Pool and Billiards Planet Billiards Planet 003-A

I received an email from the BCA a few days ago about the Mosconi Cup in Vegas. I pasted the email below for anyone interested in attending. Vegas is a way cool town and mixing it with some of the best pool on the planet is a nice touch.

BCA Email Below.

The Mosconi Cup Returns To Las Vegas! This December, the annual Mosconi Cup returns to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as Team USA come back to the table having hung onto to the trophy by the narrowest of margins last year in Rotterdam, Holland.

A last-gasp tied result meant that the American’s retained the Mosconi Cup as holders but they will be looking for something a little more emphatic when the two sides collide from Thursday 13 – Sunday 16th December.

Taking place at the Studio Ballroom at the fabulous MGM Grand, the Mosconi Cup will feature two five-man teams representing both America and Europe doing battle over four days in a series of singles and doubles matches.

With five players representing each team the following eight players have been selected with the final two spots to be determined shortly:

USA Europe

Johnny Archer Ralf Souquet

Rodney Morris Tony Drago

Earl Strickland Niels Feijen

Shane Van Boening Konstantin Stepanov

Tickets to the Mosconi Cup The Mosconi Cup has four sessions of play and runs from Thursday 13th through to Sunday 16th December. There will be a single session per day which starts at 11am and concludes around 4pm, leaving you free each evening to further enjoy your stay in Las Vegas.

Tickets are priced at $30 per day or $100 for a complete set.

These can be purchased directly from the MGM Grand on 1-800 929 1111 or 702 891 7777.

or from info@matchroom.com

Hotel Accommodation

The MGM Grand is one of the biggest hotels in the world and since it’s opening in 1993, has always ranked among the best in Vegas. Needless to say the rooms are of the highest standard and offer every amenity that you would expect from one of the world’s leading entertainment centres. There are 14 restaurants offering every type of cuisine as well as bars, nightclubs and of course, casinos.

Matchroom Sport has a limited number of rooms available from Sunday 9th to Sunday 16th December.

These are available for $99 per night (exclusive of any local taxes and service charges).

For hotel enquiries, please email info@matchroom.com

Larry wrote:

Ted….. I enjoyed you this issue of your newsletter. From a guy like you who is as busy as you are, you are a credit to this sport. I have the following to say about your 7 part instructional course…

“Here is a man with an extremely busy schedule who, nevertheless, because of his high interest in billiards, has put together some very informative, constructive and understandable lessons.

For those player who are beginners, and even for those who have been playing for a while, but want to improve, they represent a valuable source of information, and are a great review of some very basic concepts that we all forget. They are a MUST reading…!!!!”

I am a struggling “3” player in an in-house 8 ball league who is just over the beginner level, but who started playing my 7th decade of life….Although I am working hard to improve, pool is not as easy as it looks on TV….but I still enjoy then sport, and will continue in my efforts to improve…

LAWRENVE SCHARBACH , Darien CT…

MIKE A ESQUIBEL wrote:

Ted, Thank you so much for ther email billiards tips. I have been playing for a long time but find these tips great for any level of player. I do have a question for you, however. I am not getting good results when I apply English for draw or side action shoots. I think it’s because my table cloth is very smooth on the surface. When I bought I was told it is a Simmonis fast cloth. They even told me to install it reverse side out for better playing results. Well, I think this was a mistake because my English sucks now. What do you think about this, Ted? If it’s the cloth what do you suggest? I play 8 Ball on a 7’x3.5′ Olhausen table. One million thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give me…Mike

My reply to Mike:

Hello Mike, Simmonis 860 is my cloth of choice. It is fast and it takes english great. The cloth needs to be on the correct side. My partner who covers my tables said there is only one playing surface on Simmonis. If it’s the cloth, turn it over or replace it. It’s hard for me to say that it’s the cloth for sure. Have you tried your draw and english on another table? Perhaps a pool hall? Are you delivering your stroke with a quick straight through motion? Are you keeping your head down on the shot? You could have someone from the pool room with a great draw stroke hit a few on your table as well. Please let me know how this works out. I would love to have a PIC and testimonial with your name and location for the website as well. I will be working on some videos in the near future. I will be covering draw and side spin. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks, Ted Brush up on your Official Billiards Rules with this link.

The tip for this month comes from an article which I read in a Billiards magazine about 20 years ago. They did not even imagine a Billiards Ezine back then.

The article was by Mike Siegel and it was about playing shape (position) on the line of your next shot.

Playing across your position angle leaves much room for error. Playing the ball into or away from the position angle, rolling parallel to the angle gives a much larger margin for error.

To help you understand this, picture your cue ball rolling straight for or straight away from your desired next shot. This allows your speed to be a little hard or soft and still keep you in line with the next shot.

I will be producing a video on this exact subject in the near future and will keep you posted.

(Side Note) Many players play good shape and say what a nice leave. Where I play and I believe in most areas the leave is referred to as a safety or leaving your opponent a bad shot. When you set your self up on a shot it is referred to as shape or playing good position.

Editors Note

Thank You for subscribing to “Billiards Planet”. Please feel Free to reply to this email or use contact us on the home page. We would love to read your stories and comments. If You send a story and it fits in to one of our publications, We would like to publish it along with your Sig.

We would love to use our subscribers questions, stories and comments as a major part of this publication. Jump right in and put in your 2cents worth.

To Your Run Out Success!

Ted Mauro

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