Trick Shot - Notable Trick Shots

Notable Trick Shots

• "Machine gun" (1): A line of object balls are placed in a row about a ball width away from a cushion, and the cue ball is shot into the space between the balls and the cushion so as to reverberate between them while traveling and hit each one of the object balls in series, issuing a machine gun-like sound.
• "Machine gun" (2): A line of object balls are placed in a row along but not against a cushion, and are then shot directly with the cue, one after another, around the table, each contacting three cushions, and into the same pocket. The trick requires carefully timing the shots, so that newly-shot balls travel between balls already in motion.
• "Machine gun" (3): A line of object balls are placed on the table. The cue ball is shot into a pocket with deadweight and the object balls are all potted into the same pocket directly one after the other with the cue, while the cue ball is still traveling. Done right, the cue ball is the first ball hit and the last ball falling.
• "The dollar bill shot": Introduced into competition by Paul Gerni, this shot uses a banknote, typically a US$100 bill, placed on the short rail near the corner pocket as a target landing zone. The cue ball is banked off of eight or nine cushions and should land with the ball's edge over the banknote. This shot is used as a tiebreaker on Trick Shot Magic with the competitor landing closest to the bill winning the match.
• "Up and in": Mistakenly thought to be originated by World Champion Mike Massey, this shot has much earlier origins, and was done in 1980 in Sweden by European champion Bengt Jonasson of Stockholm. He showed it to the gentleman of the American team (Paul Gerni, Jim Rempe, and Mike Sigel) in an exhibition prior to the 1980 Swedish Open in Gothenberg, using a wooden shoe instead of a floppy cowboy boot, and prompting both Gerni and Rempe to stop at the gift shop at the Amsterdam airport on the way back to pick up some wooden shoes. In this shot, the cue ball is jumped off the table into a wooden shoe (a cowboy boot for Massey, 25 years later) on the floor, which made a nice "klack" sound in the case of the wooden shoe. In the U.S., the wooden shoe shot is sometimes referred to as "the boot shot".
• "The bottle shot": Two balls are balanced on top of a glass soda bottle. The cue ball pockets a ball in the side and gets propelled in the air, knocking the bottom ball from the top of the bottle, letting the top ball drop to rest on top of the bottle. This shot was conceived by Japanese player Yoshikazu Kimuraj, from Kyoto, and popularized by Polish champion Bogdan Wolkowski.
• "The butterfly": For this popular exhibition shot from the days of pool greats Willie Mosconi and Jimmy Caras, six object balls are grouped in the middle of the table in a butterfly shape; in a single shot, each ball drops into a different pocket in the billiards table.
• "Just showing off": Five object balls are clustered near the left side pocket and a hanging object ball in the lower right corner. The cue ball is sent in to the cluster pocketing all five balls and then travels 3 rails to pocket the hanging object ball. This shot was originally designed in the '60s by Paul Gerni, combining two previously popular trick shots, and made famous by Steve Mizerak in a Miller Lite beer commercial in 1978. This shot and the subsequent commercial boosted Mizerak's name recognition and vaulted him into the Hall of Fame. Gerni still showcases this shot in his present-day exhibitions, and it has now become a standard for most all pool exhibitions.
• "The snake shot": Fifteen object balls are placed across the table. The 15 ball is the first and it is placed 6 inches away from the corner pocket. Each successive ball is placed 3 inches behind the previous one in a winding chain. Each combination of balls beginning with the 1 and the 2 should be aligned so they aim toward the next ball in the chain. The cue ball must be set up in position to make a straight line with the first two-ball combination. When the 1 ball is hit it should cause a chain reaction as each two-ball set hits each other.
• "The Swing Shot": A rack hangs from above and swings back and forth. The player proceeds to jump balls through the moving rack and into the corner pockets.