Turning Stone Classic XII

I drove up to the Turning Stone Casino and Resort in Verona, NY which is about 4-5 hours away to watch the pros battle it out for $25,000 in prize money in the Joss Northeast 9-ball Turning Stone Classic XII.

The weekend was kind of a blur so I'll just make some commentary on the photos I posted up.

(Click on Picture to Enlarge)

My buddy and hero Sarah Rousey. She had a great tourney and was the last woman to be knocked over to the one loss side.

She ran into Oscar Dominguez from California, a kid who plays with an 8mm shaft, and he didn't miss one damn ball the entire set. She had a couple of mistakes, scratched on the 9-ball once and scratched on the break once, and that was the difference in the match.

She played Stevie Moore next, a well known men's professional, who basically out-safed her. I think you could see the difference in skill between the top men pros and the top women pros in how tight Stevie's safes were and how his kicks weren't just to make contact but to kick-safe you back. She put up a great fight and had him scared but came up just a little "short". (Ha!)

Overall, a great finish for Sarah. Congrats!

Dennis Hatch. Local guy, from Buffalo, and was the crowd favorite. He also seems to be popular with the internet crowd as well with statements by the internet woofers that some that top professional players, Mika and Shane for example, are afraid to gamble with him. I'm not so sure about that but I'd love to see a match like that happen. (TAR! Make It Happen!)

I don't know much about him but I heard he was a really great young player who ran into some trouble with the law and that set him back a bit.

He came in 2nd so he's definitely a good player. (BUT he did have a bit of luck on his side. More on that later.)

My Amsterdam League teammate and also the 2008 Player of the Year, Mika Immonen. Great tournament as well with a good, solid, 3rd place finish. He was killing opponents until the last day where he just looked a little bit off and not himself. He drank tea which had caffeine when he's usually doesn't drink any caffeine and that may have done it. He did some things I rarely seen him do - scratch a lot, miss easy open shots, etc. which gave his oppenents, Souquet and Hatch, too many opportunities.

Still, solid performance and will be one of the favorites to win any events he's in this year.

Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant. Dude...can you speed things up? He was playing Shawn Putnam and turned down 3 racks which I thought was excessive. Now, I understand you're cut breaking and you need the rack to be "just so" for you to make a ball and run out but c'mon.

He also measures...and measures...and measures...before he decides to shoot.

I hate to say it but I was glad he was eliminated cause he was going to hold the tournament up.

Shane Van Boening, 2007 Player of the Year. He missed a 9-ball, an easy 9-ball, to go up 8-7 on Shawn Putnam. So, instead of 8-7 SVB, it was 8-7 Putnam. Putnam broke and ran out the rack for the set eliminating SVB. I was like "Wow, even pros miss easy ass 9-balls! It's not just me!"

Thanks Shane. I feel better about myself now.

Ralf "the Kaiser" Souquet. Ralf, that's one ugly ass cue. Call your sponsor now and request a new cue. Please? Pretty please?

I also have to admit, there's slow players and there's Ralf. Ralf actually put me to sleep. Yep, I fell asleep watching him play. He's a machine and has a set pre-shot routine that he won't deviate from - not even if it's a hanger. It took him 10 minutes to run the hanging 8-ball and the hanging 9-ball. I do have to admit, he's a hell of a player. Nothing fancy, just really really effective. Only...

Slow. Effective. = Coma.

Mario Morra. John Morra's pops. I was watching him play and I was like "how is this dude still on the win side?" He's a little unorthodox but he's definitely a player. His safeties were excellent. They didn't look "lock up tight" but then you noticed that there's balls in the way of all the directions you need to kick to to make contact. Just a really really smart player. By the end of the event I was very impressed.

Charlie Williams. He didn't do so well this event and was knocked out by my good friend Marc Vidal. I did have dinner with him twice and he's a pretty funny guy and tells good stories. He's throwing a tournament in Vegas in May which we'll be attending so, hopefully, we just scored free passes to watch!

Shawn "Big Bubba" Putnam. Why does he always look in pain when he shoots? Is that pain or constipation?

Anyway, Shawn also dogged a 9-ball. It was to win the set against Dennis Hatch. It gave Hatch an opportunity when he really should've been knocked out. So instead of 9-6 and the win it's now 9-7. Hatch breaks dry and Shawn scratches going from the 1-ball to the 2-ball. Talk about 9 lives for Hatch. Hatch runs out that rack and breaks and runs the next one to sent Shawn home.

