Steve Farmer In the game of pocket billiards, player skill is commonly measured using the FargoRate system. This system assigns a number to a player’s ability, usually ranging from about 200 for beginners to over 800 for top professionals. Knowing where you fall on this scale helps you better understand your game and set realistic…
Tag: pool
July 2026, Sports
Play Your Best Pool: Understanding Expectations When Improving Your Game
Johnny Henson, Professor Pool Let me offer a piece of advice that can save you a lot of frustration and help you stay motivated on your journey to improvement. Anytime you take a lesson or begin working on a new skill, real improvement rarely happens immediately. In fact, it’s very common for your performance to…
July 2026, Front Page
Creekers Keeping Cool at the Pool!
Karen Robbins Creekers aren’t letting the hot temperatures keep them from playing their favorite game of Mah-jongg. These ladies purchased a floating game board to keep having fun with friends and exercising their brains. Using your creativity, you can make summers in Arizona really COOL!
April 2026, Sports
Play Your Best Pool: Separate Practice Mode from Playing Mode
Johnny Henson, Professor Pool One of the most common and most misunderstood performance killers in billiards is the failure to separate practice mode from playing mode. This is where analysis paralysis lives, and where many players unknowingly sabotage their own ability. Analysis paralysis occurs when practice-mode thinking leaks into performance-mode execution. Instead of allowing trained…
February 2026, Sports
Play Your Best Pool: Don’t Let a Missed Shot Define Your Game
Johnny Henson, Professor Pool Every pool player has experienced this: you line up for an easy shot, take your stroke, and watch the ball miss. Whether it rattles in the pocket, overcuts, or falls short, that single moment can stir up frustration, self-doubt, and tension. While the mishap itself is just a small part of…
January 2026, Sports
Play Your Best Pool: Three Simple Steps to Improving Your Game
Play Your Best Pool: Three Simple Steps to Improving Your Game Johnny Henson, Professor Pool There are three things that can help every billiard player play much better in a short period of time 1. Players must realize that they can’t teach themselves. Books, videos, and the tip of the day from other players will…
Sports, December 2025
Play Your Best Pool: Staying Relaxed and Positive When Not at the Shooting Table
Johnny Henson, Professor Pool We all miss shots and play dumb shots. It happens to all of us, and we get mad or down on ourselves. The difference between the better players and the weaker players is how well they control their emotions and actions when they are not shooting. Over the years I have…
November 2025, Sports
Play Your Best Pool: Understanding Lapse of Focus
Johnny Henson, Professor Pool I feel one of the main reasons players never reach their full playing ability is lapse of focus while playing. Every time you miss a shot when you are playing, think about the reason why you missed. Why did you fail to leave your cue ball where it needed to be…
November 2025, Sports
PebbleCreek Pool Players 8-Ball Showdown with Buckeye Legends
Dan Harris, travel team coordinator On Sept. 17, the PebbleCreek Billiards Club (PCBC) welcomed the Buckeye Legends (BL) back for an 8-ball showdown at PebbleCreek’s Salerno Billiards Room. And, just like last month, PCBC took one match and BL took the other. But this time both matches were won by the slimmest of margins. The…
Sports, October 2025
Play Your Best Pool: Practicing and Playing Speed Pool Can Help Improve Your Game in Many Ways
Johnny Henson, Professor Pool There is a new 8–ball tournament format that is being played by both professional and amateur players. It is called the Ultimate Pool League. The match has a time limit of 30 minutes with a 30 second shot limit. At 10 minutes left in the match the shot clock goes to…