#2371 - Fedor Gorst

24:35Well back in the day was different back in the day everybody was breaking over 20 23 24 25 But boost to montane out the craziest break. Yeah, do you have to Russian player his name was you're Janie Stollief. No. Oh, you got to get a what's that stroke? It was he wasn't even crazy Really? Oh, yeah, that's like Roberto Gomez. Oh, yeah crazy. Same thing. He's up. Yeah, there's up way up way up Yeah, that's so hard to be accurate and do that. Oh, yeah, I don't know how they do it You have to the most insane smooth delivery and again, what a mind fuck because you're about to But you're trying to hit this one ball square on the face and you're throwing all of your might into it.

25:24So that's how Shane's breaking the same way. You know, his body moves first and then he delivers. I'd like to know how fast he breaks when he breaks like 10 ball. Because when he 10 ball breaks, it's pretty crazy. He breaks pretty hard. You know, I like to break with softer speed and with more control, but he just whacks him. So what do you think would be like a reasonable mile per hour that you would impose? Would you say anything slower than that is soft breaking? Is it like 15 miles an hour or two? I think it has to be higher maybe. Higher. 18 and they will also push the players to practice.

25:57For example, you wouldn't want to break borderline 18 because it may be under. So players will try to break hotter. 19 closer to 19, maybe hotter than 19. Well, they used to do that three point rule where they would that was very annoying. Do you think it was very annoying? Yes, it was very annoying because sometimes guys would break hard, but the referee didn't rack them that good. Right. And they made a ball and then the opponent gets to shoot. I'm like, that's crazy. That's, yeah, I mean, in that case, yes, I agree. But that's a, another simple solution that's better than what we have now. Yes.

26:32I think the radar's the way to go. Yeah, the radar is definitely the way to go. I mean it also it's kind of cool, you know when you get to yeah next just stats you have you and some guys believe like Chain even in nine ball when he does the cut break he breaks really hard. Cachi. Cachi doesn't want to break the hardest He's a big fucking dude. Oh, yeah, he breaks the hardest. I don't know how he keeps the key wall in the table to be honest With that speed and it doesn't even look like he's trying that hard, you know Yeah, dude He's just faster than you'll break an open bridge, which is even crazier.

27:00Yeah You know, people, that's one thing about pool though. If you want to get spectators, you want hard breaks. You know, like people love it from like the color of money. When Tom Cruise breaks and Paul Moonman goes, who's that kid with the sledgehammer break? It's a dumb American thing. But if you want to get like American people to tune in, you got a break hard. Yeah. This is why Earl Strickland still gets mad, you know? He gets mad at everything. I heard Mike Siegel talk about it too. He was like, wow, they just hit it straight on the one ball and hit it as hard as you can. Because it's no fun.

27:32You get zero control. That way, it's no skill, really. I just think he's doesn't, he hasn't had someone lay it out to him. Like, like the way you just did with me, we explained it to me. This is the first time that I had anybody explaining to me that particular break. I'm like, oh, and you did it, dead on. And you knew that the cloth was a little worn because it's a year old cloth. Say like, okay, because of that, I'm gonna have to hit it here and it'll go on the side. And you smashed it and it went right in the side of the line. Oh shit. It's not, it's very, it's not risking. You're not gambling.

28:06The only thing you're gambling with is that the ball's going across the table. But it seems like you guys kind of have that mostly worked out too. Well, that's the thing. Everybody on the tour is figuring out the break really fast. It doesn't really matter what you change in the format. The players will figure it out. The fun thing to me about your life is that you're traveling all over the world playing and then occasionally you have these marathon gambling sessions that they stream online and I've got a good buddy of mine Tommy From Connecticut shout out to my boy Tommy and you know he and I will be fucking texting each other You know like for three days in a row why these matches are going on and I get so juiced up for him I get so excited about him But it's like that's the part of the game that has always been the most romantic the gambling part of the game And I'm glad that people aren't showing away from that because there was a long for a long time Gambling was thought to be Negative for professional pool.

29:07That's not the case anymore. Well it could be it could be it could be sure You're bringing in shady people for sure Well, if you're gambling a hundred thousand dollars. Where'd you get it? Where'd you get it? You know Bob the drug dealer came over and You know he wants in he's taking me and I if I went I get 40 percent but in our case it's different Yeah, our matches that we make, you know, there's only a couple of them that we did. We played twice with Shane and There is also a few one -pocket matches we did, but the biggest ones were with Shane and it's only a small group of people It's basically just you know few guys my managers me and same same thing from Shane's side So everybody knows each other.

29:46Yeah for sure in your case, but in the case of like high -level gambling and pool Oh, yeah, there's a lot of shady characters a lot of shady characters. A lot. How often do you gamble just in regular life playing pool? Because does anybody ask for like giant spots or anything like that? Well everybody's asking for ridiculous games all the time, but I think my gambling days are over and now I'm a tournament player really. Well you got too good. Yeah. Like I played you when you were here like two years ago and I definitely played better now that I played two years ago but you played way better. You play even better than you would we're playing then which is crazy, but you were banking out and making shots.

30:29I was like This is so humiliating. It's so humbling. Yeah, I do play a lot better than I did two years ago, you know, which is hard to believe Because you're the best player in the world and you're getting better. That's that's One of the coolest things to me about any game or any sport anything is that and especially today because there's so much data that's available, like say if you're a young player and you're learning how to play, you can watch pool on your iPad till three o 'clock in the morning. You watch matches and you learn. You learn how to play things, you learn like, why did he do it that way?

31:04You're like, oh, then you rewind it. You go, oh, that none of that was available. It's like Mike Siegel back in the day or Nick Varner and those guys. Yeah, there's tons of videos on YouTube. There's so much, so much, so much information. Yeah, and you can also, I mean, you can also watch it on TV. I think Metramus shown all those tournaments, all of the majors on TV everywhere except US I think. Yeah, yeah, and so it's just like everything else with the new generation, the level just gets higher and higher with everything. Unless there's physical limitations and with pool it doesn't seem like it's not like, you know, running a four -minute mile or, you know, running a fast 100 meter.

31:44We're all crooked. All of our backs are crooked. Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, we're always been though. It's always one side of sport. Every one side of sport is kind of like that I think archery's like that archery golf. Yeah shooting. Yeah Yeah, you're your back must be fucked up. I know you fuck your neck was fucked up We brought you to waste to well last time you're here. Yeah. Yeah, it did help it did help for Like six to eight months. I think and then now it's fucking again No, now I actually found the way you know have my pre pre -match routine I stretch every single day. I do work a lot with like rubber bands, resistant bands.

32:17What do you do with them? Basically, you know work on my upper back. Oh So certain workouts certain workouts that will take some pressure off my neck because my neck is where I really feel it like my upper back shoulder blades Probably have a heavy head. That's what it is. Yeah, maybe but I did all the MRIs and I Did have like a bulging disc. See 4c5. Yeah That started to progress and was getting worse. I went to Russia for that. I think I was reaching out to you at the time. And I found a guy that helped me a lot with routines that we built and since then, not going to work, everything was good.

32:56Oh nice. Did you ever get one of those things that I was talking about? Those decompression things, or you put your head in a harness and you pull on the door and you set it on your door and you get hanged by it a little bit? Those are nice. Yeah, and also how do you call that? Inversion to your body. Yeah, inversion to your body as well. Those are great too. Everybody should be doing that. Everybody should be decompressing. Because you get to a certain age and everybody's back is just like you're carrying all this weight, your whole life and your back just gets smushed and your posture starts to suck and then you start to get these weird pains and decompression.

33:34And if you could do it and just be real vigilant with it, you can stop a lot of problems dead in their tracks. But sure, and I felt that, you know, I haven't really paid attention to like stretching as much as I did before this year. And I can, you know, I can play a lot longer, even though I'm not younger, you know, I was practicing. You're a little baby, shut up. I know, but I was, I was, for example, 16, 18, I was practicing a lot more, a lot more than I did now. Yeah. And I never really had any issues. than 2022. I'm practicing the same, but I always leave the pool hall with some type of pain, and I don't want to go practice the next day because of that.

34:11Right. Do you, the problem is, it's hard to get access to a cold plunge when you're on the road. Yeah, it's really difficult. I do have the cold plunge at home, sound on, all the good stuff. Cold plunge is the thing, man. It just alleviates so much inflammation, especially if you can do it first thing in the morning. If you get forced yourself to do it first thing in the morning, it is the way to go, man. It sucks every day. But if you just do it, you get out of there. You just like, just feel loose and free. And as long as you don't do it within like two hours, if you're playing, you have to wait like probably two hours for your body to like fully warm back up again.

34:51Because if you are cold, it will kind of mess with your. Right. With a muscle.

34:58It's thing ever for pool is lifting weights. There's nothing worse. I found myself. It's terrible. For sure. You know, you know, Willie Hoppe, the old school billiard player, never heard of him? Willie Hoppe, you know, never heard of him. You know what a Hoppe Q is? Hoppe Q, no. No, okay. A Hoppe butt is like a type of butt that doesn't have rubber bumper on the bottom of it. It's just flat. And for whatever reason, Willie Hoppe used to prefer that kind. I think it's named after him for some reason. Anyway, He was a famous billiards player like the turn of the century and the turn of the other one like the early 1900s And he wouldn't even drive a car He refused to do anything with his arms.

35:39He wouldn't drive a car because it would mess up his pool game Yeah, I mean sound some players are super superstitious about the stuff, you know cars back then though Didn't have power steering so you have to think it's probably really difficult to steer them see if you can find a photo of Willie Hoppy Yeah, the weirdest side arm to keep a totally side arm. Keith McCready. Exactly. It's like these guys start playing when they're five years old and they can't really reach the table correctly. That's exactly the reason why, for example, when I started, I played Russian pyramid in the beginning and I was always side arm because, you know, I wasn't tall enough.

36:14They sent me to the pool table. Yeah, look at him. Isn't that crazy side arm? That's nuts. Just like Muhammad Soofi. Yeah, that's him when he was an old man. Yeah, just like Sufi. Weird, right? Yeah, it's crazy that... Like, if you ever saw someone play like that, you'd be like, look, at this lemon. Yeah, you wouldn't wanna play that guy if you wanted to. Yeah. Over the ball. But meanwhile, as long as you figured out how to do it consistently. Well, that's the thing in pool, you know, there's so many different variations of the stands, stroke, that you can overcome everything. if you practice just, you know, hundreds of hours.

36:52So it wouldn't really matter. You know, you can play by the book, but in the end, it all up matters is how much time do you spend at the table? The rivalries, the marching bands, the upsets, Saturdays just got way more fun. College football is back. Think you know the game? Put your college football knowledge to the test with Draft King Sportsbook and turn your picks into big payouts from live betting during the game to rivalry week odds boost and so much more draft King sportsbook has everything you need to stay in the action from kickoff to final whistle. Whether you're betting on your go -to team or making moves mid game as the momentum shifts, Saturdays are yours to own with draft King sports book.

