>> Today's episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus. >> Head on over to
thegreatcoursesplus.com/rogue to sign up and keep us in business. Thank you and you're welcome. >> Keep learning. ♪ [diagetic jazz music] >> This is a big one. I'll put up my Cowboy Bebop
DVD box set against...? >> My Texas Chainsaw Massacre LaserDisc. >> Are you serious? >> Yeah. >> All right here we go. ♪ ♪ [pool balls clack together] [tense swell] >> Not bad, Brushwood. >> We'll play Sheboygan style,
you can take the next one. >> All right. [exhale] [heated breath] [sniffs] This one's for you. [kiss] [airy whoosh] [clack] Table's yours. >> I see what you're doing. [deep resonating tuning fork] Oh, yeah I agree. [wispy whooshes] [laughter of begrudging respect] ♪ ♪ [airy whoosh] [clack] >> [exasperated] Sheboygan style. Tell you what, double or nothing, one shot I'm going to take the whole table. >> The rest of the table? [affirmative vocalization] It's yours to lose. [Jason chuckles wryly] [heavy inhale] [thunderous rumble] ♪ [music now more pronounced and bassy] [scheming laughter] ♪ ♪ [shouting]
He-yieeh! [continuous clattering] [light laughter] >> You got me again.
[sharp slap] [quiet bar crowd chatting]
♪ [music back to diagetic] ♪ ♪ >> So you guys ready for your lesson? >> Just give a second will you? >> Yeah, let us have this. [deep synthetic rumble] [electrical pop]
[gentle vinyl static] [rising chime] >> All right we're here at Skinny Bob's,
home of the Texas Open, the longest running pool tournament
in the country and we've got Wes and Jude here with us to teach us
how to not look like idiots at the pool table. >> It felt blasphemous,
everything we just did. The deepest thing I fear, going to a pool hall is looking like-- >> Vampires? >> The second thing I fear the most [through laughter]
about going to the pool hall is looking like a total chump. What is the number one mistake you see people doing in pool halls? >> Oh, I think the first one is what you were doing before, you had the cue elevated really high. >> Oh I thought you meant backwards. [laughter] >> And that's legit, right? Has anyone ever done that? >> I don't actually see
that happen very often. >> So rule number one is
you're going to want to keep that cue stick as level as possible. When you elevate, you actually put downward spin on the ball and that's going to cause
that cue ball to curve. So if you want that cue ball
to go in a straight path, you want to keep this as parallel
as possible to the table. ♪ ♪ >> JASON: Okay so you got one in. [laughter] >> But I thought -- isn't English a thing? Like, you want to spin the ball
backwards or something? >> You do.
>> But only when
you know what you're doing? >> Well you want to try and keep your cue as level as possible, whenever possible. >> BRIAN: Okay.
>> JUDE: Just try and hit this ball. >> Okay, if was going
to go totally naturally it would be like this. >> JUDE: Yeah. >> But I fell like I'm going to --
whoops, no. [laughter] >> JASON: Good start. >> BRIAN: I feel like I'm going to hit it. [clack] >> JUDE: But if you elevate a little bit higher... >> Oh, so if I'm over elevated like this--
>> JUDE: Yeah. >> Yep, not so much. And I see exactly what
you're talking about you can tell that the spin, by not hitting it in the center,
it wandered all over. Now, I always feel like pool's
easiest when you're on the edge. >> JUDE: Ooh.
>> WES: Right, well-- >> BRIAN: Is that true or false? >> That leads us into one of
the other biggest mistakes I see people make.
>> Yeah? >> Is not having a stable bridge hand. The bridge is what you use to hold the shooting end of the pool cue. >> Is there a single right way to do it? >> There are lots of ways. >> Does anyone have a squire? [building laughter] >> Who gets down and just kind
of acts as the bridge. >> Isn't that what you do with the bridge? Is it called a bridge? Man, we really don't
know anything about pool. >> JASON: Not a thing! >> The most important
thing with your bridge is that it's stable. I mean I see people trying to hold the cue like this, or trying to rest it between knuckles. >> I'm actually known in
some circuits as the Spocker. [laughter] So, yeah, it's a proven technique. You can use it.
>> So there are a couple
of really solid bridges and you touched on probably the first one, which is using... >> BRIAN: The side!
