Miracle of Miracles

On Sunday, February, 21st, at the 2nd stop of the Mezz Tour at Atlantic City Billiards in Egg Harbor NJ, I finally did it.

Miracle of Miracles, I finally did it.

I won a match.

I. Actually. Won. A. Match.

I am now 1 and 5!!!

I'm a little surprised because I've had a really bad week of pool.

It started on Wednesday leagues at Skyline where I jumped out to a 6-0 lead only to lose the match 7-6.

It continued on Thursday leagues at Amsterdam where I needed to win two games to mathematically clinch it for the team win and I only managed to get one game as I continually shot the balls into the rail.

The one game I did win was only because my opponent scratched in the side pocket going from the 8 to the 9 ball.

I lost 7 to 1.

(Luckily I didn't cost the team the win because the Monkey ended up beating her opponent. We won 3 matches to 1.)

Obviously I went to Atlantic City Billiards not feeling very confident and was hoping to draw someone who was equal to me in skill level so I'd get a chance to work out my "competition" issues - closing out matches and staying focused and ON ROUTINE under pressure.

So of course my first opponent is my Thursday league teammate Rob who's ranked, oh, just 5 levels above me.

And, this being an open tournament, I have to play him an even race to 7 rather than getting the 6 games on 11 that I would be getting if this was a league match.

Not that it would've mattered...

I got crushed 7-1. I played a couple of good safeties and I had a couple of chances to get out with only 3 or 4 balls left but I was still shooting balls into the rail as I never really got comfortable or going.

So off to the 1-loss side for me and a long wait before my next match.

A 3 hour long wait.

Which is fine - I got a little bit of practice in, I got to talk to the awesome staff at Atlantic City Billiards (hi Kelli!), I got to eat a little bit (the pretzels are good) and I got a little rest (I hope my snoring didn't shark anyone).

I also got to scout my next opponent, Tim G. (I think. Ugh. My mind is a sieve.) He just played, and lost to, another one of my Thursday league teammates Caroline.

(I could've driven two hours to play two people I can play any time I want and who I don't have a chance against. I'm so glad she won.)

She played a lot of safes on him and his kicking didn't seem very strong. His strong suit was that he was a good shot maker but he seemed to be having difficulty controlling the cue ball. Run outs where he'd have to move the cue ball around the table were a little bit suspect as he continually got out of line.

So I basically played the same strategy as Caroline.

(Or as close to it as a Hack can to a WPBA professional.)

I was also lucky because he seemed a little shell shocked from losing to Caroline. He really started off poorly missing the simplest of shots. It allowed me extra chances at the table and I started to find my groove. I got up 6-1 quickly.

He made a little bit of a come back but he missed an easy 9-ball and hung it for me for the win.

Final score was 7-3.

Woohoo!

My next match was against...ugh. Forget it. I can't remember. "Opponent #3" it is.

The table we were assigned was newly re clothed and it was playing so fast. We both had trouble adjusting and we kept trading racks. I sat nervously on my hands with the score at 4-3 him and Opponent #3 running out. He somehow misses the 7 ball and I have an opportunity to tie the score up.

I got to the table, went to bridge my cue, and my bridge hand felt a little funny.

My thumb feel asleep.

I was literally sitting on my hands and my thumb feel asleep on me.

Being a dumb-ass I tried to shoot through it rather than take a break and get feeling back into my thumb.

I made the 7, made the 8 and had a fairly easy cut on the 9, which of course I dogged.

Instead of 4-4 it's not 5-3. Ugh.

Well it just went downhill from there.

I ended up losing 7-3.

Overall I didn't feel like I was doing too badly. I just have to remember certain things, like following my pre-shot routine, and take my time. My rhythm seems to be off recently and I seem to be playing too fast and it's making me make careless mistakes.

Hmmm...not sure what event I'm going to do next. There's the Predator ABCD event, the Amateur Empire State Championship, at Raxx's. There's also a Mezz Tour stop at Main Line Billiards in Frazier, PA.

I'll be at one of them and hopefully I can win 2 matches!

