Robert Moreno
Nickname: “OkinawaRob”
Accomplishments: 2024 Bob Soto Memorial Champion, 2023 AZ Doc Rice Champion, 2024 10 Ball AZ Masters Champion, MVP Full Rack Rotation All Japan Tournament, Multiple AZ Tournaments, Grade Tour Champion Okinawa, Multiple Okinawa Pocket Club Championships, Multiple Military Championships on Okinawa, Creator of the Okinawa Pocket Billiards Club’s, 21 combined billiards rooms, strategic billiards plan and marketing development strategy. Outlined specific business and marketing practices designed to develop all levels of players from start to professional play that allowed all member pool rooms to increase business and generate profitable events that combine the community in positive ways. The plan incorporated “player development,” “community assistance,” and “professional instruction.” while bringing all room owners significant profits year after year since 1998. Created the ONPC Charity Event that has brought several world class players to Okinawa since 1998 and raised $8000 per year, on average, to support an Okinawan local orphanage. Distributed this plan nationally, leading to an industry boom in Japan. Founder of the Blue-Ribbon Billiards Academy in Okinawa City in 1996, owner of Pool Room Alabama in 1997, owner Breaktime Billiards 1999, founder of the Okinawa Master Billiards Academy in 2013, and the Barefoot Bob’s Master Billiards Academy and Pro Shop in 2023 and Custom Cue Maker.
Most notable students: As the Chairman of the International Certified Instructors Summit, and the Chairman for the PBIA, I work with advanced players and mentor instructors and coaches on best practices from around the world. I value execution of skills over a mind full of concepts that are not put into performance. Learning should be focused on execution of these learned concepts.
Favorite Billiard Discipline: 9 Ball on the 9-foot tables, 8 ball on the 7-foot tables. I love the ability to watch players execute the training and achieve the goal of not allowing your opponent the opportunity to stroke the cue other than the lag. If training is meant to improve execution, 9 ball tells you what you should perform, and your job is to execute that performance. 8 ball allows you to select a pattern and test your ability to map out the possibilities and select the best plan.
Favorite Pool Hall: In AZ it is Barefoot Bobs Billiards in Prescott Valley; in the past I will always love the first pool hall I purchased and owned Pool Bar Alabama outside MCAS Futenma on Okinawa 1989-2008.
What do you like about instructing: Explaining the technical side of pool to the advanced feel players and watching them understand what they never understood or had wrongly interpreted and watch as they start to understand and execute those weaknesses and build new strengths. Master Instructor Leslie Rogers imparted upon me a spirit of continuous learning; 49 various instructor lead courses from all around the world now combined in my best practices version of the Olympic Style Long Term Athletic Development Plan that world-wide instructors implement and show success through the current Fargo Rate rankings worldwide.
Who taught you how to play: Buddy from Starbucks in Oklahoma City, Buddy Hall from Trueloves in Oklahoma City, Dave from Jacksonville NC, Doug from Jacksonville NC who is credited with my introduction to Cue Tech in Richardson TX, Randy G, Leslie Rogers, and Jerry Powers. Leslie happened to move to Japan and in one short phone call sent me on a path to learn from multiple instructors from all around the world. From Taipei, Tokyo, Thailand, Philippines, Korea, Germany, EU Nations, and my eventual return to the US after living overseas for 28 years that led me to notable instruction by Paul Potier, Jerry B, Mark Wilson, Nick Varner, Max Eberly, CJ Wiley, Scott Frost, Mitch Ellerman, Tony Chohan, Jeremy Jones, Shuji Nagata, Shimabukuro, Kazuo Tanaka and many others. I am a student for life and constantly seeking best practices worldwide from all instructors and coaches.
How and when did you fall in love with the game? In 1999/2000 when Shimabukuro-San moved to Okinawa and began training me just after Scott Richardson left the island; having a significant impact on what a pool player should be able to execute and showing me how execution is the key to success; Shimabukuro-San prepared me for my entrance in the 2001 Inaugural Masters, the $1,000,000 Tokyo 9 Ball and that event gained my invitation to the 2001 World All Stars in Taipei.
Contact: Billiards.Live or rob@pbia-instructor.com