May 21-24 BIG One Pocket Tournament Buffalo's Billiards New Orleans, La

[jrhendy]

I agree that performance by Efren and last nights by Alex are the two best I ever saw.

Scott has nothing to hang his head about -- he battled his way to a second place finish worth good money against a stellar field! He is going to have study tape and work on what he can do if he wants to win when the two of them battle in a couple of weeks. My one piece of advice? Take your time to think about every shot -- staying away from impulse shots. Accept what the table is giving you even if you are disappointed it is not better and make the most of what it offers despite that disappointment.

Scott made some incredible outs but took the heat and did something lots of us do when you get a bad roll. Alex got lucky in the game the ball spotted and blocked an easy out for Scott. He tried to make it up with a masse combo that didn't work and left Alex an easy out that cost him a game.

Part of being a better player is keeping your composure and Alex was better there too. I was rooting for Scott but Alex just played better than he did.

[gulfportdoc]

... My one piece of advice? Take your time to think about every shot -- staying away from impulse shots. Accept what the table is giving you even if you are disappointed it is not better and make the most of what it offers despite that disappointment.

You've hit the nail on the head, Steve. He can get away with impulsive shots when gambling, because there's time to outrun mistakes. But not in a defined tournament race.

Alex --along with a few others-- are able to contain their strategy and tactics within a defined time period, and pace their play accordingly. Put that together with excellent talent, and you have a perfect tournament machine.

I'd still bet with Frost gambling at 1P with anyone in the world, including Alex. But he's not currently very capable of winning tournaments with his style of play. I suspect that Cardone has been trying to explain this to Frost. Scott needs a week or two with Artie, or even Jeremy Jones. With Scott's firepower, and the patience and tactical capacity of, say, a Chris Gentile, Scott would be unbeatable. Still, it's hard to convince a greyhound to slow down...

Not to take anything away from Frost. He played well mostly for the whole tournament. I do believe that the gruelling 7+ hour match with JJ had to have tired him. To then face a fresh and eager Pagulayan was just too much.

~Doc

[jtompilot]

It's funny how things turn out. Alex played so bad the first match against Joey Gray. Joey should have easily beat Alex. In the end, Alex stayed in the match and waited for Joey to make the end game mistakes. Alex is a true Champion

[keoneyo]

We all have flaws. Leaks in our game. Its up to us to be honest to fix that problem. If we think that we don't and that its some other external reason we fail then we really fail. Blaming bad rolls, sharking, the equipment, etc. is easy to do. I think Alex and Efren and the rest of the major Filipino players attempt to correct their flaws. This is what makes Alex a superior player imo. Yes they have ego and pride but they still know that they are human and are capable of mistakes and weakness at times.

I guess when you hear that you are great. That you are the best in cash game play. That you have superior fire power. Its hard to believe you have any flaws. But I hope Scott can learn from this and Alex will not be overcome with the taste of victory. For the next match up will be very interesting to say the least.

[BRLongArm]

I want to thank all of you who attended or watched this event this past week. Buffalo pulled out all the stops to get his room ready and the fans were treated to some exceptional one pocket. A few takeaways:

-JJ played very well and is getting back into the groove. He still is not pocketing the balls like he wants, but the rest of his game is right there.

-Tony Chohan is back to his old form and is a very dangerous man.

-At this level, pool is as mental as it is physical. Chip and Danny are in a rut right now and have low confidence.

-Joey went two and out, but he is a force in this game and will give anyone problems.

-Alex is a mutant. You have to be lucky and good to win a tournament. He can overcome mistakes because of his exceptional ball striking skills. After the Joey match, which he was lucky to win, he was hitting balls for over an hour. He was making shots the others can't make. His cue striking looks purer and different than the rest of the field. And his mental makeup is bullet proof.

-I was proud of Cliff's effort in the match against Tony. He is a bird with a broken wing, but he all but clipped Tony from sheer knowledge and will.

Overall, it was a good event and the staff at Buffalo's did a first rate job handling the crowd and taking care of all of us. We had some problems with the PA system during the calcutta, but other than that, I didn't hear any complaints, which says a lot.

[petie]

I want to thank all of you who attended or watched this event this past week. Buffalo pulled out all the stops to get his room ready and the fans were treated to some exceptional one pocket. A few takeaways:

-JJ played very well and is getting back into the groove. He still is not pocketing the balls like he wants, but the rest of his game is right there.

-Tony Chohan is back to his old form and is a very dangerous man.

-At this level, pool is as mental as it is physical. Chip and Danny are in a rut right now and have low confidence.

-Joey went two and out, but he is a force in this game and will give anyone problems.

-Alex is a mutant. You have to be lucky and good to win a tournament. He can overcome mistakes because of his exceptional ball striking skills. After the Joey match, which he was lucky to win, he was hitting balls for over an hour. He was making shots the others can't make. His cue striking looks purer and different than the rest of the field. And his mental makeup is bullet proof.

-I was proud of Cliff's effort in the match against Tony. He is a bird with a broken wing, but he all but clipped Tony from sheer knowledge and will.

Overall, it was a good event and the staff at Buffalo's did a first rate job handling the crowd and taking care of all of us. We had some problems with the PA system during the calcutta, but other than that, I didn't hear any complaints, which says a lot.

The silence is deafening.

[Bigtruck]

I had a fantastic time! Thanks for getting involved Joe. It took the event from good to great.

Joe added 4360 to the event and also had parts of player and helped the auction steam along. (he was killing me with the $50 bumps )

We are already on Buffalo's Calendar for next Memorial day weekend in 2016! I hope you will continue with us.

Ray

I want to thank all of you who attended or watched this event this past week. Buffalo pulled out all the stops to get his room ready and the fans were treated to some exceptional one pocket. A few takeaways:

-JJ played very well and is getting back into the groove. He still is not pocketing the balls like he wants, but the rest of his game is right there.

-Tony Chohan is back to his old form and is a very dangerous man.

-At this level, pool is as mental as it is physical. Chip and Danny are in a rut right now and have low confidence.

-Joey went two and out, but he is a force in this game and will give anyone problems.

-Alex is a mutant. You have to be lucky and good to win a tournament. He can overcome mistakes because of his exceptional ball striking skills. After the Joey match, which he was lucky to win, he was hitting balls for over an hour. He was making shots the others can't make. His cue striking looks purer and different than the rest of the field. And his mental makeup is bullet proof.

-I was proud of Cliff's effort in the match against Tony. He is a bird with a broken wing, but he all but clipped Tony from sheer knowledge and will.

Overall, it was a good event and the staff at Buffalo's did a first rate job handling the crowd and taking care of all of us. We had some problems with the PA system during the calcutta, but other than that, I didn't hear any complaints, which says a lot.