Billiards Australia: Do you recall your first ever involvement with cue sports? Where and when?
Dan: I was about 7 years old, on a family holiday in America. We were in a bar and someone handed me a cue, i fluked 2 balls in 1 shot, the crowd went wild! My love for cue sports was born.
Billiards Australia: I believe I've seen your name in pool tournament draws. When was the first comp you ever entered?
Dan: My first big tournament was the Empire Classic at Alec Evreniadis room in Adelaide, I think it was around 2005. Before that was just local pub knockout comps, i used to do all right at them and thought I was pretty good.
Billiards Australia: Do you still occasionally compete?
Dan: I play in most of the events that I film.
Billiards Australia: Have you ever played Snooker, socially or competition?
Dan: I played 1 season of c grade snooker a few years ago, I did enjoy it and have been meaning to get back into it ever since but to enjoy playing on the big table i need to practice and finding time to practice with my schedule is pretty hard.
Billiards Australia: What about billiards?
Dan: Only played a couple of times and didn't know the rules at the time. Now that I have filmed quite a few billiards events i am interested to see how i would go. Problem is because i don't play league i can't enter any of the tournaments.
Billiards Australia: What got you started with recording and streaming of cue sports?
Dan: Myself and my cousin, Kymton Cress co-founder of CueballTV, grew up in separate states but with a mutual passion for cue sports. He played American rules 8 ball (the main game in NSW), and I played world rules 8 ball in Melbourne. Neither of us knew much about the other game. After looking into it further we discovered there was quite a large but hidden (at least from us) cue sports scene in Australia. Lots of established big money tournaments, Australian and state titles, teams and players sent all over the world to play in World titles. Why as players had we not heard of this? Kymo used his coding skills to build a website and we started with his dads handycam to film events.
The original aim was to create a social media website (before the days of facebook) that the players of Australia could use to upload their own videos and tournament information and spread the word. Unfortunately back then internet hosting sites were prone to going bankrupt without warning. On more than one occasion we lost our website and all the videos that we had uploaded... And then facebook came along forcing us to go back to the drawing board again...
Billiards Australia: How long has Cueball TV now been going?
Dan: Looking back it is hard to pinpoint exactly when it began, but was around 2007. The WPA Australian 8 Ball held in Tuggarah NSW was the first I think.
Billiards Australia: Is there any cue ball discipline, played in Australia, that you have never been involved with?
Dan: We now cover 8 Ball wepf, 8 ball wpa, 9 ball 10 ball, snooker, 6 red and billiards. There is a new version of English 8 ball called "Blackball" that I will be filming for the first time in the next few months, that should complete the set. Although I know of a few carom tables in Brisbane venues, but not sure if there have been any 3 cushion tournaments held in Australia yet.
Billiards Australia: How many events are you now covering each year. How has that changed since you began?
Dan: This year is the busiest so far, i honestly have not tried counting but i rarely get a weekend off nowadays. And unfortunately have had to knock back a few events because of timing clashes.
Billiards Australia: How many subscribers do you now have to your Facebook and YouTube channels? Do you have subscribers from outside Australia?
Dan: 2000+ on facebook, about the same on Youtube, although we were over 3000 on the old (now defunct) CueballTV website. In the great scheme of things this is not many but the main thing is we are growing in popularity so maybe we can add some zeros to those numbers in the future. About majority of viewers are from around Australia, with UK & US the next 2 biggest. The IBSF World billiards that we filmed last year saw a lot of interest from India also.
Billiards Australia: I noticed, in looking through some of your 2015 clips, that a billiards break by Peter Gilchrist has the most views (even though some would say that Billiards is the least popular of the various sports). Why do you think that is?
Dan: A couple of reasons i think 1. He is a world champion 2. It was a great break 3. Indian viewers! 4. The title of the video can sometimes have an effect 5. It is entertaining. 6. Great lighting in the venue. And probably a few other reasons that I am unaware of, ha. I just had a quick look now and the 150-up final between Peter Gilchrist & Pankaj Advani is at no.7 most views of all time!
Billiards Australia: You haven’t been covering billiards for very long. How have you found it to cover and did it take you long to get a feel for the game?
Dan: I do enjoy filming billiards, it's an attacking game and fast paced. Having commentary included recently has helped me understand the tactics as well, which adds to the interest. So hoping we can do some more of that in future events.
Billiards Australia: Do each of the cue sports disciplines each have unique challenges for video?
Dan: Not really, the biggest challenges are usually venue related. Things like poor lighting, background music, internet access and where to set up the cameras are all challenges to deal with.
Billiards Australia: Who are you favourite players to watch and record?
Dan: The attacking players!
Billiards Australia: When you are recording a long snooker match, at the end of a long day, and there is a safety battle in progress – do you ever wish you could yell out “Have a go ya mug”?