>> WES: The side of the table. You said you felt very stable. You put the cue on the edge of the table, in the direction you want to shoot, hold the front with two fingers and use your thumb to brace the back edge. Now your cue can only
go in a straight line. >> BRIAN: Right, yeah. That's the hardest to screw up. >> So that's a very stable bridge
and it will serve you well. But to do this bridge,
you have to some distance between the cue ball and the rail. >> At what point would
you not use that bridge? That close, you would not use it? >> WES: If you're that close to the rail, no. It's very difficult
to get a good, clean hit when you're that close. So, one of the other very stable bridges, take your hand, fold it in half,
extend your thumb, and put it down on the table. Now the point between your
thumb and your first knuckle, you've got a nice stable spot for your cue and simply by extending
your hand or raising, you control the height
of where the cue strikes.
>> JASON: Oh! >> WES: If you're trying to hit a ball
and you want to hit it low, you just extend your fingers, now your cue is hitting the
bottom part of the cue ball. If you want to hit the
top of the cue ball, you pull your fingers in tighter and now you're aiming at the top.
>> Oh yeah. >> But at the same time your cue remains parallel to the table. This is what is commonly
know as the open bridge. You have a nice stable resting point and you can control the height of the cue by raising and lowering your fingers. >> Okay. >> There's another type of
bridge that I'll show you, it's called the closed bridge. Make an okay sign. >> Okay. >> Wrap that around the cue. Fold your fingers under so that your middle finger's
touching your thumb. >> Okay. >> And then just like we
did on the previous one, set your fingers and the palm of your hand down on the table. Similarly you control
the height of the cue by raising and lowering
your three fingers. >> That's interesting,
because you're getting significantly more drag by wrapping
your index finger on there so you have to really
account for that, right? >> You want to hold the cue firmly ♪ [music fades in]
but not so tight that you
can't move the cue through it. >> Also drag is a term
used in pool, right? It is now, let's just go with it. [laughter] >> But this is why there's
chalk at pool halls, right? So that everything slides. >> There's a common misconception, the chalk that people
use like this right here. >> JASON: It's delicious.
>> JUDE: It's actually -- it's very delicious and it's also very abrasive. It's mostly silica and hard metals, as opposed to sidewalk chalk which is made out of talc and that's kind that you
want to put on your hand. So this will not help you out with making the cue go
through your fingers. >> Okay, hold on,
what you're saying is the times that I've ever used one of those to dust the inside of my hands,
I've been a pool chooch? >> Yeah, it's actually been
hindering your ability a bit, yeah. >> JASON: It looks cool, though. [apprehensive]
>> No, it doesn't. I don't think I looked very cool. >> Brian walks out of the pool hall like Blue Man Group hands,
it's just chalk all over him. >> Baby powder's pretty good, although that can get a little messy, a lot of players use
gloves just like this. >> Oh, that's makes sense, equipment. >> Oh, yeah, that's probably my problem.
Right? I just haven't invested in a
good stick, is that the thing? >> Exactly. >> JASON: So we've got the side of
the rail, the open bridge, and then the closed bridge. If we do anything other than that are we just obvious idiots? >> No, there's a fourth bridge,
that's the mechanical bridge. Jude, can you hand me that? >> JUDE: Yeah. >> JASON: That's what that's for! >> BRIAN: Is there any stigma against using this? >> WES: Not at all. Not at all.
>> BRIAN: Does anybody at the top pro level-- >> WES: The mechanical bridge is generally used when you're trying to make
a shot that you can't reach and have a stable bridge
with your other hand. >> Okay. >> WES: If for instance,
I'm trying to make that 10 ball and the cue ball is over there, I have reach all the
way out over the table and my bridge hand is now very far away and if I have any shake at all in my hand I'm going to miss the cue ball.
>> BRIAN: Yeah. So you want to be just a few inches away with your aiming... fulcrum? >> Generally you want to be
about nine inches to a foot away from the cue ball with your bridge hand. >> Okay.
>> Is the laying on the table frowned upon? >> I think I know this one, you have to keep one foot
on the floor, right? Is that right? >> Ding ding ding.
