After returning from the Super Billiards Expo late Sunday night, I had to return to league play on Monday. We had locked up last place already for the season (thankfully, the playoffs are a random draw), so we were just playing the role of spoilers trying to knock the other team out of the money spots. I played a lower handicap, so it was a 5-4 race and I was also giving up a ball each game. The guy wasn't great, but I made a few mistakes which kept him in the match. I think it was the fourth rack where I tried to jump a ball, but didn't clear it and ended up pocketing the 8 instead. I did have a few flashes of brilliance making some bank shots. I actually banked the 8 ball in on two different occasions and might have actually ended up making more banks than I missed. In another game, the 8 was dead set on a kiss from one of his object balls and I was able to make that. Eventually though, the match got to hill-hill. I missed a long bank, but my opponent failed to get good position on the 8. He played as good of a safety as you could (see diagram), leaving me with one option shown on page 2. He failed to make the long shot off the rail and the balls fortuitously left me straight in on the 8 for the win. Hopefully this momentum gets carried over in to the playoffs!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
2010 Masters Artistic Pool Championship
The 2010 Masters was a lot of fun, as it always is. Here were some of the highlights of the trip.
1. Players reunion. It's just always fun being amongst all of the trick shot artists and getting to mess around on the pool table. Unfortunately, there wasn't a practice table so there was less of that, but we took over some of the vendor booths to compensate. Actually it was mostly my sponsors booth, Crown Cues.
2. Getting an 8 ball cut in to my hair. Check out my previous post. It surprised a lot of people and ended up being a good talking point.
3. Nick Nikolaidis winning the tournament over Andy Segal. It came down to the final shot which Andy got to choose and had to make within two attempts.
4. Selling four giant 8 balls. One of them even went to a random fan who was there! Oddly, he asked a lot of people to sign it except for me (and Gordon Hedges). I guess I should start pre-signing them.
5. Beating Steve Lillis in a game of Bobble Ball.
6. Making people smile. Whether it was showing off a trick shot, teaching how to masse, or just with my hair cut, the fun and entertainment takes away all the stress of a tournament.
7. Abram Diaz getting his thumb stuck in a Delta rack. No joke. Stacy had to take him to the women's restroom to soap it up so he could get his thumb out. I heard part of it was caught on the live stream too.
1. Players reunion. It's just always fun being amongst all of the trick shot artists and getting to mess around on the pool table. Unfortunately, there wasn't a practice table so there was less of that, but we took over some of the vendor booths to compensate. Actually it was mostly my sponsors booth, Crown Cues.
2. Getting an 8 ball cut in to my hair. Check out my previous post. It surprised a lot of people and ended up being a good talking point.
3. Nick Nikolaidis winning the tournament over Andy Segal. It came down to the final shot which Andy got to choose and had to make within two attempts.
4. Selling four giant 8 balls. One of them even went to a random fan who was there! Oddly, he asked a lot of people to sign it except for me (and Gordon Hedges). I guess I should start pre-signing them.
5. Beating Steve Lillis in a game of Bobble Ball.
6. Making people smile. Whether it was showing off a trick shot, teaching how to masse, or just with my hair cut, the fun and entertainment takes away all the stress of a tournament.
7. Abram Diaz getting his thumb stuck in a Delta rack. No joke. Stacy had to take him to the women's restroom to soap it up so he could get his thumb out. I heard part of it was caught on the live stream too.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Oh and n
Still not doing any better in league play. Lost a match where I was giving up a ball and a game, 4-2. But one of the games I won I finished out nicely. I had the layout below. I snuck the 15 in and drew back to play the carom off the 1 ball. I got a lucky bump from the 7, but it set me up just well enough. I had to throw the 12 with a lot of left which also helped for position on the 8. Other than that, the guy made a great bank on the 8 at 2-2 and then finished it with a long back cut. I should have just kept the table closed a little more as he was a good shot maker.
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