Inside the mind of a WORLD CHAMPION A PLACE MOST SHOOTERS WOULD LIKE TO EXPERIENCE FIRST HAND ARTICLE AND PHOTO BY DAVID TELLER It’s a place most shooters would like to experience first hand but often settle with someone else telling them what is like: what a world champion thinks about when he’s at the table during a match.
In Spokane, Varner’s exhibition finished with a challenge match that started two days before. Joe Gilliland of Post Falls, Idaho, beat a pool of local shooters in a Sept. 19 tournament to be eligible to play a race-to-five set against Varner. Al Primm, who lost in the opening round of the race-to-three tournament, came all the way back through the one-loss bracket to beat Gilliland once. In the rubber match, Gilliland capitalized on a crucial Primm miss to win the tournament, 3-2.
Nick Varner wowed spectators with trick shots and played challenge matches in a clinic and exhibition at Black Diamond Billiards and Eatery in Spokane, Wash., as part of the Legends and Champions Pool Tour on Sept. 21 and 22. Aside light-hearted anecdotes about playing pool, Varner took questions while explaining what he sees on a table when he shoots. Audience members got tips and advice on analyzing a table for trouble balls and taking the right shots to break them out to where they are playable. He also provided pointers on fundamentals like stroke, concentration, knowing where the cue ball is going to hit and properly aligning on a shot.
Against the eight-time world champion, Gilliland had his work cut out for him. Varner broke and ran two tables and was into his third before Gilliland ever took a shot. Varner scratched on the 8-ball to give Gilliland an easy out. It would also be the only out he would get as the soft-shooting Varner effortlessly won 5-1. Varner makes pool look easier than it is. The smooth confidence he has comes from years of experience, not only on the table, but above it. In the clinic that he teaches, Varner said the mental aspect is as important as mechanics. He said too many players think too much about missed shots and poor performance. He said players need to concentrate on the next shot, not the last one.
Alicia Kvasncka, of Spokane Valley, Wash., gambles Nick Varner's shooting ability against her dental coverage by volunteering as a prop during a trick shot exhibition at Black Diamond Billiards on Sept. 21
“We all know where the contact point is on every shot,” Varner said after the exhibition. “Trying to get lined up on that (contact point) and then hit the cue ball good enough to go there, that’s a tough act.” Varner is a tough act of his own. Born in Grandview, Ind., and raised in Kentucky, he started playing quite young and as a teen was regarded as a top local player. He got serious about playing pool again in 1969 while attending Purdue University. Shortly afterward he started
getting national accolades. Since then he has won 80 major titles, been a world champion eight times, has been a world champion in five different pool games, competed in the Mosconi Cup eight times, won back-toback championships in the U.S. Open, was voted Billiards Digest Player of the Year five times and was inducted into Billiards Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1992.
2430 Grant Ave - Ogden, UT 801-394-8400 DEC 3RD: 9-Ball Scotch Doubles Blind Draw JAN: Women’s 8-Ball Mondays 8 Ball at 7:00pm VNEA & Weaver Cnty Leagues
Allen’s Billiards & More BILLIARDS - DARTS - ESPRESSO Ice Cream - Xbox 360 & Fun PROUDLY SERVING OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN ICE CREAM 23692 NE State Route 3 - Belfair, WA 360-275-2668 FOR ALL YOUR POOL AND DART ACCESSORY NEEDS We do parties - call for details www.allensbilliardsandmore.com Sean Allen - Owner email: allensbilliards@yahoo.com
6 The Break - October 2011
www.TheBreakMagazine.com
“Your attitude is real important,” Varner said. “If you show your temper or frustration, it’s kind of a sign of weakness.”