Customer Reviews

Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a book I come back to time and time again. As someone who plays off and on, I often refer to the book when pool is 'back' in my life. This is a keeper!

The diagrams, the history, why shots do what they do, how to play the angles, you can't beat it. Its both informative and entertaining.

Robert Byrne has set the standard. As a state ranked player I decided to read this book. My game went to the next level. His checklist for running a table, his description of different types of "throw" shots and his simplifying the stroke all were instrumental. In pool, unlike other sports, there are few real teachers, Robert Byrne is a great teacher for the beginner to the very advanced player. It's the least expensive pool lesson you'll ever get.

I have only been playing for about six months, so I am not too good. If you are like me, and you want to improve your game, buy this book. It is fun to read and extremely helpful. I probably won't be able to master every technique in the book in ten years, but the two or three things I have learned have taken my game to a whole new level. I love it. It is all I need.

I have played semi-pro pool for about 10 years. I give lessons on a weekly basis, and always recommend this book to my students.

If you are starting out in pool or billiards, this is probably the best instructional book for beginners out there. Byrnes' clarity in this area is unparalleled. Once you have acquired some basic knowledge of pool and billiards, the only way to get better is by playing, observing, and practicing. If you are a pool player, I believe the best way to improve your cue ball control is by playing the carom game. Play the carom game (you should probably start out with straight rail) for a few months and you'll see the difference. As for the billiard players, don't get too caught up in all the fancy shots in Byrnes' book since some of them are extremely low-percentage shots in a game situation. The key to high runs in three-cushion is positioning. I believe the best way to learn to play position is by watching top players and studying tapes of top players. Remember what you see and practice it over and over. You also might want to learn a few systems for double checking and for getting the cue ball in the neighborhood when you can't visualize a shot.

Covers every facit of pool yet is easy to read and understand. In just my first day of reading it, my play improved tremendously. A perfect book for beginners and more advanced players.

Even though I'm not much more than a beginner at pool, I find this book fascinating. He covers each concept with lots of detail yet can still be understood. I won't get too much into each section, but i can tell you that reading on the concept of throw really helps. His section on Three-Cushion is somewhat irrelevant if you don't have a billiard table available. Yet its still interesting, and since I have Virtual Pool 3, I can try these setups if I want. Ultimately, I'd get this book; its a great writing on cue sports, whether you play pool or billiards.

Teriffic book for the player who knows how to shoot, but has not yet mastered the small details of the game. This book covers english-style pool very well. The only downside to the book, is that it focuses too much on 3-rail pool and other less-played games.

When this book came out 30 years ago it raised the bar for pool and three cushion billiards instruction manuals. Earlier books, such as Ray Martin' 99 Critical Shots, were badly flawed by the gross inaccuracies of their diagrams. Byrne introduced large and accurate scale diagrams, even including parabolic paths for cue balls struck with draw or follow. The last half of the book covers the elegant game of 3-cushion, which is now enjoying a renaissance. It contains by far the best, and nearly the only, explanation of "the diamond system" for calculating multiple rail bank shots. Even a rudimentary familiarity with it should help virtually any pool player. The entire book is leavened with Byrne's characteristic dry wit. I've been recommending this book to students for decades.

I just learned about this NEW publication, which is a revision of the one I read "Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards", Copyright © 1987, 1978 by the same author Robert Byrne. I have read just about every book on this subject, and there is no better book than this one! In fact, I recommend all of Robert Byrne's Pool & Billiards books and videos. He is an accomplished player, teacher and author.

I have no doubts that this book will meet and exceeds everyone's expectations on the subject!