April Erfman started ditching high school in Los Angeles, spending her days in coffee shops and restaurant bars with pool tables, drinking coffee and grinding through games because she was too young for the real bars. That teenage obsession grew into 30-plus years of competition, APA national championships, dominant Scotch doubles runs across the country, and a reputation for the best floating air jump in the game, according to Tony Piazza himself. We discuss her system for building chemistry with Scotch doubles partners, why breathing and staying off tilt are the real keys to tournament survival, the floating air jump technique, player management strategies like energy conservation and eating light between matches, and why being fearless enough to enter tournaments you have no business playing in is the fastest way to level up.

Follow April and catch her incredible shot videos on Instagram and Facebook at Jane Chalks.

Florian "Venom" Kohler received a six-foot pool table for his 18th birthday in Eastern France and, with nothing but a 56K internet connection and Mike Massey's book, taught himself every trick shot from the last 100 years in two years. Then he got bored and started inventing his own. At 22, he moved to the US with no money and told his parents to give him six months. Fifteen years, 13 Guinness World Records, and nearly 3 billion views later, he's the reigning world trick shot champion, an APA division operator in Las Vegas, and one of the most recognizable names in billiards. We discuss why having no instructor meant having no limitations, the speed-over-power secret behind his stroke, why he changes cue balls constantly, what trick shots actually teach you about real pool, and his controversial take on why the sport needs to leave hustling culture behind.

Find Florian at VenomTrickshots.com or search Venom Trickshots on any social media platform.

Roy Pastor started playing pool at nine years old because his parents in Queens, New York figured a table in the basement would keep him off the streets. Nobody in the family played, so his father bought a used Willie Moscone book and Willie became Roy's hero. When he was 12, Roy and his dad took the bus to see Mosconi at an exhibition at Golden Cue Billiards on Queens Boulevard. Mosconi agreed to a photo but refused to look at the kid standing next to him because Roy's dad couldn't afford the $1.25 book. That moment stuck. Now, 23 years into teaching juniors and never having charged a single one of them a penny, Roy runs the Red Dragons Billiard Club in Harvard, Massachusetts, operates two New England pool leagues, leads the BCA WPA Break and Run junior program with students competing from four countries at Worlds, and somehow still practices law full time. We discuss why there are no shortcuts or secrets in pool, how 30 minutes of focused practice beats three hours of grinding, using music and rhythm to build stroke mechanics, why adults are harder to teach than kids, and how a snub from his childhood hero shaped everything he does today.

Find Roy at RedDragonBilliards@gmail.com, roypastor@americanpoolschool.com, or on his YouTube channel All Things Pool New England.

Emily Duddy grew up at the Hollywood American Legion Post 43, where her dad ran events for 35 years and she learned to play on a gorgeous antique nine-foot Brunswick surrounded by veterans. She sat through 15 minutes of college classes at UC Santa Cruz before disappearing to play pool for eight hours a day, took fourth in her first tournament at 18, and sold everything she owned at 23 to move to New York City and go pro. Now a WPBA veteran with 15+ world championship appearances for Team USA, 2010 Rookie of the Year, and a newly certified PBIA instructor, she's playing the best pool of her career. We discuss why your pre-shot routine matters more than your mental game, her "100%" commitment mantra before every shot, the three-second photo finish freeze, why she tells her students to embrace the suck, what she learned managing Jeanette Lee's social media, and how nutrition and energy management separate pros from everyone else.

Find Emily at EmilyDuddy.com or follow @BilliardBombshell on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube

Eric Naretto found pool at seven years old on a bumper pool table at the Lake of the Ozarks and spent the next decade chasing the feeling until a Jeanette Lee trick shot on ESPN sent him to Kmart for a $25 titanium cue with a screw-on tip. A mentor named George Sweitzer, who couldn't execute the shots he taught, changed Eric's life and inspired him to dedicate his career to billiards education. Now a PBIA Master Instructor, ACS Level 4 Instructor, and 2025 ACS Outstanding Instructor of the Year, Eric runs the G1 Billiards Academy in Illinois where he's building a program to train the next generation of instructors. We discuss why the best teachers aren't always the best players, his "three middles of the table" strategy for position play, the metronome concept for stroke speed control, why he starts with upper body instead of footwork, and the emotional story of winning a state championship for the man who taught him everything.Find Eric on Facebook or visit academy.g1billiards.com.

Tanner Pruess grew up a third-generation pool player in South Dakota, watching his dad get paid in crispy new $100 bills at a smoky 1996 state tournament while Eric Clapton played on the jukebox. By 16, he was glued to a livestream of Wu Jia-qing's legendary comeback at the World Nine Ball Championships, and that moment shaped everything that followed. Now a two-time VNEA world singles champion, five-time state champion, and PBIA Advanced Instructor, Tanner has built a reputation for transforming recreational players into legitimate competitors. We discuss the "league player shuffle" mistake killing your consistency, why you should always listen to that voice telling you something's off, his system for consistent warm-up strokes and the pause that separates amateurs from pros, and the student who went from C-level to double-A and became "Uncle Mike" to his family.Find Tanner at poolconfidence.com or connect with him on Facebook.

Demetrius Jelatis grew up watching a stranger run nine balls in order at a Minnesota pool hall and became instantly obsessed. He went on to dominate the state for two decades, racking up championships and a 700+ Fargo rating. Now, six years and 200+ boot camps later, he's helping players worldwide find the missing pieces in their game. We discuss his legendary win against Minnesota icon Jimmy Wetch, why pool isn't a mystical talent reserved for the gifted, the one question that separates improving players from everyone else, and why your last heartbreaking loss reveals everything about your commitment to the game.Ready to transform your game? Visit mnpoolbootcamp.comDownload the Bullseye Billiards app at https://bullseyebilliards.com/app

Anthony Beeler grew up playing pool in Kentucky country stores with farmers, hustlers, and future Hall of Famers. He became so dominant he was banned from local tournaments. Now, 27 years into teaching, he's trained national champions, worked with pros like Janet Atwell and Sam Henderson, and created the BAM aiming method used by players worldwide. We discuss his six-visual aiming system, why pre-shot routines are underrated, the craziest things he's witnessed at the table, and his new 284-page pictorial guide to playing professional-level pool.

Ready to transform your game? Visit poolteacher.com or call/text Anthony directly at 606-669-8401.