Meet the Streamers

By Suzanne Smith In the last 10 years, live streaming over the internet has exploded, especially with respect to watching live pool. I became a huge viewer of pool live streams when I was on maternity leave with my daughter in 2010. I hadn’t watched much pool before and I must say that in the last few years, my knowledge of pattern and defensive play has improved significantly, and I feel like I can honestly contribute that to the streaming that has been made available to us over the internet. There are streamers across the nation that are doing all kinds of amazing things, including covering many top professional tournaments, setting up action matches, and assorted contests and give away’s. The WPBA has even started exploring live streaming their matches through ESPN3. There are networks being developed where you can access live streaming and videos 24/7. As a pool player and avid streaming enthusiast, I thought that I would coordinate an introduction to some of the best streamers in the business. I sent a list of questions to several of the streamers that I know, so the list that will be featured is definitely not all inclusive. It is my hope to provide some free exposure for the streamers I have had the pleasure of watching. Here is a list of the streamers that have agreed to contribute to this series . If you know a streamer in your area that you would like to see featured in our Meet the Streamers Volumes, please send me a message at editor@sneakypetemafia.com.

For our first Volume, I will include Q&A with Alvin Nelson from Inside Pool. I first met Alvin in 2011, the year I won the US Amateur Championships. He was streaming the event. Inside Pool always provides a high quality stream, often with different camera views, and usually free to the public. 1. Why did you get involved with Live Streaming? After a rather strange 20 years of becoming an adult and becoming a really good young VW mechanic the appearance of a tragedy happened. I had my shop broken into and all my tools stolen. With no insurance on my tools and little options of working on cars immediately my Aunt Vera helped me get a job at her boyfriend Joe Scarl’s Pizza shop, so I gave in submitted and took a normal job. I was a manager at a Pizza shop. Quite young and confused with no direction in life and truly a sad story unravelling. There one night I met a pizza driver named Bryce Eshelman. This guy became a very close friend to me still to this day even. As time went on I learned that Bryce’s father owns a powerful Personal Injury Law firm in Akron called the Eshelman legal group. Mr. Eshelman invested a ton of money into an Avid video editing suite with Avid Media Composer 1. This was to produce his own in house Television commercials that play all over the NE Ohio TV stations even now.

This Avid Suite was a decked out office and was a top of the line editing system at the time. As I look back on it, it is truly amazing how I was placed there. Mr. Eshelman not only is a huge pool fan, backing Nick Varner and having him visit his residence often. Mr. Eshelman was highly involved in professional pool in the Akron Cleveland area working with the Akron Open every year and donating to pro level competitions. So truly in the end Mr. Eshelman was the prime mover in the sequence to get Bryce and me on course to our destiny.

Inside Pool www.insidepool.tv JR Calvert, Alvin Nelson Onsite Pool Network www.onsitepool.com Zachary Goldstein POV Pool www.povpool.com Daniel Busch Rail2Rail Productions www.rail2rail.tv Adrianne Beach, Anne Bounds The Big Truck Show www.poolactiontv.com Ray Hansen TV Mike www.tvmike.tv Mike Warden (TV Mike)

