Dave’s Good Stuff

In a stunning upset last night, Deep Pockets, formerly in 6th place out of 10, defeats the 1st place team 8-Ball Junk-eez 3 and a half rounds to 1 and a half rounds. When asked how she felt about the outcome, one team member replied simply “Hell YEAH!!!” It is uncertain how last nights stellar showing on the part of Deep Pockets will change the overall rankings, but one thing can be certain: they are out of their slump.

Defeating the first place team did a lot to bolster the flagging confidence of the team members. Over the course of the last three weeks, they went from splitting the rounds even, to suffering two 1 round nights in a row. Out of 12 rounds, they won 4.5. While last nights performance may not have improved their percentages enough to put them in one of the top three spots, winning the majority of the rounds against the first place team made the team members feel like they were already there.

Of the four team members, two monopolized the 8-ball, each sinking it three times out of four for 37 points each. While the other two team members weren’t able to pot the 8, they were able to maximize their losses with 5’s, 6’s and 7’s. Only once did our team suffer a significant defeat, when, having been unable to pot a ball, an opponent ran out to the 8 for the win, resulting in a zero to 10 score. That game resulted in a tie for the round, but it wasn’t enough to deter the tenacious Deep Pocket players, who were able to hold on to the point lead through the next round to the end of the night.

Looking forward, we’ll have to wait to see how the rest of the teams managed before we can know how last nights performance affected the overall standings. One thing is for certain, however, Deep Pockets will enter next weeks match with heads held high with renewed confidence.

Last night we won 4 of 6 rounds. That’s pretty good, and far better than winning 2 of 6 rounds like last week. However, while I had a perfect night (5 out of 5 games - can I get a “Hell yeah!”), everyone else on the team got only 1 game out of five. That makes for 9 games out of 25, giving the other team 16 games, nearly twice what we got. However, we still won over half the rounds. Odd.

This can be explained by two things…

1. We got 4 points a round in handicap. Take the handicap out and we still won 3 of 6 games, so the handicap only accounts for one round by itself.
2. When my teammates did lose, they lost by a close margin, with 5, 6 and 7 points to the opponents 10. This accounts for some games, but there were some 10-1 and 10-2 games as well. On the other hand, when we won, we won well, keeping the opponents to 10-2 through 10-5.

Still, even understanding the math, it’s just weird. That makes for two weird nights in a row. Two nights that really felt like we were going to come up very short, and in fact, came out the winners.

Two things of note from my games last night…
I beat a guy named TJ with a difficult run-out. TJ is a good friend of mine. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s an arguably better player, and likes to talk a lot of (friendly good-natured) sh*t about it. My run-out was not a gimme, and it felt really good to stick it to him like that (in a friendly good-natured way, of course).

My last game was against TJ’s brother, Kyle. It turned into a battle of safeties towards the end. I was definitely in his head, as he had a tough time with impossibly (to me, at least) easy shots. Then he pulled out what is probably the luckiest shot I’ve seen in 10 years of playing. I’ll have a diagram coming, but for now…

I played a safe which left the cue ball and my last object ball at one end of the table, his last object ball at the other end of the table, and the 8 ball right in between. He attempted to hit his object ball by banking the cue ball off the side rail near the side pocket. Instead, he hit the far corner of the side pocket, which deflected the cue ball into the near corner of the same side pocket, then across the table to the near corner of the other side pocket, which deflected the cue ball straight at his object ball with just enough speed to send it to the rail, and leave me hooked behind the 8.

I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or rage. Instead, I tried a massé, which failed, giving him ball in hand and an easy out. Fortunately, he choked the out and I went on to win… after a few more safeties, of course.

The rest of my team rested momentarily on islands of joy amidst a sea of frustration. They just couldn’t pull it together, unfortunately. I can only imagine the beat-down we would have delivered had they been even just a little bit more on top of their game. As it was, they did enough, and the night was a success.

… barely. Last night at the Clarette Club in Shawnee, my Tuesday night pool team Deep Pockets, through judicious application of luck, managed to score 4 rounds of 5. The round we didn’t take was… best left forgotten. Two 0-10 games, one of which was an 8 ball snap, made it a nearly impossible round to take. The whole night felt off, honestly, and when we got to the end, it was with some surprise that we realized the outcome.

