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Florian "Venom" Kohler (born July 10, 1988) is a French professional pool player trick shot artist, particularly known for his massé shots.

Career

Growing up in eastern France, Kohler did not start playing pool until the age of 18, when he received a 6-foot pool table as a birthday gift from his parents. Kohler started watching exhibition videos online and trying to imitate shots in them. His influences include Mike Massey and Semih Sayginer.

He began experimenting with his own versions of trick shots, and eventually developed many new concepts, such as ball jumping, massé-ing with multiple cues simultaneously, executing jump and massé shots on moving balls, and executing very high jumps. He has set a record for highest jump shot on a moving ball, at 34 inches (86 centimeters).

Kohler assisted in the development of the Mezz massé cue, which is specially designed to execute trick shots.

The APA announced they would be sponsoring Florian Kohler and he would be an official spokesperson for the APA on April 28, 2014 at their Annual League Operator Convention in Las Vegas.

In mid-2019 Kohler and his wife became league operators for the APA Las Vegas Division.

Kohler currently holds 7 Guinness World Record titles:

1. Playing with the longest usable pool cue (17 ft 7.4 in)
2. Most pool balls potted into the middle pocket over an obstacle in 1 minute
3. Highest jump pot of a billiard ball
4. Fastest time to jump pot 15 pool balls on a US table
5. Fastest time to jump pot 15 pool balls (one-handed)
6. Longest duration to spin a billiard ball
7. Most pool balls jumped one-handed in 1 minute

The most pool balls potted into the middle pocket over an obstacle in one minute record was aired on the Guinness World Records Italian Show (Ep. 28) where he competed for the record against Stefano Pelinga. Stefano managed to pocket 35 balls in 1 minute and Kholer managed 68, setting a record. Kohler then went on to beat his own record of 68 by pocketing 70. On December 16, 2018 he broke his own record again at Las Vegas with 75 balls.

References

1. "Interview with Florian 'Venom' Kohler" Archived 2018-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bola-8, May 2012
2. "Vegas trick-shot pool phenom brings dazzling artistry to Newfoundland | CBC News".
3. "Interview with Florian 'Venom' Kohler", CrazyAboutPool, 2 August 2012
4. Bio Archived 2018-09-19 at the Wayback Machine, personal website
5. "Mezz massé cue: Massé with power and precision" Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine, Miki Co. Ltd website
6. "APA Signs Florian "Venom" Kohler – The Pool Scene". Retrieved 2019-11-09.
7. "Trending: Pool's Famous Faces Becoming APA League Operators". American Poolplayers Association. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
8. ^ "Video: Billiard star Florian Kohler makes world's longest pool cue and breaks five trick shot records". Guinness World Records. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
9. "Most pool balls potted one handed into the middle pocket over an obstacle in one minute".
10. Pool trick shot world record // Guinness World Records Italian Show (Ep 28), retrieved 2019-11-09
11. "Most pool balls potted into the middle pocket over an obstacle in one minute". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2019-11-09.

• 1988 births
• Living people
• French pool players
• Trick shot artists
• America's Got Talent contestants