Victory!

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!

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.

Buzz

Debuting my new haircut by Str-8-Edge Barbershop. Just in time for the Masters.

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.

Like Butter ...

... on a roll. Lost a hill-hill heartbreaker in league last night. I got a little hesitant with a long draw shot and came up too short for position on the 8 ball that would have clinched it. My opponent came up with a great cut shot though to seal the match.

One of my memorable shots was in the second rack where he pinned me behind a couple of his balls. He had all seven of his balls scattered about, but I'm only showing the two pertinent ones. The cue ball - 8 ball had the slightest of angles to it, but I managed to nail the jump shot for the win.

2nd Place in PotShot Pool Tournament

I got second place in the PotShot Pool Tournament today at Big City in Allston. It's a slight improvement from the fourth place I got last time, but the field was a little smaller. There were a couple good shooters there though (especially since I dragged a couple friends along), so it might have been slightly more difficult overall. Nothing too dramatic to report, but the first two rounds ended up going to a spot shot shootout. So with an object ball on one spot and the cue ball on the other, you had to sink the object ball without scratching. There are two primary ways to play the shot, as a cut into one of the corners by the object ball or as a long bank to one of the corners by the cue ball. Cutting it is tricky because there's a tendency to scratch unless you can get enough draw or follow to get the cue ball on a different line. I saw a couple players scratch on another table since they couldn't compensate. I chose to bank. I got a little lucky in the first round as everyone missed their initial attempt. For the second attempt, the cue ball could be placed anywhere in the kitchen, but I elected to go right back to the spot and bank again. I thought I made an adjustment, but it wasn't big enough. Luckily I hit hard enough to give myself a chance at the up and down and it managed to fall. In the second round, I went first and fired the bank right in, putting the pressure on everyone else. Even my friend who I told the shot to and who made it in his first round match missed. To the victory goes the spoils.

Dr Cue Tom Rossman at the Osage Prairie YMCA in Nevada, Missouri

Pool trick shot champion Tom 'Dr. Cue' Rossman will put on a exhibition at the Osage Prairie YMCA in Nevada, Missouri on March 2, 2010. Tom Rossman won the 2002 Trick Shot Magic, 2008 Trick Shot Magic, as well as the 2006, 2008, and 2009 World Cup of Trick Shots. Cheaper tickets are available if you buy them in advance so make your plans now!