Mike sat out, letting the GF step in and get on the books for the session. He’d jumped up to a 9, so it also allowed us to give up one less point in the handicap scheme. Turns out one point wouldn’t have made a difference, but it’s a nice option to have.

Chris had 2 wins with 26/40 points.
Linda had 2 wins 27/40 points.
GF had 3 wins 37/40 points.
I had 3 wins 37/40 points.

Chris should have had at least one more win, and I should have had one less. He’s been having a hard time adjusting to the tables. They’re a lot faster, and moving to a brand new environment can affect a player a lot more than most realize. He’ll find his stroke. Until then, he just needs to keep playing. I’m not immune, either. I see it in him b/c I see it in me. I really only won two of my games. The third game was given to me. Down to the 8, my opponent rattled an easy out. No one really likes to win like that, but he choked where I didn’t, so if you look at it that way, I guess I deserved it. I sucked less, in other words.

As a team, we’re not doing too badly. The first night was rough, apparently. I wasn’t there, but we were swept 0-5. No fun, that. Since then, we’ve pulled it back together, taking 4 rounds of 5 for the last three nights running.

After playing with the spreadsheets last Sunday, some weaknesses became apparent. I’ve updated the spreadsheets to address those weaknesses.

To wit:

I now track the total number of balls potted, the current rack number, the balls potted in the current rack and the balls remaining in the current rack. This will help with score keeping if you’re anything like us and sometimes forget how many balls a player potted in their last inning. Without a dedicated score keeping lackey, it’s sometimes tough to keep track.

An interesting, if not entirely useful statistic would be the percentage of racks finished by each player. The formulas for keeping track of the current rack and ball count was tough enough, I’m really not sure how I’d go about that.

I also fixed some miscalculations in the 3 person score sheet. The stats for the third player were not being calculated correctly. They are now.

So, without further ado…

Straight Pool Scores and Stats Sheet [~220KB .zip file]
Three person Straight Pool Scores and Stats Sheet [~320KB .zip file]

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While not nearly as complex as my Straight Pool Scoresheet, my Equal Offense scoresheet might still come in handy. I’ve used it (in one of it’s many incarnations) for years as a way to gauge my progress (always in the positive, btw - I’m doing something right).

You can download it here [.zip ~17KB] if you’re of the mind.

On the Scoresheet worksheet, each inning is split into two columns, the 1st for your score, and the 2nd for the “Frame Conclusion.” I’ve used drop down menus for the 2nd column… you have the options of “f” for Foul and “m” for Miss. The rest of the columns are self explanatory.

The Trends tab is there to show progress over time.

EO, in case you didn’t know, is basically one person Straight Pool. It’s structured so you can get a real sense of improvement and progress.

From the Pool & Billiards FAQ:

Same rules as straight pool (14.1) except as noted. (You must be familiar with those rules, or EO won’t make much sense, especially the break shot with the 15th ball.) Each player gets ten turns alone at the table; a turn begins with an open break of a full rack, and ends on a miss, foul, or run of twenty. Respot any balls that go in on the open break, and start with ball in hand in the kitchen. There is no penalty for scratching on the break. A foul does not subtract points, it just ends the turn, but balls made on a foul do not count. There is no head-to-head play, so there are no safeties.

There are variations you can apply, such as allowing three misses before you close the frame, or limiting yourself to 15 ball runs (preventing having to think about the break shot for the next rack). If you start one way, though, do yourself a favor and be consistent.

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That’s the name of the new Tuesday night team I’m on. It’s at the Clarette Club in Shawnee Mission. I really like the place. It reminds me of Terry’s in Topeka, where I used to play the Saturday evening 9-ball tournaments. Smaller, a little tighter in the quarters area, but not bad. You have to love a place that has the word “Sleazy” in it’s tag line. Plus, they have fried shrimp.

The team is fantastic. I’m an alternate for this session, but will be a full timer next. Right now, there are 5 or 6 on the team, and I know two of them well, and have played with another twice. Next session it will be myself and three others, all of whom I know well, one being a good friend of mine outside of pool. I don’t know how well we’ll do, but I expect to have a great time.

It’s a Valley league, which is a first for me. I’ve been in many house leagues, BCA, APA and ACS, but never Valley. The rules are generally all the same, though, so I’m not worried. As long as slop doesn’t count and the handicap system isn’t built for sandbagging, I’m good (hence, me no longer playing APA).