Goes to show that everyone misses and everyone "dogs it". (I feel soooo good about myself right now.)

Also goes to show that you really can't give players at this level extra opportunities at the table.

Still, solid 4th place finishes for Big Bubba. Should've been 3rd at least though. That missed 9-ball cost him $1,000. Ouch.

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Okay, Turning Stone Casino. What the F*ck? I tried to play the slot machines only the slot machines don't take actually physical money. I have to go and get a card, load the card with money, and then use that to play.

You. Have. Got. To. Be. F*cking. Kidding. Me.

I've never seen or heard of this so...I guess I won't be playing slots.

Roulette it is and, yes, I did pull a "Jay".

Running through the casino to get to the food court for a quick bit before sweating the early round matches I stop at the roulette wheel and break out $50. I get 10 $5 chips.

Spread them out.

Bam. Hit a number.

Spread some out again.

Bam. Hit a number.

One more time.

Bam. NUMBER 24!!!

I had just $10 on it but that's still $350 and doesn't include what I had in my hand.

Gave a little back but still had enough to cover my expenses for the weekend.

Score!

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Italian food at the Hamilton Hotel in Rome, NY.

Two orders of mussels. An order of prime rib. Pasta, stuff mushrooms...and more. Enough food to feed 7 people well.

$100.

How's that make you feel?

An Ugly Win Is Still A Win

I finally won a match in the Thursday Amsterdam league! It was an ugly match but I finally got one, a win over the league director, after about 7 straight weeks of losing in this league.

I'm declaring my slump officially over!

(A loss next week would be the start of a new slump and not a continuation of this slump. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

I didn't play great but I did play smarter by playing more safes when I really didn't have a good high percentage shot. (This is similar to the strategy I used in my APA match.) I also kept my head a lot better too. I now expect the tables to run a lot faster and wasn't beating myself up (too much) when the cue ball over ran the position I tried to play. I just shot a saver if I could or played a safe. I'm also aware of the changes I unconsciously make to my mechanics as I try to adjust to the table speed so now I'm able to catch myself and to remind myself to just stroke the ball normally and let whatever happens happen.

My strategy worked well against the league director. He'd rather go for an outrageous bank over safing me back. He'd sell out or, even better, lose control of the cue ball and scratch. It really looked like he beat himself with scratches on the 8, the 9, selling out on the 9, etc. over "me beating him" by adapting a good strategy against him.

Goodie for me as this will keep me from getting raised.

I'm definitely more comfortable as an average C player as I work to adapt to all the recent changes I made to my game. It's been really hard to play leagues as a C+ and to add in changes, especially mechanical changes, at the same time. The changes haven't become natural yet and I still find myself fighting all the bad habits I learned years and years ago and, giving a game here, two games there, it was really just too difficult as I had no margin for error.

(It wouldn't bother me, personally, as much if I didn't feel the pressure of the "team" thing.)

I am becoming more and more comfortable with the mechanical changes, I have to still work on the Quiet Eye, but I do think I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, that's the quick update.

Off to Turning Stone Casino and Resort in Verona, NY for the Joss 9-ball tournament. (Watching, not playing. This is mostly a Pro event.)

Pictures and updates soon.

East Manor

East Manor
4645 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 888-8998
http://www.eastmanor.us/

You Lose Some You Win Some

I'm now 0-3 in the Thursday's Amsterdam Team 9-ball league. I don't think I played bad as much as I was a victim of some unlucky rolls. I don't wanna keep blaming unlucky rolls for my losses but here's a few examples and you make up your own mine.

(I swear it's because of all the crapola I talk about the Amsterdam regulars that I'm jinxed.)

My opponent missed and accidentally safes me with the 9-ball hanging in the side pocket. I took the intentional foul by shooting at the 1-ball to move it away from the 9-ball so that he won't have an easy combo. 1-ball bounces around a bit, kiss off a ball and settles right back where it started. Easy 1-9 combo.

My opponent missed and accidentally safes me with the 9-ball hanging in the corner pocket. I took the intentional foul by shooting the 9-ball out of the corner pocket. The 9-ball bounces around, kisses off the 3-ball and goes into the far corner pocket. Spotting the 9-ball leaves him an easy 2-9 combo.

