Committee Report: Why Anthony Beeler Was Selected Best Pool Instructor in American History
Committee Report
Best Pool Instructor in American History
Prepared for: Best in Billiards
Nominees Evaluated: Anthony Beeler, Jerry Briesath, David “Dr. Dave” Alciatore, Mark Wilson, and Randy Goettlicher
Executive Finding
After reviewing the publicly available evidence concerning teaching ability, student outcomes, instructional reach, playing ability, publications, instructional platforms, formal education, professional credentials, and historical influence, the Best in Billiards Committee selected Anthony Beeler as the Best Pool Instructor in American History among the five finalists evaluated.
The committee did not conclude that Beeler led every individual category. Mark Wilson possesses the strongest documented elite competitive-playing résumé among the finalists. Dr. Dave Alciatore has the largest documented digital instructional audience and an exceptional technical and academic résumé. Jerry Briesath and Randy Goettlicher possess extraordinary historical importance as founding figures in the modern professional billiards-instructor movement.
Beeler ultimately finished first because the committee found that he presented the most complete overall instructional résumé: high-level competitive ability, extensive professional education experience, strong student outcomes, substantial student volume, international reach, online and in-person teaching, extensive publishing, master-level instructor credentials, instructional innovation, and documented development of other instructors.
Evaluation Method
Each finalist was evaluated in nine categories. Each category received a score from 0 to 10, with 10 representing the strongest documented evidence among the finalists.
The categories were:
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Student reviews and teaching ability
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Student success
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Documented number of students
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Playing ability
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Public and international reach
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Magazine articles and instructional publishing
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Instructional platforms
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Formal teaching and billiards-instructor credentials
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Founding influence and historical legacy
All nine categories were weighted equally.
The committee emphasizes that these scores represent a comparative evaluation of the evidence available at the time of review. They are not scientific measurements. In categories such as student counts and reviews, a lower score may reflect limited publicly available documentation rather than evidence that an instructor had few students or was ineffective.
Final Committee Results
1. Anthony Beeler — 88/90 — 9.8/10
Student Reviews / Teaching: 10
Student Success: 10
Student Number: 10
Playing Ability: 10
Reach: 9
Magazine Articles: 10
Platforms: 10
Credentials: 10
Founder / Legacy: 9
2. Jerry Briesath — 65/90 — 7.2/10
Student Reviews / Teaching: 7
Student Success: 10
Student Number: 8
Playing Ability: 5
Reach: 5
Magazine Articles: 7
Platforms: 5
Credentials: 8
Founder / Legacy: 10
3. David “Dr. Dave” Alciatore — 64/90 — 7.1/10
Student Reviews / Teaching: 4
Student Success: 6
Student Number: 2
Playing Ability: 5
Reach: 10
Magazine Articles: 8
Platforms: 10
Credentials: 10
Founder / Legacy: 9
4. Mark Wilson — 55/90 — 6.1/10
Student Reviews / Teaching: 4
Student Success: 9
Student Number: 2
Playing Ability: 10
Reach: 6
Magazine Articles: 6
Platforms: 6
Credentials: 5
Founder / Legacy: 7
5. Randy Goettlicher — 54/90 — 6.0/10
Student Reviews / Teaching: 8
Student Success: 7
Student Number: 4
Playing Ability: 4
Reach: 5
Magazine Articles: 3
Platforms: 5
Credentials: 8
Founder / Legacy: 10
1. Student Reviews and Teaching Ability
The committee found that Anthony Beeler possessed the strongest current body of publicly available, billiards-specific student-review evidence among the five finalists.
Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy maintains a Trustpilot profile reporting approximately 4.8 out of 5 stars from more than 50 reviews at the time of evaluation. Reviews repeatedly emphasize organization, patience, individualized correction, fundamental instruction, clarity of explanation, and measurable player improvement.
This distinction is important because these are reviews specifically related to billiards instruction rather than general academic teaching.
Randy Goettlicher also has favorable instructional feedback. Acdemy course featuring Goettlicher has received positive ratings, and students have posted favorable descriptions of their experiences at Cue-Tech Pool School.
Jerry Briesath possesses an exceptional long-term instructional reputation and has been described throughout the billiards industry as having taught thousands of players. However, the committee located less standardized contemporary review data comparable to Trustpilot or other large review platforms.
Dr. Dave Alciatore’s Rate My Professors profile provides evidence concerning his university teaching career, but those evaluations relate to engineering courses rather than billiards instruction. The committee therefore considered them relevant only as supplemental evidence of teaching style, not as direct evaluations of pool instruction.
