Dave’s Good Stuff

Not much to say about this one that isn’t said by the scores… except this: I shouldn’t have won my first match. I just wasn’t playing that hot tonight. Oh well… there’s always next week. :)

My Handicap: King
Matches:

1. 6-3 (K6-K6) W
2. 5-5 (K7-J5) L
3. 5-5 (K7-J5) L

My Place: n/a
My Winnings: n/a

This is the first tournament at Terri’s I actually placed! Not only that, but I went from a Queen to a King! I know a lot of people personally who might consider me misguided, or of confused priorities in being pleased by having my handicap raised… for those people, I say only that such thoughts are best left for another, dedicated post on te subjects of handicaps, the manipulation of same, and sandbagging. Suffice to say for now that I *am* pleased that Calvin thought enough of my playing to compliment me on it and raise me up to a King. I consider it a challenge and something of a badge of honor.

On to the tournament…

My first match was against a Jack. I easily took him out 6-1. There’s really nothing notable about this rack… a couple of full rack runs and a 9-ball break.

My second match was against a guy named Jim Williams. I’ve never played Jim before, and frankly, was a little scared of him. It’s hard to keep a level head when you’re playing a picture on the wall. Jim is a great player… who has what is, in my opinion, a fatal weakness in that he also has a great temper. Rather than forcing me to run the rest of a rack out, if he screws up and sees an out he could easily make, he’ll just rake the balls off and give the game away. I beat him in a 4-8 race 4-5, but he did give me one of those games. Would I have beaten him if he’d kept a level head? Who knows… I think so, but thanks to a rash temper, I didn’t have to find out.

It was after my game with Jim that Calvin thought it best if I was moved up from a Queen to a King. It was against a guy named Mike who I played two weeks ago (Sept. 20th) as a Queen that I played my third match of the night, and my first match as a King. I beat him two weeks ago as a Queen 4-6 in a race 4-8, and beat him this time as a King 5-5 in a race 5-7. He seemed to be having a fair night, but I was jazzed about going up and played the top of my game.

It was to be the last match I would win. My next match was against Darren, with whom I’d driven to Topeka. A good friend of mine who is also a very good player… much better than I, which makes our equal standing of King somewhat odd. I was up to the task though, almost. Normally, in an even race he’ll leave me behind fairly early. This time though, I stayed right up there with him and took the match all the way to the hill. I should have won, but dogged a mid-skill shot with only three balls left on the table. He was easily out, and I was in the loser’s bracket in 3rd/4th place.

My final match was against Jim Williams again. This time, things turned out a little differently… not *much* differently, but certainly enough. I didn’t win, but for the second time in one evening I gave Mr. Williams a good run for his money. A combination of too many scratches, and a couple of key misses gave him the win, but only after I’d taken it to the hill. I really should have won this match, and Calvin agreed… I just lost some steam (it was 1:00am, after all after a hell week at work, and I was tired).

One thing I did find in the mini-tournament last Tuesday, which I carried through to Terry’s is my break. I’ve finally found a break that’s working for me, both in power and accuracy. It’s not 100%, but what break ever is? I was inspired by watching Bustamante break on ESPN. I watched his hand position, the ball position, his stroke, and how all of it played together. While I can’t get my *entire* being into the break like he can w/o completely losing accuracy, I am getting considerably more power with decent cue ball control. It helped out considerably during this tournament.

I didn’t get first place, when I arguably should have, but I did get 3rd *and* was moved up to a King. I’m certainly OK with that.

My Handicap: King
Matches:

1. 6-1 (Q6-J4) W
2. 4-5 (Q4-A8) W
3. 5-5 (K5-A7) W
4. 5-6 (K6-K6) L
5. 4-7 (K5-A7) L

My Place: 3rd
My Winnings: 25

I was reluctant to get into this tournament to begin with. It was 10:00pm, and I had to be up *early* the next day to be at work in time for the Federal Examiner’s questions (didn’t make it, but neither did the examiner ;). I caved and gave Matt my $5, assured that it would be a quick tournament.

My first draw was Matt himself, an APA 7 who’s probably able to hold an 8. I was comforted by the thought that I would be beat out of the tournament right out of the gate, freeing my evening up for sleep. This wasn’t to be the case, a combination of Matt shooting well below his skill level, and me shooting a bit above brought me through for a 3-1 victory. It really should have been 3-0, but I choked a tight cut on the 9, giving Matt an easy win for that rack. That put it at 2-1, and I easily ran the next rack out.

Seth, my next opponent, who is also on my APA 8-ball team went down much more easily. He’s an APA 3 (though he’s honestly probably better than that), and just didn’t seem to have his heart in it.

I can’t remember the name of my final opponent. He was a new face to me at the Pool Room, and wasn’t a bad shot. I won the toss, and couldn’t get the run out, so he won the first rack. I tied it back up at 1-1 with the second rack, and went on to get to the hill for a 2-1 lead with the third rack. I wasn’t able to pull out the fourth rack, allowing him to meet me on the hill. Final match in the tournament, and both players are on the hill… for such a small tournament, there was a bit of tension in the room. On the 9, I miss a long-table bank shot by a quarter of a diamond, and leave him with a long shot from one corner to the other. I was pretty sure he’d be out, but he choked it (it wasn’t the easiest of shots, to be fair) and left me a real tight cut. I pull it out, manage to avoid the scratch, and come out in 1st place.

My Handicap: 3
Matches:

1. 3-1 (even race)
2. 3-0 (even race)
3. 3-2 (even race)

My Place: 1st
My Winnings: 25