoidable, but fans viewing the original telecasts did love the immediacy and excitement of these classic tournaments -- just as we all do today when enjoying and learning from them.

Would be a foul if he had done what you mistakenly perceived -- but his moving shaft was more than foot away from the CB. Optical illusion due to the camera's line of sight.

@@raycarltonbilliards5798: Thanks, I wanted to ask: the 2003 WPA World 9 Ball Championship rules: They had the players rotating in the 5 game format, then the longer format was winner break. Why was that?

That's been extensively discussed in the leading pool forums years ago, mostly wild speculative guesses. Get the official explanation by submitting your question directly to the folks who had set the relevant rules: wpapool.com/contact/ You'll get a *thorough* reply within a few days.

He didn't touch it

Simple billiards physics -- the softer the hit, the longer the *CB-OB contact duration* during which "cling" can perform its odious magic. Buddy would have known that and made compensation; Dennis -- still quite young -- not yet so instinctively.

I haven’t seen the shot, yet, but I can pretty much guarantee you he stroked it poorly.. Probably used center or inside.. Sometimes it’s chalk or dirt at the contact point, but usually it’s poor execution, somewhere..

Actually it rolled the entire time. Spot was on the side, and if you look close you can see it rotating. You're distracted by the glare reflecting off the top of the ball, which is not the spot.

Watch the original shot not the replay. You can clearly see it rolling.

It seems like you understand that it is impossible for that to happen, so I don’t understand why you believed your eyes? It couldn’t have slid more than an inch or two at that speed. And on that particular shot I don’t believe it slid at all

Kentucky, gaining weight. Comes out and plays in some tourneys not too far from home.

I don't see how he could gain any more. The last time I saw him in Cape Girardeau MO he was so big he could barely walk. That was around 12 years ago.

It's the type of felt...it not simonis cloth.