Last night I went 4 and 0. 3 pretty easy wins and one that (by all rights) I should have lost. Two balls-in-hand and my opponent still gave the game up. I did play a few good safes on him, but he had ample opportunity to capitalize.

My only concern is that by adding another night of pool, I’m taking away time from my training schedule. I can’t ignore the pull of the table, though, and will find a way to make it work.

I’ve been toiling away for the last few days on a way to keep score during 14:1 Continuous (Straight Pool) matches in the most geekish way possible - with a spreadsheet. I hate trying to do the math while I’m playing a game of 14:1 on those little score pads built into the table, or worse yet, on an abacus style score string hung above the table. It’s distracting from my world beating runs of 6, or even 14 balls at a time! Using a handwritten scoresheet just means more math, and not much in the way of decent analysis.

Hence, the spreadsheet solution.

The rules are pretty involved, especially around fouls and the penalties therein, so it took a while to get it right. Frankly, I’m not convinced I have gotten it entirely right. So, while I’m making this spreadsheet available, use at your own risk, and if there’s money on the game, don’t come running to me if the score keeping isn’t entirely accurate. This is pre-alpha type stuff here, people.

That said, try out my Straight Pool Scores and Stats Sheet [~220KB .zip file] if you’re of the mind. There’s also a three person version [~320KB .zip file] available if you like to play three person Straight Pool.

All the cells are locked and the workbook and all included sheets are protected, but there is no password. I did that simply to ease the transition between cells, and to prevent any errant fiddling in the middle of a heated match.

The first sheet, “Stats” is where the matches are summarized. You shouldn’t have to do anything here but gaze in wonder at your prowess.

The rest of the sheets, named “1″ through “10″ are the matches. You can edit the colored cells, and they are:

• Match Point is the number of points to win the match.
• Table Size is there in case you want to know the table size you played the match on. I know… it’s only ever legitimate on a 9′ table, but sometimes it’s fun to mess around on 7’s and 8’s.
• The column under the heading “Balls” is where you record the number of balls you made that inning. The next column under “Finish” is where you record why you quit shooting, be it a foul (f), a safety (s), or a miss (m). It’s important that you use the letters f, s and m in order for the stats and scores to be accurate.

I would like to work in a way to highlight when a rack is done. It might be nice to know how many racks it took to get to a certain score over time as a way of gauging progress.

Let me know what you think of it. I look forward to hearing what all three of you think!

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With a $5 purchase of anything, Sharks is offering free pool(!) Sunday afternoons. Free pool is one of my favorite things in the world. Of course, it’s not technically “free” if you have to buy something to get it, but for $5, several hours on a 9′er is hard to beat.

The GF and I went up there just before 2 to meet another friend of ours. Our plan was to get some Straight Pool in, and generally start to whip our games back into shape. I’d spent the morning elbow deep in geekery building a spreadsheet that takes in the score for the inning, and what caused the inning to end, be it a foul, safety, or a miss, and automagickally calculate all sorts of nifty, but ultimately useless stats. I couldn’t wait to try it out. You know how I love my stats!

Not long after we sat down, the captain of another team I’ve been wanting to play on asked me what my afternoon looked like. They were getting ready to start a make-up match, and were short some players. Of course, at that point, my afternoon cleared right up! I ended up winning three and losing 1. I should have won, but I played the player instead of the table, and relaxed too much. He blundered past me by virtue of too many mistakes on my part. It could have been worse, though. The captain told me to show up Tuesday night ready to play. :)

The rest of the afternoon went pretty well. We shot some terrible 14:1 and put the spreadsheet through it’s paces. It could use some tweaking to make it easier to use while we’re shooting, but other than that, it’s not too bad. I may post it here once I’ve worked out some of the issues.

Last night at pool league was interesting. On the one hand, the handicap system worked exactly as it should. We were giving up 8 points a round, and won three of six rounds. We lost the final sixth round by 30 points, but had handicaps not been in play, we would have won by 10. They equalized things quite nicely.

On the other hand, the other team was composed of 6’s and 7’s that were playing like 8’s and 9’s. It’s frustrating to be in game against a 6, only to realize in the time it took you to get your drink from the waitress, your opponent has broken and run down to the 8.

