This is by far my favourite pool youtube. I am playing pool to be able to recreate these stroke shots, oh boy this is the pinnacle of pool, these stroke shots, look how much side spin there is on these shots! Thank you for these footage, and Earl, please be blessed and well!
Met this legend twice. He couldn't have been friendlier and more approachable. Saw him one of those times at Sandcastle in NJ for the battle of the legends with Sigel. I walked in while he was informally warming up. He stopped what he was doing and came over to me & my kid and made a big deal over such a young kid being interested in pool. My son ate it up. True gentleman.
As a personality Earl reminds me of Humphrey Bogart. He is a real character... talented character who loves the game of pool. I agree with him on gambling.
Kidney Stone Attacks are The WORST Pain You Can Imagine....INHUMANE! Pain....Earl is 1000% Right About What These Gambling Sites are Doing to People...Absolutely DESTROYING Lives and Nobody Cares
I love that Earl just wants to play more pool and remain competitive. He still has the drive after a lifetime of playing pool. Reminds me of Bobby Fisher after he beat Boris Spassky in 1972. A late night TV host asked Fisher what was next for him, and he replied "I want to play more Chess." Amazing talents and drive.
No matter what anyone says we still love ya Earl...!!! You are definitely one of the greatest ever to play the game and everyone should be delighted to watch you play....!! Thank you very much for still being active in the game..... im alot like you on how i feel about the perfection of the game but not even a tad close to your ability....
This guy is an amazing pool player. When I was a kid ,around eight or so, something about him just sucked me in. I can remember thinking to myself "oh, this guy is using magic" and I believed it. I'm at the age now where I have far less years to go than what's behind me and if I'm being honest I still believe it.
Why would we want to support a nut job that just happens to play pool. Pool is a game not a sport. Pool draws more than it's usual nut jobs so Strickland isn't alone. I've been playing for 55 years now. I Love the game, sport, past time, the headache, whatever you want to call it. Pool just happens to the game easy to do at home. It's good exercise, it sharpens the hand eye coordination. Pool is a game and all the inconveniences that go with it. It's not a sport no matter how much pro players want it to be. It is what it is.
God made Earl to play pool. He truly is a paragon of this great sport. I wish there were more straight pool tournaments around. I think Earl would really shine. I’d also love to see him in the up and coming Ultimate Pool events. Let’s make it happen, Matchroom/Predator. Love ya, Earl. ❤
Nice one. A similar place opened for Snooker in the Phoenix area a few years ago, though I don't remember the name or if it's still there (I play pool and not snooker)...it reminded me of the Snooker clubs I'd previously seen in London and would have loved to have this for pool. The closest to this I've played in are the Senior Centers in Scottsdale, AZ (one of the guys there played regularly till he passed away at 100) and Mesa, AZ and the pool rooms in the various Sun City, AZ communities.
Certainly iconic and been around a long time, though Chris's in Chicago like he mentioned can be said to be more so, featured in the most popular pool movie in The Color Of Money, and the recently closed Steinway also in NY...but the most popular room today is probably Griff's in Vegas. Glad to have played in them all.
The gambling mentality and "sharking" did not start as a result of the great depression. He said "no money". So how does that inspire a gambling atmosphere? It doesn't. Pool was a game of kings and nobles and they were not gambling. The whole gambler mentality that started HERE, in the US, is very likely the reason we do not see billiards as an Olympic sport and water polo is. But I feel that he has no grasp on the timeline or the evolution of American Pocket Billiards into the world of losers and gamblers and hustlers. They have ALL sullied the game.
"I was born to play on a real table." Calling a 5X10 a real table and inferring that all the others and the regulations that got put into place are all not real tables. It does not get more convoluted than Earl Strickland. Brunswick made nine foot tables in the late 1800s. I covered two of them back in the eighties in Kentucky. Earl Strickland ain't no Luther Lassiter, and his wins started in the '50s.
Funny that I can shoot with a short cue, and on a regular cue I choke up farther than most. I NEVER shoot with my hand at the back of the cue, and Earl just showed us him grabbing the cue "with all that behind", so why does he need it if he never shoots with his hand positioned way back there? "Make it longer to keep my game in check..." Self imposed 'wrongness'. So, yes, I fail to understand the thing that is Earl Strickland's maniacal career.
On this table. He plays on a ten footer with 4 inch pockets. Even with 4.5 pockets straight is a much harder game than 9&8 ball. Put together multiple racks.
Marathon it's really hard game.......And Reyes shows who is the king of pool table.....Very good game from both players......They are really excellent players both
Great introduction to an amazingly bold idea and a unique "sanctuary" for people who love pool. Del’s questions were insightful and Paul’s answers underscored both his sincerity of purpose and commitment and a true spirit of sportsmanship few believed the NYC pool scene would reveal! Beautifully welcoming room and impeccable equipment, but what distinguishes it most is the quiet of all but sounds that attend serious pool playing. Congrats on elevating a game I’ve loved for half a century and the gamesmanship at its heart.
Earl is an AMAZING pool player, certainly amongst the best ever. But a stop shot with sidespin isn't really all that advanced. Unless I'm missing something.
California Billiards just got setup with new lights, digital pool monitors and DP touch screens for score keeping. Is there a document or video providing an overview of how to use the software? play without reporting to Fargo, play with reporting to Fargo, how to record your matches, how to find and watch your recorded matches, etc. etc.? Thanks!