This also happened to me:



Even Mika was impressed with this shot...until I scratched.

Now I did "dog" the 8-ball once when my opponent was on the hill. I have to admit that was my fault, sort of. Amsterdam's got the bounciest rails in the entire planet and, I swear, balls come off the rails faster and with more energy than the original shot. One of my teammates tested this by cutting in a ball with what he considered a "medium stroke" - the cue ball went back and forth 4 times to which he simply responded with a head shake.

Now the problem is, as a hack recreational player who doesn't play at Amsterdam all the time, I can't adjust to the rails. I "try" to adjust and it ends up messing up my stroke. I end up jabbing at the cue ball or slowing my stroke down so much, trying to baby the shot, that a hitch develops.

In one of my run outs I had this easy cut on the 8-ball. All I wanted to do was come back to the middle of the table to play the 9 in the corner. Only this happens:


Any place else, Sklyline, Raxx, I would've been fine. Easily, middle of the table. Amsterdam? Overshoot my position by a mile and a half. I made the 9-ball in the other corner but now the bouncy rails are definitely "in my head".

So what ended up happening when I dogged the 8 was I had this:



All I wanted to do was to cut the 8-ball in and drift down for the 9-ball. I was so afraid of the bouncy rails, and having the cue ball bounce so far that I'd have a tough cut on the 9, that I tried to hit the 8 by slowing down my stroke. Right in the middle of it, I get a hitch, and that's enough for me to miss the 8-ball. I hung it up.

In the end the opponent made 4 9-ball combos plus the game I gave him scratching and the one where I dogged the 8-ball to beat me 7-4. In the 4 I did win I felt like I ran out most of them from early on in the rack, the 3 or 4 ball, so I felt that I was playing well - just unlucky.

At least, as a team, we ended up winning.

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Sunday, yesterday, I had APA leagues at Platinum Billiards in Brooklyn. It comes down to me. Matches are 2-2 and we're behind in points. I'm a 5 so I have to go to 38 balls and my opponent's a 4 so he needs to get to 31 balls. (For those of you who don't play APA the 9-ball game is more like straight pool. You have to shoot the balls in rotation, with every ball worth 1 point, and the 9-ball counts for 2 points.) Yeah, I'm a bit nervous as I hate the whole "losing it for the entire team" feeling.

I really am not cut out for team sports.

Now I feel like I'm better than this kid. I might not be the best pocketer in the world but I should, from hanging around so many good pool players, be smarter than him. As long as I don't do anything stupid and use my brains I should win.

So...makeable shot but risky? I played safe.

Makeable shot but can't get good position for the next ball? I played safe.

And basically that was the strategy I tried to stick to. I'd pick off a few balls and if I can't get out - I played safe.

(Yeah, this is a strategy that I should use ALL THE TIME but my safes are garbage. Against someone slightly better I'd be in trouble and, against someone slightly better, the best place for them is sitting in the chair.)

And, man, was my opponent getting fustrated. I guess he's more use to a normal APA match where everybody goes for everything and where he usually ends up with easier shots. He ended up just whacking the balls "trying to get lucky" he was so fustrated.

I didn't play great, missed two ball in hands due to lack of concentration, but I did end up winning 38-26.

Our team ended up winning by 2 ponts.

Not a terrible week of pool, both teams won, and I feel like I'm getting use to using the Quiet Eye and I'm not getting as fatigued using it. I'm getting more consistant due to it and I'm getting out more racks cleanly. Just gotta find a way to deal with super bouncy rails and maybe, just maybe, I might actually win a match at Amsterdam.

7 straight weeks without a win and counting...

Yiasou

Yiasou
2003 Emmons Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 332-6064

Predator Tour Stop #1: Raxx Pool Room

Today was the start of the 2009 season for the Predator 9-ball Tour, thank god. I've been waiting for this ever since it ended last season since it's a lot of fun and gives me something to challenge myself in once or twice a month.

Today's event was held at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, one of my favorite rooms in the area. I think it's because Raxx equipment is really well maintain and they have really nice tournament blue cloth on all the tables. Oh, and the food's really good there too. Holden Chin, one of the owners, is a good friend and all around nice guy and always makes us Beef Chow Fun, not on the menu, whenever we show up. It's sooo good. Easily surpasses anything you can get in Chinatown.