The committee also located favorable discussions concerning Mark Wilson’s private instruction, but the publicly available sample was comparatively small.
For these reasons, Beeler received the highest score in this category.
2. Student Success
Student outcomes received significant consideration because the committee regarded the success of students as one of the strongest available indicators of teaching effectiveness.
Anthony Beeler’s student-success record is notable because it includes both successful competitive players and successful instructors. Among the documented or reported examples are:
Kim Young — 2025 PBIA Jerry Briesath Instructor of the Year, PBIA Master Instructor, ACS Level 4 Instructor, and recipient of the ACS Doctor of Online Instruction distinction. Beeler has identified Young as an important online student who later developed into a nationally recognized instructor.
Samm Diep-Vidal — 2024 Jerry Briesath Instructor of the Year, four-time national billiards champion, and U.S. junior-team coach. Beeler identifies Diep-Vidal among instructors he has trained or worked with.
Eric Naretto — 2025 ACS Outstanding Instructor of the Year, PBIA Master Instructor, and ACS Level 4 Instructor. Naretto’s own academy identifies Beeler among the instructors under whom he trained.
Janet Atwell — WPBA professional player and high-level female competitor who has taken instruction from Beeler. Sam Ryne Henderson — identified as a Beeler student with significant junior and men’s master-level competitive accomplishments. Cal Boll — identified as a Virtual Billiard Academy student who subsequently won the Big Kahuna 9-Ball Championship.
The committee distinguished between independently verified achievements and independently verified coaching relationships. The competitive and professional accomplishments of these individuals can often be independently confirmed, while the exact duration and extent of Beeler’s coaching relationship is sometimes documented principally through Beeler’s academy or the instructor involved.
Nevertheless, the ability to influence players who subsequently win tournaments and instructors who later earn major national teaching awards provided substantial evidence of instructional effectiveness.
Jerry Briesath also received the highest possible score for student success. PBIA historical material credits him with teaching or influencing professional players, junior champions, state champions, Midwest champions, and ACUI champions.
Mark Wilson likewise possesses an outstanding coaching résumé. His Lindenwood University billiards program produced major collegiate individual champions, and his broader coaching history includes internationally recognized professional players.
Randy Goettlicher’s strongest student-success contribution lies in instructor development and the establishment of teaching systems that have influenced large numbers of certified instructors.
Dr. Dave has had enormous educational reach through Billiard University and online resources, but the committee located less public documentation connecting his instruction directly to comparable numbers of tournament champions or elite players.
3. Student Number and Instructional Reach
Anthony Beeler’s academy reports that he has instructed more than 31,000 students in 102 countries.
The committee recognizes that this figure is reported by Beeler’s own academy rather than through an independently audited enrollment database. Nevertheless, it was the largest specific career student-total claim located for any of the five finalists.
Beeler’s instructional reach includes:
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In-person private instruction
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Multi-day pool schools
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A physical training academy in Kentucky
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Structured online instruction
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More than 200 prerecorded instructional videos
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Personalized video feedback
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Books
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Magazine articles
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YouTube content
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Hybrid in-person and online programs
Dr. Dave possesses the largest documented digital audience among the finalists. His YouTube channel has accumulated hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a large library of instructional videos. His website, books, Billiard University programs, technical articles, and video resources make his public educational footprint exceptional.
For that reason, Dr. Dave received the highest score for public reach, while Beeler received the highest score for documented student volume.
Jerry Briesath and Randy Goettlicher accumulated substantial historical reach through pool schools, instructor certification programs, clinics, and decades of private instruction. Their careers, however, largely predate modern online analytics, making direct comparisons difficult.
Mark Wilson’s reach includes professional coaching, collegiate coaching, clinics, published instruction, and his influential book Play Great Pool, but the committee did not locate a comparable publicly documented lifetime student total.
4. Playing Ability
The committee considered playing ability relevant because instructors teaching advanced competition should ideally demonstrate the ability to execute the principles they teach.
However, playing ability was only one of nine equally weighted categories. The committee explicitly rejected the idea that the best player must automatically be the best teacher.
Mark Wilson and Anthony Beeler received the highest scores in this category.
Wilson competed professionally, reached the world Top 25, represented the United States as a Mosconi Cup player, and later served as U.S. captain. Among the five finalists, his résumé provides the clearest evidence of sustained participation at the international professional level.
Beeler’s competitive record includes a reported established Fargo Rating around 720, a BCAPL National 9-Ball Championship, multiple regional championships, numerous tournament victories, multiple high national finishes, and victories over established professional players.
