Steiner and the Hypnotic Cue

CHAPTER 11 The Three Ruffians

The response to the video was overwhelming. Countless offers poured in. In the end, I played just three top players: John Gould, John Higgins and Matthew Stevens.

John Gould was the first.  I beat him 6:2 in the best of 11. The video went viral. Shock waves reverberated throughout the snooker world.

John Higgins flew in from Mauritius, interrupting his holiday. He left Edinburgh Airport at 4pm.  By 7pm we were playing in Hendry’s snooker room, cameras on.

I was blown away. Higgins took the first three games without my barely touching a ball.

Hendry started to panic. I was getting flustered and for the first time in weeks, I messed up my break. Higgins took the forth.

That left just seven games. I just didn’t know what to do. I had the cue clutched in my hand as I bowed my head, trying not to look at any of them, and certainly hoping not to see Mandy.

Higgins broke and started potting the balls.

I went over in my mind everything that had happened—all the games. There was definitely something different in the last couple of matches. My opponents hadn’t stared at the cue as much as others had in the early games.  Higgins hadn’t even looked at it at all. Also,  I was losing   interest in magic, and hadn’t thought about it in weeks.  I was obsessed  on developing skill—I did mention I can be OCD at times.   I reminisced about that magic ceremony in my room. Then, I replayed the school pool competition in my mind.  I clearly visualised how the cue had transfixed them all. Next, I imagined Higgins  hypnotised by the cue. It started to tingle in my hand.  It dawned on me: the power of the cue was based on what I wished for, and how I visualised it.

“Higgins 27 break; Sanderson two shots,” Hendry announced, wakening me from my own trance. Opening my eyes, I could see Higgins eyes glaring at the cue, pupils dilated. He had missed an easy shot. 

Now was my chance.

I went to the table and cleared it.

I won the next six games in a row, scoring two 147’s—an unheard of accomplishment.

My support screamed and jumped for joy. Higgins shook my hand and said he would do his best to help me. Later he bought Scott and David a couple of whiskies back at the hotel, before flying back to Mauritius later the next day

When the footage was released, some understood it as a hustle on Higgins; others saw me cracking and thought I was beatable.

Fortunately, Hendry  saw it as a hustle and upped the prize money to £1,500,000. Thinking back, I’m sure the hypnotic effect of the cue lay behind this.

That kind of money put a lot of pressure on me,  but I was not worried a bit, because now I knew exactly how to beat everyone who came my way.

There was a two day gap between Higgins and Mathew Stevens. In the meantime, excitement gave way to some cold hard facts about finances.

David Noble was beginning to make noises. I had overheard his conversations with his wife, who was making even bigger noises. He hadn’t really thought it through, and had overstretched himself.

Scott  became uneasy, and decided to get back to work. He  said he’d  wait until after my next game.

In contrast, Hendry became more upbeat with every passing minute.

Matthew Stevens  arrived about 5pm. He was all fired up, stating  he wanted to play nine frames.  No problem. I was the one holding a hypnotic cue, and he could have as many games as he wanted.

Despite the bravado, he was in no real hurry to play. He ‘blethered’ to Stephen and David Noble for about a hour.

In the other side of the room,  Scott was trying to drag me into a conversation about school. The holidays were ending in a couple of  weeks, he reminded me.  He told me not to take any of this too seriously, and argued I should  get back to school for more qualifications.

“Think again Scott!” I thought and then thought again,  “Don’t get me thinking, Scott! Don’t get me thinking!”

Of course I was thinking, but in a nice way.  Music videos repeated in my mind’s eye—glamour, cars, houses, exotic locations and cool friends. Like that Nickleback video I had seen a number of times—I wanted to be a rock star.

Scott pushed me to make a decision.  Fortunately, Stevens announcement that he was ready to play ended this unwelcome conversation. 

Stevens probably wished he had talked some more, as I gave him the thrashing of a lifetime—five games to nil. He scored less than 30 points in the entire match.

I had learned my lesson well.

Stevens was, for the first time in his life, lost for words. The others joined him in his silent tribute of awe and bewilderment. How long we stood, dumbstruck, is hard to say. Mandy eventually took us out of our trance by offering coffee and sandwiches. She had warmed to me and our cause  in the last couple of days.

Then, Hendry came out with a big shocker.

Out of nowhere he made us a proposition, right there and then, while we were tucking into our sandwiches and Battenberg slices.

It went like this: he would reimburse all our expenses up till now and would bankroll the three of us, modestly of course, until I started earning money. In return, he would take a cut of my winnings. He had asked for 20%, but Noble whittled him down to 15%. Scott and Noble were already in for a 10% cut each, plus expenses.   There were millions to be won in the pro-circuit, and I intended to win every penny.  After all, what’s 35% of five  or even eight million … quite a lot actually. This occurred to me some months after these arrangements had been made. Eventually, I would need to cut loose from them all.

But that night I dreamt of money, swimming pools and limousines. I wished for it so badly.

The next day came the big break we were all waiting for, as if to fulfil my wishes.