More Tournaments

I'm always be looking for ways to improve my game and one of those ways is to put myself in pressure situations.  Lately, when I've been feeling good, I've had the idea to play people for some small amount of money just to add a little bit of pressure - but that, strangely enough, hasn't really panned out too well.  Meaning, I can't find opponents that are comparable to my level.  They're either far above me or considerably below.  As such, I'm looking for tournaments, small local events primarily.  There are a few weekly events available, but I'm leery of them.  Mainly because they're all on barboxes, and I don't play as well on them as I do on the 9fts. 

Well, I've decided that I must put those equipment limitations away otherwise I'll never get any training.  There's only the hope of a random 9ft open tournament twice a year and I want to do more than that, so I must adapt my playing appropriately.  If I'm to be a good all-around player as I want to become, I must be able to adapt to the table - both in size, speed and reflections. 

I'm not sure that I'll make the weekly tournament for this week since I'm currently pretty sick right now, but next week there is a very big tournament.  A Midwest 9-ball Tour stop happening at The Break, over in Cahokia, IL.  I'll be attending probably as a spectator since I'm not sure I feel prepared to take on some of the big names that will show up.  I'd like to go tonight, if only to watch, but I know that I'll end up staying there all night and I just don't feel good enough, physically, to do that.  I would love to get out of the house though. heh

In the meantime, I'm going back to watching the Diamond 10-Ball Championships happening at the Super Billiards Expo down in Valley Forge right now!

Last Minute Tournament

So, yesterday was a big 9-ball tournament out at Ride The Rail on Telegraph.  Initially only XY was going to enter as she played for free (being a girl and also a C player). It was $10 for me, with a chance to win $500.  Yeah, that didn't so much happen.  It was on bar-tables, not my favorite.  I'll save that complaint for the end of the entry:

It was scheduled to start at 5pm with a max number of 64 players. I'm not sure how many they had, but I dont think it was 64.  Anyway, the previous day's tournament was running late in the 2nd half ($1K 1st prize) so we didn't get started until almost 6.  In the first round draw I ended up drawing this kid Justin who we knew from Sportcenter.  I won the round 7-4.  I'm glad to have started off with that win - and for some reason even moreso that I played someone I sorta knew.  It took the nerves down a bit - although he claimed to be a C player, and he was not.  C players don't get position like he was getting 50% of the time. *shrug* 

The 2nd round guy was this guy Keith, and he was a pretty decent player.  I would definitely like to play him again.  I got some rolls, but he got more of them unfortunately.  I really lost it when in the 6th game I ran the last 6 balls playing pretty decent position - but also having to deal with some pretty thin cuts that I would've missed on a large table - finally getting to the 9, making another thin cut, then not being used to the table-size/speed the cue ball went two rails towards the side pocket, then the table took it and it curved 4 inches on a slow-roll straight into the jaws.  If I had won that, like I was supposed to, I believe I would've gotten all my confidence back; as it was, I got scared of the weird rolls, dead-rails and unpredictable speed of the chewed up cue ball.  He won his hill match with, get this, a carom off the 6 to bank the 9 - to combo the 8 and have the 9 follow.  Then he tells me he meant to do that.  Sure.  Okay - you might have seen that - but if you could've done that at any time, you wouldn't have hung the 9 2 rounds ago, nor would you have scratched those three times.  Anyway - I go down 3-7 (I gotta check my log to be sure, but I'm pretty sure).

So, now I'm on the loser's side of the bracket and I draw this guy Bobby.  What he's doing on the loser's side, I have no idea - he was good. Real good. Better than me.  He made some mistakes, and for the most part, I capitalized on all of them, but he was more consistent and had an excellent feel for the table, speed-wise.  He was also part of the top 16 of the previous day's tournament; which I didn't think they let those guys play in this one.  oh well.  It was a pretty good match - considering the skill differences. I made some good shots, a great carom off the 5 to the 9, if I don't say so myself. But, in the end, he took the last two racks in a row to win 7-4.

XY (my stepdaughter) had a rough time, her first round was against a pretty good player - who was also being kinda rude to her (they played on the table next to us).  She lost 7-0.  Then on her next match, she drew a guy, a little younger, and started off down 0-3; but then game back to tie it up 5-5.  Unfortunately, she scratched on the 9 the next rack, given 6-5 and he wins the next rack, so she went out with 2 sets.  But, she was happy to  have played - but equally as frustrated with the bar tables. heh.

I'll post my bar table rant in a separate entry, I want to spread this around actually.