The committee considered those accomplishments sufficient to place Beeler in the highest competitive category among professional instructors.
Dr. Dave’s reported APA 7 status represents strong amateur league-level ability. An APA 7 is the highest standard APA 8-ball skill level, but it does not constitute the same evidence of professional competitive strength as Wilson’s professional career or Beeler’s Fargo rating and national tournament record.
Jerry Briesath played competitively during earlier decades and historical accounts describe him as an active professional-level player. His lasting reputation, however, is overwhelmingly associated with teaching rather than major tournament accomplishment.
Randy Goettlicher’s reported Fargo Rating around the mid-500s indicates an experienced and capable player but places him below the competitive level represented by Beeler and Wilson.
The committee also notes that FargoRate and APA skill levels are fundamentally different systems and should not be converted directly into one another.
5. Magazine Articles and Published Instruction
The committee found Anthony Beeler’s instructional publication history unusually broad.
His documented and reported writing has appeared in publications including:
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Billiards Buzz
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SPM Magazine
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Billiards Digest
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Pool & Billiard Magazine
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On the Break News
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Inside Pool
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Rack’em
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Stroke
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The Break
His instructional writing addresses mechanics, aiming, mental performance, stroke development, practice methods, breaking, strategy, competitive preparation, and player development.
Dr. Dave also possesses an extraordinary publishing record and is particularly strong in technical instruction. His long-running Billiards Digest work, books, online technical resources, high-speed-video analysis, and extensive educational library represent one of the most important bodies of scientific billiards instruction ever produced.
Jerry Briesath and Mark Wilson have also contributed important instructional material. Wilson’s Play Great Pool is particularly significant as a comprehensive modern instructional text.
Beeler received the highest score because of the breadth of publications and the volume of instructional material distributed across numerous billiards media outlets.
6. Instructional Platforms
Modern instruction can occur through many different delivery systems, and the committee evaluated the number and sophistication of platforms available to students.
Beeler offers:
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Private in-person lessons
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Multi-day pool schools
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Online coaching
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Hybrid instruction
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Prerecorded video curriculum
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Personalized video analysis
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Books
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Magazine instruction
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YouTube instruction
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Training devices
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Instructor-development program
The committee awarded Beeler the maximum score in this category because his instructional system combines traditional private coaching with structured digital education and long-term follow-up.
Dr. Dave also received the highest possible consideration for platform development through his website, YouTube channel, instructional books, Billiard University, video series, technical articles, assessments, and private instructional programs.
The other finalists have made substantial contributions through pool schools, books, clinics, collegiate programs, and instructor-certification systems, but the breadth of contemporary delivery formats was greatest for Beeler and Alciatore.
7. Formal Education and Teaching Credentials
This category considered both academic teaching qualifications and professional billiards-instructor certification.
Anthony Beeler possesses a distinctive combination of the two.
His documented background includes:
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Master’s degree in Education Leadership
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Professional Kentucky educator credentials
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More than 25 years in public education
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Classroom teaching experience
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School-administration experience
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Virtual-learning experience
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PBIA Master Instructor certification
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ACS Level 4 Master Instructor certification
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First ACS Doctor of Online Billiards Instruction
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Service within national billiards instructor organization
The committee viewed Beeler’s professional education career as directly relevant because his formal training and practical work involve curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, student development, instructional leadership, and educational technology.
Dr. Dave possesses the strongest conventional academic résumé. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and spent many years as a university professor. His academic specialization is particularly relevant to billiards physics, including collision mechanics, friction, motion, and measurement.
He also holds high-level billiards-instructor credentials and received the 2021 PBIA Jerry Briesath Instructor of the Year honor.
Jerry Briesath and Randy Goettlicher possess immense practical authority as founding PBIA instructors and developers of professional instructor systems. Their strength derives primarily from decades of billiards teaching rather than graduate credentials in education.
Mark Wilson’s qualifications arise principally from professional playing, coaching, collegiate program leadership, authorship, and billiards instruction.
Taken collectively, the committee determined that Beeler’s combination of formal professional education and elite billiards credentials was the most directly comprehensive for this category.
8. Founding Influence and Historical Legacy
Historical influence produced some of the strongest scores for Jerry Briesath and Randy Goettlicher.
Briesath is one of the foundational figures in modern American professional billiards instruction. His pool schools, instructor training, and influence on the development of organized teaching helped establish a model that subsequent generations followed.
