Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Bogdan Wolkowski - World Pool Masters (1.)

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 That I happen to know: they played sets of races to 5 (best of 9 in a Snooker player's terminology). Of course, Efren was still at his peak back then, winning the IPT (a monster 8-Ball event that paid half a million to the winner, and in which several Snooker pros participated, male and female, inevitably to no avail).

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan still doubt it, the IPT wow once, cmon man ronnie 10 televised 147s 3 world championships and whatever else,the money is greater in snooker so why dont reyes compete or why didnt he when he was at his best? cos zero chance. ronnie only played a couple torunaments guesin for fun, look at mosconi cup years ago team was all snooker players gainst your lot and won a few times an thats not their sport why didnt they do it for snooker? cos it would be a landslide b emabarrising

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Now you're clutching to straws: have you never considered one may be a born so-and-so? Reyes, albeit a great, potentially world-class chess, poker and 3-cushion, IS a born pool player. So am I. I simply love the game. If this were all about money, there would be more lucrative things to do in life than any of these, Snooker included. Now, if you're merely being nationalistic, consider I'm neither American nor British, and couldn't care less.

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan ever heard the quote " if you wake up in the morning and think about writing, think about it all day go to bed thinking about writing then your born to be a writer" very true but doesn't mean you are a good one, O'sullivan is a massive tottenham fan and says his dream always been to play for them but he not uick enough or ahletic enough and he found he enjoyed snooker, so soory im not into the whole magical mystical fate you were born to play hardwork & endeavour = success

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 That's beside the point: the question is about someone day-dreaming about it, but is Ronnie O'Sullivan a born Snooker player, and Efren Reyes a born pool player? I would think the answer is obvious. Efren could play 3-cushion billiards on a world class level, possibly poker and chess, too, but why should he? In the same vein, why should Ronnie play pool where he would be but one of many? Having said all this, from a spectator's point of view, I'd obviously enjoy challenge matches!

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan still dont buy into that theory if lebron james had played basketball we'd be sayin he was born for football jus choices at a young age some may grasp a quicker edge than others is all. think we have disected this enough haha enjoyed it tho only way to setle it is me and you sets of 9 ball, 8 ball and snooker and my other one will be beer driknin

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 I'd enjoy all of it except the beer. ;^) Cheers!

[frodobaggypants]

What a pathetic lag by bogdan wolkowski

[Camberwell86]

4:37 to start actually watching some pool

[bIiarGGG]

RONNIE DEFEAT BY MOHD FAIZZI!!!

[bIiarGGG]

RONNIE DEFEAT BY MOHD FAIZZI

[simion11]

Wolkowski is a multiple trick-shots champion. He should stick with it cus he clearly sucks at proper pool.

[LeonFleisherFan]

Has Ronnie ever won a pool tournament, anyone know?

[pistolpeeroy]

@LeonFleisherFan COURSE HE FCUKIN HAS DICKHEAD!

[LeonFleisherFan]

@pistolpeeroy Instead of making a fool of yourself swearing like a child whose mommy forgot him in the supermarket, could you come up with an example? Even if Ronnie ever won a pool tournament, it can't have been of relevance - a search on the subject won't turn up ANY such result. It's true he was of some help once at the Mosconi Cup, but that's a team event, thus doesn't prove a thing. Now, let's hear just one relevant (i.e. professional level) example, please! Or else shut up!

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan if o'sullivan played on the pro tour played pool full time 3 5 8 straight 8ball 9ball he would dominate the sport and take it o a new level. he plays for fun on the side more when he was younger to keep his hand in when the snooker sason ws sone but now snooker has a 12 month season

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 I'm glad Ronnie O'Sullivan has such a following of adoring fans - good for him, good for you. I admire him, too. But you don't seem to understand the game of pool very well when you behave as if players like Willie Mosconi, Efren Reyes etc. could technically speaking be at all surpassed within the framework of the sport as it was back then nor is today. One literally cannot do better than run out whole matches from the get-go, i.e. not miss a shot or position for hours or whole days.

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan well the had to had played some safety shots or thats a complete fabrication, watch mosconi cup or world 8 ball thatwas just in dubai on avaergae each player missed around 3 balls in entire match, snooker top players 90% pot success and im sure if you are a cueist you know that a much more incredible feat. Ronniw wouls take it to new level cos he would win back to back to titles set records for runouts etc stuff like that

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 In contrast, running 147 points in Snooker is a matter of pocketing 36 balls in succession, which depending on the player's rhythm takes a few minutes plus minus. Running a few hundred in Straight Pool takes hours! The mental strength, physical fitness, the pattern and position play go far beyond the demands in Snooker, just as it's objectively speaking more difficult to pocket the average ball in Snooker - ultimately, the games are equally demanding in rather different ways.