Late Night Pool and Bar Boxes

Friday night, XY went to the hall with some friends while I played my new Assassin's Creed 2 game for a while.  Her friends left early, so I went on up there to play a while and give her a ride home.  I don't recall doing anything spectacular that night - aside from being pretty consistent and winning games.  No fantastic shots or run-outs unfortunately.  I've discovered something though... I'm being quite a bit more consistent with the number of balls I can run; which isn't enough, but it's a start. 

A number of times I'd get to the table on the 6 and run out with few problems.  If I get there on the 7, it's almost a locked in win.  However, when I break, I rarely run more than 5 balls.  So, it seems that something is preventing me from going any further.  Either I start thinking about how I could be out if I'm careful (thereby distracting my head from the current shot) or I get more and more out of line, forcing harder and harder shots.  I think it's a bit of both.  I know the latter holds true, I know that for sure - and I used to catch myself focusing on the rest of the rack while on the 3 or 4 ball and have mostly corrected myself of that habit.  One ball at a time - with eyes on the next 2. 

That's how I'm playing right now.  And for the most part, that's fine - but it's also shown me that I don't have as clear of an idea where the CB will be traveling as I had previously thought; causing me to get out of the line.  I have a decent shot making ability, so for the most part it doesn't kill me - but it does make me frustrated; which does affect my shot making.  So... some more things I need to work on, obviously.

Last night, XY suggested we hit up the bar-boxes so she can practice for her tournament next weekend.  I still haven't decided if I'm playing in it - but I'm thinking not.  It's interesting playing on those tables, like it's almost difficult to take them seriously - to really get down and shoot a serious shot on them.  At first I was shooting wildly because, lets face it, everywhere is close to the next ball on that thing.  I never did get a break'n'run - but I did run 1-9 on a practice rack while XY was at the jukebox.  Thank the makers for those giant pockets though - cuz a few of those shots would have never gone on a 9ft table. haha  I was a bit disappointed in myself though because I didn't break'n'run out on that thing - as easy as it is to sink balls, I still managed to hide myself playing position - which is a bit more forgivable, imo, because I'm used to sending the CB 15 feet, not 8 for 2-rails position.  *shrug*  Next Saturday we'll be back there playing a good long time, as the tournament is Sunday.

Tournament: Fail

So, the tournament was yesterday and I have to say that entire day couldn't have gone much worse. First off, I slept poorly and not nearly long enough. I had to get up 2 hours earlier than usual, but that was only a problem because I slept so bad. I got to work nice and early though, did some internet stuff then left for lunch. I stopped by to hang out with MX for lunch then went to the pool hall around 2pm - the tournament was at 7:30. I know my cycles enough to know that I going to start hot, get really cold - then really angry - then finally nice and calm. How long this takes is entirely variant, but I wanted to make sure I gave myself plenty of time to work through these.  The afternoon started with me playing Morris as soon as I got there; which was fine I suppose.  But man, I was off. Really off, nearly from the get go.  I only ran more than 2 balls a few times, which is just ridiculous - most of the time I was still getting position, but I just couldn't ever seem to make the first shot.  oh well.  At 6, he left and I had a protein bar and sat and waited.  I thought about continuing to shoot, but I also knew that I was getting tired, so I decided to wait it out.  I'm still sure that was the good choice. 