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38:19Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. Four additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng .co slash audio. It's like Shane. Yeah, exactly. When Shane, he's arguably the greatest of all time. One of it's in the conversation with the greatest of all time. Five time US open player hits the ball in a way that everybody tells you don't ever do it that way. Yeah, exactly. He stops at the cue ball. Instead of following through, letting the cue ball slide through, he stops at the cue ball. He's very unique. Same as Filipinos. Filipino players, they have the unique style of play. They're super fluent.

38:52They're like dancing around the table. But nobody plays like that. Nobody else plays like that. Yeah, it's interesting. It's, again, as long as it's repeatable. Yeah. It's like, there's a lot of things like that. If it's repeatable, if you can do it over and over over again. It does, there are no rules. No, I mean, they are written in the book. But how could you say that like, she and Van Boenning is doing it wrong? Exactly. It's been made, he says. Exactly. He doesn't. I mean, he's probably one more tournament than anybody ever. Right? Who's one of the most tournaments of all time? I mean, that's a good question.

39:25We were just talking about it this morning. I think Shane is definitely one of the... I'd be Shane. He might be Shane. Shane might be the greatest of all time right now. Yeah. I mean, that's what Jeremy Jones has the grace of all time. Yeah. That's his pick. It's uh, what's crazy with him too is the the deaf aspect that he shuts his hearing aids off when he plays. That must be amazing. That should be illegal by the way. I mean, it should be really. I mean, that's listen, man. Life gives you lemons. Yeah, I know. I know. Dude was born deaf that's fucked up. It is it is, but it's that's the advantage you get so you can shut them bitches off I mean yeah, I guess come on man.

40:09You get checked. Let's see if he has it on like shame shame I mean do you think we're not checking we are checking are you checking? Of course these hate this guy has it off all the time How do you know when he has it off? Well because just before his match he goes to his phone and puts it all the way down Oh So his phone it's Bluetooth. He can hear it is blue. Oh, yeah, you can control by his phone. Oh That seems dirty Because you're not allowed to wear like noise cancelling ear buds. No, you're not air or all always once that but yeah They're not allowing him Yeah, I remember when Earl used to wear like gun -site glasses He used to wear glasses like kind of wear at the range.

40:49Yeah, and then he he was wearing headphones for a while They told him not to like a pilot. Yeah, like complete noise canceling headphones once look like they weigh five pounds. Yeah And then he had he's got weights that he wears around his waist sometimes He puts definitely a character. He puts weights on his elbow He puts tape around his fingertips and then he makes his cue as fat as my forearm with like whatever kind of tape He's using on it. Yeah, he runs five miles every day doesn't hundreds of squats. Oh, yeah Yeah, he's fit. Wow. Well, I mean, he doesn't look very fit, but he works out every day or does something.

41:30Is he the oldest guy that's still super competitive? Like how old's Ralph's UK? Ralph's UK is still pretty competitive. No, Earl is older than. Is he? Yeah. Right. So I think Ralph's UK is actually like my age. Yeah. And Earl is like in the 60s. So he's probably the oldest guy that's like playing competitively and winning. Yeah. For sure. Yeah, it's a fucking game for young people son. You gotta have them young eyes cut that ball in for sure The eyes is everything. Yeah How many guys do you know that got LASIK surgery? A few a few a lot of players were to contact when they play But LASIK LASIK has been the game changer for them for sure Now are these young players that are coming up are these guys embracing like a healthier lifestyle?

42:19because one of the things about pool is like it's always been connected at least when I was young it was always connected to especially the gambling connected to a lot of partying a lot of amphetamines cocaine and then you know just well it's just changing it used to be just a game played at the bar now it's a sport you know I think now in the US everybody's taking the European approach or methodical, more disciplined and they treat it as a sport. Right. Especially the younger generation. You know, they see who is more successful on the tour. And if you look at top 10 right now, every one of us, we try our best at everything.

43:04You know, when it comes to food, pre -match routines, how we practice, how we treat, pull as a sport. So I think, yes, definitely, it's changing. And that's why the pull is in a different place where it was. Well, it's only because of the promotions and they deserve everything. And then, of course, the players, but without the promotions, like putting these events on and making them a big deal. They wouldn't get all over YouTube, we wouldn't get all over these social media sites. But what pool really needs is something like they had the hustler in the 1960s, made pool explode, and then they had the color of money in the 1980s, made pool explode.

43:42They need something like that, like some things. Two days ago, trailer on Netflix, you haven't seen it? No. But it is. Netflix made a documentary about 80 and Barry Herne. I think it's about their family and their business. Yeah. I think two or three episodes are about pool. Oh, well, that's good. That'll help. Yeah, that's really good. That'll help. Most of it is about box. I think boxing darts and how they started the company. But pool is a big part of the pool. Oh, they do darts too. Darts snicker, fishing, I think. and fishing. Yeah, really? Yeah. Like fishing tournaments? Like that kind of shit?

44:19Fishermania, I think that's what's called. Fishermania? It's like bass tournaments or something like that? I have no idea how it works. I know Shane's a big fisherman, right? Oh yeah. He goes fishing. I see Shane's his thing. Yeah, that's South Dakota mentality. That's the most boring thing I think you can do. It's not that bad. I saw the day long. It's actually kind of fun. For easier or I saw. I did it a couple years ago. I caught a trout. I was pretty jazzed up. Yeah, if you catch something then yeah for sure. It's pretty cool. You know, like you're standing on ice, so you're kind of freaked out.

44:51They're standing on ice and then you use a drill to drill through the ice. Then you know exactly how much is separating you from drowning. So you only need a few inches, but when I was doing it, it was about seven, eight inches of ice. So what do you do? Like you put a tent around you? Yeah, most of the times that's what guys do put some kind of a tent around them and then they get a like a drill They go right into the ground right through the ice rather and then you have like a little net Where you scoop out new ice that forms and you just drop your line right down there in the hole That sounds real fun.

45:28It's exciting. It's exciting when you catch one. Yeah, I did I did fish a couple times in my life, but but nothing really. The problem when you can play really good pool is really good pools about as fun as anything. Like really good, which is, I've always said that pool is like an art form that only the people that practice it can appreciate. When you watch someone who plays really good, you're like, wow, that's beautiful. Like that's beautiful. But to an average person, like, oh, you just made a bunch of easy shots. Exactly, exactly. You can't really see the beauty of fundamental. Exactly. Yeah.

46:03Yeah, positional play, you know, at least with if you're explaining jujitsu to someone, at least people kind of get it. Oh, he's going to break his arm. Like, oh, he's, he's choking him. Oh, he's got his neck. But when you, when you watch someone play pool and you don't understand how difficult that three rail position was to get perfect on the four ball, you're like, you watch, oh my god, that was a man. When they say, you know, he's in jail, it's hooked. You just had doesn't have a shot, you know, just people regular people that are probably done. They don't get it. And they never will. It's just like you're going to have to play it to understand how hard it is with that person did.

46:42Yeah. The casual person doesn't understand unfortunately. So what we need is more people playing. If more people play, then more people would watch people playing. I think more people start playing. I think I think the game grew up quite a bunch the last couple of years. Well, I know that the top golf people are gonna do something like that for pool That might be the thing. You know those top golf guys. Do you know what top golf is? Yeah, so top golf You know where they have this thing where you just whack the balls out into the well They're gonna set something like that up for pool where they have You know some sort of a business where you go and play pool and it's more attractive to young people I don't know exactly what their model is because it's still going to be pool.

47:28I don't think there is going to be a bunch of people just breaking the balls. Because that's what they're doing when they're doing top golf, they're just driving the ball, right? I don't know exactly what their idea is, but the same guys, they realize a lot of people play pool, a lot of people play pool in bars, and if we had a really attractive place for people to play, and it's probably correct, it's probably an untapped business. Because people are always looking for something fun to do on date nights. Yeah, so what they do in China for example, or somewhere I see nothing in Asia They put like a projector above the table and it gives you like all kinds of different games and interactions while you're playing Was it saying the venue which is being backed by investors include the US -based venture capital firm sharp alpha advisors and the daily mail investment arm DMG Ventures uses pool tables, balls, and cues from the traditional game, but adds tracking technology and video projections to add bonus targets and obstacles in an attempt to appeal to larger groups.

48:25Bonus targets and obstacles. Huh. Alongside its own venues and those operated by franchise partners, it's called Poolhouse. Poolhouse plans to sell its equipment to pubs, bars, and other venues that want to update their existing pool tables. Hmm. Hopefully they can create a speed gun too. Yeah, so it says Steve. I don't know how to say his name. Jelief Jeliefy. Jeliefy said More people play at top golf than our traditional golf courses in the US and we aim to make an even greater impact on the world of pool We have a strong track record this project has been our most challenging endeavor yet. Hmm That's exciting.

49:03Maybe that'll do. I never even heard of it Well, if you get a bunch of guys that are already really successful at doing that with The thing about golf though is like whacking a golf ball is really fun. Yeah. You know, it's, and then if you have like a big open pit where you can just whack a golf ball, you got like a hundred yards, you can see how far people can whack a golf ball, and then you got a net at the end of it. Yeah, especially if you get it straight. Yeah. That's the most exciting thing. A lot of people are going to do that. Pool is like, you don't know how to make a bridge, you're holding your hand funny and it's like moving weird, your arm and I wonder how many people are going to get frustrated.

49:38I wonder if it's the same. Actually, it's probably yeah because I suck at driving a golf ball. You know, I don't know. I'm not good. I've done it. I've played top golf a couple of times. I've gone to a driving range once. It was fun. I'm not good at it. Yes, I'm in the way. But like fucking Jamie over here that dudes out in the garage every day. Wack and balls every time I come here. He's out there whacking balls. Yeah. And so you realize like there really is like There's a lot of technique just to the drive. It's very similar, probably to a break shot in that regard. Yeah, for sure. Same, absolutely the same.

50:18I wonder if they can make something like that really marketable for pool. That might be it. It has to be some time of interaction, because I think it would be boring to just, you know, wag balls, pull balls. The other thing that might make pool really big is big money like if the Saudis get involved and they get crazy And they start saying okay, this this turn rents for three million dollars Well, we have we have now the world championships is the biggest turn it we have on doors in Saudi right? What's the what's the first place? 250 ,000 pretty good 25 million would be better. Yeah, for sure.

50:55Imagine that for sure So those guys have so much money they get spent 25 million bucks and it'd be like nothing They probably spent more than that on production I don't know. I don't know. They spend more on that. They throw so much money around in boxing. It's kind of bananas. Boxing for sure. For sure. And that's where matrim is really helping, because they have those deals for multi sports. They make a deal for boxing and they'll wolf snooker and pull. Right. So they have the snooker, tournament and Saudi. They have the boxing event going on in the pool. Yeah, you gotta give that oil money involved, son.

51:28Yeah, those dudes throw some money around. Because it's like when people talk about the richest people in the world they're like, hmm, really? Because their money isn't public. Like they don't have to disclose how much money they make. Yeah. They're kings. Okay? Like they probably laugh like, oh, silly Elon. Things he's number one. You know? Yeah. Was Paltry $400 billion, you know? He's basically a pauper. Yeah. to those people. So, like, they've thrown an insane amount of money into boxing. I think it hasn't been confirmed, so I need to know whether this is true or not. But I think Usook made more than $100 million in his last defense against Daniel Dubois.