Dan: No comment!
Billiards Australia: In a fairly short space of time, you have made Cueball TV almost indispensable for the sport in Australia. That must make you proud?
Dan: I am proud of what CueballTV has become but there are a lot of people apart from me that have helped make CueballTV what it is today. But it could be better, I am yet to do a broadcast that I am completely happy with.
Billiards Australia: What’s next for Cueball TV? Do you think there will come a point where you need equipment and personnel to cover more than one event at a time?
Dan: I have invested quite a bit of time and money into trying to expand CueballTV, but lately I have barely enough time to organise my own streams let alone trying to train other people to do it.
Billiards Australia: Do you think there will come a time when we have the referee wearing a wireless microphone, his voice going straight to the broadcast? Do you have that capacity now?
Dan: I do have the ability to do that now. I would also like to mike up the players too.
Billiards Australia: When you’re not watching cue sports, what sport do you like to watch?
Dan: Are there other sports?
Billiards Australia: I know you are partial to an occasional beer. Do you have a favourite brand?
Dan: When filming in Darwin I prefer Victoria Bitter, when filming the Empire Classic I prefer Johnnie Walker, ha.
Billiards Australia: Are you into all things techno, or just the necessary equipment for Cueball TV?
Dan: I have always been into video technology and filming, and I do enjoy building computers... yeah, bit of a geek I guess.
Billiards Australia: Would you like to give us your web and Facebook addresses here, so that readers can bookmark them for future use?
Dan: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CueballTV/
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cueballtv
Youtube live streaming link: http://www.youtube.com/c/CueballTvCuesport/live
Billiards Australia: What are the chances of us seeing you, one day, in front of the cameras for a Billiards event?
Dan: I am sure I will enter a Billiards event at some stage but I do try to make sure I am out before I get to the streaming table. Me in front of the camera never ends well.
Billiards Australia: Is there any way that billiards enthusiasts (and others) who will read this interview can help support Cueball TV?
Dan: The best way that viewers can help is by sharing any videos they like. Particularly to people that don't play cue sports. If we can get viewers who don't play the game but do enjoy the entertainment, then cue sports has the potential to take off. More viewers = more sponsors = more money = bigger tournaments =snowballing potential.
Billiards Australia: Will we see you in Yarraville in June this year for the Australian Billiards Championships?
Dan: Yep, looking forward to it.
Billiards Australia: Thanks for your time Dan.
Dan: Thanks, keep up the good work.
Dan: I was about 7 years old, on a family holiday in America. We were in a bar and someone handed me a cue, i fluked 2 balls in 1 shot, the crowd went wild! My love for cue sports was born.
Billiards Australia: I believe I've seen your name in pool tournament draws. When was the first comp you ever entered?
Dan: My first big tournament was the Empire Classic at Alec Evreniadis room in Adelaide, I think it was around 2005. Before that was just local pub knockout comps, i used to do all right at them and thought I was pretty good.
Billiards Australia: Do you still occasionally compete?
Dan: I play in most of the events that I film.
Billiards Australia: Have you ever played Snooker, socially or competition?
Dan: I played 1 season of c grade snooker a few years ago, I did enjoy it and have been meaning to get back into it ever since but to enjoy playing on the big table i need to practice and finding time to practice with my schedule is pretty hard.
Billiards Australia: What about billiards?
Dan: Only played a couple of times and didn't know the rules at the time. Now that I have filmed quite a few billiards events i am interested to see how i would go. Problem is because i don't play league i can't enter any of the tournaments.
Billiards Australia: What got you started with recording and streaming of cue sports?
Dan: Myself and my cousin, Kymton Cress co-founder of CueballTV, grew up in separate states but with a mutual passion for cue sports. He played American rules 8 ball (the main game in NSW), and I played world rules 8 ball in Melbourne. Neither of us knew much about the other game. After looking into it further we discovered there was quite a large but hidden (at least from us) cue sports scene in Australia. Lots of established big money tournaments, Australian and state titles, teams and players sent all over the world to play in World titles. Why as players had we not heard of this? Kymo used his coding skills to build a website and we started with his dads handycam to film events.
The original aim was to create a social media website (before the days of facebook) that the players of Australia could use to upload their own videos and tournament information and spread the word. Unfortunately back then internet hosting sites were prone to going bankrupt without warning. On more than one occasion we lost our website and all the videos that we had uploaded... And then facebook came along forcing us to go back to the drawing board again...
Billiards Australia: How long has Cueball TV now been going?
Dan: Looking back it is hard to pinpoint exactly when it began, but was around 2007. The WPA Australian 8 Ball held in Tuggarah NSW was the first I think.
Billiards Australia: Is there any cue ball discipline, played in Australia, that you have never been involved with?
