1 HOLE NUT
Verified Member
Bucket list #23 check.
I have been to a lot of poolrooms but this one that i have heard so much about over the years was by far the best Poolroom i have ever walked into, great equipment that was well taken care of, they vacuumed the billiard table more than a worker at a full service car wash. Great people running it, and playing there. And it was just pool, no big screen TV's, loud music, video games just all different types of pool & billiards, it is very hard and almost impossible for a poolroom to survive like that but thank god this one has, and from talking to the owner it is still doing very well. I wish i could have went to Red Shoes but i had a tournament, gambling to Donk off instead.
Hopefully all you Calcutta buyers have figured out that i'm not yet over the hill on taking off a big event. In New Orleans i had a different outlook as i did in Chicago but when i'm in the heat of battle i just don't focus well enough to outlast the skill level i was up against.
I have always known that the older you are and have play this game the more you know about this game, but in New Orleans i wanted to win tournament, and beat whoever out of there bankroll, but i was definitely brought down to planet earth when i seen the high quality of play, hell i didn't even stay for Sunday because i had to go home and get my tail out from between my legs.
In Chicago i had a totally different outlook, and even though i on paper didn't do my best i feel like a winner, and had a blast breaking even.
Meeting people in New Orleans i was confused between names and screen names, but i got a little better in Chicago, by the next couple of events i hope to have everyone's names AND SPEED:lol, locked down. I still feel a bit out of the loop with older members, hell i had to invite myself to go eat it felt like but i was always in action or trying to be in action so maybe it was just me. When i did talk to the members everyone was awesome to talk too we all had that one thing in common that is always fun to talk about, but hard to execute.
Tournament:
It must be set in stone that i be on the TV table first match of the event, because 2 years in a row 1st round 1st match i get to start our event off with a real bad performance. I played Cory in DC, i won but just like in last years event i did not beat him he beat himself. Cory did make what i believe was one of the best outs of the tournament to get a win, i made just one or two less mistakes and was able to come out on top. I know Cory might have thought i was a whinny baby for saying how bad played after i won the match, but i didn't and don't ever mean any disrespect towards you and your game you are solid player and it is great playing you, i hope we get to play again real soon.
Well i did something i have not done since i started playing one pocket 12 or so years ago, drink and play. You can count on 1 hand the times i drink in a years time, and never when i'm playing but after the TV table stress, and my shaky stoke Cory found a hole in my armor, and said the magic words BUD LIGHT. He brings them in about 3 shots into my second match. I was playing Don S.(DWS) and that was actually a big help in my match because by the end of it i was 4 beers in and feeling lose. If i had to stay anything negative about the event though it would be the playing on the gold crowns, which before Diamond ever came out were the best tables by far to play on. There is nothing wrong with the tables as they played very well and yes we both had to play on the same table, but a lot of things are different between a gold crown and a diamond. I can tell Don knows the game, i just may have a bit more knowledge and fire power right now, but i know if he keeps playing with Ghost and the rest of Chicago's one pocket players he will be hard to beat. He is a very nice guy so much i tried to give him the shirt off my back, "literally". He collects shirts like me, and liked my shirt from a Jackson Ms. poolroom.
Well here is where it goes south for me in the tournament, the next day and my 3rd match i play a guy i have been sparing with since i met him a couple of years ago in New Orleans were he is now based at for work. Brief recap of our history we are even or as close to even as you can get and we have played 8 to 10 sessions over these few year, the one bonus that i was banking on that failed me was the fact that i have won the last couple of sessions we played. I was maybe a bit to confident going into this match and it cost me, when Jtompilot(Jim) plays he may get a few roles but make no mistake he comes with what i call ultra aggressive shots that you dont think are coming, even though i knew this already my nerves and to quick thinking and play hurt me in this match. He played good and got me THIS TIME!! Good shooting Jim.
Now in the losers side i try to stay focused and fight my way back and my next match was on a Gold Crown and i had to play Chris H.(Cincy_Kid) which i met briefly in New Orleans and heard from my road partner Col. Billie Miller that he was a really nice guy and that they play about even. Well knowing that i give Billie 10/7 9/7 and get there i had a lot of confidence going into this match and the big pockets on the Gold Crown actually helped in this situation. If i would have played a stronger player than me like Tom Wirth for example he would have beat me. I know that may not be the right way to think about it but sometimes facts are facts until, YOU and YOU only can figure out how to just focus and play without your brain getting into the way, i haven't been able to do that YET. Good shooting Chris, i will get to you a bit more in the gambling section of this book.
Next is my last, but most knowledgeable match i was to play in this event. I played David G.(12 squared) from Colorado i have heard this name from years ago but i did not know a lot about him, and it kinda scared me a bit. i like to do research on whoever i may play against so i can shark myself before i even get up to the table. The funny thing is gambling if i don't know i can't win then a play my game and do well. This was not gambling and he didn't care what was going on in my head. I did not play well, but my gut tells me that i'm out matched in all areas of the game with him, and i'm ok with that because that is what i loved so much about this event was the mental things i took from matches, as well as shots and shot selections. He was also one of the guys that i did not know going in, and that i had a good conversation with before we left, and are now Facebook friends, at least till he beats me again, lol, jk, good shooting Dave..