So on with the story. There was an assistant that worked for the legal group named Aaron Czetli who knew Niels Feijen via Joe Kerr of Starchers Billiards fame. Aaron is an energetic player and part time backer of the pros. Aaron Plays pretty sporty pool. So a few years roll by and Bryce and I are best friends after time and eventually we became roommates and really started planning our next move. Bryce by the way was and still is a computer genius, anyone who knows him will tell you the same thing. So Bryce comes to me one day and says hey Alvin here is what we are going to do. We are going to use my dad’s betacam SD and Avid Editing equipment and start producing Pool videos of professional players. Aaron knows this guy Niels Feijen and he is going to have him set up a king of the hill tournament in North Canton Ohio at Fiddlestix. Mr. Eshelman can get Varner of course and they can bring several other pro players in and we are going to do a video tournament. With great excitement I say ok count me in!!!!! So after tons of prep work we knock this tournament out March 2002 with 3 cameras and the player list was Nick Varner, Niels Feijen, Corey Deuel, Mika Immonen, Jose Parica, Troy Frank, Max Eberle and Shawn Putnam. What a way to enter the pool industry! So that weekend we knock out 20 matches on video and Jose Parica ends up winning the tournament. Bryse and Aaron did a great job and I tried to for sure do my part. After this tournament was over Mark Whiteside from Inside Pool was covering our event because JR Calvert was working with our company named WorldPool.com. JR was giving us a free article to help us on our way in the industry. And we worked with Mark that weekend to get an article written for Inside Pool magazine. So even at this early stage of my career JR was helping me in the background. I ended up filming a commercial with Corey Deuel and Dee Adkins for ESPN commercial for Inside Pool and we offered a free 15 min Instructional tape to any new subscriber to Inside Pool. So for days and days Bryce and I were mailing out these VHS tapes for JR’s magazine and he was working with WorldPool and supporting us. After the Filming of the tournament, we began the editing of the videos. This was a huge feat for me to dive into and learn and I truly learned a lot during the next year producing these videos and traveling to events selling them. My first event was US Open 9 Ball Championships in 2002. I went there with a car load of VHS tapes to sell and no plan on how to sell them. I had never personally met JR at this point and I walked into the Inside Pool booth to say hi and there was JR! He spoke with me awhile and asked my plan for selling WorldPool tapes. I said I had no plan I was just here! So then JR pushed aside a small section of his booth and said here you go Alvin here is a spot you can set up your TV VHS player and sell WorldPool matches. I was totally blown away at how kind JR was immediately. So the next year Bryce comes up to me and says, Hey Alvin you ever heard of internet live streaming? I said no. He said well we are going to do the first live stream ever from Amsterdam billiards in NYC. I was absolutely so happy because I had never been to the city before. So after months of prep work we pulled off this event the World Summit of Pool and had about 6 viewers but it was the pioneering event at the time and I am very proud to say I helped design and execute this project. From there after a year or so I split off from WorldPool and moved away giving up pool forever!! Of course it called me back and I decided that I was just going to travel the tournaments and make my own documentary movie. So I funded my own stuff for years until one day AZ billiards called me asking me to go to Manila to do video for them. I said sure and for the next 2 years worked with Mike and Jerry very closely and traveled all over to Dubai, Manila, Vegas,, US Open. Then the funding ran out and Mike told me he had no projects in the future for me.

So I quit Pool again. In 2009 I was sitting in an attic looking out the window and I said ...” I am going to Vegas on my own and produce my own videos. I have to get back into pool because at that time I was the only guy making music videos and YouTube clips besides JR and Inside Pool.” So I go to Vegas and get a press pass and free hotel room from Matchroom Pool. I produce daily videos from the event with Christina Delagarza as the interviewer. My computer crashes and JR and AZ both help me separately to use their editing system and cameras and helped me complete the assignment. So at the MGM grand, JR Sally Timko and I are in the lounge having a drink. JR says. Alvin I want you to work for Inside Pool video. You need a job and I need some help with the video... From there the story goes even stranger but InsidePool TV show was born and JR and I have built it to its current stage with Blood sweat and many tears. In the end it is something incredible to me. I have to say I do owe everything to one book I read and take everywhere. It is called A course in Miracles and I have followed the path so far to Miracles. Being in gratitude to the Universe is number 1 to me without that none of this would have been built.

2. What are the key elements to a good stream? The key elements to a good stream are the right setup of computer cameras and lighting. From what I learned from JR, lighting and lenses are the most important parts of the stream and that proper understanding of mechanics and fabrication are critical. It is most important to have a proper plan before streaming a room. Make sure to have the owner take pictures of the room, ceiling, and electrical outlets and sends them to you. Also test the upload speed in the room before you get there. 1.5 -2 megs per second upload speed is ideal for HD. The more you know before you get to the room for the first time the better. Also always go as early as possible to avoid running out of time before the tournament starts. Once it starts it becomes a machine and there is very little time between matches to change the set. Be prepared to work 35 hours straight sometimes. Be prepared for an extremely difficult balancing act making everything work. 3. How do you think players can benefit from watching streaming? The players benefit with knowledge, entertainment and connecting in the chat. It also gives them good industry sponsor ads and the ability of Inside Pool to be a good enough show to get the front of UstreamTV is huge for our sport. It means we get viewers from all over the world who never have seen professional pool. Knowledge acquired is of proper mechanics position play and technique from top pros commentating and industry people who we select to talk. People benefit with entertainment and obvious benefits of laughter and that creates good energy and health. Connecting with the chat can bring incredible threads of events we cannot even imagine. So overall live streaming will truly take pool to the stars in my opinion. 4. How do think streaming has changed the pool world? Streaming since the first pressing of the live button in 2003 has brought pool to the homes and places all over the world that it normally would not be seen. The voices are heard and the history is made for all to see from tournaments that normally are only seen by people in the area. Streaming has changed pool in a good sense that people watching streaming, who have never seen pool, can view our show on a platform like the ustream tv home page as well as YouTube live. I see a bright future for streaming, but it takes striving for perfection by each person who sets up a camera to represent our sport well to anyone who might be viewing pool for the first time... I would add to always shoot for the best show possible and do the homework first before turning on the stream. Streaming has shown off

