![]() ![]() Newmarket’s very own cheap and cheerful Doolan Brothers makes for the perfect spot to grab a pint and a game of the good stuff at any time of the day or night. And so, we’ve rounded up the best places to chalk your cue and play pool in Auckland! Doolan Brothers Newmarket There’s nothing like a good ol’ game of pool for a little friendly competition or to wind down after your stressful week at work. Well, with a few drinks in you, no one will care or remember how bad you are or how you attempted to host a jousting competition with said cues. The question now seems to be whether Easy Street and East Street Billiards will be spoken in the same sentence as Willie Mosconi and John Schmidt.Whether you consider yourself a complete pro or you have no idea which way round to hold the ‘stick’ (formally known as the cue), pool is still fun, regardless of your skill level. But on each challenge, (Schmidt’s) performances always exceed the previous challenge.” There are no guarantees, and there’s an element of risk here. On the other hand, the man who has tried to learn as much as he can about Mosconi’s record-breaking night doubts that anybody appreciates the achievement more than he does.ĭesmond, who played Mosconi as a young man and visited Springfield multiple times on his visit to Scott headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, says that regardless of the nay-sayers, “We’re going to keep going. He likens the greater difficulty to “playing from the blue tees” on a professional golf course.įor his part, Schmidt accepts that “none of the old timers” - and likely few Springfielders - would be thrilled if he manages to break Mosconi’s record. While nay-sayers say the angles of the game are tougher on an 8-foot table, Desmond argues that the longer table creates a greater challenge, as do the smaller pockets that are customary on more modern tables. Some of it involves Schmidt’s use of a 9-foot table instead of the 8-foot Brunswick Mosconi set his mark on. “As a professional pool player, John is in a perpetual state of insolvency.”Īs with all people who flirt with a hallowed record, Schmidt has detractors.Īlthough Desmond said “the support for John really overwhelms … any of the negative opinions out there,” he admits there has been “a little bit of chatter.” “It almost takes a team or a village to make it happen,” said Desmond. Another involves the help of someone like Desmond, who arranged the rental of a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium near the pool hall helps to financially support Schmidt and acts as a publicity manager, sending out messages to keep those interested in Schmidt’s quest up to date. One of them is the willingness of a pool hall to virtually close off its playing area for the 30 days he generally devotes to each phase of his challenge. Schmidt’s quest also involves logistical challenges. ![]() While “a weak pro player” can run 600 balls if the table is cleaned and all the balls in a fresh rack, Schmidt said, managing that final ball in straight pool “complicates things dramatically.” “I’m always looking for one, and I usually can identify it” early in the rack, Schmidt said.īut sometimes two or three can seem like good candidates until a ball gets nudged, which alters the special chess and “changes the whole game.” With that done, the player must sink the final ball from the last rack and then hit the freshly racked balls with enough force to open them up to continue the run.Īs an added challenge, he said, that first shot must be made from “wherever the (last) ball lays and wherever the cue ball lays.Īs a consequence, the player begins each fresh rack having not only to consider how to sink the next 14 balls, but how to manage play so that both the final ball on the table and the cue ball are in position to be made and for the break. In straight pool, the shooter must leave a ball aside from the cue on the table before the next rack is set. LOCAL NEWS: Springfield boy says a man tried to lure him into a car - he ran away instead Not as popular as it once was, Schmidt calls it “probably the most challenging, complex pool game,” adding, “it takes the highest level of execution.”įor one, there’s no safety, he said – no chance to make a shot that concedes there is no shot available.Īdded to that is the break ball, “the really difficult part” - and the one that ended Wednesday’s run. ![]() The game of straight pool has a great to do with the psychological toll. Mentally and physically it wears me out.” Some of Schmidt’s worries have to do with being 46.Īfter hours at the table, “my back hurts, my feet hurt and my knees hurt. “If I don’t accomplish this goal in the next couple of years, it might not be broken by anybody and his record may be good for 1,000 years.” 400 for the seven times he’s now eclipsed that mark, has a sense of urgency about his assault on the record.
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