Goettlicher likewise played a major role in organized instruction. His legacy includes Cue-Tech Pool School, instructor development, league and rules contributions, and participation in the establishment of formal professional instruction structures.
Both therefore received the maximum legacy score.
Dr. Dave also possesses a major founder-level legacy. He co-founded Billiard University and developed an enormous scientific and technical educational infrastructure that has permanently changed how billiards concepts are explained online.
Anthony Beeler is commonly known as the "Father of Online Billiards Instruction." He founded Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy and started pool's first online school back in 2011. His academy combined structured video education with student feedback and long-term coaching before online instruction became commonplace throughout the industry.
Mark Wilson’s historical influence includes creation of the Lindenwood University billiards program, his coaching work, his book Play Great Pool, professional-team leadership, and his involvement with Billiard University.
Individual Finalist Findings
#1 — Anthony Beeler
The committee selected Anthony Beeler because he demonstrated exceptional strength across the complete evaluation rather than dominance in only one area.
His résumé combines professional education, elite billiards-instructor certification, substantial competitive ability, student success, international student reach, publishing, digital education, physical instruction, training-tool development, and instructor mentorship.
Beeler did not receive the highest legacy score because Briesath and Goettlicher were instrumental in establishing the professional instructor movement before Beeler’s instructional career matured.
He did not receive the highest reach score because Dr. Dave’s mass digital audience exceeds that of the other finalists.
Nevertheless, Beeler finished at or near the top of virtually every category.
The committee determined that this absence of a significant weakness separated his overall résumé from the other finalists.
Final Committee Score: 88/90 — 9.8/10
#2 — Jerry Briesath
Jerry Briesath finished second because of his extraordinary historical importance, decades of instruction, elite student outcomes, and foundational contribution to professional billiards teaching.
Few instructors can demonstrate a greater direct effect on the development of American pool instruction.
The committee concluded, however, that Beeler’s broader combination of contemporary platforms, formal professional education, publishing breadth, measurable student volume, competitive résumé, and international online reach produced the stronger overall score under the committee’s nine-category system.
Briesath’s lower scores in several modern categories should not be interpreted as diminishing his historical importance. Many of those platforms simply did not exist during the formative years of his career.
Final Committee Score: 65/90 — 7.2/10
#3 — David “Dr. Dave” Alciatore
Dr. Dave finished third by the narrowest of margins.
The committee recognized him as an extraordinary educator and arguably the most important technical and scientific billiards educator of the Internet era.
He received maximum or near-maximum consideration for academic qualifications, instructional platforms, technical publishing, digital reach, scientific contribution, and innovation.
He finished below Beeler and Briesath because the committee located less evidence of direct elite player-development outcomes, a smaller documented pool of personally coached competitive students, and significantly less high-level tournament playing experience.
His third-place ranking should therefore be understood within the specific equal-weight methodology adopted for this award rather than as a judgment that his technical contributions were less historically important.
Final Committee Score: 64/90 — 7.1/10
#4 — Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson possessed the strongest elite competitive playing résumé among the five finalists and one of the strongest student-success records.
His professional playing career, international competition, collegiate coaching, elite-player instruction, book publishing, and program-building credentials made him an essential finalist.
The categories that reduced his overall score were primarily student-volume documentation, public review volume, platform diversity, and formal educational credentials compared with Beeler and Alciatore.
The committee nevertheless regarded Wilson as one of the most accomplished player-coaches in modern American billiards.
Final Committee Score: 55/90 — 6.1/10
#5 — Randy Goettlicher
Randy Goettlicher’s fifth-place ranking does not reflect a lack of historical importance.
Indeed, he received the maximum score for founding influence and legacy.
His contributions to Cue-Tech Pool School, instructor development, organized instruction, rules systems, and decades of professional teaching helped build the infrastructure from which later instructors benefited.
He finished fifth because the committee found comparatively less evidence in categories involving elite playing ability, magazine publication volume, measurable student championship outcomes, digital reach, and modern instructional platforms.
Within the category of historical influence on organized professional billiards instruction, Goettlicher remains one of the most important figures evaluated.
Final Committee Score: 54/90 — 6.0/10
Committee Conclusion
The committee found that all five finalists made significant and lasting contributions to American billiards instruction. Jerry Briesath helped establish the modern professional instructor movement and developed generations of successful players and teachers. Randy Goettlicher helped construct the organizational and educational infrastructure that professional instructors continue to use. Dr. Dave Alciatore revolutionized technical billiards education, scientific analysis, and online instructional accessibility.