>> Exactly right. >> And occasionally people
will do stuff behind the back if it's over here? >> What's become more common
is actually using the bridge or shooting opposite handed. >> Ooh, that's a flex. [laughter] >> The mechanical bridge actually works a lot
like your open bridge. You rest the cue in one
of the little spots, again you want to try
and keep your cue level. You brace the mechanical
bridge with your other hand and then sort of like throwing a dart, you use the cue ball. >> Okay, I'm about to make somebody rich. We're going to take one of those braces and we're turn into some brass knuckles and you just wear those
and you're like, blam. [everyone laughs] That's how you win the head game. >> JUDE: These are just
recycled Batman logos. >> What is the weirdest
bridge you know of? >> The weirdest is when they
don't have a bridge at all, when they play one handed. In some circles playing
like this would be okay where you can use the rail. >> BRIAN: Okay that makes sense at least, you have something holding-- >> And others will you can't use any rail and you have to shoot just like this. >> Okay but when you do
that are you intentionally being a [beep] to other people? Say somebody beats me like
that, we're going to have words, you didn't have to do that man. >> It's usually used a
handicapping purpose. >> Oh got it, if somebody's super good. >> If one player's really good
and the other player isn't, they'll shoot one handed. >> What's the etiquette
for when you walk in and when you want to start
up a game with someone and you don't know how good they are or how willing they are to play with you, how do you behave there? >> In other words how do we say we're bad, but we would like to play a game? >> Typical etiquette is that
people would play even up when they first play. >> Sorry? >> People would play even up, they would play just normal pool in the beginning. >> Got it. >> And it wouldn't be
until it was established that there was a difference in skill, that you would start to
make a game beyond even up sort of scenarios. >> That's interesting, that's a little bit like when
you play someone in ping pong, you just volley back and forth
and very quickly you can tell whether one player is much
much better than the other. >> I've seen many different
creative Solutions for evening things up. Some people will say, "You
can't use your own cue," or, "You have to shoot
everything opposite handed "or one handed," or more commonly--
>> Or bank shots. >> Or bank shots, or most
commonly what will happen is one person will have to
win x number of games while the other person will
have to win x minus two number of games. >> But that first game where you're really judging your opponent, that's where hustles start, right? >> That's what I was about to say. Is that considered a faux
pax to full on hustle? >> I think hustling is
a little less common than people make it out to be. Pool actually has a lot
of competitions now, there's tournaments all over the state, all over the country, leagues as well. And there's quite a few
people who are playing every single day in their
local pubs and pool rooms amongst friends and family. >> So I guess in the case of
the classic hustle structure, there's an end pay off and
you intentionally play poorly so you can set up one big score, but it sounds like most of the time there's no incentive to play
poorly for any one game. >> Oh yeah, I don't think that
happens a whole lot anymore. There was a time where people
were jumping on freight trains and traveling the country. >> Simpler times man, imagine how good we would be back there. >> But nowadays, aside
from the fact that I think that sort of interaction
is usually frowned upon, the internet also makes it very difficult for people to walk into a
pool room who are unknown, everyone is known. >> Oh, that's right because if you're good then almost certainly you
appear on camera at some point. >> Usually. >> And if you're playing against somebody who is confident in their skills, they probably have seen you. >> Exactly. >> Wow. >> It's also worth noting, league play is becoming
more and more popular. And most leagues, amateur leagues, have handicapping systems
where a player's skill level is tracked over a long period of time and you get a ranking based on that skill. >> Like Madden. >> Right. >> Or similar to chess? >> Exactly like chess. >> Okay got it. >> We have our own Elo ranking system which is identical to
what happens in chess. If you win a game, your rating goes up, you lose a game, your rating goes down. Depending on who you play
can influence it greatly or can influence it by a small amount. >> So within a league all of a sudden that becomes a very easy negotiation, if you're a 2000 and I'm
a 800, then it's like, "Okay, well, obviously I
would like to play a game, "will you please do it with your toes "instead of your hands?" [everyone laughs] >> The pool Elo system
actually goes from about 200 to around 850, so if
someone came in with a 2000, yes I would want them
playing with their toes. >> So when I learned to play pool, I actually like a nerd, read the BSA book. [everyone laughs] Is it BSA or? >> BCA. >> BCA, I was thinking of
the Boy Scouts of America. [everyone laughs] Tell me if I'm remembering this right, every single shot should
be either explicitly or implicitly called and even
if your ball goes in a hole and it's not the hole that you intended to that's a scratch, is that true? >> No, not really. It depends on the game you're applying. Some games aren't called shot at all such as nine ball. >> Okay >> Nine ball's a slot game, you can make it ball
in any pocket you want, everything counts. So long as the shot were legal, if you make the nine
ball, even accidentally, you win the game. There are some games where
you do have to call everything and eight ball's a good example of that. However, unlike what you
see in a lot of pubs, you don't have to call every
single detail of the shot, you just have to call
the ball and the pocket. >> So how you get there could be sloppy, not the way you intended. >> That's right.
