The TAR site has a lot of videos from the past available, and I randomly picked one from a free area-- I didn't pay close attention except for the players (I picked one with Shane and Dennis Orcullo), and it turned out to be the bar table tourney.
Wow, it was like a video game for this level of player! B&R, B&R. A little boring, actually, given their skills were so little challenged on the tiny table. (The rules featured alternate break, or it would have been very one sided.)
Some slightly less accomplished players (Oscar Dominguez was one) looked more human on the bar box, and what I saw of that match more resembled play on a 9 footer, with misses and safety play.
Although I decided fairly early on that I wasn't interested in matches on such a small table, it might be fairly good subconscious training, as if never missing or very rarely missing was a normal thing.
One thing about it-- as easy as one great player finds it, so does his opponent, so it really puts a premium on being able to always run out on your break, or in the odd case where you have to duck, to really lock up the cue ball.
So, a novelty version of the game that I do not prefer watching, yet not without some merit.
Do any of you routinely compete on bar boxes, and how do you find it, if so?
One thing that I learned from the commentary: before the third game (10-ball) was added, only two players had swept the first two games (8- and 9-ball) in the same year. I knew Warren Kiamco had done that, and learned Cliff Joyner had also done it.
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