Anyway, the tournament begins and I draw player number 13.  At first I thought it was going to be a good omen (given my affinity for friday 13ths).  My first round was against Juliana - a 6.  I was a 4.  We flipped a coin (instead of lagging, my choice) for the first break and I won.  I broke, made a ball, but left myself a long back-cut bank on the 1B - a shot I make probably 85% of the time - but not this time.  She ran to the 6 and rattled it in the jaws.  I ran the last of the balls - which included making a tight bank on the 9B.  I broke again and didn't get anything.  She made the 1B and then played safe on the 2B.  We had a bit a safety battle for about 2 or 3 shots till I left her a window and she ran to the 7, then played safe again. It wasn't the greatest safe because the 7 was right in front of the side pocket, but the CB was hidden behind the 9B downtable. My options were to jump or kick.  Since I hadn't made a successful jump all day, I decided to kick.  I missed the ball entirely.  It doesn't matter that I was really close, the fact is I fouled.  She ran the rest.  The 3rd rack she broke and didn't make anything, but I, again, didn't have anything but a long rail bank.  I thought, surely I'll make it this time... nope.  She ran 5 balls and left me safe, a good safe. I kicked, scratched.  She ran out.  The 4th rack was pretty similar, she broke made the 1 and 2, but missed the 3 leaving it a half-diamond on the long rail, however, again, leaving me hooked behind the 5B (position on the 4 though) near the opposite side pocket.  Here I actually made a great masse shot and got around the 5 and the CB caught at just the right time and curved right into the 3 nudging it just enough to pocket it in the corner.  I thought THIS was the shot that was going to bring me back into the game. I make the 4, but the 5 hangs in the jaws.  She runs out. The next rack, somewhere along the lines I missed a kick entirely again and in my frustration I tapped the CB with my stick while it was still rollling (though in no danger of hitting another ball - it was still a really bad move).  She somewhat condescendingly reminded me that that was entirely not allowed - which I knew, but was just too damn frustrated to care.  It was embarrassing though, and it was just one more thing.  Oh, the rack before then, when she won her 3rd game, we noticed that there were 2 chips on my wire - there should've only been 1 though.  She asked me about it and I said I only moved one, then she asked how I thought that could've happened. I said I have no idea, I'm pretty sure I cleared off the wire and I'm pretty sure I only moved one.  She said she didn't remember me winning a 2nd game, and I agreed and said that I have not.  So we fixed that without any issue.  That was embarrassing as well.  All of that coupled with my poor playing really threw me off.  Anyway, during the 6th game, she somehow missed the 9 and left me damn near straight in.  I jumped up to the table and looked at it.  I got down and then realized I was too excited, so I stood up, took a deep breath and looked at it again.  I got down, shot it and because the CB ever touched the 9B, I felt my arm swing and I knew I had missed it.  Jesus f'n christ how did I do that?  2 racks later, I think, she again missed a tough cut on the 9 but left the CB and 9B frozen in a weird angle near the first diamond, pointing into the 1/2diamong area on the long rail.  I thought it would maybe cross-corner, so I hit it pretty good, the 9B moved to the 1st diamond on the short rail and the cue went zipping into the upper corner pocket.  It's now 5-1 and she's breaking again.  She runs to the 4 and misses, but it doesn't matter cuz I miss it, and she gets out.  That's all she wrote. 

Overall, it was terrible.  All I wanted to do was play well, but I barely got any time on the table.  I HATE winner-breaks tournaments for that reason.  Whenever I did get there, I'm basically coming in cold and totally out of stroke - and I'm almost always left with a really difficult shot.  Alternating breaks would at least give each player a fair chance at staying at the table. 

I played like a 2 and today I'm feeling beaten down about it.  I feel like Kevin Costner in Tin Cup after she shoots an 83 on the first day of the Open tournament.  Don Johnson asks him how he shot an 83 and he Kevin says "i missed an 3 foot putt for an 82." I missed a near straight in shot on the 9 for at least a 6-2 score.

On the table next to us was this older man, who was a 4, playing this real hoosier of a guy, ranked 2.  He barely knew any of the rules of 9-ball, and at one time asked if jumping was legal, and as we said yes he got down and scooped the CB into the air before we could even stop him.  Afterwards we said that was an illegal shot, you have to hit down on the CB to jump it.  He didn't quite understand how that works; which is fine - it's a weird concept at first.  He ended winning 2 games and the older gentle was noticeably annoyed.  I know that Julianna was set to play him (Melvin) next.  Btw, Melvin had his wife (who's name I didn't get) and his son, Bubba, (seriously) with him.

Back to my game - I could come with up a number of excuses - lack of sleep, lack of practice, we played on the old one-pocket table, which I never play on... ever, was too nervous, nervous about playing a girl, nervous about playing a 6, nervous about playing someone that remembered me from 2003/4 when I used to go to chesterfield billiards, just plain nerves.  But the bottom line is, I played horribly - and no matter what the excuse, there's no excuse for missing some of the shots I missed.  There just isn't.  I should be able to make some of those while so drunk I'm seeing triple.

I didn't even bring my stick today.  I'm going to take today off - it'll be tough because I really want to get back on the table, but I'm feeling pretty down still.  Even though I got a good night's sleep (finally it seems) last night, I'm just not up for shooting poorly again.

There's another tournament at the end of the month, it's much larger than this one - but it's on bar boxes - and it's quarters.  XY is determined to play in it - she gets in free.  I would have to pay $10.  I might do it. Not sure yet.  There's also a Banks tournament at C&C coming up, $20 fee/$5 greens and it's double-elimination.  I might do that one, we'll see.  I do love banking balls.  It's not handicapped though - race to 3 on the winner's and 2 on the loser's sides.

Today's the Big Day!