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 You play APA? If so, you should know that a safety is not a miss (as in AccuStats) unless the player fails in the attempt and leaves an open shot. Obviously, a successful safety that forces the opponent to kick at the ball (cushion-/rail-first) or jump over the obstacle object ball(s) is not a miss. No stats keeping anymore in APA events? There used to be.

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 I'm a player as well as instructor, and while I agree that a 90% pot success rate in Snooker is an incredible feat, it is by no means a "more incredible feat" than the ability to run e.g. hundreds in Straight Pool - it's not even about the 100% pocketing success rate it takes there, but the pattern and position play, the transitions from one rack to the next etc. - so much more can go wrong than "missing". To believe pocketing skills are all it takes is an (over-)simplification.

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan ok straight pool is totally different i saw john schmidt record. yes the position for the break ball and the set up ok ye but why is straight pool not even as popular as 9 or 8ball? because its easier you have 15 in a rack any choice of ball cmon top snooker playershave to go in accordance with red colour but more likely red black and selcetively break out the cluster as well, basically players lie ronnie higgins hendry technique is superior to reyes bustmante strickland etc

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Firstly, Snooker, thanks to the re-spotting of the colours, offers by far the easiest pattern play (= resulting in the by far most repetitive position play) of any pocket billiards game or discipline. There is no precision-nudging of object balls in order to improve position (i.e. in order to leave those balls in certain places as break, safety valve, key, key-to-the-key etc. balls - in Snooker one bumps merely to get balls out of one's way).

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Secondly, don't underestimate e.g. Efren Reyes technique - those "feel" shots with the bigger, heavier balls (thus need for heavier, more flexible cues) he pulls off with astounding regularity are beyond anyone's reach on planet Earth - and that is just an example. Note Ronnie admires Efren (not least perhaps because he got beaten by him in Snooker money games, which may be surprising, but Efren used to have great eyesight once - in pool, Ronnie doesn't even stand a chance).

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Thirdly, Ronnie would have to start all over to learn how to break in today's more popular rotational pool disciplines (e.g. 9-Ball, worse yet 10-Ball) - there's a reason why even seasoned pool pros can hardly beat a Bustamante or Strickland (the latter is admittedly getting old now): the break! NO matter how well one pockets balls, plays position, runs out, plays safe etc., it's all a matter of who gets a chance at the table first: the superior breaker. Ronnie breaks like a girl.

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan cos the break goes against everything thats correct about the stance square up sown stay still lose relaxed the break i admit is huge part of the game but give him a few weeks at it then he'll be fine. i just hit the balls hard but i realised some fo the better players i was playin wer makin teh 8 on the break regualry and not leavin me so i asked around and figured it out now i make the 8 least once a match anf canchoose if want a good spread or clusters.

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Now this is funny: if the break were so easy to master, every top pro would have a great one. Not even Efren Reyes does. Remember I teach/coach? I get paid to help people improve, and believe me, there is no telling in advance if someone who otherwise plays great will acquire a truly great break technique. A reasonably good one, for sure, but sufficient to keep up with a Bustamante, De Luna etc. in 9-Ball, or Van Boening in 10-Ball (says took him 2-3 hours daily for 2 years!).

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 To avoid misunderstanding, I admire Ronnie for what he's worth: one of the greatest Snooker players of all time (merely whish he had a more professional attitude sometimes). He's a pleasure to watch, perhaps the most naturally gifted Snooker cueist ever. But would Roger Federer do well in badminton only because he knows how to swing a tennis racket?

As to Straight Pool, it used to be the pro game of choice. But it's not fast, easy to grasp and spectacular enough for modern tastes.

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan where are you from as time zone you would be up very early in the US liek i am whicjk would suck. anyway 2 new problems with your post, natural talent i mean hendry won the junior events only 2 years after picking up a cue most century breaks ever equals 147 etc osullivan most flair by far yes,so dont get the two mixed up. and cmon your clutching at straws now with the federer comment pool an snooker are the very same game with only weight and size of tables balls cues differ,

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 On a side note, comparison on a level of O'Sullivan versus Hendry usually go beyond raw talent (even if Ronnie is naturally ambidextrous, just like Efren Reyes) - in the end, hard work and a professional attitude weigh in much more (as well, unfortunately for us all, age and health). Seriously now, in this little discussion among O'Sullivan fans, don't you ever wonder what he could do or could have achieved thus far if he had e.g. Efren Reyes's attitude in life?