52:15And I think Dubois made in the 70s. He made somewhere around 70. I think they said Usook made like 130 something, which is crazy. $130 million for a fight. That's crazy. Bananas. What do you think if Poole goes that route? Just one on one matches? Whew. This episode is brought to you by Zippercrooter. There is such a thing as having too many options to choose from. Like when you're scrolling on the TV, trying to find something to watch, or have you been to one of those ice cream shops where they have hundreds of different toppings to choose from. It's overwhelming. The same thing can happen when you're hiring and you get inundated with applications.

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53:32See why four out of five employers who post on Zipper Cruder get a quality candidate within the first day. Just go to this exclusive web address, zippercruiter .com slash rogan. Again, right now, try it for free. Again, that zippercruiter .com slash rogan. Zipper Cruder the smartest way to hire that would be exciting if it's for big big big big big big money like that I mean if you ever saw pool mat you imagine shooting a nine ball hill hill for a hundred million Not can't could you imagine I was shooting the novel for 250 ,000 Yeah, that's right Yeah, well that was straight in yeah, that was crazy.

54:15What was that like? I mean, it was a crazy match against Kaji with World Championship Finals. He was in the heel first. He was heel heel. He scratches. I get ball in hand, shaking like a leaf. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, incredible. I mean, that's the biggest turn we've ever had. Right. Biggest turn I've ever had in my career. You know, we only have so many tournaments that pay those kind of money. And it's really difficult not to think about it when you're playing. Yeah. Yeah, and yeah, that's definitely the highlight of my career, you know, making that tough eight ball. I mean, it wasn't tough, but the positional positional play was tough because I had to go up and down with the key ball And I landed right where I wanted to be so I was straight in the nine ball.

54:59No pressure at all That's a good one for people to watch it. They're like, what is this all about? Watch that one. Watch that one and know that they're playing for $250 ,000. Yeah, I mean second place paid 800 so it was a hundred and fifty thousand difference. That's a lot. It is a lot for one right. That's cool. And for one nine ball. Yeah. That's the beautiful thing about nine ball. You could run everything and then chunk that nine. Yeah, game over. It's a it's such a mental game. It's a game of millimeters really, you know single roll this way that way and you're hooked. Yeah. Or you're in the right side of the ball, wrong side of the ball.

55:39I was listening to John Schmidt do commentary once and he was saying how crazy it is. If you really think about it, every other sport that involves a ball, it's like something is hitting the ball. It's like you have a bat hitting the ball or it's like no other sport has a ball hitting a ball. And then trying to be like really accurate over distance. And then making that ball move around and get perfect for the next ball. Like even golf, you're hitting a ball. It's very difficult, but you're hitting a ball. You're not hitting a ball with a ball. It's a whole nother element. So you think full of the most difficult sports in that regard?

56:18It might be snooker. Excuse me, snooker. Snooker is boring. Oh, I don't think it's boring. I think when you get a guy who's really good, who plays, you know. I think it's really difficult But when it comes to like how difficult it is to execute the shot because the balls are smaller, the cues are thinner, the pockets are thinner, the table is bigger too. Have you watched Ronnie Sullivan play? You can't think that that's boring. Of course, you have players like Roni. You can never say that it's boring. But I think the game itself, it's just too much safety, it's nothing shots here and there. Yeah, yeah, but it's because it's so hard and because it's so big it's a 12 foot fucking table which is crazy and the pockets are tiny and the balls are tiny.

57:07It's a really hard game. But when you got watching I like Ronnie and he doesn't miss like 30 40 shots in a row. You're like this is crazy. What's really crazy about snooker is there's only you know four or five countries that really play that game. But it's a lot bigger than pull. really. Paul is a lot more international. If you look at the majors that Mattrium have, look at the last 64 or the last 32, you will have 20 different countries represented. So that's interesting that Snooker is bigger. How much do they make? I know they were making gigantic money in the UK. Is that still happening or is it died down a little?

57:45Well, most of the majority of tournaments are in the UK, I think. There's a lot of them happening now in China as well. But I think really Scotland, Ireland, Wales, UK, China, that's about it in a few European players. And they make, I would say, you know, the top top guys, they make over two, three million a year. Do you remember the scandal? There was a scandal with one of the players a few years back where they got him on hidden camera saying that he'd be willing to dump a match? Oh yeah, there was a lot of Chinese guys that got banned for it too. Oh really? For a dump in a match. That's the problem with gambling.

58:23Yeah. Right. When gambling gets involved and you realize like if you get your friends to bet on the other guy. That's the problem with I guess getting the bookies to be involved in tournaments as well because when the prize money are not big you will have players thinking you know winning the tournament is nice but I don't I don't have to win that. I can just lose my round one, go through the lower side and take a free shot at those $100 ,000 real fast.

58:54Yeah, that's unfortunate. But is that part of the thing of not having the kind of money that golf has? Because I doubt that people that play golf are dumping on purpose. Because there's so much money on the line. Yeah, they don't have to. Yeah, they don't have to. But when you, the difference between like winning and losing is so huge and then you can gamble on it and then you have friends and you tell your friends like listen bet on him and I'm gonna make sure I lose. I think it's too easy to make money that way. Yeah but also I'm pretty sure they're always investigating every big bet is investigated I'm pretty sure.

59:34I'm sure but you don't have to do big bets. No you don't have to. And you can have some of the options. Offshore accounts. Yeah, it could be. You've got to be doing a mind, you use a VPN, I'm gambling from Vietnam, you know? Yeah, yeah, you can find a way, I'm sure. But yeah, I mean, it's the problem. Yeah. Shady businesses, man. Yeah. But that's also kind of the fun part of pool too, so these places are kind of shady. Like they're like the outcasts of society. You know, if you go and you watch like the finals of the floor to open and you look in the crowd. There's a lot of outcasts in there. A lot of Android phones.

1:00:15A lot of old ones. Yeah, there's a lot of outcasts. There's a lot of people that have spent a giant chunk of their life in pool rooms. And the thing about pool is, if you really get into it, you're playing it eight hours a day. Yeah, you have to. Yeah. If you only get good at it, you have to. It's the only way. Yeah. And it makes a giant difference. And a lot of people fall in love with a game really fast. And if you do, then you don't want to quit it. Yeah. And you just hit balls for hours and hours and hours. I was playing my friend Jake the other day and I said, to get really good at pool, you kind of have to be a piece of shit.

1:00:51Because this is why this is why you don't have to. I mean, obviously you're not and you know, and you're lucky that your wife plays pool, which is huge as well. Oh, yeah. Because if she didn't, like, you know where to find me because I'm gonna be playing. Sorry, like you're gonna ignore most of your responsibilities. But it's also tough. It's really tough. Oh yeah. Personal life, especially with the schedule that we have now, like first half of the year was okay, but now it's just back to back, like even after this tournament, I have Texas Open starting on Wednesday from that and go to China, then I go to Vietnam for three weeks.

1:01:28From there, I go to Philippines for two weeks. In just the people in the Philippines gonna be mad at you still when you get there. Oh, for sure. Reyes Cup, that's gonna be another one. Oh no. Reyes Cup is now the rest of the world against Team Asia. That's happening in Manila. So they already... All the comments, if you see, like, yeah, wait until you come to Manila, we're gonna welcome you with open arms. Oh no. Yeah. I'm gonna get it, but that's gonna be fun, I'm sure.

1:01:56Yeah, hopefully it doesn't, someone doesn't get crazy. But yeah, that schedule's nuts. Yeah, so it's really tough to balance, you know, pull personal life, family. Family is almost impossible. If you have kids, you have to take them to softball games and stuff like that's why I said, you want to be really good at pool? You have to be a piece of shit. Well, hopefully I don't have to. You know, I mean, listen, obviously there's examples of people that keep it together that are really good, that still have a family. But, you know, spend time with their family, It's been time with the kids, but you're gonna have to manage your time because you're gonna have to you have to get those hours in if you're not playing like Legitimately realistically if you want to be a top flight world class player What is the minimum amount of hours you think you have to play every day?

1:02:46I think somebody said that you have to spend 10 ,000 hours to get good at anything But I think in bullet probably is more Yeah, I think it's probably a little more because it's It's really complex. Yeah, because if you're talking about top professional player, it's not just practicing, you know, you will have to start traveling and playing tournaments, you will have to start playing and sparing with somebody. Sparring. Sparring, yeah. And then you have to gain experience from those tournaments. It's going to take a lot of time. Yeah, but I guess it's like anything that's worth doing, you know, if you want to get good.

1:03:31That's one of the reasons why it's so fun is because you know how hard it is to do. Yeah. If it was easy to master, I think people would probably pick it up and then they'd eventually quit. But the thing about pool is take a week off and then play again in your arms like, what do we do here? Like, it seems all screwy. doesn't want to listen for like first hour or so and then you finally get back in the groove again. It's because it's so difficult that makes it so attractive. That's why people get stuck playing it eight, ten hours a day. If it was easier to play, you wouldn't play it as much. Right.

1:04:05Right. And I mean that for me, the big thing is I just always have to do something. I have to always hit balls because there are so many good players now, so many good players. And if I just stop for a moment or if I focus on something else for I don't know short period of time even they'll just catch me and that nuts it is it's driving me crazy but I just can't stop how does it drive you crazy do you wake up in the morning and feel like people nipping at your hails well like for example now I know that yeah for example I'll just yeah he won the UK open Florida to open and the US open on the US open you won the three out of the last four big tournaments we've had which is crazy yeah which is it's really really tough to be dominant in our sport almost impossible but he's just he's just proving that it is possible and he was on the losing end of the match that I think I've probably watched the most over the last year and And if you Google it, you can find it on YouTube, just Google 9 Ball Perfection.

1:05:11And it's Coping Chung, who's one of my favorite players outside of you, of course, to watch. That guy is so smooth. There's something about those guys from Taiwan. I don't know what their methodology is in their training, but they have this smooth, kind of effortless stroke has like hypnotizing to watch and that dude never missed a single ball in an 11 match defeat he beat him by 11 to nothing never missed a ball pocketed every shot he aimed at and never gave him a shot other than the opening shot he had one shot at the beginning of the match a long -ass two -ball. He didn't make it and then he was fucked.

1:05:58Yeah. I was crazy. And that's, yeah, that's the guy who just won the last three tournaments, which is so nuts about this sport is that if the guy's winning and it's winner break, you might not ever play. For sure. You never know. Like, look at today you and me. There's like five or six games where I'm just like standing there and just waiting for you to miss. You're not missing. And so I don't play. You know I'm missing and I don't plot you know like but add a world -class level when you're doing that in the US Open and it's on TV and people are cheering every time you pocket a nine ball. That's bananas.

1:06:30Yeah, that's that's Rarely happens. Yeah, it was it was a very very special moment I think because the video went viral everywhere that dude got in the zone and if you can appreciate the zone You got to watch that video even if you only played pool casually Yeah, shut the other guy messed. Yeah, this is it. This is Yap. And he, boy, he chunked it too. Yeah, he did. He fucked it up. But when you watch this guy, this guy Coping Chung who weighs 100 pounds. This is another lazy opening shot either. No, it's got three ball combinations. Real first. It's crazy. But then from this out, he just never misses.

