Episodes

In the final part of our Legends of the Cue conversation with Mike Panozzo , we turn to history, legacy, media, governance and the future of professional pool. After more than four decades at Billiards Digest Magazine , Mike ...

In Part 3 of our Legends of the Cue interview with Mike Panozzo , the story moves from covering the game to owning one of its most important publications. By the mid-1990s, Mike and Keith Hamilton had purchased Billiards Dige...

In Part 2 of our interview with Mike Panozzo , Legends of the Cue steps into the pool world of the early 1980s — a time when the billiard industry was struggling, professional pool was still searching for stability, and a you...

In Part 1 of our conversation with Mike Panozzo , longtime Owner and Publisher of Billiards Digest Magazine , Legends of the Cue goes back to the beginning of one of cue sports’ most important storytellers. Mike grew up on th...

Part 4 brings our remarkable conversation with George Ashby to a thoughtful and deeply satisfying close. In this final episode, George reflects on the later chapters of his billiard life: returning to the game, staying connec...

In Part 3, George Ashby takes us deeper into the realities of life at the top of three-cushion billiards — and the very human struggles that can come with it. This chapter of his story spans world championships, national titl...

Part 2 of our conversation with George Ashby moves from the room to the arena, as George takes us inside the thought process, discipline, and competitive fire required to become a world-class three-cushion player. This is the...

In Part 1 of our conversation with three-cushion billiard great George Ashby, we begin where all great cue sport stories begin: in the room. For George, that room was Drexel Billiards in Jacksonville, Illinois, the family bus...

The final episode brings Justin Bergman’s story onto pool’s biggest stage. Here the focus turns fully to the Mosconi Cup years: the pressure, the personalities, the preparation, the heartbreak, the joy, and the chaos that can...

In Part 3, Justin Bergman opens up about something that has defined his entire career: he has never wanted to live like everybody else. Justin talks candidly about why pool appealed to him not just as a game, but as a way of ...

Part 2 follows Justin Bergman from gifted young player to feared road man, and it is packed with the kind of stories pool fans love. Justin talks about the pros and great players who passed through his orbit while he was stil...

In this first installment with American pool star Justin Bergman, we go all the way back to the beginning. Justin shares what it was like growing up in Fairview Heights, Illinois, just outside St. Louis, in a family where poo...

The final episode brings the drama home. With the number climbing, the pressure building, and history within reach, John Schmidt and Bob Keller take us through the closing stages of the 820 run and the decisions that still li...

In part four, the series shifts into the pure mechanics of greatness. This is where John Schmidt and Bob Keller begin unpacking the actual run in a way straight pool lovers will savor. They discuss break balls, key balls, rac...

Part three gets inside John Schmidt’s head, and it may be the most revealing episode of the series. John talks candidly about self-doubt, aging, criticism, pride, and the internal switch he flips when it is time to chase a gi...

What does it really take to run 820 balls? In part two, John Schmidt and Bob Keller pull back the curtain on the conditions, equipment, routines, and tiny details that made this historic straight pool run possible. This is th...

On this special five-part series of Legends of the Cue , we welcome straight pool great John Schmidt back to the show after his stunning 820-ball run, with Bob Keller joining us as the man behind the camera, the rack, and the...

In the final installment of our five-part conversation with snooker great Shaun Murphy, the story turns deeply personal, powerfully honest, and wonderfully reflective. This is the chapter where victories, setbacks, self-doubt...

In Part 4 of our five-part conversation with snooker great Shaun Murphy, the story reaches one of its most dramatic and defining chapters: the 2005 World Championship. Shaun takes us inside the moment his career—and his life—...

In Part 3 of our five-part conversation with snooker great Shaun Murphy, the story moves into the years when talent had to become a profession and ambition had to survive reality. Shaun reflects on the early certainty that sn...

In Part 2 of our five-part conversation with snooker great Shaun Murphy, the story moves from raw ability to the disciplined framework that helped shape one of the game’s true champions. This episode offers a revealing look a...

In this first installment of our five-part conversation with Shaun Murphy, the snooker great takes us back to the beginning and opens up about the difficult early years that shaped both the man and the champion. Long before b...

In the final chapter of our seven-part conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the story comes full circle. Mary reflects on the closing years of her competitive career, the health battle that changed everything,...

In Episode 6 of our seven-part conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston , the story moves from championship pool to one of the most beloved rooms in the game’s history—and then to a life-altering challenge that few...