So. last night I ended up going to the hall with XY.  We stayed a little longer than I had hoped, but everyone wanted their turn to try one of the drills I was practicing.  We got home around 11:30, but then I sat on the couch to relax a minute ... then fell asleep.  I woke up at 3am to some retarded infomercial.  I staggered on up to bed, only to be awakened 3 short hours later. *sigh* this is not the good night's rest I had hoped for.  I'm taking off work this afternoon so I can get some practice in - but I think I'll go home and freshen up a bit before coming back out to the hall.

I've already drew up my tournament notebook which looks something like this:

R	R+	!	/`	~	x	w/l

• R is rack number
• R+ is longest run in rack
• ! is balls made
• /` is balls missed
• ~ is safeties
• x is scratches
• w/l is obviously win loss
  

I also have little superscript notes for shots that indicate banks, kicks, combos, caroms, jumps and safety escapes. I think I've covered all the data I want, so... as long as I'm diligent about recording the info, it should be fine.  I've been doing this by hand the last two really big matchups I've had and it's not too difficult if I do it after each shot.  I only use hash marks, so I don't have to keep track of the exact balls I made.

I'm also in the process of writing a little app that will allow me to enter this information into a database so I can start doing trend analysis on my game.  The idea is that I will send a txt msg to a specific email account after each game with this info and the app will read that email and store that in the database.  Then I can just run reports at my leisure. Of course, i'm still working on the reading email from code thing - I have to convert someone's C# to VB to have it integrated with the rest of my website (secured and hidden from public view, of course).

Oh well.  I'm actually glad I started doing this today because it's kept my brain from worrying too much about the match later this evening.  I wish I had started the coding earlier this morning though, I would've like to at least have the email reading thing done before the tournament.

Longer Match (24-16)

Today's lunch started just about as soon as I entered the place. Morris was there and said he'd be ready in a few games.  While I had planned on practicing on the new one-pocket table, practicing in a game is probably better for me right now.  So, off we went.  I can't possibly try and recap all the action, but I know that I was first to 4 games; which means if this had been in the tournament, I would've won.  Overall, I'm very pleased with my playing today - save a few shots of course.  I totally miscued the only jump attempt, which really pissed me off since I specifically practiced that shot/distance sunday night.  I made some good kicks/escapes from safe - but I never really shot a good safety; got lucky a few times, but oh well. I combo'd the 9 a few times as well.  I dont think i'll play tonight - just relax and make sure to get a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow will be a long day.  I'm excited, but also nervous. *eee*

Bring on the Tournament!

It's official.  I'm playing in the tournament on Wednesday.  The organizer said I was a 4, and it'll be adjusted as I play.  I expected him to assign me a 5, but I'm guessing that lately they've caught glimpses of my bad hours.  Which is fine for me.  I have some more confidence that I'll make it past the first round. :)

Today started off poorly. My brain was all over the place and I wasn't feeling my stroke.  During a cool-off period Morris came over so we started playing.  I actually did pretty well today.  We played a lot of games and I'd have to check my notebook to see the final score, but based on memory, I think it was something like 13-10 him.  I had some good runs and made some good shots - got some bad rolls and scratched a bit more often then I wanted. I also got lucky a few times with 2 kick shots, but I'll take it.  There were at least three games where he scratched making the 7 and he gave me the game because the 8 laid perfectly for the 9.  I appreciated his confidence. :)  I was making those cut shots that was been the bane of my existence lately; although I still dogged a few too many shots - and once I missed my BIH shot to get position - and didn't get that either.  That's just embarrassing.  I suppose that's why I'm only a 4 though.  *sigh*  Wednesday is going to be a tough day. Gonna need to figure out a way to eat something around 5 - something that's not gonna weigh me down.  I'm thinking protein shake, but we'll see.

Transition From Practice to Play - Fail

Today's adventure started out wonderfully actually.  I was taking my time, locking my chin, compensating for throw, getting good position, making good shots during my practices.  I did this for at least an hour. Was feeling pretty good for the upcoming match with Morris.  Then he got wrapped up into another match and I ended up playing Clarence.  He doesn't really like 9-ball at all and will usually only play one-pocket.  His brother was playing Morris and Ralph was taken up with someone else.  I had asked him earlier if he wanted to play banks, but he declined.  Then later he comes over and says ok, lets play some 9-ball.  he breaks, nothing goes in and the CB and 1B are basically an easy shot.  I miss - as if I hadn't just made that shot 27 times in the hours. The 2nd game I thought I had him though.  Same story, he broke, pushed out on the 1.  I ran the 1 through the 6, missed the 7, but got a lucky roll and got safe.  He missed the 7 and left me a shot. I made the 7 and 8 and left myself with a not-too-easy-but-not-too-hard shot on the 9, again, another shot I'd been making most of the day, and just totally dogged it.  Lather, Rinse, Repeat.  I didn't win a single game because I failed to get position on the 8 or 9 most of the time. Too worried about over shooting it, left me way short usually.  He finally left to go play with Ralph and I had to get some food or start throwing a fit.  I stopped counting at 6-0, but I'd guess it went to 9 at least.

