Cheaters Never Win
The most common method is table marking. Players have several methods of marking shots on the table. Why anyone would mark a table anyway when the felt has marks all over it is beyond me. Diamonds are great for legal table marking. When I need a mark, I scan the area for a piece of dust on the spot. You can find all kinds of crud that will work and they are legal. If this is a concern for you, then brush the table before the match. I am not telling you how to work around cheating; I am just saying that awareness can be a better tool. One famous move you see is the lick your fingers and rub the felt trick. Damp spitty fingers are a real plus for this method. Another sneaky method is to chalk up the tip and while you are aiming, rub the tip on the felt and leave an aiming spot. The shame of it all! Beware of people that leave the chalk cube on the aiming point. Remember, it is illegal to use any device to set up a shot even if you move it before you shoot! Speaking of chalk, we found a cube once that was marked with English markings on each side. LR meant low right for example. This was found after a scotch doubles match and the English needed was facing up on the chalk. The experienced player was leaving it on the table for his partner. If he missed, he just took his chalk with him. Sneaky methods to say the least!
Another method in the days of beepers was to beep the run out numbers to the player. While he is shooting, he gets a beep that showed the numbers for the easy run out. Now a day, you have to also wonder about headsets. It would be very easy for a headset to be hooked to a phone hooked to a coach. This goes all the way up to the pros. Music cuts the audience chatter and seems to supply focus to the player. I like music too but it interferes when reffing, you cannot hear the crowd jeering you. We use headsets in Vegas to communicate among the refs to answers rule questions and whatever. We also broadcast who the cheaters are! It would be great if they would just pipe in music!
Less common methods include equipment and rule violations. Just remember that if something is made for pool, it is probably legal. We like to see new devices. If you are in doubt about a piece of equipment, just ask the ref. We are always happy to check legality. It is hard to cheat with special equipment. You must still physically control the device. I do not know of any cork centered cue sticks. I wish someone would let me know about the cork thing anyway. There is not much you can do to a stick that has not been accomplished by the professional manufacturers anyway. They modify sticks and then the rules change to make them legal. Think about it, like the break stick for example. No big deal, the science of pool must progress.
Overall, if there is a way, someone will try it but destiny will always rule. Therefore, if you screw up, just do the right thing and hand the opponent the ball. The shock alone may make them miss! Destiny can work in your favor when you do the right thing too! When we get an eye on a cheater we do not forget them, they stick in memory like glue. It is human nature. Pool is pretty much determined by the skill of the player. Let the refs handle the cheaters. We want your game to be as good as it can be and we will protect you. I am not going to tell you everything we see, just remember that cheaters are always poor players anyway, and quit putting the two in the back of the rack for goodness sake.
My apologies to the head refs, who think I am teaching the world to cheat with this article, but the truth is that great players do not need to cheat to win. Have a great game of pool and send your questions and comments to GoodRolls@aol.com Thank you for reading.