talented players from all over the world who normally would not be noticed. It gives people there fame and fortune and always a story from these amazing match ups and tournaments. I do hope that my work in past and future and the maximum concentrated serious effort to be as artistic as possible, can help propel billiards into a new Golden Age. I always put full intensity into everything I do and I thank you for this interview and would like to wish Sneaky Pete Magazine and its stellar staff all the best of luck in the Universe!

5. What types of events do you stream? We stream many top pro and amateur events. 6. What is the average cost of your stream? The cost is usually a few thousand dollars a stream after it is all said and done with. Room owners usually Pay Hotel and Food Beverage. We sell advertising to pay Inside Pool. We do the full lighting and ceiling multi camera layout so it is a very involved process for sure and raises the cost. Gaining sponsorships and advertising products for your sponsors is critical. Timing is critical. It is all gathered from trial and error but never give up on your destiny. I am living proof you can do anything starting from nothing. 7. What events do you stream? Diamond Pro Players championship. Derby City Classic big Foot 10Ball, Southern Classic 10-Ball Events. World 14.1, The US amateur championship. The Virginia State 9 ball and Maryland 14.1 championships. The great Southern Billiard Tour Championships and many other small tours and events all over the World.

8. What are some of your fondest memories from events you have streamed? My favorite moment in all time was in 2007: I was in The Philippines at the World Ball Championships at Areneta Coliseum. I was filming Earl Strickland playing one of the Asian Superstars. I was in Earl’s corner and he was talking to me. At this point Earl was down 6-0 and the player was running out like crazy from everywhere. Earl was not making a ball on the break because no one had figured out where or how to break on the TV table at this point. I noticed that Earl was breaking a bit too hard and the one ball was hitting the top of the side pocket and Earl was breaking dry. I said to Earl...”Hey Earl break softer and you will make a ball.” Earl got up on TV and said to me rather sternly, “That’s like telling Tiger Woods how to play Golf!” He then broke and made the ball in the side and proceeded to win 9 straight racks and win the match! It was so cool being there on Live TV with Earl. Another fun memory was at Michael’s billiards in 2010. JR and I showed up to film a Great Southern Billiard tour event and it was about 9 pm on a Saturday night and we are going strong on the stream match after match. I was commentating with JR and there were about 230 pool players in the room at the time—it was a major event. The lights all go out, complete power loss on the entire mile radius of the city. I went outside and it was complete chaos everywhere. No stop lights no nothing and sirens going off all over the place. Back inside Michaels there were people confused and bumping into each other. The house was packed and it was pitch dark! All of a sudden I hear pool balls getting hit. I walk into the Diamond Mine action room and there are people hanging their smart phones over the table with the flash lights and also a miner’s cap flashlight was over another table. It was so funny hearing pool balls getting hit in the dark! That was really fun and funny. It is always the best when the tournament is over and the doors are locked. Being in the room with all the top pros hanging out and having fun after the matches is always the best. I think after last year’s Johnny Archer Classic and the doors were locked we had one really fun party. I think the most rewarding experience has been the friendships I have made along the way with the Pro Players, Industry people and Fans. Many times I have felt incredible energy from pulling off events perfectly all over the planet or having insane coincidences and powerful lessons happen for me to keep me on this path. Life has been one incredible adventure for me and just because I let go of my fears and trusted the voice that told me where to go. Seeing where I am now in the sport and looking back at the whirlwind of madness that took me to get here. I am very thankful to the Universe for giving me this task. Truly an honor to be interviewed by Sneaky Pete Mafia and thank you to everyone who watches the show. Stay tuned for some huge changes at InsidePool.TV