The definitive work on pool and billiards (National Billiard News) by champion player Robert Byrne Now updated throughout and expanded with new material on strategy in eight- and nine-ball, trick shots, and billiard memorabilia, Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards is the classic guide to cue games complete with detailed diagrams and photographs to help improve play at every level."
Here is the companion book to the landmark Byren's Standard Book of Pool and Billiads--what every pool player needs to perfect his or her game. Byrne treats the finer points of the game with the comprehensiveness and clarity that have won him a loyal readership among the many thousands of players who have taken up the game in the recent pool boom.
Fully illustrated—in color for the first time!—with drawings of nearly 350 mind-boggling trick shots, Byrne’s Treasury of Trick Shots in Pool and Billiards will teach you everything from the basic “butterfly formation” to the most difficult and impressive shots. Robert Byrne will help novice and experienced players alike perfect their trick shots and learn about the historical context of each trick. Trick shots are anything amusing, surprising, or educational that can be done on a pool or billiard table with standard accessories, and have been around as long as the game itself. Byrne demonstrates historical shots, including some invented by the famous Captain Mingaud, the world’s first professional exhibition player, and newer tricks seen while travelling to tournaments around the world. Filled with easy as well as hard, and technical as well as showy tricks, the book’s clear diagrams, paired with secret insider tips, describe simpler stunts for the beginner, those that take years of practice, and some that the author doubts you’ll ever be able to do. Whether you want to impress a crowd, a group of friends, or yourself, Byrne’s wild, stunning, and unforgettable trick shots will make you question some principles of physics and wow an audience of one or one-hundred. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Welcome to Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards, a medley of instruction and lore from the best-selling authority on billiards technique. Here, clearly explained and illustrated, are tips on improving your pool game ("Three-Shot Planning"), unusual shots, technique in three-cushion billiards ("Handling Tough Leaves", "Kilgore's Opposite 3 System"), and clarification of the games people play (five pins, snooker, box billiards). In his inimitable style, Robert Byrne also entertains with stories, sage advice ("How to Cope with Sore Losers"), and profiles of top players - plus one of an infamous poseur.
Learn tips and tactics from the very best, in this newly revised and expanded edition. * Consumer reviews say it best: pool Hall of Famer Arthur “Babe” Cranfield wrote an "easy to read and understand" pool manual that will have "beginners and skilled players alike" play better. "Excellent guide", "helpful illustrations", "recommended to all". * Give it a try and "you cannot help but play better".
From a popular senior writer for Sports Illustrated comes this high-stakes, boys-on-the-road story about the most unlikely of phenoms--a heavyset, bipolar, and endlessly charming pool hustler named Kid Delicious In most sports the pinnacle is Wheaties-box notoriety. But in the world of pool, notoriety is the last thing a hustler desires. Such is the dilemma that faces one Danny Basavich, an affable, generously proportioned Jewish kid from Jersey, who flounders through high school until he discovers the one thing he excels at--the felt--and hits the road. Running the Table spins the outrageous tale of Kid Delicious and his studly--if less talented--set-up man, Bristol Bob. Never was there a more entertaining or mismatched pair of sidekicks, as together they go underground into the flavorfully seamy world of pool to learn the art of the hustle and experience the highs and lows of life on the road. Their four-year odyssey takes them from Podunk pool halls to slick urban billiard rooms across America, as they manage one night to take down as much as $30,000, only to lose so much the next night that they lack gas money to get home. With every stop, the action gets hotter, the calls get closer, and Delicious's prowess with a cue stick becomes known more and more widely. Ultimately, Delicious sheds his cover once and for all and becomes professional pool's biggest sensation since Minnesota Fats. In a book sure to appeal to fans of Bringing Down the House and Positively Fifth Street, Wertheim evokes a subculture full of nefarious but loveable characters and illuminates America's fascination with games and gambling. He also paints a lasting portrait of an insanely talented and magnetic hustler, who is literally larger than life.
This informative and entertaining guide contains 16 heavily-illustrated chapters on how to play the shots in pool. It also contains tips on how to give a show and is filled with anecdotes, cartoons and examples. Also includes Mike Massey's 'Poolography' -- his 40 favourite short stories collected from his years of professional play.
Pool-playing legend Jeanette Lee--"the Black Widow," who wears only black during tournaments and devours her opponents--explains every aspect of playing to win, from holding the cue to performing combination, kiss, and trick shots. Lee shows wannabe winners of every level how to compete intelligently, lose gracefully, win frequently, stay focused, and achieve goals in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. This hip, engaging guide to the game is designed to turn you into the player to beat--in basements, bar leagues, local tournaments, and beyond.
The Complete Book of Snooker Shots will increase your knowledge of the shots that you can play from various positions on the table and so will - with practice - improve your game. This book will help not only players wishing to increase their knowledge, but also parents and professional coaches wishing to add structure to training sessions. Enjoy increasing your understanding of the game of snooker, and enjoy improving your knowledge. Packed with hundreds of individual shots to practice, this practical guide will be of great interest to all players wishing to increase their knowledge as well as parents and professional coaches, and is fully illustrated with 350 colour images.
In the tradition of Pulitzer Prize nominated, Positively Fifth Street, here is a riveting account of a high stakes shoot-out between pool’s two most famous personalities. It was Valentine’s Day, 1978, and Howard Cosell was hosting the long-awaited show-down between the best-ever tournament player, Willie Mosconi, and the game’s most famous hustler, Minnesota Fats. This was The Great Pool Shoot-Out, one of the most highly rated televised sporting events of the year, exceeding even World Series games and basketball championships. R.A. Dyer, author of the best-selling Hustler Days, which recounts the rise of pool during the 1960s, writes of the acrid, but mutually beneficial rivalry between Fats and Mosconi, and how the televised shoot-outs came to embody that rivalry, which was nothing less than a bitter rift within the soul of American pocket billiards. Fats and Mosconi were born the same year, but were vastly different characters: one stood for artistry, the other for show business; one brought dignity to pool, the other made it fun. They are without a doubt the two most important players ever to hold a cue. This is the ultimate tale of American sportsmanship. R.A. Dyer is a columnist for Billiards Digest, and lives in Austin, Texas.