(Note: I didn't take a photo of the food but found one online which I linked to so that you can see what I'm talking about in case you didn't know what Beef Chow Fun is.)

But I digress. I'm easily distracted by food. Where was I?

Oh right. Predator Tour.

There were a lot of players, well over 64 for a full field, and most of them I recognized as being good, decent players from around the area. Not many slouches in the field so I was expecting a tough draw and tough matches. My plan for the day was to try and put an end to my slump and not go 2 and out.

Now I took a little break from pool, considering how much I sucked in leagues recently, to clear my head so I haven't really played or practice in a week. I barely hit any balls at all. Now that's not to say that I wasn't thinking about pool or working on my game. I read articles online, this one's from Pool Student's Blog about "Quiet Eye" is good, and I chatted with several of my pool buddies, like Sarah, about my downward spiral. She gave me a good tip but, sorry, I can't tell you what the tip is - she'd kill me for letting out the secret to her success.

So, armed with this new information, I was eager to put it into use.

(Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know, I know. "Practice time" is for adding new stuff to your game, not a tournament. Tournaments are about "winning" and smashing opponents, not experimentation. Only I don't play everyday okay? I don't have much "practice time". Geez.)

---

My first match:

It was against a nice kid, looked to be in his 20's or so, named Steve. I've never seen him before so I had no idea what his speed was and what worried me was our match is being played on one of the front tables, usually reserved for the good players like Open and Pros, so that people can watch from the rail.

Great. Did I ever tell you that I hate people watching me play?

I win the lag so I get to break first. The game is race to 8, alternating break.

I slug racked myself so there's a bunch of clusters around the table. I'm at the table and I make the 3-ball and roll into position for a shot on the 4-ball, tied up in a cluster, but is a dead carom bank on the 9-ball. I love to chase the cheese so...



Rough approximation and without the clusters but you get the idea.

Woohoo! 1-0 me!

It doesn't last long.

I played a bad safe early in the rack and Steve runs out. 1-1.

I have a dead easy out but I lapse in my concentration and miss the 7-ball. He runs out. 1-2.

My miss gives him new confidence and he breaks and runs out. 1-3.

I break, don't make anything, but I don't leave him a shot. He pushes but leaves me an edge on the 1-ball. Before I shoot I go through all the advice I've gotten from my pro playing friends:

Sarah : [super secret tip]

Capao: Will you walk around the table, pick a spot on the object ball and aim you idiot? [paraphrasing]

Mika: Keep it simple stupid. [K.I.S.S. method for pattern play.]

So, after reminding myself of all this, I get down to shoot with the "Quiet Eye" method into play and...

I run out!

Woohoo! 2-3 me!

And from there I started to actually play well. I get a lead and get to the hill first, 7-5. Only...now I'm playing tight. And I can't close.

Steve ties it up as I'm making unforced errors late in the rack. Hill-Hill.

Now it's the last rack and Steve's playing tight too. I get an opportunity to close it out and I leave myself an 8-ball cut into the side with a simple back and forth shape onto the 9-ball. I should be OUT. Only I get indecisive about how to play the shape, how hard to hit it, etc., and shoot without a clear cut plan ending up leaving myself LOOOOOONG.

That's okay. I've been drilling long shots all match long.

But this is me and you know what's gonna happen right?

Get me some Alpo cause I dogged it. I hit it WAY too full.

But "way too full" is good cause it bounces and comes down the rail leaving him without a good shot.



I, personally, would've tried a cross side bank or tried cutting it down to the corner, I thought the cut into the side was not possible as the angle was too shallow, but that's the shot he went for...and missed.

I got up, lined up the shot, and before I could even *think* I shot the 9 into the corner pocket.

Yeah! I won one! I won a match! FINALLY!


My second match:

I got to play my friend "Jersey Jer". I can't play him. It's too...I dunno. We usually just kid around and drink when we play - more horsing around than "seriously trying to win". Plus all the focusing I did last match hurt my brain and I kinda needed a break. I wasn't sharp at all and hung up 4 9-balls for him. 4!!!!!