There's no way I can enter a tournament if that is how I'm going to play when it matters.

Back on the table

Well, I've been sick the last 2 days and stayed home from work to try and knock it out as fast as possible.  That also means that I haven't shot this week yet.  Which is probably for the best.  As frustrated as I was getting the last week or 2, a break is probably just what I needed.  I guess we'll see.  However, I'm not 100% over my illness, but at least my head is clear - thinking anyway. Still some sinus blockage, but mostly my chest is congested now.

The US Open was last week and BCN has videos uploaded already. :) So, right now I'm watching Johnny Archer (The Scorpion) play Mika Immonen (The Iceman).  I already know who wins, but it's fun to watch the matches.

My tournament is a week from today, and I'm still not sure if I'm entering. I really should just for the experience.  I've seen a few blogs talk about how practice is nice, but the only way to really prove anything is in competition.  Which is entirely true of course. One of them says the problem with a lot of tournament and their relatively low-entrance numbers is because people only enter if they feel they can win - otherwise, they're just giving up the entrance fee.  I know I wont win, and I don't expect to make it past the 2nd round - but I want to be confident that I will make it to the 2nd round at least.  That would be enough for me, I think.  The 3rd would be ideal, but I'm not pushing my luck.  I have to decide how I'm going to play.  I tend to be pretty aggressive in my playing - going for low-percentage shots because I like them as opposed to playing smart and playing safe.  I always feel like a jerk when I play safe, but I know it's part of the game.  The other thing is that the guy I usually play with never plays safe either, so...  *shrug* that's his style I guess.

Regardless, I'm curious to see how today's playing will turn out.

Rating System

I just found a rating system that is pretty nice.  And I have to say, honestly, I think I'm a B-/C+.

Reaching the B- level player level is perhaps the biggest hurdle, as a good number of players peak at the C+ level. B- players are quite capable of running racks of 8-ball or 9-ball, but they lack consistency.

A B C D Rating Explained

(edited)
After the way I've been playing the last few days, I feel like a D player. I can't seem to make anything beyond the 2nd ball.  I almost always get position - but what good is that if I miss the first ball.  I seriously want to just destroy things.

The Path to the Tournament

Today's pool hall adventure was something pretty awesome.  I get there and the parking lot is near full. I walk in and most of the tables are taken; and the people I'd usually play with are busy.  So, I grab a tray of balls and find a table.  I haven't even put my stick together when Kevin (an instructor who hangs out there and to whom I've talked only a handful of times before) asks if I'd like to play some 9-ball.  Of course I accept!  I'm also strangely nervous, but trying to keep it in check.  We only got to play 2 games, which he, of course, won - because his student had just arrived for the day. But it was interesting to watch him move around the table.  Then Morris showed up and we played the remainder of the day. 

Now, I didn't make any fantastic shots, per se, but I did make three back-cut bank shots - one all the way down the table - and mostly got position.  Unfortunately, whenever I miss, most of the time I'd be in position for the next ball - which often meant he was snookered behind some other ball.  So: Point for getting position - Negative point for missing the shot.  This constant having to fight out thing really got under Morris' skin and I think it threw his game off.  Either he's miss the object ball, or scratch - sometimes both.  The table seemed to have only 2 speeds: too slow and too fast.  Getting distance-based position was a real trick, one that neither of us actually got a good grip on all day.  Normally, Morris can cut balls with very impressive accuracy, but today for some reason, he was off - to me, it seemed as if he wasn't accounting for throw, or was just simply out of stroke.  Regardless, he let me back to the table frequently and I was lucky enough to only 3 balls to clear to run out.  Today was my day to win, it seemed.  He, again, commented on my game, which is indeed pretty awesome.

Just before leaving, I heard someone mention a 9-ball tournament next month - now that caught my ear pretty strongly.  I will be entering this tournament.  It's November 4th, single elimination.  I have discovered a few other key elements to my game I really need to work on - most immediately the thin cuts.  I've gotten better, but they're still a gamble for me.  I also need to retrain my eye because every time I see a less-than-half-ball hit, I immediately think "bank" - I need to start thinking "cut". More often than not, a cut shot will offer more positional opportunities than a bank shot will.

I plan on spending a lot of time shooting the next three weeks and really try and work out some issues.  I have no delusions of winning the tournament, but I really don't want to go out the first round.