>> But as long as the right ball goes in the right hole. >> Exactly. >> Other question, when
you scratch an eight ball, when I read the book, it had no mention of behind
this second diamond over here, it was just straight up balling in, you got to put the ball wherever you want, is that the real thing or no? >> Well, we call this area the kitchen. There are some games where you have to go, you have to put the cue
ball in the kitchen. However, most of the time
you get what's called, ball in hand, and you
can place that cue ball anywhere you want and
shoot in any direction. >> Last time Brian got called
out for having ball in hand. >> All right moving right along. [everyone laughs] >> He got kicked out of KB Toys that is the end of the story. [everyone laughs] >> Okay you did mention
that this is not hand chalk but why does this make a difference? >> It adds a layer of chalk to your tip which creates more
friction with the cue ball, that way it doesn't slip right off, called a miss-cue, when
you hit that cue ball. So the way you do it is you just want to hold the
cube of chalk in your hand and just like you were
drawing on the sidewalk, just make sure that you're
covering the entire top half of your tip, that's it. >> Huh. >> In fact I can usually tell when someone doesn't play pool very well when they grind it in to the point where you can hear it squeak. >> That's me. >> I don't know if I can do that. >> He's talking about me. [everyone laughs] How much does the equipment really matter? >> It can matter a great deal. There are a lot of pool
cues that you'll see in bars with slip on tips and they may not be
entirely one piece cues, they vibrate when you hit the cue ball. >> What does that mean? >> Oh. >> I don't think you're
talking about a pool stick man. [everyone laughs] >> I'm saying, it will be a, [laughs]. >> They have those that are
connected to the internet now. >> You might run into cues that are broken and they're not entirely one piece. >> Okay. >> And a good pool cue,
a well made pool cue, even if it's made of two pieces will feel like it's one piece. A lot of the materials
right now are used to create low deflection which means that
when you're using side spin the cue ball won't deflect
very much to the other side. >> So you're able to get the
cue ball going in the direction you're hitting and the
cue ball is spinning as opposed to being not just skew. >> Exactly, we call that,
believe it out, squirt. >> [laughs] That makes sense, sure. >> Are there types of gear that are forbidden in tournament use like if you have maybe
lights blinking in the heft. >> I love it when somebody has a -- >> Lasers. >> A RoboCop costume. >> They make lasers now for your pool cue. >> There are no lasers allowed, yes. That's exactly right. >> I saw that episode of "Quantum Leap." >> You're not allowed any
sort of mechanical devices on your cue, you can't have
any sort of moving parts. >> What are some of the
other primary aspects of pool that we may have overlooked? >> The table, the most important
piece of equipment we have. >> They're not all the same? >> No, no, no, no, no. In fact, this one right here is one of the most well
made tables out there, this is a Diamond Smart Table. And what distinguishes this table from the table you might
see at your average bar is it can recognize
which one is the cue ball with a laser. >> Okay because I always
thought the cue ball had to be a different size, I don't know how the cue
ball comes out one end and everything else
goes out the other end. >> That's exactly right. Typically what would happen is is that either they would
use a magnet to determine which one was the cue ball
or they would some sort of heavy cue ball or a large cue ball that would trigger a different mechanism that would send the cue
ball the the other way. On this table they have a laser
determining that cue ball. >> How do you have to adjust your play based on the size of the cue ball? >> It depends on whether
the cue ball's too large or too small but it can impact the
way you play immensely. Sometimes you'll have to use
more draw than you expect to, sometimes you have to use
less draw than you expect to. >> Draw is this motion.