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan woods natural talent, michael jordan, pele etc all described as natural talent but woods played first round of gold at a couple of years old they all put in great work ethic i think like o;sullivan who is described as a genius he has put so much work in got so goo that his attitude slants when things dont go his way if he had hendry or reyes whoever attitude yes he'd break every record i believe. snooker & pool. have you seen when he ask if there is a prize for the 147 b4 doinit

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan more like woukld federer beat most people at short tennis or on clay and grass or hard court yes he does. only way to settle this would be if a top snooker player like ronnie went into the tour for a full year or couple or a pool plyaer reyes eg went onto the snooker pro tour, who u think would do better? would love to see a tourmanent where top 5 pool players played top 5 snooker players sets of snooker an sets of english pool then us side 8ball 9ball that be amazin to watch

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 This would indeed be most beneficial to the sport. Steve Davis and Jimmy White played challenge matches of Snooker and pool put up by Matchroom Sports against pool legend Steve Mizerak (since deceased) in St. Moritz in the 80s, each of which Mizerak won. Throw in 3-cushion carom as well! Efren Reyes, were he not suffering from various health problems, as well as losing his eyesight, would be the all-time favourite (but there have been all-around geniuses before, e.g. Walter Lindrum).

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 I've personally played a segmented money match over three days against the then #1 player on the pro tour in which said player missed a total of 3 balls in 17 hours. And I'm talking about 9-Ball, where one is forever doomed to run into layouts that are hopeless even by a Mephisto chess computer's standards at least once in a while. How could anyone take such prowess to "a new level"? In pool, Ronnie would be but one of many - better to stick with Snooker, more money in it, too.

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan im not down grading the game at all i respect it very much i am playing it albeit APA league but im a 7 and won the players tournament in my region so will compete in Vegas in August. I am a average snooker player at best thats what i'm saying. VAn MOsconi Reyes make 147's reguarly and at the pace or anything close they do not have the mentality they play balls a couple ahead ok 9 ahead maximum snoker players have much more its break building. You said the player missed 3 balls?

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Firstly, why should I make anything up - it's not as if I were bragging with my own skills or anything. It's just fact, I was there, he made chalk marks on the board for each missed ball. One on the first day, two on the third. What you say about mental strength is wrong - a Mosconi or Reyes FAR surpass a Ronnie O'Sullivan in precisely this regard. Mosconi ran 526 (he's dead - do you even know whom I'm talking about?). Ronnie playing for hours without a blunder, think about it!

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan snooker games best of 35 frames have century breaks scrappy framwes sfatey battles for somnetimwes upto an hour, zero room for error, decent club players can run a couple 100 balls, fair to say never goin to resolve this u clearly bias towards pool an im to snnoker, dont belive reyes beat ronnie in snooker , show me the video someone else said this but no proof?

[LeonFleisherFan]

@hendinho87 Gambling, so obviously there is no video (at least not to my knowledge - there seems to be someone around with a high-tech mobile phone wherever one turns these days…). Ask either Ronnie or any of the Snooker pros who participated at the IPT, they'll be able to tell you all about it. I've personally been told by pool player participants - not that they're per se biased (neither am I - I was frankly surprised).

[hendinho87]

@LeonFleisherFan i doubt it very much, he maybe one a frame but liek best of 7 or somethin no chance. i guess the onl thing to do is use your contacts and get a game arranged on espn 20,000 entry fee eqach winner takes all 3 best snnoker playes 3 best pool players

[djsubliminalreeve]

1.04 the guy says fuck it lol

[stevanmilk]

ronnie = snooker legend; in pool however, not that good. angles dont work out, makes it too hard on himself, break is shit. and to all of you who were even thinking about saying: oh yeah why dont u play against him, go fuck yourselves

[theodorehui]

@stevanmilk

he just doesnt use to

nothing's wrong with it

if u see a dog suddenly walked in 2 legs, i guess u wont judge its pace

[stitcha123]

@theodorehui thats the stupidest analogy ive ever heard. lol

[pistolpeeroy]

@stevanmilk FUCK OFF SON!!! RONNIE COULD WOOP ANY1 AT POOL!! HES THE BEST AT SNOOKER

THEREFORE SURLEY HES BEST AT AN ABRREVIATED VERSION, WITH POCKETS LIKE DUST BINS, HALF THE TABLE SIZE, WAAAAY LESS BALLS...

BET YOU NO GOOD POOL PLAYER COULD DO HALF THE STUFF RONNIES DOES ON A SNOOKER TABLE?!

[stevanmilk]

@pistolpeeroy IM WRITING IN CAPS TO EMPHASIZE MY POINT THATS INSANELY STUPID

[MOHA08]

DAMN!! Are those pockets like BIG or REALLY BIG!! Or perhaps really small balls (snookerish)!! lol :)

[Dalamar100]

@MOHA08 The pockets on an american pool table are like fish bowls. It's a wonder how people ever miss on them.

[outdoorpooltable]

ronnie osullivan loves it when i tickle his bell end with my toungue, then i give it to him hard and fast up his pooper chute.

[crazypiikkis]

Yes, but somehow he seems to suck so bad nevertheless.

[GJCIDS]

didn't know he playes Pool too, ronny o' sullivan

[kirby271194]

But he is trickmaster.Five time world champion