About Scratchball Billiards

"We would like to thank all who helped promote the game of ScratchBall."

ScratchBall started in the lunch room at VinylDoc LLC where a pool table sits to relieve stress from the day’s work. The company proudly promotes innovations and supports new inventions.

On this particular day VinylDoc employees took a break which included a game of 8-ball. I was playing exceptionally bad–worse than usual–and scratched several times during the game. That was when David, the owner of VinylDoc and also my brother, grabs the cue ball and says, “OK! Let’s invent a game you can win.” Thus, started the adventure of inventing new rules for a scratch billiard game. It took about a month of trial and error before finally solidifying into a serious game. We picked black balls with a red ‘dead’ ball for our signature colors. The more we played the game, the more we realized how wonderfully exciting the game was to play.

It was then that we put up a website to see if other players felt the same. For us, a turning point came when world champion trickshot artist Stefano “Mr. Trick Shots” Pelinga contacted us. The 2010 Billiards Digest magazine named him one of the world's best trick shot artists. David flew to Las Vegas to deliver a set of ScratchBall billiard balls and to meet Stefano. His kind words of encouragement gave us the determination to continue promoting the game. With his inspiration, we added a slight twist to the game. As it was, scratching the cue ball while pocketing an object ball was a trickshot discipline in itself. However, after meeting Stefano, we saw the need to incorporate call trickshots into the rules.

It became very obvious to us that trickshots were the wave of the future for billiards. While the trickshot industry had very accomplished players and venues, it really had no playable game where talented artists could exhibit trickshots on the fly. It became our goal to fill this niche. We felt that the trickshot industry needed a game that they could call their own and with playability on par with 8-ball, 9-ball and snooker. Up to this point all trickshot venues required an exacting setup. In ScratchBall, a trickshot has to be executed with the balls as they lay on the table. With ball-in-hand, the better you play the more complicated the game becomes.

Not long after, we came in contact with a young artist out of France, still in school and making trickshot videos from his home. He was insanely gifted and prolific with his social media skills. After becoming acquainted with Florian “Venom” Kohler, we sent him a set of ScratchBall Billiard balls. He immediately started using the balls in his videos and created our first ever ScratchBall video. With his superb talent and expertise in video marketing, he skyrocketed trickshot billiards into the public eye. As we had hoped, the striking colors of ScratchBall billiard balls gave him a visual edge in the social media. Florian's talent and hard work soon grabbed international attention. He has since gone on to become one of the most popular trickshot artists in the world wowing audiences with his insane and near impossible trickshots. His followers are edging toward the one million mark.

Soon thereafter, other upcoming trickshot artists gave us support. To mention a few, Matthew “Stinger” Webber, Will “The Gentleman” DeYonker, Jordan “PoolStriker” Moreira, Jaden Dupree, Carnage Pool Tricks videos, Steve "Philly Flash" Markle and others–all who have since made their mark as talented trickshot artists. We feel honored that our game has made an impact on so many young players.

We believe that identifying ScratchBall colors with trickshots has benefited the whole industry through branding recognition. Whenever one sees a billiard video containing black and red balls—which we encourage—the public now knows that they are about to see billiard trickshots. In a recent Lincoln commercial Steve Markle was called on to perform trickshot with Matthew McConaughey. At ScratchBall, we were very excited when McConaughey’s publicist contacted us to ask permission to use ScratchBall colors for the shoot. We feel that moment was a tribute to all past and current trickshot artists who have worked so hard to raise public awareness for the sport.

We at ScratchBall hope that our contribution to trickshots will continue to add a new dimension of fun for all players, novice and professional alike. And yes, it did make me a better player. Now, I am proud to scratch the cue ball.