profcuestroke said:
Jack Koehler's "UpScale One-Pocket" is where I learned about and fell in love with this game. I think it's a great primer. I have the Eddie Robin books but besides being rare and pricey, they're probably more suited to advanced play.
I dearly love Grady Mathews' tapes. Fun to watch and I always seem to learn something but Billy Incardona's tape "A Common Sense Approach to One-Pocket" is more complete and puts the game in better perspective than any single Grady tape.
Everything except the Robin's books should be available through Accu-Stats.
Oops! I totally forgot Freddy Bentivegna's "Banking with the Beard". I think it's a must for any player but particularly for a one-pocket player.
May the rolls be with you,
The old professor
I agree wholeheartedly with the old professor, our libraries are the same. I came at 1p from getting several Grady tapes, and loved the wacky banks and caroms (in any other pool game BUT 1p)... I had been playing them for years... so I found Shots Moves Strategies to learn more about the game.
Koehler's book is a bit dated and spare but a decent primer, useful drills.
Bill Incardona's video gives a good offensive strategic overview, while any and all of Grady's tapes will add a lot of sound defensive/offensive tricks up your sleeve, great value in each of his videos (straight pool, gambling, 1p, banking, kicking, advanced etc.).
Graduate courses in the mental 1p chess game begin with either of the Eddie Robin's books, and can get your creative juices flowing and also get you in serious trouble if you uncork one in a match without practice and it flops. Kind of like watching Accu-stats tapes when all the commentators are shouting "This is completely insane what the H#LL was he thinking this is.... just an incredible shot by a true champion!"
Polish off your library with as many recommended accustat tapes with great commentary and performances as you can afford.
Finally go get seasoning by playing the best as cheap as you can, and learning from your mistakes, you will pay dearly for each and every one. I learned my offense is "great" (err, adequate for the bozos I play/teach, they only know 9ball), needs to be tamed down a lot to avoid selling out twice a game, when an offensive ballrunner will undo all that patient moving, or meeting a real 1p specialist (AKA defensive sadist) who will torture your every mistake with only the backside of nothing to shoot at but sellouts or owe a ball.