Joe Rogan Experience #2371 - Fedor Gorst
Narrator, Joe Rogan (host), Fedor Gorst (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Narrator and Joe Rogan, Joe Rogan Experience #2371 - Fedor Gorst explores world’s Top Pool Pro Fedor Gorst Breaks Down Modern Billiards Dominance Joe Rogan interviews pool phenom Fedor Gorst, discussing his rise to world #1, his recent deep runs in major events, and why today’s top players may be the best in history. Gorst explains how equipment, formats, and organizations like Matchroom have radically modernized professional pool and elevated prize money and visibility worldwide. They dive into the mental and physical demands of elite play—shot clocks, pressure, injuries, training routines, and the psychology of executing under stress. The conversation also explores gambling culture, global growth hotspots like Vietnam and China, equipment technology debates, and the possibility of a massive-money challenge match against Joshua Filler.
World’s Top Pool Pro Fedor Gorst Breaks Down Modern Billiards Dominance
Joe Rogan interviews pool phenom Fedor Gorst, discussing his rise to world #1, his recent deep runs in major events, and why today’s top players may be the best in history. Gorst explains how equipment, formats, and organizations like Matchroom have radically modernized professional pool and elevated prize money and visibility worldwide. They dive into the mental and physical demands of elite play—shot clocks, pressure, injuries, training routines, and the psychology of executing under stress. The conversation also explores gambling culture, global growth hotspots like Vietnam and China, equipment technology debates, and the possibility of a massive-money challenge match against Joshua Filler.
Key Takeaways
Modern conditions make today’s elite pool arguably the toughest era ever.
Gorst and Rogan argue that tighter four-inch pockets, nine-foot tables, advanced break formats, and deep global fields mean that if you’re number one now, you have a strong case for being the best of all time.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Matchroom’s World Nineball Tour is professionalizing pool and driving growth.
With extensive event schedules, TV/streaming coverage, WNT. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Elite pool is intensely mental, and positive self-talk is a performance tool.
Gorst describes battling intrusive thoughts like “you’re going to miss” with deliberate breathing, visualization, and affirmations (“I’m gonna make this ball”) to maintain confidence under extreme pressure.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Shot clocks and format tweaks fundamentally change strategy and entertainment.
Thirty-second shot clocks, extensions, and high-pressure events like the Mosconi Cup force rapid decisions, amplify nerves, and create more TV-friendly pacing, even as players debate rules like soft-break enforcement.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Equipment choices are highly personalized and situational, not one-size-fits-all.
Debates over carbon fiber versus wood shafts, high-deflection versus low-deflection, specialized jump and break cues, and even table conditions in humid Asia show how pros tune gear to environment and feel.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Global hotbeds like Vietnam and China are exploding with participation and money.
Vietnam now has thousands of pool rooms and massive playing culture, while Chinese 8-ball offers frequent six-figure events, drawing snooker and pool pros and reshaping the global earnings landscape.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Top pros live a grueling, travel-heavy, single-minded lifestyle.
Gorst details back-to-back international events, constant practice, injuries from the stance, and the difficulty of balancing relationships and family, emphasizing that staying at the top demands relentless focus.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Notable Quotes
“If you're the best player in the world today, you're the best player of all time.”
— Joe Rogan
“The game changed even in the last three years, I think the game changed drastically.”
— Fedor Gorst
“Mosconi Cup is definitely, when it comes to pressure, it's the highest pressure you can ever [feel].”
— Fedor Gorst
“You’re here to run out. You’re here to get perfect position. You’re here to dominate this very difficult table.”
— Joe Rogan
“You’re never gonna win the tournament without believing that you can actually win it.”
— Fedor Gorst
Questions Answered in This Episode
How would pool’s competitive landscape change if massive Saudi-style prize pools—millions for first place—became the norm?
Joe Rogan interviews pool phenom Fedor Gorst, discussing his rise to world #1, his recent deep runs in major events, and why today’s top players may be the best in history. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What specific mental training routines (visualization drills, scripts, journaling) could aspiring players adopt from Gorst’s approach to pressure?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How should governing bodies balance entertainment value and purity of the game when setting rules on jump cues, break formats, and crowd behavior?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Could a unified global structure ever emerge between Matchroom and WPA, or is fragmentation now baked into professional pool?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What would a truly modern, youth-focused pool ecosystem in the U.S. look like if it followed the Vietnamese or Chinese models of growth?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
(drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) We're up. Yeah, this is, uh, a company called M Theory sent this to me. And, uh, this was when Efren Reyes snuck into America under the nickname Cesar Morales.
Yeah.
And, uh, won some big tournament at Red's. Wherever that is. (laughs)
Probably in, uh, Chicago?
I don't know. Put the headphones on, dog. Let's get rolling.
I don't know. I was like...
You don't have to. Or we could not have headphones.
No, that's good.
Do they feel weird to you?
That's good. No, no, that's good.
You're okay? (laughs) I don't care. It doesn't matter. It's just good if, like, we show a video or something like that.
Right.
Dude, you came that close to being two year-in-a-row US Open champion. That fucking close.
Yeah, two days ago.
How's that feel?
I mean, I feel super tired because my schedule has been hectic lately.
Yeah.
You know, I played the World Championships in Saudi where I also lost in the finals. Uh-
Did you play the Florida Open too?
Florida Open.
All right.
And I played the tournament in between that, so basically I played back to back to back to back four events.
Wow.
Uh, it's been over a month already. You know, staying on the road, constantly playing.
Dude, there's the- the real good argument you're the best player in the world. And if you're the best player in the world, I think you are, you got my vote. If you're the best player in the world today, you're the best player of all time.
Well... (laughs) I mean, it's really tough to-
A lot of old guys talk a lot of shit, but I'm just saying.
Always.
I mean, this guy on my shirt, he certainly gets the, like, as- as far as like the greatest of all time, most achievements of all time, Efren. The Z shot, like all the crazy stuff that he could pull off with the cue ball. It's amazing.
Did you see the shot that I made recently?
Uh, which one?
The three rail kick.
I did see that, yeah.
I mean, it- it is tougher. It- it is a tougher kick.
(laughs)
It wasn't as- as, uh ... It wasn't as, uh, you know, the situation wasn't like it was a Hill-Hill-
Right.
... that he played against Earl, you know, in the finals.
Right.
So it's obviously it's a much, much, uh, different environment, but, uh, the kick that I made was sick. It was sick.
It was pretty sick. Well, you know what? The Filipinos put kicking on the map, right?
Install uListen to search the full transcript and get AI-powered insights
Get Full TranscriptGet more from every podcast
AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and fact-checking. Free forever.
Add to Chrome