Product Review based on the following criteria:

Purpose? What the heck is this thing used for and is there a need for it?
User-friendly? Is it easy to use and follow?
Comparison? Are there currently other products like it on the market and how does it compare?
Level? What caliber player is this product target? Beginner/Leisure, Intermediate/League-player, Advanced, or All Levels.
Appearance? Does it look cool?
Price / Value? Is it worth your dawg dollars?
Rating? On a scale of 1 to 4 pooldawg paws.
Gripes? Any possible suggestions for improvement?
Feedback? What my students had to say about it and any other comments.
Overall? Considering the pros and cons, should you own one of these?

The Ultimate Pool Challenge Game

Available at PoolDawg.com
Retail price: $24.95
PoolDawg price: $19.95
CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Purpose

The Ultimate Pool Challenge Game is designed as a fun, convenient way to improve your pool game by testing your skills with various shots. Each shot is illustrated on one of 52 playing cards. Each card is associated with a point value of 5, 10, 20, or 25 points based on the difficulty level, and two wild cards (which earn a player an extra shot if drawn). The point system and card designs appear to be very well thought out. Each card is also associated with an actual playing card value so if you wanted, I suppose you could even play some hands of poker or blackjack with these cards.

Click Here to view 5 sample cards! (PDF opens in a new window)

User-friendly

The instructions read: “shuffle, draw, and shoot.” I would consider that very user-friendly. The cards themselves are extremely easy to follow and the cue ball paths are illustrated very clearly.

Comparison

I am not aware of any other product like this on the market. It’s unique and becoming quite a popular learning tool.

Level

Intermediate to Advanced, I wouldn’t recommend this product for complete beginners.

Appearance

I love the packaging and the concept of a deck of cards! Each individual card is beautifully printed with full bleed with very clear illustrations on the table layout. Players can keep these cards in their pool case and take them anywhere.

Price / Value

Retail price: $24.95

PoolDawg price: $19.95

$19.95 for a deck of cards could be considered pricy, but we’ve all spent that much on a tip tool or an instructional book. You get a lot of bang for your buck here since you can conveniently take this handy deck of cards with you anywhere.

Gripes

The only possible gripe I could even think of would be that they don’t tell you how to shoot the shots. However, this is also a bonus. For many of the 20pt and 25pt shots, you’re required to play 2-3 rail position after pocketing a ball. They don’t explain where you should be aiming, what speed to use, etc. This could be a negative to some lower-level players, but again, I do not recommend this product for beginner players and I believe they will appreciate that they need to figure this stuff out on their own without someone else giving away all the secrets. I’m sure that was also the creator’s intentions.

Rating (based on a possible 4 paws)

I give this product 3 ½ paws!

Feedback

“I like it! It’s very good. It’s got some good practice shots. Sell me this one!” David H.

“It’s cool! I like it.” Dan L.

“I love it! I want a set!” John A.

Overall

I introduced this product to my pool clinic students and they were all very excited about it. In fact, if I had some extra sets with me, I would’ve sold them on the spot. We didn’t keep score. I just selected a few shots from the deck for us to work on and then set up some variations of our own. The illustrations are very clear and easy to understand. We were on 9-foot tables. I’m curious to see how different the shots would be on different sized tables. I would definitely recommend this item to any player looking for a fun way to spice up their pool training.

Share on Facebook