I just got finished with a 4 hour long 8-ball and Straight Pool afternoon at the local pool room. They re-covered their 9′ tables with Simonis 860 (which is what was on there before, but it was horribly abused by disrespectful patrons and sharp overhead lamp shades), and the table I was on played very nicely. Not too fast, not too slow, no table roll and tight pockets.

I played an elderly gentleman by the name of Jesse (assumed spelling) several games of 8-ball and two games of 14:1 to 75. We were pretty much back and forth on the 8-ball games… I’d win one, he’d win one, etc. But I took control of the table in 14:1. I felt bad about the first game, in spite of Jesse’s insistence that I not, when I won 75-26. I don’t think I had a single inning below 6 balls. The second game, however, was a different story. It was much slower, the table wasn’t nearly as forgiving, and my margin of victory was much smaller with a win of 75-74 (or maybe 75-72… I don’t know – either way, it was a very close game).

Going to play today was a spur of the moment thing, and I’m glad I did it. It was much fun. I can’t wait until tomorrow to see how I play at Dean’s house… or the Pool Room if Dean won’t be home.