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...
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