The Mezz Tour

My latest adventures in competition had me driving to Drexeline Billiards Club in Drexel Hill, PA for the first stop of the newly formed Mezz Pro-Am Tour.

Before I begin I just want to say something to the people of Drexeline Billiards and to anyone who plans on having a tour stop there:

It would be nice if you’d let everyone know that you’re located in the back of the building as there is no easily visible sign or any indicators from the road whatsoever to let you know you’ve reached your destination. I drove around for an additional 15 minutes until I finally saw the sign. You know the one that’s attached to the side of the building and is only visible from the other side of the highway.

The Mezz Pro-Am 9-Ball Tour is run by Jose Burgos, formerly of the Blaze Pro-Am Tour. You can say that, basically, the Mezz Tour is replacing the Blaze Tour. The Blaze Tour was one of the better one day Pro-Am tours in the Northeast area. All the same rules for the Blaze apply, like alternating breaks and races to 7, as well as Jose Burgos Open Book policy on how he calculates the payouts.

(How I wish some of the other tours in this area would adopt this policy as there’s some fishy accounting going on – I swear.)

Anyway, since I couldn’t find the place and I got to the room late I didn’t really warm up. My match was called almost as soon as I got there. I played another guy named Jay, easy to remember!, and it was a good match. I had plenty of opportunities to win but just didn’t capitalize enough on his mistakes – partly due to a lack of focus.

I’m always a bit distracted at these events as I like to look around and see who’s playing in the event, who’s playing whom, how the room is, etc. I usually take care of this before my match starts but since I showed up late…

I also noticed another thing that I do, and it was pointed out to me as well, which causes me to lose a lot - If there’s that 50/50 ish shot, even if it’s 30/70, I’m usually going to go for it. It’s like if I’m at the black jack table…and you can take a card or stand…fuggit, I’m taking a card.

(If any of you have seen the way I play roulette this would all make sense.)

So in a safety battle I’m the guy that’s gonna blink first and, yeah, I have to stop doing that as it ends up costing me matches.

Case in point: I end up losing 7-5. (I sold out as 5-5.)

Next match I was put in the back of the room where the tables are way too close together. If I can’t comfortably shoot the cue ball when it’s frozen to the rail then you shouldn’t be using these tables for the tournament. My ass shouldn't be resting on the table next to me, where another tournament match is going on, just so that I have enough room to shoot a shot. Just my opinion.

I played a pretty good player (whose name I’ve already forgotten…Bobby? Billy? Brian? Ugh). I had some nice outs but the tables being too close together and a more interesting match happening next to me (distracted again) messed up my focused and I got drilled like 7-3.

Bobby/Billy/Brian said he needed to go and since I drove all this way from Brooklyn he forfeited the match to me.

So I got another match! And went the ever elusive 3 and out.

I played…oh forget it. I’m not even going to try. It was an older gentleman with an old school style and big ass windshields for glasses. Let’s call him O.G. Man, did O.G. play good. He played like a guy who’s been around the game for the last 50 years. He’s probably not strong enough to compete with the younger, stronger and more talented players in the event but against a lower level player like myself…he showed me how it’s done. Kicks, banks, safeties and his cue ball control…all very good. I didn’t have a chance. Lost 7-3 again I think.

I do have to say that while didn’t draw a pro or someone super strong I did learn a lot and I did seem to have more fun playing in an Open event. Everyone played “right” and watching someone like O.G. and how he maneuvered the cue ball around the table – it was a thing of beauty. It just fun to watch the game played at a really high level and to have a front row seat for it just makes it just that much better.

I do feel like I’m getting my competition legs back under me and I’m getting more comfortable playing in events again. I’ve got to stop selling out and I have to definitely work on my wall so I can focus and block out the distractions but a few more events and I should have that worked out.

Just got to remember to call the room before hand and make sure there’s signs there so I can get there early enough to warm up.

Congrats to Joey Testa, Ignacio Chavez and Victor Nau for their great performance.


Next stop: Atlantic City Billiards on Feb. 21st!