Dan: We now cover 8 Ball wepf, 8 ball wpa, 9 ball 10 ball, snooker, 6 red and billiards. There is a new version of English 8 ball called "Blackball" that I will be filming for the first time in the next few months, that should complete the set. Although I know of a few carom tables in Brisbane venues, but not sure if there have been any 3 cushion tournaments held in Australia yet.
Billiards Australia: How many events are you now covering each year. How has that changed since you began?
Dan: This year is the busiest so far, i honestly have not tried counting but i rarely get a weekend off nowadays. And unfortunately have had to knock back a few events because of timing clashes.
Billiards Australia: How many subscribers do you now have to your Facebook and YouTube channels? Do you have subscribers from outside Australia?
Dan: 2000+ on facebook, about the same on Youtube, although we were over 3000 on the old (now defunct) CueballTV website. In the great scheme of things this is not many but the main thing is we are growing in popularity so maybe we can add some zeros to those numbers in the future. About majority of viewers are from around Australia, with UK & US the next 2 biggest. The IBSF World billiards that we filmed last year saw a lot of interest from India also.
Billiards Australia: I noticed, in looking through some of your 2015 clips, that a billiards break by Peter Gilchrist has the most views (even though some would say that Billiards is the least popular of the various sports). Why do you think that is?
Dan: A couple of reasons i think 1. He is a world champion 2. It was a great break 3. Indian viewers! 4. The title of the video can sometimes have an effect 5. It is entertaining. 6. Great lighting in the venue. And probably a few other reasons that I am unaware of, ha. I just had a quick look now and the 150-up final between Peter Gilchrist & Pankaj Advani is at no.7 most views of all time!
Billiards Australia: You haven’t been covering billiards for very long. How have you found it to cover and did it take you long to get a feel for the game?
Dan: I do enjoy filming billiards, it's an attacking game and fast paced. Having commentary included recently has helped me understand the tactics as well, which adds to the interest. So hoping we can do some more of that in future events.
Billiards Australia: Do each of the cue sports disciplines each have unique challenges for video?
Dan: Not really, the biggest challenges are usually venue related. Things like poor lighting, background music, internet access and where to set up the cameras are all challenges to deal with.
Billiards Australia: Who are you favourite players to watch and record?
Dan: The attacking players!
Billiards Australia: When you are recording a long snooker match, at the end of a long day, and there is a safety battle in progress – do you ever wish you could yell out “Have a go ya mug”?
Dan: No comment!
Billiards Australia: In a fairly short space of time, you have made Cueball TV almost indispensable for the sport in Australia. That must make you proud?
Dan: I am proud of what CueballTV has become but there are a lot of people apart from me that have helped make CueballTV what it is today. But it could be better, I am yet to do a broadcast that I am completely happy with.
Billiards Australia: What’s next for Cueball TV? Do you think there will come a point where you need equipment and personnel to cover more than one event at a time?
Dan: I have invested quite a bit of time and money into trying to expand CueballTV, but lately I have barely enough time to organise my own streams let alone trying to train other people to do it.
Billiards Australia: Do you think there will come a time when we have the referee wearing a wireless microphone, his voice going straight to the broadcast? Do you have that capacity now?
Dan: I do have the ability to do that now. I would also like to mike up the players too.
Billiards Australia: When you’re not watching cue sports, what sport do you like to watch?
Dan: Are there other sports?
Billiards Australia: I know you are partial to an occasional beer. Do you have a favourite brand?
Dan: When filming in Darwin I prefer Victoria Bitter, when filming the Empire Classic I prefer Johnnie Walker, ha.
Billiards Australia: Are you into all things techno, or just the necessary equipment for Cueball TV?
Dan: I have always been into video technology and filming, and I do enjoy building computers... yeah, bit of a geek I guess.
Billiards Australia: Would you like to give us your web and Facebook addresses here, so that readers can bookmark them for future use?
Dan: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CueballTV/
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cueballtv
Youtube live streaming link: http://www.youtube.com/c/CueballTvCuesport/live
Billiards Australia: What are the chances of us seeing you, one day, in front of the cameras for a Billiards event?
Dan: I am sure I will enter a Billiards event at some stage but I do try to make sure I am out before I get to the streaming table. Me in front of the camera never ends well.
Billiards Australia: Is there any way that billiards enthusiasts (and others) who will read this interview can help support Cueball TV?
Dan: The best way that viewers can help is by sharing any videos they like. Particularly to people that don't play cue sports. If we can get viewers who don't play the game but do enjoy the entertainment, then cue sports has the potential to take off. More viewers = more sponsors = more money = bigger tournaments =snowballing potential.
Billiards Australia: Will we see you in Yarraville in June this year for the Australian Billiards Championships?
Dan: Yep, looking forward to it.
Billiards Australia: Thanks for your time Dan.
Dan: Thanks, keep up the good work.