I honestly don’t think they’re sandbagging, or this post would have an entirely different slant. I just think the table was working for them just a *little* better than it was for us. We probably went in a little cocky, but were able to recover enough to come out even.

On another note, one of the fellas on my team (I’m the captain, btw, nice to meet you) is… how can I put this nicely… a bit melodramatic. He tends to get real upset when he misses. I’ll never forget the end of the first match this session. He’d lost his last game and was crying. Seriously. There’s no crying in pool.

When we try to talk to him about what might have gone wrong, he resists any personal responsibility. When we try to coach him, he insists on doing it his own way, even when he asked for the coaching. When we point out flaws in his form, weaknesses in his fundamentals, he gives exasperated “I know… I know…” responses, and yet fails to take any suggestions onto the table.
You can’t expect the results before the effort.
I’m no pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I have thousands of competitive games under my belt to his dozens. There are people I know I could learn a lot from, just as this fella, were he open to it, could learn a lot from me. I’m nowhere near perfect. I’m so imperfect it’s comedy. However, my fundamentals are further along, and I can see some glaring and ongoing bad habits.

I’m not the only to have noticed this, but I have taken my own sweet time recognizing and accepting the fact that he doesn’t have the right mind for the game. At least not right now.

His mind, basically, is one of entitlement. He expects the table to give up the pockets to him freely, without him having to pay the table first.

It’s an unforgiving and unbending rule. It simply doesn’t work that way. You pay the table in time well spent practicing, playing, and competing. You give her time, energy and commitment, and when she feels you’ve proven yourself, she will start opening the pockets. You can’t expect the results before the effort. Unfortunately, this fella has a hard time with that concept.

I remember having a conversation with a teammate years ago. Mike was a fantastic player and, had he committed himself to the game, could have gone pro. I was expressing frustration that I wasn’t running as many racks as I thought I should. His response was simply “Really.” It was spoken more as a statement than a question. I wasn’t a horrible player at the time, but there were (are) so many areas to improve, he just didn’t know where to begin.

I imagine the same conversation between myself and the fella on my team now. Him: “I can’t believe I missed that shot!” Me: “Really.” There are so many areas wrong, starting with his mindset and continuing with the very fundamentals of stance and stroke, that I just don’t know where to start. Maybe I could start by saying “I can.”

I know how Mike felt now, when I was talking with him then. The difference is, I was eager to don the hat of humility and listen. I did so many times, and my game improved dramatically. The fella now isn’t.

It’s frustrating to watch this guy self destruct at the table and beat himself over and over again. It’s more frustrating to try and help and constantly feel like I’m wasting my time.

Last night was the first night of our second session at Sharks. It’s an ACS sanctioned 8-ball league, though there doesn’t seem to be any participation in the league as a whole, beyond the house we play in. There are 9 teams total, and 7 players on my team, including myself.

Last night showed the best and the worst that league play has to offer. Let’s start with the worst, so as to leave on a good note.

The team we were playing came in first by a large margin last session. Halfway through the session it would have been tough to catch up. As the final night approached it quickly became mathematically impossible to do so. They are all, obviously, good players, at least for what is basically an in-house league. However, that’s not really why they’re in first. There are in first because they cheat. They are in first because they actively “manage” their handicaps. Call it what you will… managing, sandbagging, holding back, planning ahead, playing it close to the vest, whatever… it’s cheating. It’s dishonest, dishonorable and pathetic. It is. Simply. Cheating.

I have some experience with this myself. Through that experience I developed a certain intolerance for those that continue to sandbag. Last night I was pretty vocal about it. I made no secret of the fact that I thought what they were doing was disrespectful and dishonorable. Unfortunately, those words mean little to cheaters. The next time we play them, however, I have resolved to give them the games they so desperately want to lose at the first sign of “managing their handicaps.” I won’t shoot off, or delay the game through unnecessary innings, I’ll just put away my cue and say “Good game.” I will not contribute to their dishonesty.

On the other hand, last night was a great night where my own team is concerned. Sure, we lost horribly to those good-for-naught cheaters, but we had a great time with each other in spite of it. I really do enjoy my team this time around. We all get along, have easy relationships with each other, and could very easily hang outside of pool. That sort of camaraderie makes even a poor performance night of pool feel good.