1:07:09And you watch this guy, like, watch how funky and smooth this character is. And again, the dude weighs 100 pounds soaking wet. Yeah. The queue is half his body weight. And he just kind of like gently hits everything just so smooth and effortless. I remember this match because I was waiting for for this match in the finals. Uh, I was watching it in the, uh, in a steakhouse. And uh, he was, it was pretty painful for me to watch it. Was it? Well, I mean, you don't you don't want to have somebody just not make a single mistake and Play you in the finals, you know, it's just hurting your confidence a little bit And the reality is you think well this guy's gonna win everything from here on out But no, no that's what's so crazy about the sport as good as this guy is and is competitive Is he look how he hit that with follow?

1:08:01Yeah, that's great to get out for the two in the corner. That's Masterful shit. That was really dangerous to play that shot. I have no idea why would you even play it well he's got ice water in his veins man i'm telling you that we were talking about this before but there's a match from two thousand eighteen where he plays shame van boning at the derby and it's shanes on the hill it's ten to ten to six and you think oh shanes gonna win this and he runs five games and out on them and they're crazy out like he starts with this but nana's cut shot on the four ball to get three rail position and you're like, what is he doing here?

1:08:38Like the commentators don't even know what he's doing. Is he ducking? Yeah. And they fires it in. You're like, no way. Like that was not that was John Schmidt was doing commentary for him. I'm a big fan of co -brothers. You know, they're genuine good people and they're putting a lot of work and it's just amazing to watch them play as well. They play so good. They play so good. And it's also interesting to me that these guys still play with those solid wood shafts. Like we were talking about that earlier. So like, new technology has gotten into the game and a lot of players like yourself play with carbon fiber.

1:09:11But it's interesting that a lot of these guys from Taiwan in particular, they still go with those wooden shafts. Yeah, well, I don't know. I know that the industry went to carbon fibers maybe four or five years ago. And maybe some companies were kind of like pushing the players, You know you kind of have to make a switch But I don't I don't think that's the case now because now For example, I find that maybe Advent Agers to play with the wooden chef when you're playing in like a sticky sticky pool room in Asia Where the humidity level is super high? Just because I don't know you can move the cubal around easier or at least I found it easier easier interesting Why easier?

1:10:01Because I've heard the opposite. I've heard it's carbon moves the ball easier. Not in a really sticky condition. Hmm. I think when we play for example metronuturnumins everything is brand new cloth, brand new rails, brand new balls, everything's slick, perfect conditions. Then I think carbon fiber is perfect. But I think that's the reason why the agents prefer wood as well because the humidity level is just over over top. It's really really bouncy and that's That's what they used to play back in the day, I guess, and that's what they refer to this day. It's such a mind -fuck, though, isn't it?

1:10:36Because it's like, it's all really what you have confidence with. Obviously, anybody could play really good with carbon fiber or anybody, rather, who can play really good with carbon fiber could play really good with wood. It just get it into your head, what this Q does, the way it feels, the kind of deflection it has. No, it's a lot of things. You put it in the brain computer after X amount of months of playing with that Q, and you know what it does. I've been experimenting with cues, maybe not as much as you did, but I've started testing cues for the company that I'm working with right now, Triple 60.

1:11:10We've been doing testing for three years. So I know everything about the foams, the wall thickness, what the material of the feral, the hardness of your tip, the weight, the balance. So there's so many different things that will change the way the shaft plays. and then there's also butt. There's so many different things. It's like a magic wound. You have to try so many things before you actually understand what you like and what you're looking for. And it's not an easy process, I would say. I remember I was going on one of my rucking hikes where I put a weighted vest on and I go for a walk with the dog and you and I were on the phone and And this is how I remember this, because I was walking through this wooded area and you were telling me that the difference between your old Q and your new Q, you said there's a difference of about 5%.

1:12:08And I was like 5%. How do you know it's 5 %? All the balls that I've pocketed when I think about what it does and what it doesn't do, I think my game is about 5 % off. Like that. I think actually with the new Q, I was winning a lot more. So I used to, I used to put it in. This is like right when you first changed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well since then, since then I was winning. Yeah. So I guess, I guess it was the true. Well, it's, you made it to your specifications. Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing about the longer, longer shaft because I have longer arms. Yeah. Long fingers. Uh, I do prefer a longer taper, which doesn't really exist on the markets So we created the shaft with a longer taper, especially for shots like off the rail.

1:12:52Let's say one, the the cuba was one diamond distance off the rail. That's where you feel that change in the taper thickness. We have the straight taper in our shaft. What is the difference in the field? What do you feel differently? For example, the pro taper or the conical taper, you can feel the change of the thickness. Right. The closer you go to the pin, we don't have that. Our our shaft is straight. And so that way it doesn't give additional resistance as the shock gets further like as your bridge gets longer Right, you just don't feel the change in thickness Yeah It is and then you can go to deflection the deflection is another thing.

1:13:34It's There's so much signs behind that that I don't know when the word will start Well deflection is interesting too because some people use it to their advantage certain deflection like like co because his Q has a lot of the foot. Didn't you say you hit some balls with it? Yeah, yeah. Basically, you have to aim to miss the ball to make the ball. That's making sense. I don't know why would players prefer that, but a lot of players do. I think it just gets it in their head how to play. And then they've been playing that way for so long that it's just automatic. Like if they hit a ball with heavy left hand English, they know it's going to go off to the right.

1:14:14So they hit it more full with heavy left -hand English because they know by the time the cue I'll get there. So they have it in their head. It's just like a little computer in your brain. It's like, okay, this distance, I got to aim here, this distance, I'm going to aim here. Well in my case, I also have that. We also have little, little, little, little deflection. But when it's just too much, it gets really, really difficult. especially like I said when we play on shock lock, pressure out there and you have to pull one crazy shot and that's Hill Hill. So the argument with that against that would be the difference with wood is though you get a superior feel.

1:14:58You do get a weird difference in the feedback of the cue and some people get very accustomed to that wood feedback and they describe a carbon feedback as more dull. Yeah, but you don't get the same sensations. You don't get no feedback. So I think those guys, the feedback in their hand is a part of the equation in their mind of where that ball's going to go. So when you say feedback, is it like a vibration that you get in your hand by the time you hit the ball? It's just a different feel. Like they all have a different feel, right? Like we were talking about Southwest, which are some of my favorite cues of all time.

1:15:34They have a solid but they're not cord, right? And so they're usually generally a little heavier unless they're maple, sometimes they'll get lower, but you very rarely see like an 18 ounce southwest. You see a lot of 20 ounce southwest because they're ebony or cocoa bowl or something like that, really heavy. But they have a very specific tone to them. Yeah, the sound. This is like a feel. And you don't get that feel with carbon. You get a different feel. So if you can get used to that different feel, Well, it is like there's something to it. You definitely, the ball moves less off the line. Also I mean, like I said, there's so many different environments we play.

1:16:17For example, we play in China, in a poolhole with a dirty cloth and it's super muggy and the rails are playing super spongy and bouncy. You would prefer one cue compared to the other one. And you go to Saudi Arabia where it's super dry and it's perfect conditions. Everything's slick and brand new. I prefer carbon fiber in that case. So maybe I don't know, five years, ten years from now, we will have different cues for different shots. Right, like a golf player. Yeah, like a golf player. Could be the case. And some players already do that. They use some cues for example when they stay close to the vertical center of the you will they use one cue and when the use side spins they use the other cue.

1:17:05Really? Yeah, some players do that. They bring who's doing that? Mario, he was doing that. Really? Yeah. He brought two different cues. Yeah. This audio reveal last year. I think some other players do that. For example, what I do, I put the extension on the back of my cue for some shots. Mm -hmm. I play without the extensions for certain other stuff. How much is your extension away? Uh, super wide, like 1 .5. So that gets you up to like what 19 .5 as opposed to 18. Is that where you play with 19? You play with 19 ounce? 19. Oh, so it gets you like to 20 and a half. So do you like the additional weight for like a shot where you have to really stay down?

1:17:43I just use it for like balance purposes for longer shots. For example, when like I said, I'm one diamond of the rail and I have a long shot where I want to have like a long follow through. I just simply don't have enough enough of Mike you on the back got it so I'll add a next year a length but You know It's Lonely at the top buddy. It is there's only a few guys that you could have those kind of matches with now Yeah, well next one will be probably Josh Reeler you think so where we're trying we're trying to make it happen is he interested? I think he was But he is not really responding to messages really well lately.

1:18:26I think he was interested so he had a guy who was willing to back him for a lot of money and they said well we have to do it in this place with this rules this is how it needs to be done. Where was that where did they want to do it? They wanted to play in Vegas. Oh like to say it's a neutral territory. Vegas is good. Where would you go to Griff's? Yeah I think they wanted to do in grips. Great place. Good place, yeah. Oh, you don't like it. I mean, they wanted to like, uh, high roll me. No, they said you were playing Vegas. You got a bad bet like half a million, and something like that. But what I really wanted to do is basically what we did with Shane, you know, like a $50 ,000 bet, uh, play race to 120.

1:19:16Half a million is a lot. And what I really offered him was to play multiple disciplines. We play like a null around. We play eight ball nine ball ten ball Or was it nine ball ten ball one pocket in banks? That's what I overdo. Oh, what if you draw In case of a draw we play another set. But you know, I'm saying if you have four games you have to play three games Oh, I mean I'm not playing to lose so The more the better What would you race to at each game? I mean, it would have to be something we can fit within eight to ten hours. So maybe race to 30 and 10 ball, race to 30 and 9 ball, race to 10 in one pocket and race to 10 in banks.

1:19:57I think it's a good format. People will like to watch that, I'm sure. Yeah. And it's good for the game. It's good for our sport. It's tough to get people casuals to watch regular pool, getting them to watch one pocket. They'd rather jump in front of a bus. I agree. Well, you don't like the one pocket. You don't like it. I watch it every year. I like it for sure. Yeah. One last one I watched Justin Bergman played someone for a lot of money. Yeah. You played the guy. Yeah. What's his name? Little John. And he was giving him a crazy spot, right? Yeah. And he lost. Oh, no, he won't just one. Just one.

1:20:34Yeah. But it was close. He was really close. Yeah. I think Everybody liked the other guy. It was a nutty spot. I forgot what the spot was. 11 -6, because I gave that guy 12 -6. Oh, did you? Yeah. We actually played not the one going New Orleans. How'd that go? I won. Nice. Congratulations. Do you like one pocket? Would you prefer, or do you just play it because people won't gamble it? I think I like it because it's a good gambling game. I don't like the game itself. I think the new modifications they make in the game where you have to re -spot the balls, for example, For example, if you get more than four balls past the kitchen, the fifth ball gets respotted back to the spot.

1:21:14So it makes the game more alive, more dynamic. So you don't get those wedges where 50 balls go up table and people just play nothing, shots for hours. Right. So it's more dynamic. And also Derby, for example, has shot clock. I think one pocket has to be played with shot clock. How much time they give you? Derby, it's one minute. it. If you could make the perfect nine ball shot clock, what would it be? I think it's good to wear it. 30 seconds. 30 seconds with a 30 second extension. Yeah. Man. If you make it, if you make it any any shorter, it's going to be really difficult. Short is too difficult, but I mean the 40 second, like it's just a touch, just a touch more to think about it.

