Buffalo's, Who You Like & Why

jrhendy

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
5,717
From
Placerville, CA
Here is my guestimate for this event

Alex - If he plays like he did at Derby City, they are playing for second place. But what has he been doing lately? Hard to stay focused and on top months later.

Scott - One of the best but has been concentrating on qualifying for the Mosconi Cup. Maybe lost a step?

T-Rex - Former US Open One Pocket Champion is back with a vengeance and hungry. When he gets it rolling his high end is unstoppable. My pick to win it all.
 

Miller

Verified Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
5,524
From
East St. Louis Area
I think probably any of these guys are capable of winning it, but for argument sake, my picks are Alex, Corey, Justin B.

Here's the rationale on my guesses:

Alex - I think either he or Orcollo are probably the best in the world right now.

Corey - When he's on, he's on. I think only Bustamante has been more consistent over the last few years in major tournament play. Has a tendency to out-think himself (i.e. US Open vs Orcollo).

Justin B. - Pockets balls as good as anyone, controls whitey as good as anyone (I don't think people generally realize/associate that about him). He had a go at a tournament similar to this in southern Missouri last fall and should be confident/comfortable this time around.

Should be several good days of one pocket! I envy you guys that are able to be there.

:)
 

gulfportdoc

Verified Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
12,654
From
Gulfport, Mississippi
The players:

Corey Deuel
Alex Pagulayan
Chip Compton
Joey Gray
Chris Bartram
Jason Brown
Mika Immonen
Danny Smith
Scott Frost
Justin Hall
Richie Richeson
Joshua Roberts
Justin Bergman
Jeremy Jones
Tony Chohan
Cliff Joyner


I'd like to see Scott get it, but he's not a good bet in tournaments. The longer races will help him, though. Alex certainly has the talent. He could win it, or finish down in the bottom tier along with Bartram, Joyner, Immonen, and Richeson. I wouldn't be surprised to see Justin Hall do well, if he can fade the wet tables. And Jason Brown could certainly surprise everybody!

~Doc
 

SJDinPHX

Suspended
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Messages
9,226
Here is my guestimate for this event

Alex - If he plays like he did at Derby City, they are playing for second place. But what has he been doing lately? Hard to stay focused and on top months later.

Scott - One of the best but has been concentrating on qualifying for the Mosconi Cup. Maybe lost a step?

T-Rex - Former US Open One Pocket Champion is back with a vengeance and hungry. When he gets it rolling his high end is unstoppable. My pick to win it all.

Race to 5 is a little better, but with a group like this, a few good/bad rolls can still turn a favorite, into a dog !..Its hard to bet against Alex, not being among the last few..He always seems to rise to the occasion !..I would have to bet on the Lion, but I will be pulling for T-Rex or Scott ! ;)
 

jrhendy

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
5,717
From
Placerville, CA
Tables

Tables

Looks like those wet tight tables are slowing down the ball runners. I have seen some shots hit pretty good just pop out and the players are going to a more pocket speed offense.
 

petie

Verified Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,314
From
Citrus Springs, FL
Seeing this field reminds me of how tough these guys, our champions, have it. They all play very stiff, by that I mean good. Add to that the fact that conditions are not great and the payoffs won't pay most of them for food and lodging. I like John's assessment of the players but I don't rank Scott so high anymore. He could be there but I think he gets sidetracked easily.
 

jrhendy

Verified Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
5,717
From
Placerville, CA
Here is my guestimate for this event

Alex - If he plays like he did at Derby City, they are playing for second place. But what has he been doing lately? Hard to stay focused and on top months later.

Scott - One of the best but has been concentrating on qualifying for the Mosconi Cup. Maybe lost a step?

T-Rex - Former US Open One Pocket Champion is back with a vengeance and hungry. When he gets it rolling his high end is unstoppable. My pick to win it all.

Well I missed the trifecta, my horse ran fourth. Story of my life. Good luck to Alex, Scott and Jeremy. The young guns got outgunned.

Great tournament so far and Alex will be hard to beat twice. Scott had a chance to go hill/hill and got too aggressive and it cost him. Scott and JJ should be a great match.
 

petie

Verified Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,314
From
Citrus Springs, FL
Well I missed the trifecta, my horse ran fourth. Story of my life. Good luck to Alex, Scott and Jeremy. The young guns got outgunned.

Great tournament so far and Alex will be hard to beat twice. Scott had a chance to go hill/hill and got too aggressive and it cost him. Scott and JJ should be a great match.

I'm with you, John. I was rootin' for Tony. We haven't seen the last of him.
 

gulfportdoc

Verified Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
12,654
From
Gulfport, Mississippi
Well I missed the trifecta, my horse ran fourth. Story of my life. Good luck to Alex, Scott and Jeremy. The young guns got outgunned.

Great tournament so far and Alex will be hard to beat twice. Scott had a chance to go hill/hill and got too aggressive and it cost him. Scott and JJ should be a great match.
I think you're right on about the Scott/JJ match. If Scott wins it, having played a master 1P player/mover will have prepared him to go up against Alex again. Perhaps he'll play a little tighter.