The worse one was I broke, made the 8-ball, looked at the layout and told him "I'm out!" I proceeded to run out only I messed up getting shape going from the 5 to the 6. I shoot a "saver" by banking the 6 in cross side. I now have a cut of the 7 into the side, made that but i leave myself close and tight on the 9-ball. Cut it towards the corner...and it rattles and hangs up.

I was gonna break and run a rack! On "Jersey Jer"! In a tournament! Grrr....

I lost 8-4.

My third match:

It was against Ron who, at the last Predator event, he and I got into an argument. He was safed and attempted a wild kick shot which got a lot of balls moving and, once the dust settled, the 9-ball went in. I thought it was a bad hit, he called it good. I ended up losing the match cause I couldn't shake it off . After the match we got into it. It was an ugly altercation and I was a really poor sport that day. I have since apologized and now everything is cool but I did want to beat him today, just for a little revenge. Only he wasn't playing his best and made it a little too easy for me so it's not as satisfying as I hoped.

7-3 me.

my fourth match:

Okay. I'm out of gas. I've played one match right after another without any real breaks in between. My eyes are dried out and when I try and focus and use "Quiet Eye" my vision would go all wonky on me and I'd miss. And, Ryan, the opponent I was playing, was good enough to make me pay for my mistakes.

Visine. I got some in my case.

Water. Hydrating helps.

I get back into the match only it's a little too late. He's good enough to close out with the lead.

I lose 7-4.

---

Overall, 2-2 isn't bad especially considering how poorly I've been playing. I'm happy with my performance as I think I played well. I didn't make too many unforced errors and I got out open racks when I had opportunities. I stayed focused and had a good tempo going. Hopefully it's not a fluke and I can keep it going. Got APA leagues tomorrow to try all the techniques again.

Food Porn

Just a couple of pictures of the lovely meal the Monkey made me on Tuesday. It's just her 4th attempt at cooking too!

I'm on a little break from pool, just to clear my head a bit, but with leagues tomorrow, the Predator Tour's first stop this Saturday and APA leagues on Sunday it's a very short break. I think I just have to keep playing and hope that the slump's gonna eventually end.

Wish me luck - and tell me what you think of the food pics.

Food: Fiore Restaurant

Fiore Restaurant

284 Grand Street
Williamsburg, NY 11211
718-782-8222

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I read a review of Fiore on Serious Eats so the Monkey and I decided to go and check it out for lunch.

The restaurant's really beautiful. Very high ceilings and very spacious.

We started with the Calamaretti fritti con zucchine croccanti Fried calamaretti with crispy zucchini.

It was pretty good. Very lightly battered and the zucchini added a nice change of pace in terms of taste and texture.

I got the Pízza fíore with "Lardo di colonata" and shaved parmesan.

Lardo di colonata is thin strips of pork fat that's gone through some type of processing procedure. I didn't really hear the waiter's complete explaination cause he had me at Pork Fat.

Pork fat?

On a pizza?

COUNT ME IN!

Now it was "good" only...it really didn't add anything to the pizza in terms of flavor or texture. It was kinda subtle and subtle flavors are a little lost on me. (Too many White Castle sliders have damaged my taste buds beyond repair.)

The parmesan was also melted onto the dough, which is fine, but I think parmesan gets very salty when it's melted and there was a little too much of it.

Overall, not bad. I did like the crust a lot. Thin and very crispy and it did have a lot of "flavor" but this isn't really the type of pizza for me.

The Monkey got Lasagna bolognese Traditional lasagna.

I took a couple of bites, of course, and it was good. Lotsa layers, lotsa flavor. Only complaint was that it was "warm" and not piping hot which is how it's normally served to us in other places. It was like the dish was sitting out and waiting for the pizza to be finished. Usually it's not a problem but with lasagna the top layer of cheese hardens and instead of gooey you've got a crust.

Overall, Fiore Restaurant's not a bad place. The service is prompt and friendly, the food is good and definitely decently priced (total of our lunch was $35 excluding tip) it's just that it didn't blow us away. There's other places a little more local to us serving Italian food on par with Fiore Restaurant that it would be tough for us to go out of our way to go back and dine there.

Having said that, the decor is really nice and it's a good place for a date or a small group to get together and I can see meeting up with a bunch of friends there for a nice, casual, italian dinner there. The intimate setting is perfectly suited for conversation and a relaxing, comfortable, take your time and enjoy the evening type of place.

And with Valentine's day coming up...