Poor play
Posted at 4:58 AM, October 28, 2008 to Online pool
So my poor playing followed me to my 8 ball league match. Luckily, I was matched up against someone a little less skilled. It was a 5-4 race and he got a ball every rack. He wasn’t a bad shooter if you left him open. He took the first rack after I missed my last ball and then I scratched on the 8 in the second rack, which is a loss in our league. So he’s already halfway home at this point. Finally, I dug in and just started locking everything up until I had a chance to run it. I took the next 3, leaving it a race to 2. In the sixth rack, he got down to the 8 pretty quick and I still had all my balls left, so I started trying to play safe. When I finally got ball in hand, instead of blocking the pocket for the 8 ball, I decide to go for the run. A simple miss gifted him the rack and the hill. I buckled down for the next two games though, prefering to leave him no shot rather than make a ball and leave myself with no clear way out. I took the next rack to go hill-hill. Maintaining the same strategy, I whittled my way down to the 8 ball on the final rack, missing a thin reverse cut into the corner. His imprecise two-way shot left me a not-so-routine cut into the corner. I finally pulled out a tough cut to win the match.
9 ball tourney
Posted at 5:37 AM, October 27, 2008 to Online pool
I played in a local 9 ball tournament today and got rocked. I just played poorly; no real excuses. I lost 4-1 and 6-2, so neither of the matches were really close. My first opponent sank all the 9 balls, except he scratched on one of them essentially handing me the game. Both of them pocketed the 9 on the break once each too. It took a while to get used to the fast tables. Also, one of the tables I played on, the floor underneath it was uneven. The table itself was level, but it was awkward when I was standing on a slanted surface trying to aim the shot. Oh well. Hopefully 8 ball league tomorrow will turn out a little better.
Comet pictures
Posted at 6:46 AM, September 12, 2008 to Online pool
Check out the pictures from the Comet Classic.
Comet Classic recap
Posted at 3:48 AM, September 11, 2008 to Online pool
Check out my recap of the 2008 Comet Classic.
Comet Classic Recap
Posted at 5:31 AM, September 8, 2008 to Online pool
On the second day of the Comet, I slipped back into my usual routine of missing a few more shots and fell back to finish up 5th place in the preliminary rounds, one point behind Stefan Mendrick, who I would face in the playoffs. I ended up beating him and faced Andy Segal in the semifinals. The magic finally ran out though and I was unable to emerge victorious. However, I went out with quite a bang by selecting the Vertical Jump Masse (see diagram). I shot it so good, that the cue ball flew almost six diamonds up the table, spun back and still had enough speed to pocket the hanging ball. My semifinal loss still got me 3rd place behind Andy and Nick Nikolaidis, and it was my best tournament yet, so I have to be pleased.