Playing on the TV table will benefit both players, but perhaps more so Scott. The pockets are a little more forgiving than table #2, and the additional lighting for TV will keep the table drier.

One can never count out Jeremy Jones, but it'll be tough for him, as it was in their first match, to fade Frost's firepower.

BTW, anyone know JJ's age? I discussed it with the Hacker, and he thought he was mid-forties. But I thought he was more 50, or even early fifties.

~Doc
 

androd

Verified Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
7,718
From
New Braunfels tx.
I think you're right on about the Scott/JJ match. If Scott wins it, having played a master 1P player/mover will have prepared him to go up against Alex again. Perhaps he'll play a little tighter.

Playing on the TV table will benefit both players, but perhaps more so Scott. The pockets are a little more forgiving than table #2, and the additional lighting for TV will keep the table drier.

One can never count out Jeremy Jones, but it'll be tough for him, as it was in their first match, to fade Frost's firepower.

BTW, anyone know JJ's age? I discussed it with the Hacker, and he thought he was mid-forties. But I thought he was more 50, or even early fifties.

~Doc

I don't know but I believe Hacker is correct about mid forties.
It seems he was around the room late 80's or so and was 19 years at the time.
Rod.
 

petie

Verified Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,314
From
Citrus Springs, FL
I don't know but I believe Hacker is correct about mid forties.
It seems he was around the room late 80's or so and was 19 years at the time.
Rod.

Speaking of Hacker, did you notice that Scott played his shot that we discussed the other day? You know, the one rail kick to the ball in the corner on the head rail and then the object ball goes off the head rail, off the opposite long rail, and into his pocket. It was very exciting and he made the other ball on the table to win that game.
 

androd

Verified Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
7,718
From
New Braunfels tx.
Speaking of Hacker, did you notice that Scott played his shot that we discussed the other day? You know, the one rail kick to the ball in the corner on the head rail and then the object ball goes off the head rail, off the opposite long rail, and into his pocket. It was very exciting and he made the other ball on the table to win that game.

Good Eye. :)
Rod.
 

onepockethacker

Verified Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
3,408
Just got back from New Orleans. Watched the hot seat match with Alex and Scott. I also watched Alex play the rest of his matches. Here is the kicker.. Alex is playing HORRIBLE compared to his normal game for this entire tournament and he is still King of the Hill. The antics Scott pulled with the rack on the hot seat match were horrible and thats a consensus from everyone that was there. The difference between Scott and Alex imo is Alex truly believes he is the best one pocket player on the planet and Scott WANTS everyone to think he is the best player. If Scott was truly confident that he is better than Alex he wouldn't need to do all of those antics just play the game. That being said they are probably the best 2 one pocket players in the world.
Now then as far as the rolls Scott was complaining that Alex got. In Scotts first round match he played Chip Compton in the back room. They both got good rolls but Scott got the best roll of the tournament by far when he was breaking double hill against Chip. Scott was complaining the whole time about Chips rolls and in the last game Scott breaks and makes a ball on the break(which means a rebreak in this tournament) Scott was mad the ball didn't hang and said how "lucky" Chip was. Meanwhile it was a horrible break , the ball that fell was the only ball that really moved at all. If the ball would have hung Chip would have just kicked it in and Scott would have had 1 ball and Chip would have been out of the break.. INSTEAD Scott rebreaks and lays down the dead nut break that had Chip trapped the whole game and led to Scott winning.
 

petie

Verified Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,314
From
Citrus Springs, FL
Just got back from New Orleans. Watched the hot seat match with Alex and Scott. I also watched Alex play the rest of his matches. Here is the kicker.. Alex is playing HORRIBLE compared to his normal game for this entire tournament and he is still King of the Hill. The antics Scott pulled with the rack on the hot seat match were horrible and thats a consensus from everyone that was there. The difference between Scott and Alex imo is Alex truly believes he is the best one pocket player on the planet and Scott WANTS everyone to think he is the best player. If Scott was truly confident that he is better than Alex he wouldn't need to do all of those antics just play the game. That being said they are probably the best 2 one pocket players in the world.
Now then as far as the rolls Scott was complaining that Alex got. In Scotts first round match he played Chip Compton in the back room. They both got good rolls but Scott got the best roll of the tournament by far when he was breaking double hill against Chip. Scott was complaining the whole time about Chips rolls and in the last game Scott breaks and makes a ball on the break(which means a rebreak in this tournament) Scott was mad the ball didn't hang and said how "lucky" Chip was. Meanwhile it was a horrible break , the ball that fell was the only ball that really moved at all. If the ball would have hung Chip would have just kicked it in and Scott would have had 1 ball and Chip would have been out of the break.. INSTEAD Scott rebreaks and lays down the dead nut break that had Chip trapped the whole game and led to Scott winning.

I agree 100%, Rob. Sometimes I think he is doing it because he wants to cultivate new backers.
 
Top