Gambling section to come soon.
I have been to a lot of poolrooms but this one that i have heard so much about over the years was by far the best Poolroom i have ever walked into, great equipment that was well taken care of, they vacuumed the billiard table more than a worker at a full service car wash. Great people running it, and playing there. And it was just pool, no big screen TV's, loud music, video games just all different types of pool & billiards, it is very hard and almost impossible for a poolroom to survive like that but thank god this one has, and from talking to the owner it is still doing very well. I wish i could have went to Red Shoes but i had a tournament, gambling to Donk off instead.
Hopefully all you Calcutta buyers have figured out that i'm not yet over the hill on taking off a big event. In New Orleans i had a different outlook as i did in Chicago but when i'm in the heat of battle i just don't focus well enough to outlast the skill level i was up against.
I have always known that the older you are and have play this game the more you know about this game, but in New Orleans i wanted to win tournament, and beat whoever out of there bankroll, but i was definitely brought down to planet earth when i seen the high quality of play, hell i didn't even stay for Sunday because i had to go home and get my tail out from between my legs.
In Chicago i had a totally different outlook, and even though i on paper didn't do my best i feel like a winner, and had a blast breaking even.
Meeting people in New Orleans i was confused between names and screen names, but i got a little better in Chicago, by the next couple of events i hope to have everyone's names AND SPEED:lol, locked down. I still feel a bit out of the loop with older members, hell i had to invite myself to go eat it felt like but i was always in action or trying to be in action so maybe it was just me. When i did talk to the members everyone was awesome to talk too we all had that one thing in common that is always fun to talk about, but hard to execute.
Tournament:
It must be set in stone that i be on the TV table first match of the event, because 2 years in a row 1st round 1st match i get to start our event off with a real bad performance. I played Cory in DC, i won but just like in last years event i did not beat him he beat himself. Cory did make what i believe was one of the best outs of the tournament to get a win, i made just one or two less mistakes and was able to come out on top. I know Cory might have thought i was a whinny baby for saying how bad played after i won the match, but i didn't and don't ever mean any disrespect towards you and your game you are solid player and it is great playing you, i hope we get to play again real soon.
Well i did something i have not done since i started playing one pocket 12 or so years ago, drink and play. You can count on 1 hand the times i drink in a years time, and never when i'm playing but after the TV table stress, and my shaky stoke Cory found a hole in my armor, and said the magic words BUD LIGHT. He brings them in about 3 shots into my second match. I was playing Don S.(DWS) and that was actually a big help in my match because by the end of it i was 4 beers in and feeling lose. If i had to stay anything negative about the event though it would be the playing on the gold crowns, which before Diamond ever came out were the best tables by far to play on. There is nothing wrong with the tables as they played very well and yes we both had to play on the same table, but a lot of things are different between a gold crown and a diamond. I can tell Don knows the game, i just may have a bit more knowledge and fire power right now, but i know if he keeps playing with Ghost and the rest of Chicago's one pocket players he will be hard to beat. He is a very nice guy so much i tried to give him the shirt off my back, "literally". He collects shirts like me, and liked my shirt from a Jackson Ms. poolroom.
Well here is where it goes south for me in the tournament, the next day and my 3rd match i play a guy i have been sparing with since i met him a couple of years ago in New Orleans were he is now based at for work. Brief recap of our history we are even or as close to even as you can get and we have played 8 to 10 sessions over these few year, the one bonus that i was banking on that failed me was the fact that i have won the last couple of sessions we played. I was maybe a bit to confident going into this match and it cost me, when Jtompilot(Jim) plays he may get a few roles but make no mistake he comes with what i call ultra aggressive shots that you dont think are coming, even though i knew this already my nerves and to quick thinking and play hurt me in this match. He played good and got me THIS TIME!! Good shooting Jim.
Now in the losers side i try to stay focused and fight my way back and my next match was on a Gold Crown and i had to play Chris H.(Cincy_Kid) which i met briefly in New Orleans and heard from my road partner Col. Billie Miller that he was a really nice guy and that they play about even. Well knowing that i give Billie 10/7 9/7 and get there i had a lot of confidence going into this match and the big pockets on the Gold Crown actually helped in this situation. If i would have played a stronger player than me like Tom Wirth for example he would have beat me. I know that may not be the right way to think about it but sometimes facts are facts until, YOU and YOU only can figure out how to just focus and play without your brain getting into the way, i haven't been able to do that YET. Good shooting Chris, i will get to you a bit more in the gambling section of this book.
Next is my last, but most knowledgeable match i was to play in this event. I played David G.(12 squared) from Colorado i have heard this name from years ago but i did not know a lot about him, and it kinda scared me a bit. i like to do research on whoever i may play against so i can shark myself before i even get up to the table. The funny thing is gambling if i don't know i can't win then a play my game and do well. This was not gambling and he didn't care what was going on in my head. I did not play well, but my gut tells me that i'm out matched in all areas of the game with him, and i'm ok with that because that is what i loved so much about this event was the mental things i took from matches, as well as shots and shot selections. He was also one of the guys that i did not know going in, and that i had a good conversation with before we left, and are now Facebook friends, at least till he beats me again, lol, jk, good shooting Dave..
Gambling section to come soon.