>> Oh yeah. Draw meaning backspin or top spin. >> Got it. >> Follow would be top spin. >> The bottom line is when the
cue ball is bigger or smaller, you're not going to get
that pure perpendicular hit off the object ball. >> So if you're just grabbing a stick and you don't have your
own personalized cue, how do you pick, is there a particular-- >> There are weights,
there's numbers on them, they weight different amounts. >> JASON: Really? >> No? No. Forget I'm here. I'm just going to vanish,
just going to watch. >> The most important thing
you really want to look at is the tip because that's
the part that's going to be in play the most. So I would look at the tip first. That one actually is really good. You see how the ferrule
here is actually connected to the cue? That's a good sign. And how that tip is perfectly
lined up with that ferrule is also a good sign. >> BRIAN: So is this one a bad one? >> JUDE: Not quite as good, you can see how there's a
little bit of separation between the cue stick and the ferrule. And the tip seems to be in
pretty good shape though. >> And is that just because
all of these aspects introduce more randomness into every shot? >> Yes, yes. And if you're using, a lot
of bars will have this, a slip on tip where it literally
just will be placed on top of the cue without any glue or anything. >> That seems insane. >> It is. >> Okay. Well so what about the weight thing? Weight doesn't matter at all? >> Not overwhelmingly. The most common weight for pool cues is about 19 ounces. In the beginning a lot of
younger and newer pool players will usually go a bit heavier, 20 to 21. >> In high school that was my thing, I would just get the heaviest
one that I could find. >> I think a lot of people
settle around 19 ounces, sometimes even a little
bit less around 18 or 17. >> All right, last chance, any other bits of advice
that we need to know before we go to the pool hall? >> Always be aware of a common lane. So if you have a neighbor
on the adjacent table, you want to stay out of this
lane as much as possible, take your shot, and then
immediately walk to an area that's not a common space. >> So this is a bad spot to hang out. >> Exactly.
>> And act like you own it. >> Yes.
>> Got it. >> That's real good to know. >> Never would've thought about that. >> Yeah. >> The other common point
of etiquette is to try and avoid standing in the
person who's shooting, in their line of sight. >> I definitely have done this move. [everyone laughs] So this is a no no, right?
>> Exactly That's definitely a no no,
but even standing over here and waving your cue around. >> Like you're an annoying fan.
>> Drinking a beer. >> And then when you throw a shot. >> Or waving over over here. Anything that's trying to distract the person taking the shot. >> Take a shot, get ready
to take a shot Brian. >> JUDE: Oh no that's allowed. [laughs] >> You can do that? Okay. >> Hold on, if I'm going to take a shot I'm going to do it right. >> Good good good, very good. >> All right here we go. >> Okay. >> Blow in his ear, blow in
his ear, that's a good one. >> Oh, that's infected, that's infected. >> All right so if people
want to up their game, where should they go? >> Well if you're in the Austin area, you can look me up on Facebook at JudeRosenstockPool. >> You do lessons? >> Mm hmm. >> And if you're not in
Austin, look around for posters in your local bar or
check out poolplayers.com or playbca.com to learn about
local leagues in your area. >> All right, awesome. When do we fight with these? This is the part I don't understand. I've seen the movies. >> He'll take us on.
>> I'll fight him. Is this actually Skinny Bob? Do I have them? >> This is Skinny Bob. >> That's right, that's right.
>> If you're in Round Rock you can come play at Skinny Bob's. You don't need to Steven Seagal this guy. >> All right Brian Great Courses pop quiz, what have you learned? >> I've learned that I'm
better than everybody else because I'm in the middle
of a university level class while everybody else is
just riding the subway. >> You're going to have
to give me a little more, I mean, yes. >> I mean look at them,
they're going to work, they're just standing there,
they're holding on to the loops and what not and I'm in the middle
of a university course, I'm listening to
Professor Michael Starbird explain to me the nature of
statistics and probability, calculus made simple. >> All of us other people
who are looking things up on Wikipedia and where all the
idiots hang out on YouTube, I'm talking about us,
you're probably right, let's be clear. But you, not anymore, you are
evolved is what you're saying. >> No, no, no, I've elevated, I've leveled up as a human being and that's all thanks to our friends over at The Great Courses. If you go to
thegreatcoursesplus.com/rogue, not only will you be
keeping us in business you'll be learning from the
best professors in the biz. >> I've got my eye on a couple of courses, namely the stuff on organic chemistry so that in future episodes, we don't die. >> Really? >> I'm going to pay close attention. There are a broad variety of
courses covering philosophy to mediation, chemistry,
math, programming. >> I took a class on the historical Jesus, Bart Ehrman I believe is
the professor on that one, it blew my fricken mind. If you want university level education, it's all there and unlimited, all you can eat buffet. >> Check it out today and get smarter, don't be an idiot like me, learn things like Brian. [blows air]
>> We've given it to you,
thegreatcoursesplus.com/rogue. >> The gift of knowledge
that's what it was like. >> Also say hi to my old
professor, Michael Starbird. >> Sublime.
>> He did the calculus one. It was really weird. It's weird to listen, I'm like, "That's my old professor. >> We don't want the cue ball to go in. >> Hold on, there's part of me that, I don't know if I can
figure out how to do this, but it would be amazing if the next shot was just the cue ball
popping out over here. [laughter] And then it's followed by Sheboygan rules. [laughter]
Hey! They listened.
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