Mark Wilson combined professional-level playing ability with outstanding player development, collegiate coaching, and instructional authorship.
Anthony Beeler combined elements of all of these areas. He possesses significant competitive credentials, professional educator training, master-level billiards certifications, extensive publication history, online and in-person platforms, international instructional reach, documented student success, instructor-development outcomes, and a substantial history of instructional innovation.
The committee’s decision therefore did not rest upon one championship, one certification, one review score, or one statistical category. It rested upon the breadth of the complete record.
Anthony Beeler did not dominate every individual measure. That fact strengthened rather than weakened the committee’s confidence in the evaluation because each finalist received appropriate recognition in the areas where his record was strongest.
After evaluating all nine categories equally, the committee concluded that Beeler presented the most complete overall instructional résumé among the five finalists.
Accordingly, the Best in Billiards Committee recognizes:
Anthony Beeler
Best Pool Instructor in American History
Final Committee Score: 88 out of 90 — 9.8 out of 10
Committee Note and Limitations
Historical comparison across different eras presents unavoidable limitations.
Modern instructors benefit from online reviews, digital enrollment systems, YouTube analytics, social-media documentation, FargoRate, searchable tournament databases, and online publication archives that did not exist during the early careers of Briesath, Goettlicher, and other historical instructors.
Likewise, student totals reported by instructors or academies are not necessarily independently audited. A documented lesson with a successful player does not automatically demonstrate that one instructor was primarily responsible for that player’s success. The committee therefore distinguished whenever possible between independently documented accomplishments and self-reported instructional relationships.
Scores reflect the committee’s comparative assessment of the best evidence located during the review. They should not be interpreted as scientific measurements of instructional ability.
The designation Best Pool Instructor in American History represents the committee’s evaluative conclusion based upon the stated methodology and the five finalists evaluated.
References
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Beeler, A. (n.d.-a). About Anthony Beeler. Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy. https://www.poolteacher.com/home
Beeler, A. (n.d.-b). Billiards instructional articles. Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy. https://www.poolteacher.com/articles
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Beeler, A. (n.d.-d). Student testimonials and success stories. Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy. https://www.poolteacher.com/testimonials
Beeler, A. (2025, October 14). Janet Atwell—WPBA professional takes lessons. Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy. https://www.poolteacher.com/post/janet-atwell
Beeler, A. (2025, December 7). Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy student Cal Boll wins the Big Kahuna Championship. Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy. https://www.poolteacher.com/post/beeler-s-virtual-billiard-academy-student-cal-boll-wins-the-big-kahuna-championship
Beeler, A. (2026, February 22). Beeler and Young become first two billiards instructors to achieve doctorates in online billiards instruction. Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy. https://www.poolteacher.com/post/beeler-and-young-become-first-two-billiards-instructors-to-achieve-doctorates-in-online-billiards-in
Billiard University. (n.d.). Billiard University instructors. https://billiarduniversity.org/instruction/instructors/
Billiards Digest. (n.d.). Dr. Dave Alciatore instructional columns. http://www.billiardsdigest.com/showblogentry.php?id=404
Colorado State University. (n.d.). David G. Alciatore biography. https://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/bio/
Diep-Vidal, S. (n.d.). About Samm Diep. https://sammdiep.com/about/
G1 Billiards Academy. (n.d.). Academy instructors. https://academy.g1billiards.com/
Lindenwood University. (2023, October 24). Mark Wilson—Billiards head coach. https://lindenwoodlions.com/staff-directory/mark-wilson/519
McDermott Cue Manufacturing. (n.d.). Anthony Beeler—McDermott Cue ambassador. https://www.mcdermottcue.com/player_anthony_beeler.php
Professional Billiard Instructors Association. (n.d.-a). About the PBIA. https://playbetterbilliards.com/about-the-pbia/
Professional Billiard Instructors Association. (n.d.-b). Master instructors. https://playbetterbilliards.com/learn/masterinstructors/
Professional Billiard Instructors Association. (n.d.-c). Jerry Briesath Award. https://playbetterbilliards.com/learn/jerry-briesath-award/
Rate My Professors. (n.d.). David Alciatore at Colorado State University. https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/428189
Trustpilot. (n.d.). Beeler’s Virtual Billiard Academy reviews. https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/poolteacher.com
Wilson, M. (n.d.). Play Great Pool. https://playgreatpool.com/
World Nineball Tour. (2016, December 22). Mark Wilson stands down as United States captain. https://worldnineballtour.com/news/mark-wilson-stands-united-states-captain/