1:21:58I think I think it's good where it's at. Yeah. It's difficult when you have to like switch you have no extension, for example, you jumped. So that's why you see us grabbing both of our cues and the face up there. Throwing your cue on the side and switching. It's really difficult sometimes. That's another shot that people hate that you got to leave in. Is the jump cue. When you jumped out, I love it. You jumped out so many times during this US Open, there were so many times you got hooked, where you popped that ball in, and if you can appreciate that on tight pockets, a beautiful shot where it goes airborne and fires right into the hole and then you get positioned on the next ball.

1:22:40Yeah, I think it's great. I think those that are voting against it are those that can do it. Yeah, there's a lot of old school guys who just, they get set in their ways and they think that's stupid queue. It's a little tiny queue, fuck that thing. But why are they different golf clubs? because there's different shots. Why do you break with a different cue? Because it's a different shot. Of course. Like, come on. Of course. I think it's what gets actually new people to watch it, because it's exciting. I look at this guy jumped over this ball. He was this close to the ball. It's amazing. It's like a trick shot.

1:23:14And then also it's like the cues that people are jumping with today. They're designed so well for that. Yeah. Like I really like that Q -Tech one. That's, I think, my favorite one. That one is and you helped design that right? Yeah, I wasn't wolfed. I wasn't wolfed yes But not anymore not anymore. I'm with with a different company now we're starting a new brand I will be starting my own brand really soon when you think that's gonna be available my personal junk you yeah Probably I would say if everything goes by the plan maybe first quarter of next year So that's a thing with pool too. It's like when you see a guy, oh, please really good.

1:23:57Everybody wants to play with whatever the fuck he's playing with. Right. So it's one of, for a sport, in a game, it's like one of the most marketable in that regard. Because almost everybody, when they find someone is like, whether it's F -RAN or like, that's why so many companies like Mewchi was sponsoring everybody back in the day. because when these guys were playing and they were winning, everybody just wanted to go out and buy a Mewchi. Because it's like there's a mind. It's like any sport. Game aspect. Dennis, Dennis is the same or golf. You just want to have the same tennis record as Roger Federer.

1:24:33But don't you think there's a giant variety in the way those things hit as opposed to a tennis rackets hit? I don't know, because I don't play tennis, but it looks the same. Whereas the way pool cues are manufactured, the differences in the weight, the differences in the taper, the differences in the shaft composition, whether it's wood or carbon fiber or for sure. And I think when it comes down to like a playing cue, then it's really, really personal. You know, some players like softer hits, some players like hotter hits, but when it comes to a jump cue, it just comes down to how effortless the jump cue does the job.

1:25:11Right. And how much, how accurate it can be. How accurate it can be. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have like a mental checklist that you go through before you execute a shot? Do you have like a pre -shot mental preparation? Are you gonna do a lot of breathing technique? So for example, I would breathe in on four counts, then I hold it for like four or five, and then I'd breathe out for like seven, eight seconds to calm myself down. Do you do that when you're sitting in the chair? I do it all the time when I'm sitting in the chair. Usually I would do like a loud breathe out when I'm at the table sometimes, just let it out.

1:25:51And I kind of started to show emotions too because I just feel that's okay. You know, before I used to be like, you know, I can't show any emotions because it's weakness. But now just the Russian way. I just don't care. You're American now. Yeah. I'm a fully Americanized now. That's interesting. Showing emotions. Well, I definitely think that's the case when someone misses. Because when someone misses and then they whack the table with their stick, boy, that empowers the other player. Yeah, of course. It definitely does. Of course. And that's what some of the coaches that I've worked with in my childhood, they were all telling me, you know, don't show any emotion.

1:26:30You don't want to show any weakness to your opponent. They're going to be feeding off of it. And that's what kind of got stuck with. but I'm just glad that I'm out of it right now. Well, it's the most, I think, and Jeremy Jones and I were talking about this, I think it's the most mental game because there's this moment of pulling the trigger, this moment where you're making sure that everything aligns and you just gotta keep your mind on task and keep focused on the object ball. Do you look at the cue ball before you strike or the object ball? So it really depends on the distance between the object and keywall.

1:27:06For example, if it's when it's close to each other, object wall and the keywall, I look at the keywall list. When it's long distance, I look at the object wall list. Why is that? That's just how I find it working for me. You know, it's another thing that's very personal for other players. I think most of the people look at the keywall list, but I just prefer the object wall works better for me. It's interesting because it is a preference thing. Yeah, so definitely a personal preference I feel like if you have the straight stroke if you're a stroke a straight You will always hit the cue will wear your intending to hit it.

1:27:44Mm -hmm. So it's more about where you're gonna hit it on the object There's a guy named Joel Turner who is I don't know if I talked to you about this guy. He used to be Well, he was a sniper for or like for rescue missions with the police, where like someone had a hostage and he would have to execute shots under extreme pressure and he was also a bow hunter and he realized that there were certain mistakes that he was making and a lot of people are making bow hunting that had to do with anticipating the shot and anxiety before you pull the trigger and that the way to work around that is to have a pre -shot routine in your mind where you're talking to yourself loudly in your head.

1:28:34And you develop this pre -shot routine with very specific things that you say to yourself. You say like, here I go. Like, you know, whatever different things, he's got a bunch of different steps that he said where he's talking to himself. Like, center your peep site. There's like a bunch of things that I have to write. I have almost the same. That's what I wanted to ask you. Visualization and meditation is really big. So what do you say to yourself when you're about... My biggest demon in my head is I'm just scared to miss the ball. I'm just, you know, when I'm down on the shot sometimes my brain goes, well you're going to miss the shot.

1:29:07What are you doing? You're going to miss it for sure. Like, the way you're aiming the shot, you're going to miss it for sure. So if my thing is just telling to my brain that I have to stay positive, no, I'm going to fucking make this ball. I'm making this ball. Bitch. And I, it works for me. Yeah. Well, if you think you're gonna miss, you will miss. Yeah. And it's 100 % works like that. What I was getting at is that I found a giant crossover between that and archery in that, it's the same thing. Like if you think you're gonna miss an archery, you're gonna miss. And if you think you're gonna miss and pool, you're gonna miss.

1:29:42Right. Yeah. It just works like that. It is, it's crazy. It's like your subconscious like tells you to miss. And it's almost like the pressure is too much, so you alleviate some of the pressure by anticipating the miss in advance. Right. It's weird. So that's why I questioned you is like, what is the process that you go through to fight that off? It's just saying, I'm going to make that fucking ball. Well, yeah, it's an experience already. You have to miss a few shots to understand why that happened. Right. And I did lose a few big ones like that. For example, I played Josh Filler in Germany and European Open.

1:30:23It was a really, really big match. You know, the whole crowd was cheering for him. Quarterfinals of the European Open. And I landed on the Nimbledle really weird. But I'm still a big favorite to make the shot. It was like an off -angle. I was shooting from the rail. Quarterfinals of the European Open. And I was up 9 -8. Race to 10. And I missed the Nimbledle just because I knew that I was going to miss the ball. Same things happened in Saudi. I was up 10 to 3. I think it was less 16. I'm almost straight down on the 9 ball, but I just know that I'm going to miss the ball. Oh no. I just know that.

1:31:00And I'm down on the shot and I know that shot clock is running on me. I'm like, no way. I just can't get up. I just can't get up. I don't have enough time. So I missed the ball. I'm glad I've won the match. I won the next wreck, but it's just weird how that works. So now you have those experiences and then what do you do when that's over? Well you go, okay, that can't happen again. I got to make sure that does that that mindset never creeps into my head again So you just have to switch your focus to your fundamentals. That's what helps me for example Nick Vandenberg he used to be a big player back in the day in Netherlands.

1:31:37He would practice sitting on his couch for hours. Just practice, visualization, just practice on the table. He's would imagine himself practicing in the pool hall like straight in shots. He wouldn't even go in practice. Whoa, that's weird. That's a weird dude. Yeah, but it worked for him. Well, there's a lot of science to that. In terms of like studies that have been done about visualization and the improvement and they've found that actual real visualization when you're really sitting down there and visualizing counts almost as much as practice. And in some cases more and no one knows why. Well, visualization is really big for us.

1:32:23For example, you're never going to win the tournament without believing that you can actually win it. And you can only believe that you can win if you can only visualize that you won the tournament. Right. Which is why I say that this is like the most mental of games. You know, it is such a weird dance that goes in your head like sometimes with me and again I'm not a good player. I'm half -assed. But sometimes I play really good. Like if I get like six hours, two or three days in a row, I can get in stroke and I start running racks. But when I'm not and then I go to execute, there's like this thing in my head that like like right when I'm about to aim at the, like right when I'm about to pull the trigger, my head goes, don't hit it there, hit it here.

1:33:10And you're like, okay. At a time you're outside. And I do it and I miss. I'm like, why did you change where you were gonna hit it? Like last minute, what the fuck is that? And I've been playing pool for 30 something years. But sometimes that works and you're like, I'm glad I did that. Yeah, rarely. Most of the times I miss. Most of the times when I change where I'm gonna hit last second, I miss. But we all do that. Yeah, or when I think I'm not gonna be this accurate. Let me aim to overcut it And then I'm like oh my god you overcut it all the length of the table you fucking idiot If you just accurately like hit where you thought you were gonna hit you would have made that ball It's this weird But that's why I love the game because when you're really playing pool the world goes away It goes away.

1:33:56You're not thinking about anything. You're not thinking about global warming. You're not thinking about shit. You're not thinking about inflation. How much eggs cost? You're not thinking about shit. The world goes away when you're on that table. When you're playing, the world goes away. That's what I like about archery and that's what I like about pool. They have the same quality to them. And that to do it correctly is so difficult that it requires all of your mind. I agree. I totally agree with you. And unlike chess, which also requires all of your mind, pool has the added element that you have to execute.

1:34:34You have to pull it off under pressure with a shaky hand. Kind of like a mix of chess with, I don't know, golf, I would say. Yeah. Well, I think it's just its own thing. Well, it's a no -thing for sure. It's its own thing. It's very different than any of those other things. You know, I don't play either one of them. It's very different than any of those other things. And when people get into it, man, it takes their whole fucking life over. I remember my manager had to have a conversation with me once. When I lived in New York, it was like, I think you're spending more time playing pool than you are in your career.

1:35:08I'm like, fuck, he's right. He's right. I took a whole year off. I didn't play for a whole year. And then I came to LA and I started playing a little bit again. I was like, God, he got me again just sunk its teeth right back in me. Oh yeah. Yeah. They mod of cues you have is crazy. And now when I'm like if I'm talking to someone and they're boring, I just think about playing pool. I think about getting out. I think about

1:35:38it's like my default brain. It falls into these but it's not really about the it is about the game for sure. But But what it's really about is syncing your mind to something. That's where the true joy comes in. Sinking your mind to something and then executing it to perfection. I think it's some kind of a mental exercise, like akin to cardio, akin to lifting weights. There's a mental exercise to it. Also the enjoyment from developing the skill and you just know how hard it is. I think the enjoyment is even bigger in that regard. Yeah, yeah, it's um, it's a game that I really wish more people to appreciate.

