Call him Mini-sota Fats. An upstate New York two-year-old is being dubbed a billiards prodigy by dazzling crowds across the country with his pool playing prowess. Keith O’Dell Jr. of Johnstown was invited to perform at the American Pool Association’s championship competition in Las Vegas last month, and he’s booked to show his skills on the Rachael Ray show in July. The wiz kid learned the game on a child size table, but recently switched to regulation size. He reaches the balls by standing on a chair. It all started a few weeks before Christmas when the boy’s parents, Keith Sr. and Courtney O’Dell, were in a discount store and saw a miniature pool table. Keith Sr., an avid player, thought his son was too young to enjoy it, but bought the table anyway. Keith Jr. opened it Christmas morning and surprised his parents when he started shooting on his own. The O’Dells have no explanation for their son’s success, but say he learned by watching his dad shoot 200 racks every night. His parents say the boy’s learning hasn’t been limited to billiard games – pool is also teaching their son colors and how to count. Outside the cue sports industry, pocket billiards is almost exclusively referred to as “pool”, due to a perhaps unfortunate association with the “poolrooms” where gamblers “pooled” their money to bet remotely (“off-track”) on horse races. Because these venues often provided billiard tables, the term “pool” became synonymous with billiards. Though the original “pool” game …

A short introduction to the fundamentals of pool (pocket billiards)
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