Tag Archives: Pool Tournaments

Straight Pool & Equal Offense Scoresheet/Spreadsheet Update

Posted on by

I’ve made some updates to the score sheets.

I’ve uploaded all of them now to GoogleDocs for one. That’s the big change.

Other small changes, currently exclusive to the GoogleDocs versions, are minor formatting changes, formulaic changes to rid the sheets of #DIV/0 errors, and the removal of some extraneous columns to help with formula drag filling.

Furthermore, I’ve shared all the GoogleDocs versions so they’re public for the finding, though I’ve retained exclusive editing rights.

As always, suggestions and tweaks, especially those that stem from trial-by-fire experience, are always welcome.

Straight Pool & Equal Offense Scores and Stats Sheets

Brush with Fame

Posted on by

Saturday night I went to Sharks, a local pool hall, with the intent of entering a 9-ball tournament. I did exactly that. And for it being my first tournament in years, I didn’t do too bad. I pulled 6th place out of 30 entrants. I completely choked on my last match, but it was very late, and I’m just not used to marathon playing like that. I’m giving it time. It’ll all come back. Last weekend was just the start.

However, that’s really not the point. The point is…

I’m sitting there watching a match between two of the best players in the tournament. Why wouldn’t I? Free lessons, after all. A guy is sitting next to me. Older, I’m thinking maybe 50 or so, he looks really familiar, but I can’t place him, and being more interested in the match being played out in front of me, I let it go. We start talking, and introduce ourselves. His name is Paul. We’re critiquing the match, sharing stories, just generally chatting. He tells about how he’s been playing the game for 55 years (turns out he’s 60), and is so grateful to the game for carrying him around the world multiple times, giving him the opportunity to learn 5 different languages and meet literally thousands upon thousands of fantastic people.

I’m listening, but what he’s saying isn’t really sinking in. Around the world? Many languages? Thousands upon thousands of people? How many pool players credit all that to the game? I’m going to lay my money on a pretty slim minority.

It still doesn’t sink in that this fellow is probably a pretty remarkable player. He has a very humble demeanor, though he’s obviously very confident in what he says. A stranger in the pool hall, he immediately zeroed in on the best players in the house which speaks to his skill in knowing what to look for.

My name is called, and I settle into my last match… the one, as I said, that I choked on. It was with a friend of mine I’ve known for about a decade now, and he’s been in my head for a while. I really wanted to beat him, but I couldn’t let go of the idea that he was going to beat me. We’re chatting between shots, and he asks if I knew Paul Gerni was there. All of a sudden it clicks. THAT’S where I recognize him from! ESPN! Paul… Paul Gerni… is an internationally renown trick shot artist with more than a few titles under his belt!

Unbelievable! I was just chatting with a guy that knows as much about pool as damn near anyone, and doing so like I had a clue what I was talking about!

After my match, I go over and watch him give a little impromptu exhibition. If nothing else, I should have continued talking with him b/c his assistant was just crazy cute…

Straight Pool Scoresheet/Spreadsheet Update

Posted on by

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 & Equal Offense Scores and Stats Sheets

14:1 Continuous Spreadsheet Geekery Oh My!

Posted on by

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!

No Vegas for Us

Posted on by

Thanks to yours truly, our 8-ball team isn’t going to Vegas this year. I lost my match 3-2 in a race 4-2. She was just too strong a 3 for me to take. Combine that with all the stress of the tournament and life, and it was destined for disaster.

I’m really not happy at all about it, but I do rest easy konwing that my team doesn’t blame me. Nearly all of us have been responsible for the loss of a tournament here and there, and a few of us for tournaments with a lot at stake.

The team disbanded Saturday night after the tournament… we just didn’t have the heart to go on. I’m considering letting my APA membership just expire… this whole handicap thing is really getting to me. There’s just too much energy spent on working the system to make the best of the handicaps (or flat out cheating the system with sandbagging), and too little energy spent on playing good pool for my tastes anymore. I’ll think on it, and probably talk to a few people about it. Right now, though, I’m discouraged.

APA KS State Tournament Day Two

Posted on by

Our first match of the day went very well… much like yesterday’s match, as a matter of fact. Tim won his 3 games to zero, I won mine 4 games to zero, and Dustin won his 3 games to one. Most definitely, very solidly, still in the winner’s bracket. This first match for me felt *much* better than yesterday.

We’ve got at least one more match today at 6:00pm. Tomorrow is a big day, assuming we go all the way. Matches are at 9:00am, 12 noon, 3:00pm and 6:00pm.

Tournament: APA 8-ball at The Pool Room

Posted on by

The first match was a breeze. The second was an hour and a half nightmare. She was an extremely strong 3 who only needed two games to my four. She was decent at safeties, which combined with my inability to get over my nerves gave her the match.

My Handicap: 5
Matches:

  1. 4-0 (Race: 4-4)
  2. 3-2 (Race: 4-2)

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

APA KS State Tournament Day One

Posted on by

So far, the team is shooting quite well. Yesterday, we shut out our opponents 3-0. Matt won his match, Dustin won his, I won mine, and though it didn’t matter b/c we already had three, Ali won her match. I was having a hard time getting my head into it, being distracted by personal stuff, but I was able to pull it out.

Still in the winner’s bracket.