1:36:20I wonder how many people are still listening to this podcast that are just regular people. Like, what the, is he gonna fucking talk about pool with this guy for three hours? Yep, this one's not for you, but that's the beauty of having four podcasts a week. You can throw one of them entirely a pool. But for pool players, there's a lot of people that get it. It's not like anything else. In this weird world of non -physical things, in this weird world of virtual things, of playing video games and of being connected with computers, which is all very, very fun. Those are all really fun to do. There's a kinetic aspect to playing pool that I think a lot of people forgot how satisfying and rewarding it is and how intriguing the game is.

1:37:14You know, and that's why I always chime on about it. I think it's good for you, you know? For sure. And actually the way, for example, Vietnam market at pool is they started opening pool rooms with computer clubs in the same building. Ah! So that's like a lot. Like a computer cafe type deal? Type of thing, yeah, but the huge ones, huge ones, they have pull rooms with hundreds of tables. Oh wow. Yeah Vietnam Vietnam right now is probably the most pull playing country in the world. Wow and how long go to this start? Maybe three, four years ago really. That's crazy. What made it explode in Vietnam like that?

1:37:55I had no idea. For example, Hanoi opened the first major we had in Vietnam three, three years ago. I had no idea or any expectations going to the event. But I always knew that I had some fans because on Facebook like 40 % of my followers are from Vietnam which was which always seemed weird 40 % yeah now it's more now it's more whoa so I went over there and I was amazed amazed like in Hanoi alone there's 2000 pull rooms in Hanoi just one CD 2000 yeah that's crazy what is this the most luxurious pool hall in Vietnam. That's in denying I've actually been to this pool room before. Damn. But yeah, they have pool rooms with like hundreds of tables.

1:38:45This is Chinese eight pool, by the way. Yeah, that's a weird game, right? It's become a really, really popular. Huge popular, right? Really popular. It's very lucrative, right? Yeah. Yeah, those guys are making big money now in the called Heyball now. It's called Heyball, right? It used to be called Chinese Heyball. Chinese Heyball. So what made that game explode in China? They were just throwing big, big money in the game and it really exploded everywhere because now all the English and Snooker players, English Heyball players and Snooker players are traveling and playing all the tournaments there and maybe top 30 guys now on their tour making good money and they are I think they are trying to get the full players to join them as well.

1:39:34How do you guys probably do it just for the cheese? Yeah, well that's that's the problem. What is a big tournament in Hayball pay? The biggest one pays 750 ,000 for first. But they have almost big tournaments every month. They pay 200 ,000, 300 ,000 for first. Wow and small tournaments, you know, they pay 50 and they're rare Happening every two weeks, but you were saying when you went over there Like regular dudes do you were playing or like robbing? Yeah, the competition is really high the game a little bit different So they use pool balls snorkeered type of rail so the pop that pocket is round and they used like a snorke So it's really thick and like hairy.

1:40:21So it's got a lot of nap to the claws of the ball. So the ball moves slower. Right. The hit ball is really hard. Is that because of the rounded edges? Like you got to fire them through there? For example, if the ball is close to the rail, that's probably the best way to make the ball because you can push through the rubber. Kind of like a Russian pyramid type of thing. Well, there's that one shot where in the side pockets we can push through the nipple of the side pocket. Yeah, yeah, so it's like kind of the same thing kind of because I watch a lot of those guys online and they fire balls in I like this is crazy.

1:40:54Yeah, the competition is really really high there because there's so many players and so many Pullrooms in China that just have to have old tables and It's becoming popular everywhere and when did that start in China? I would say it started like 10 years ago Maybe even before that that's great. So think about that that that emerges 10 years ago So this is only we're talking about 2015 something long ago. So that emerges 10 years ago and then Vietnam emerges three years ago Vietnam Vietnam was booming, but maybe I just found it out three years ago. Maybe it started so imagine that's that's 10 years as well That's still nothing that's not that long ago.

1:41:30Yeah, like so it gives me hope that something similar can happen in America I think I think I think that audience is different how so because because something has to happen in order to draw the younger audience here. I don't know if the social media is the answer, but in Vietnam, it's just they don't have any bars in pull rooms. They don't drink in pull rooms. They just play the game. Everybody's following professional. Everybody know who Shane Van Boing is. That's going to be tough to get people with no bars. Exactly. People who hear a bunch of drugs. Well, APA has 270 ,000 members. 270 ,000 us alone.

1:42:12And those are mostly bar players. Those are mostly bar players that play in fried haste and they probably don't know who Shane Van Boney is. What? That's not possible. It is possible. Come on really? Yeah. Really? They play pool in a league and they don't know who Shane Van Boney is. That seems insane. He plays in those bar table tournaments sometimes. They used to do a lot more of them. Yeah. I've watched some recent one from Boston. They had some big. Right. Yeah. That's ultimate pool. they started, that's a company from UK. Oh, is it? They're starting to, yeah, they're starting to break through in the US as well.

1:42:44Kind of crazy because it's a really quick shot clock. Big ass pockets, little ass table. And if you miss your fucked, right, because these guys are all, they're all running out. Justin Bergman is a wizard at that too. Yeah. Barthable label is a different game. It looks easy. You look at it, you're like, oh, small table, big pockets. This is easy, but no, this, if you miss, like if you get out of line and you miss the game's over yeah you guys are gonna run out and that's more additional pressure yeah more strategy and eight ball all the clusters and everything's all cluttered up together right right right and you can't shoot your opponents ball so you got to figure out a way to bump them and move them and get a shot on the eight do you think the eight ball is still the most played game because of leaks and yeah yeah yeah most people don't like I had a friend here and he's like I play really good pool or what do you play play nine balls like no I play regular pool I'm like, yeah, what is regular pool?

1:43:39Like, you don't play. Right. I'm in a conversation. I was like, okay, okay, okay. I've explained nine ball to you. Like, you play eight ball. It's not regular pool. But it may change with metron being in the wolf, it may change. Because they push nine ball only. Yeah. Well, the thing about nine ball that's very exciting is the luck factor. Right. Luck factor is huge. You know, when you watch a guy shoot a ball into the corner and he hits the rail and it It's fucked if you're sitting there, if you're in the chair and you were hoping, oh, he missed. It's my chance. No He got lucky and that's luck.

1:44:16It's part of it. Sometimes people shit in the nine ball And that's the whole that win they win and people like how could that be a win? It's an accident Like that's part of the game. Yeah, it's part of the fun of the game And then also you could win off the break. It's also part of the game Mm -hmm And that drives people crazy. No, spot that like no, I think I think it's it's great I mean luck luck is part of any sport I think I also like when when someone misses an Easy shot and then the opponent runs out and it makes a nine on the break So it's like fucking you you fucked up and the pool gods do that to you all the time.

1:44:50Yeah, they do if you miss a ball It's kind of weird how often times like you have to sit in the chair for a few racks Because the guy just gets a bunch of like really awesome lucky breaks. You're like this is terrible for sure and you know what I also found when I'm winning more, I'm also getting more lucky. Yeah. I just get the love, I miss the ball, and then the guy is absolutely hooked. I wonder what that is. Why is that so reliable? Because it's really reliable. I wish I knew the answer I would be. I'd be doing something for sure. If some like super egghead who studies pool like Dr. Dave, like if that guy could explain this, I would like to know.

1:45:28Yeah, because I think there's a kind of science to it, And I think it has to do, I don't know what it is, but I think there's a positive, when you're in gear, when you can't miss, and you're in stroke, and you're firing balls and you're playing really well, you get these lucky breaks. It's weird. It's like you're putting out positive energy. But when you're down and you feel like shit, and you're like, god damn it, I can't catch a break. And then the guy misses, and you're stuck behind two balls, and you're like, God, dammit, this always happens. I wonder, I often wonder, did you make that? Did you manifest this?

1:46:09Are you manifesting good luck with positive energy? That's what I do, yeah. I wonder. That's what I do. I mean, I'm always trying to be positive because I think there is a benefit to it. I think there's a real benefit, like a real world, unmeasurable benefit that would probably show up in statistics. But not even in pull, I think, in real life, it's the same. Yes, I think so too. Yeah, that's what I think pool mirrors life in a lot of ways. I think that's the case I also think like being really generous in Real life is like really good for you. It's really good for everybody It's not good for just for the people that you're being generous to but it's good for you too It's good for everybody.

1:46:48Right. It's like it is like more good things happen for you when you do that It's it's the same sort of principle. There's some car was real it is real It just doesn't seem like it should be. It seems like you should be able to figure out life on, you know, a yellow legal pad with a pen and some really good calculus. But no, there's some things going on that nobody has figured out how to put a measuring tape to. No one's figured out how to put it on a scale. There's some things going on. Yeah, that's a difficult one. Yeah. And there's things going on with your mind that no one is ever going to be able to figure out.

1:47:25Like, no one's ever gonna be able to figure out why some people get lucky all the time. But there's, I think there's probably something to it. Like, effrin, for example. That guy used to always say, I got lucky. He was always saying I got lucky. Meanwhile, who's more positive than that guy? When he would miss, he would laugh. He would laugh and scratch his head. Never looked like he was mad. I would want to break my fucking stick. But he would, he was just like, oh no, I miss. He scratches head, oh no. And sit down and be all super positive. Right. And but he got lucky a lot. I agree. Maybe that's the case.

1:48:06Yeah. Well, that's why I wonder, that's why I wanted to ask you about your pre -shot routine. Like, what are the things you're saying to yourself in your mind? Or is it just a lot of experience and a lot of, I'm going to make that shot? Well, it's basically shutting down the negative thoughts. Being positive is really difficult at times, especially when things are not going your way. When opponent is missing and should save on you or fluking a few balls or just doesn't miss any balls, it's really difficult to stay positive in your chair. Yeah. So you just got to focus on what you can control and hope for the best.

1:48:49That's all I do. Have you ever thought about doing what Nick Van der Berg does when he sits on a couch? Just like visualizing running out while you're watching your opponent play. I Think I have that going through my brain when I'm like listening to like a hype up music Well, for example when I'm walking through the mansion I'm like hold hyped up what is hype up music for you? What do you listen to? Different different depends on the mood Sometimes it's like gangster rap sometimes it's like what kind of gangster rap? What do you like? Russian Russian stuff? Russian oh you got it send me some Yeah, tell me what's good Russian gangster rap.

1:49:25It's good for the gym, perfect for the gym. Yeah, perfect. Oh, nice. Fong, funk music, I like funk, like Brazilian funk. I like music like that that I don't know what they're saying. Right. I do understand what they're saying, but sometimes it just doesn't make all that sense. So... Russian gangster rap. Like, can you give me an example? Like, that we can play right now? Like, what is a good Russian gangster rap? Jamie Kapoev. Well, his name is scriptenit. Scriptenit? Like scriptenite? Like, scriptenite? Yeah, well, his name is scriptenit. He's really popular in Russia. See if you can find that guy.

