Straight pool has always been my favorite pocket billiard game, so it’s always special for me when someone asks for straight pool lessons. It is the purest form of pool. And not only is it a beautiful game to watch and play, but played correctly it can go on indefinitely. There is no limit on the number of balls you can run consecutively. Think about that!

As a teacher, I love straight pool because a great straight pool game is the best foundation for all other pocket billiard games. Straight pool requires precision with position play. In a game like 9-ball, position for your next shot is not a spot, it’s a “zone.” As long as you leave your cue ball somewhere in that zone, you’ll have a decent shot on the next object ball. In straight pool, the cue ball needs to be in a specific spot. Position play requires precision. Played correctly, straight pool is like surgery on a pool table.

Conversely, played poorly, straight pool is a bloody mess. And I don’t necessarily mean missing shots. Some people play straight pool simply by pocketing random balls (usually just the easiest shot on the table) and hoping there will be another shot available.

Today’s players are great shot-makers and can certainly run a lot of balls, but it’s simply not the same game. As long as they can get the right shot on the break ball, they can win. But having grown up watching the likes of Steve Mizerak, Mike Sigel and Nick Varner play straight pool, I contend that they would dominate straight pool tournaments today. Sure, today’s players can run balls and could win any match. But over the long haul, they would never last against those champions. You would need to run 150-out against them because once they got to the table, it would be over.

Of course, Mizerak has passed, and Varner and Sigel no longer compete, but you can still learn from them. There are plenty of DVDs and YouTube videos of those straight pool greats in action. And you would be wise to watch and learn. I learned pattern play by watching those tapes. I constantly stopped the tape to plan the pattern in my head. Often times, their pattern was different than mine. And when it was, it was always for a good reason and always led to better shots and longer runs.

One of my favorite tapes is Sigel’s 150-ball run against Mike Zuglan at the 1992 Billiard Congress of America U.S. Open 14.1 Championship in Chicago. You can learn so much by watching rack after rack of surgical precision. And, even though I actually disagreed with some of Sigel’s decisions, you couldn’t argue with the results. Everybody has a different style of play, and everyone plays to their strengths. But you can always learn.