1:50:03What's a good talk? Usually it's a few remixes. Well, let me see. What's like a... I put me on the spot. I didn't even know that they had a lot of Russian gangster rap. Oh, yeah. For sure. I mean, it's not not great music, but it helps me out. Well, a lot of high -pup music is not necessarily great music. Guys called Eyes Gergert. I don't even know if he's popular now that just like his stuff. Give me one script a night though, one good song that you like. Let me see. Like one, like you and Josh Filler about to play for a half a million. You're on your way. So this song is not good. It has a cursing all over it.

1:50:48Oh perfect. We just tell me what it is. We'll have Jamie pull it up Moscow loves X to see I bet a lot of people Moscow do love X to say Probably pretty accurate song You got it Jamie Yeah, well, I mean I want it's not written in English. Yeah, it's not written in English. I just know I'm oh I got a like version of it because it didn't it's called musk musk I mean to copy paste you If you want I could have them said it to me and I'll send it to you. No, that's not that's not the issue. Oh, okay I'm to I'm literally it's written and Yeah, I'm even on the title and I can't type that something like it Oh right right right this also is gonna get us in trouble Yeah, just gonna get us in trouble.

1:51:46We can't play any music anymore. Oh, yeah. All right. Well, but just we'll cut it out You've got to go forward a little bit

1:52:00I like it. Yeah, so something like that. It sounds like he's on excess you know, maybe I bet he is maybe I mean, most of the stuff he says, you can't even understand what he's saying because you're so fast and he's actually from Kazakhstan. Oh, here it is. Wet asphalt gray face. You'll find everything you need. Love or treasure in the depths of the woods. Only the lipstick was worn off. Ceiling starfall fingers on the temple. The eyes are, this is all nonsense words. Yeah, I was excited to get it. Tomorrow again, wet asphalt gray face. There are only clouds above you. Okay. That sounds like chat GPT wrote it.

1:52:38Like chat GPT two. A straight translation from Russian never makes any sense. No, right? Mm -hmm. Is that, what is that like, like learn, but first of all, you know how to read it, right? So you read, what is it, Cyrillic? Is that what it's called? So you read it and write it. Like what is it like when you have to learn English? Like how much of a weird juxtaposition when you see the two languages together? Well, it's, I don't know. He was kind of easy. I think English is the easiest language to learn. Really? Because I was studying French in school, I was in the French school, and for me it was a lot tougher to learn French.

1:53:15I used to speak fluent French before, now I just don't remember anything. Really? Yeah, I actually start forgetting Russian a little bit because I start thinking in English because I spend so much time here. Oh! So I didn't learn English proper enough, but to where I can speak and understand, and you know at least have a conversation and then I don't really speak with anybody in Russian so I start forgetting it. Oh no! You're a man of no country. Exactly. That's terrible. That would be terrible and if you go back to Russia they get mad at you they can't talk good. No I mean I still I still talk good.

1:53:50I actually go to Russia at least once a year. Just to stay tight. Well stay close to the game. I'm gonna stay close to my family. But I would imagine like if you fell out of Russian, like if it became uncomfortable for you and you went over there, that would be so weird for them. No, no, I mean, they're fine with it. There's a lot of... But listen, if my daughter moved overseas and went to Spain and started speaking Spanish and then came over to America and had a hard time talking to me, I'd be like, what happened? I'm not gonna get it entirely forget the language, but it would be just that I would be using like a lot simpler words My vocabulary is gonna be tiny here, right, but then what if you're away for 10 years?

1:54:36Yeah, well then you gain an accent and And then people like look at you You went America on us. Yeah, son of a bitch. Do you get any heat for coming to America? At first of course I did. I've had all my friends. My friends actually, they supported me all the time. So I'm just glad that I had good friends and have good friends. But of course the casual fans and the keyboard warriors, they're always on me. I get the heat from that. Because you left Russia? Yes, sell out, not born in the USA. That's the music they always play in my stomach. No, born in the USA. Is there a song like that? Well, they play the song in the USA.

1:55:24No, not, yeah. Oh, not. That song is very depressing anyway. If you want to get patriotic, that's not like born in the USA. It's a terrible song. It's like so sad. It's not like, like life is awesome. Yeah. That song is like depressing. It's, you know, it's about living in a terrible part of the USA. It's not like the American dream. But not really. I mean, I don't have the heat from the Russians. Not really. I don't have that. That's good. There's a lot of Russian people living in the United States. So you get more heat from Americans that are upset that you came over from Russia? I really. The Europeans, I think.

1:56:04The Europeans that are the most upset ones, I think. Probably because you're now playing for the Americans. I know you could fuck up their whole Moscone Cup thing. Maybe. Yeah. I do have a lot of, I would say, polish haters, just because I'm Polish. Yeah, Polish. I have a lot of Polish haters, just because I was born in Russia. Oh, well they just automatically don't like Russians. Yeah, yeah. That always happens. Yeah, if you don't have haters, you're not doing anything right? Right. You know, if you're... I'm sure you have a lot of them too. I'm sure I do. Yeah. What was that crazy guy that was...

1:56:39He was trying to fight you or something? Oh, the Lever King. Yeah, the poor unfortunate guy. I don't know, man, he just got in his head somehow or another that I was responsible for what was wrong with him, that I was a bully to him, which is crazy because all I did was point out what was like super obvious, like you're lying about being on steroids. Like, hey, don't lie about being on steroids, don't be a public person and no one will say that. It's that simple. You gotta take personal accountability for errors that you made. I think there's some substances involved if I had a guess that led down him down a bad road Unfortunately, but it's also fame man It's not You know, I'm sure you experience it because you experience a lot of haters from in the pool world But fame is not what people think it's going to be You know you think I'm gonna be famous and life will be easier because people know who I am No life is gonna be way harder because now you're under the microscope I'm not sure he can go in.

1:57:3924 hours a day. And this is a guy in the Brian, who calls himself the liver king, who was not famous, most of his life, and then decided I want to be famous, and I have this great body, so what I'm going to do is just like tell everybody they have to eat liver and sell a bunch of supplements. And he made a lot of money selling a bunch of supplements. And then his cannot tell the truth, we're out doing steroids. The problem with that is that physique is not achievable in your forties without some help. It's just not. It's just not. It's just not. Like, you could be a freak athlete and have that physique at 23.

1:58:17It's possible. There's a few guys that can... But you have to have superior genetics and insane work ethic. And you have to be like really intelligent about how you approach your training. But once you get into your 40s and if you didn't look like that when you were younger, oh yeah, you're on something, everybody knows it. There's nothing wrong with being on something. Like there's, here's the thing, it's like if you want to be an influencer online, it doesn't exclude you from taking, if you're a person who takes testosterone or, and even there's kinds of, have huge followings who are clearly on anabolic steroids.

1:58:56They just don't lie about it. That's all it is. Like it doesn't make you less famous or make your your physique less valid. No one no one really I mean, there's gonna be a few people always a Jew said But the reality is most people are just like wow, that's really impressive But what people hate is when you Mislead them when you pretend you're doing something that you're not especially if you're you're also Selling supplements or selling a lifestyle and telling them you know about your ancestral tenants It's just gotta take accountability. That's, you made mistakes. If you did make mistakes, I'd be celebrating you.

1:59:34If you were like this guy who's like, there's a bunch of people that we talk about on the podcast all the time that I know are on juice. But they don't lie about it. And no one gets upset at them. It's real simple. Right. It's just, it is what it is. But that, you know, it's a guy who's just take a lot of heat. And they just, he also funded, I think he at least had a part and funding this Netflix documentary about him, which I didn't watch it, but I heard it was not flattering at all and it made him seem kind of insane. And that probably sucked. And then after that, he was mad at me. But again, fame is not a normal thing.

2:00:16It's not normal. And if you don't have personal sovereignty, if you don't understand yourself, truly understand yourself, Not just trying to project an image of what you like people to think of you, but who you actually are. That's where you get in trouble with fame. And then also reading haters and reading the comments and wanting people to love you, which is probably why a lot of people get famous in the first place. It's also like the thing of getting famous as a goal versus becoming famous because of a thing you do. You know what I mean? Like becoming famous because people like your comedy or your podcast or they like the way you play pool or the way you play basketball.

2:01:04Like, that's a different thing when you specifically go out of your way because you want to become famous. And that's a lot of people. It's a lot of, it's really weird that it's a lot of like very wealthy people. I know some people that are really wealthy and the thing that they really want is to be famous. It's weird. Just an ego. Ego maniac. Well, it's a thing they can't buy. It's like they have private jets. They got a house here and a house there and they got a company here and a company there, but they really want to be famous. You know, so they, that's a lot of those guys want to go on podcasts and they want to like, sort of like let the world know how cool they are.

2:01:42It's weird. It is. You know, it's like, and then a lot of those guys, they take the heat off the comments and the haters and they don't like it. Jesus Christ, I didn't know it was gonna be this. Like yeah, that's what you signed up for. You signed up. Yeah, you're on the world theater. That's a lot of eyeballs. It's a lot of fucking venom -tongued people out there. That's what you say terrible things about you. Can't wait to something that will happen. And you have to have the same way you have that discipline to not allow those negative thoughts in your head before you make a shot. You also have to not allow other people's negative thoughts in your head either.

2:02:22Because they're as valid, if not more valid, in your own negative thoughts. Oh, there's so many different opinions. You know, this is, for example, every time I make a, I don't know, bad decision to their opinion. You know, they will always voice it to me and say, well, sure. And you just gotta, you just gotta deal with it. Yeah, or not pay attention to them, which is, I think, the best way to do it. You must be aware. Everyone's aware if they fuck up, and you're always aware if people are upset at you about things, but don't fucking focus on it. Don't pay attention. And that's where comedians make a giant mistake, podcasters make a giant mistake.

2:03:01I'm sure pull players do it, fighters do it in a big way. Like a lot of fighters get real mad when they read comments. You know, and they invite trolls to come to their gym and some of them beat the trolls up, which is kind of crazy. You know some guys will talk shit and there'd be so dumb that they'll actually think that they can go to the gym and You know spar with Sean Strickland or something. That's the worst thing you can do because that's what troll is wanting That's what he's goal is trying to get to your head Yeah, but if you can get him in the gym. It's worth it. Yeah, like Sean Strickland has a bunch of videos of guys who talked shit online He just beats the fucking piss out of them which is like, then he wins.

2:03:43You know, then it comes off full circle. Like, pay attention to the haters, actually paid off because for him, it's easy work. He just tunes these guys up. Like, it's nothing and talk shit to them. He's kicking the fuck out of them. Yeah, well, I guess in that case, it's not worth it. Yeah, but with pool, it's like, you don't want to have to play some idiotos as you suck. Like, okay, put up money, let's play. Like, they probably won't. Then you'll be talking with them back and forth. What is the most amount of money that you've ever gamble for? Against Shane. That was it. Yeah. So you don't want to say the full amount, but that was the most amount.

2:04:18But this Joshua Philor thing if what they offered if that ever happened, that would be the biggest one. It could be it could be the biggest one. It could be the biggest one, but also on my aunt I just don't want it to be a one match and done. Right. I want to play, you know, if I lose I want to play again if I want to play again. What was he proposing in terms of a race? 120, 120, 10 ball over three days. Just the same thing and what would you think about that? I think I think yeah, we should we should we can do that for sure But my my take on this was I wanted to play in Rayl Yard and Voil where we play all about your spot Yeah, well, it's not really my spot It's considered spot you go to a lot right not really I go there you know, oh I think you're lying couple time here It's a lift 30 minutes from there.

2:05:13Oh see that's your spot, but I don't I don't want to shut up That's your home room. It's not my home room. I have a table at home. I practice at home right But your home room where you go to is like the place where you go that's near your house That's an actual establishment not your home table. I mean you can you can yes I mean you can say it like this, but I don't I don't go there. I don't correct is there I never never there right I bet everybody knows your name Lock in the door well that everybody knows your name everywhere it doesn't count but But yeah, I think you wouldn't want to play there.

2:05:47Yeah, of course It's your home room we can find a neutral spot. We can find neutral spot Maybe we're centered up right here on this podcast. What's the most amount you think you get staked for?

2:05:59I will have to consult. Yeah, I'll have to consult. Yeah, consult with the general. 200 ,000 maybe. Could be four. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. Let's do it right here. I'd be in. I'd be in to do that. I would have tightened that table up, right? Yeah, well, would you want it four and a quarter? Would you want it four and a quarter? Oh, that's another thing he wanted to do. He wanted to only play in a four -inch table. So he wants to make a tighter, because me and Shane, we play in the four and a quarter. Oh, I see. And he thinks if he makes a tighter, I'm not going to be making as much balls on the break and I can't control the break.

2:06:37You know, it's always, when you negotiate a match like this, you always want to have an edge. Right. And little change here and there may make the outcome different, but I mean, I feel like you should do it in a place where you can get an audience though. We can. Yeah, but it's gonna be the biggest the biggest draw off the audience we can possibly have online for sure It's gonna be the what I mean is in person as well like a place where there's a lot of people like a watching person I think me and Shane would draw a bigger crowd, but maybe really yeah, yeah, probably Shane is a huge American hero that comes to pool right But it just seems like he doesn't like it anymore with filler.

2:07:19It's different. You know, he's like Jake ball a lot of people watching him but they watch him because they want him to lose. Really? Well, I just found it like this. I didn't know that. I'm just hearing that for the first time now. I thought he was beloved. Uh, well, it's kind of changing, I think lately. Why? Uh, just the way he responded to a few different things and social media makes it worse. Oh, no. Social media stuff? Yeah. There was a few, a few, uh, I don't know if you're involved with like WPA and Metru and Conflict and stuff like this. Oh yeah, that's right. So there was a lot of weirdness where he was playing for like, was it WPA said you couldn't play in a matchroom event or?

2:08:06Is that what it was? What happened? What happened was, uh... So we should explain to people that don't know. There's two different competing sort of organizations. Yeah. And at one point in time, if you played for Juan, they were telling you can't play for the other. And everybody's like, that's kind of crazy guys. Right. Like pool is just starting to take off and don't schedule shit at the same time as this other one that you know is going to be there work together So what happened was WPA is implementing all those bands and they say if you play in Anoy open you will be banned for a certain period of time from WPA tournaments and all the top players at the time we wanted to change that by just stopping player in WPA tournaments.

2:08:47So we just all of us top 16 players or top 10 players, we just don't go to WPA tournaments and by that move we wanted them to change that role. We wanted them to live the band. So the very next event after we spoke with all the players, we were in the meeting room, we fly to New Zealand and I was flying with Christine with my girlfriend at the time. She was flying the World Championships and there was a World championships for men, which was a WPAT tournament. And we all agree that we're not playing there, but Josh was there and he was playing. So he basically decided and went against what he was saying in that room.

2:09:27He turned up and signed up to play. He wasn't just him. It was another players. But then it just led to more like he went on social media and tried to say, you know, He was trying to defend himself and say, you know, he wasn't. He was my dream to win that championship. It was my... What better way to tell those other 10 guys of the best in the world that you're not going? All right, we're all not going. And then you sign up. That means you just killed off nine or 10 of the best players in the world. You have a much better chance of winning. He did get a lot of backlash from that. and I think to this day that kind of stuck with him.

2:10:09I see. That makes sense. That makes sense. It's hell of a player though. Oh, he's unbelievable player. Yeah. And he's really young too, right? Hold on a second. He's a little bit older than me, maybe 26, 27. Yeah. He's the most fearless, the most talented player. He's kind of like Roni O'Sullivan of Bull. Yeah, he's, sometimes when he gets hot, it's crazy to watch. Where he's spiking balls in. Oh, the high gear is unbelievable. Yeah. Unbelievable he would go for a long period of time without me missing any bull and the other thing about him is he never Looks like he's freaking out like it never seems to be affecting him like he's never taking additional time in between shots No, he's very fast fast player Even under extreme pressure.

2:10:53Yeah, he doesn't really fall under pressure and And it seems like he doesn't feel it. No, sometimes it does feel like this. And he was feeding off the actual hate of the crowd in Moscone. Like Moscone got me to watch Las Vegas. I wasn't playing on those years, but everybody's learning rooting against him, and he's just feeding off the crowd. Kind of like Jason showed us. Wow. Yeah. If you can turn that into a fuel and just run rex, that's amazing in my opinion. Yeah, if you can do that, if you have that kind of temperament. But it's always interesting to me when a guy like that just seems to be so calm, under pressure and just fires balls in.

2:11:37It's like shocking. Like he's got an intimidating game. Right. Nothing I don't think he could beat him. It's a really good game though. It is. It's like a really good game. It's top one and two in the world. You know, I think at the very top as you see with you know with a loisius gap He won three tournaments in a row, which is crazy. It's crazy to win like three majors in a row But like you know Francisco Sanchez or we used one on a tear where he was doing that for a while You can you if you look back at like the years Even like ten years from where we're at right now is always one player winning tournaments for like a year or two And then switch us to another player like Shane one back to back US opens or mika mika one back to back Darin one.

2:12:23Yeah, I'm helping one back to back. Yeah, it's always they get hot. Yeah, yeah But it's just maintaining that it's just so weird like we were talking about Coping Chung who had that insane match in 2023 But this year didn't play nearly as well. It's really tough. I mean live gets in the way something I don't know, family, business. Or you might have a neck injury like you had. Right, right, right. Back might start bothering you. You get sciatica. There's a lot of stuff that can happen. Yeah, but it's just, that's why high level pool, when you watch it, you know, on a world stage like that, when it's executed so perfectly, so fun to watch.

2:13:02Because you know how hard it is to get there. Yeah, it's harder to even stay there. So, what do you do differently? Now that you're world number one, do you do anything differently to try to maintain your position? Or is it just keep going? No, just keep going. I know what I've what I know what I did to get me where I'm at right now. Why would I change it? Yeah, I mean, I guess Unless because a lot of people they stop because for example, they had a goal their motivation is gone Right, you know my motivation is there's always been money really Most of the time it was just the money. I wanted to win as much as I can.

2:13:42I was kind of from the poor -ish family growing up. And my biggest motivation was financial. But obviously I wanted to be a world champion. And I had the dream to be a world champion. I've won the first world championships. You know, that dream was kind of gone. Now it's just another major, major, major. So they always ask me those questions where, What would it feel to you if you win another US Open or who will pull masters like it would be great But I think it would mean a lot more when I stop playing like when I'd be sitting with my grandkids I'm like well your grandpa with a two -time world non -ball champion back in the day It was for railing that non -ball right there.

2:14:23Why do you say it with a southern accent? Indiana here. I live in southern Indiana. Is that a day of a southern accent Indiana? Yeah. Oh, that's interesting I never thought of that. Huh. Who would you assume their accent in Indiana would be? That's where you are. Well, you're an Ohio boy. So you're close to Kentucky. That's where you are there. Right. You have an accent. People's got an accent? That's true. That's true. People have accents where you're... That's true. But it's just... When you think about... Just in general, like, pool's growth, I think you're in a perfect position right now in life.

2:15:05It's like if you had been this good 20 years ago You would be in the same sort of trap the lot of those The older players were where there's no real incentive to be playing professionally The only money that anybody was making in pool 20 30 years ago real money was in gambling and there was a lot of guys that were making money gambling that weren't placing well in tournaments, they just, and they didn't want to. They didn't want to play in tournaments. They didn't want to knock their action. But I think you're in really the perfect timeline, whereas as you're getting better and as pool's getting more and more popular, the money's getting bigger and bigger.

2:15:44And I think it's a really awesome time for the game. I agree. Definitely, I definitely feel fortunate to be in the right time in the right era with the way my career was going to. because like you said 20 years ago I wouldn't be nowhere. And it's also the guys, the players of today, it seems to me, correct me if I'm wrong, but they're much more systematic with their training than they ever were before. Absolutely, absolutely. 100 % everybody's more disciplined, everybody's treating as a sport like I said. They're not treating it as a game. They're treating it like a sport, but they're also examining all the aspects of the game and constantly honing them.

2:16:23It's different. Like when I watch guys practice online, like you have a channel where you put a lot of your practice sessions online and you get to see, like there's no messing about. It's like there's serious training involved. Like serious position play, serious like getting that muscle memory over and over again, different ways to stroke a shot. For example, my idol growing up was always kneels fine. And he has his own channel on YouTube. Yeah, he's great. The terminator is the best to follow the best the guy is doing Visualization every day is he's practicing every single day I think you know he's doing his 90 minutes of hardcore practice on the pool table He's live streaming explaining why why would you have to practice and if you follow just everything he does You will get to a different level of 100 % Yeah, the world class player too.

2:17:17He's fun to watch. Yeah super disciplined super like a rafa Raffanadal is the Raffanadal in pull Fun time fun time to be a pull player and Like I said, I think the sky's the limit. I think I think the game is gonna explode over the next few years because we've Watched to get a lot bigger over the last four or five. Yeah, for sure. What's that up that filler magic? Yeah, man I'll do commentary. How about that? Get the get matrim involved. I just set it up somewhere in Austin I like to do it. Let's do it. Do it somewhere where we can have a crowd in person though. That's what I was getting at Like you're gonna have a crowd online, but it'd be cool if you had a lot of people there in person All right, you got it.

2:18:01We'll set it up. Okay. Well, I want to see it So listen congratulations on everything. It's been cool falling you and seeing what happened over the last time you were here and Watching you just get better and better. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me do my pleasure my brother Tell everybody if they want to follow you. What's your Instagram? My Instagram has a weird day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I have Facebook mostly I spent a lot of my time on Facebook TikTok. Oh, this is a question. I want to ask you your name You some people say fade or some people say fatter But isn't Russian is it fjord or?

2:18:37Fjord that okay, that's what I thought yeah, because people were correcting me I'm like I don't I think you're both wrong. I think it's fjord or yeah a lot of that of a feather, and when I was calling you Fador, people were going, oh, he's saying that because Fador, Mellie and Enko, I'm like, yeah, well, that's kind of the accepted American pronunciation of Fyodor though. So I wanted to ask you if it's Fyodor. Yeah, it is. So I knew I was right. But nobody called me like that. Okay, Fyodor. Let's see you all from now on, bro. All right. Let's play some pool, then we'll get some meat. All right, bye everybody.

2:19:10Bye -bye. What do you think?