cleitonrocha said:

QUESTIONS ???
Please send the OP a Private Message please.
Thanks
ADMIN

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I did. They will not answer.

jay helfert said:

Had several experiences like that. One time I'm walking out of a casino and had a strange premonition about the Chuck-A-Luck game by the exit. The number six stuck in my head and I felt like I had to play, even though the odds are so bad. I walked over and put 100 on the number six.

Lo and behold three 6's came up on that spin. I knew I should quit but I couldn't help myself so I played once more and quit. That was weird!

We have powers we don't understand and strength we didn't know excisted. I've gotten out of some serious jams by showing power instead of weakness. Saw the fear in their eyes and watched them cower.

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I've had one similar experience that was really weird and hard to explain.

When I was a teenager, I was with my parents when they were set up at a flea market. This flea market ran a weekly 50/50 raffle. Anyone could get in, customers and vendors. The 50/50 was a way to raise some extra money for the folks that owned the flea market. Anyway, one week I bought a ticket for the 50/50 and I knew I was going to win. Absolutely certain and without doubt. I can't even explain the feeling except that I was 100% positive I was going to win. I could even recall planning what I was going to do with the money.

Because we were set up there, I was there for the afternoon drawing. I went up and waiting for the drawing to collect my money. As expected, my ticket / number was drawn. I believe I won a few hundred bucks. Tickets were a dollar each and they kept half; that means they sold around 400 tickets, and my chances were 1 in 400. That was 45-50 years ago and never had a similar experience / premonition.

jbart65 said:

Very thin gruel. Very thin.

Verner, as you already reported, is still hurting from his car injuries.

Laz Martinez has only played in one single Matchroom event in his young career, from what I could find. Battle of the Bull in 2025, it seems. He didnt even play in the US Open this year even though it was in his home state of Texas.

Sam Henderson has promise, but he has no real big wins over top players or any high-place finishes in 9 ball.

Childress had a good year and pulled off his first real big wins (Moritz Neuhausen). Maybe in a year or two.

Eric Roberts improved, but had less success than Childress. Not ready for prime time.

Landon Hollingsworth played in only a few WNT events this year. He did have a nice run at the Vice City Open, but no real big wins.

Payne McBride was probably the best of the lot among this group after accounting for Verner's injury. Only real good win this year was over Felix Vogel.

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Pretty much agreed. Lukas is the best of this crop and, in my view, projects as a future Fargo 800+ player. Still, no-one is quite sure where he is with his car injury recovery. He did, however, resume competing and matching up a couple of months ago, still playing in pain, which is when I last saw and spoke with him. Where he is today in his recovery I cannot say.

I'm with you on Payne McBride. He's committed to the process. He's not there yet, but he has a habit of hanging tough with the stars of the game, though not often beating them. For example, in a match I watched, Payne pushed Pijus Labutis to the limit at the US Open 9ball, reaching 6-6 before Pijus caught the proverbial gear. He also gave SVB a stiff 9-7 test in Stage 1 at the Florida Open a few months ago, during a week in which SVB would go on to win the title. I'm not sure whether Payne has turned 20 yet, but he's on a good trajectory.

Also, Laz shot well over .900 TPA in the final of the Junior event at the International Open, playing on the same crazy-tight table the pros used in their late rounds. Strong player, great potential, but it's not yet clear he wants to pursue a career in pro pool.

Took a look at the November edition, nice work. As a room owner, the thing I'd want most is a way to filter by region, since I really only care what's within an hour or so of Lakewood. It also helps if each listing shows the entry fee, the format (race to what, double elim or not), and whether it's handicapped, because that's what my players ask first. If you add a simple form for rooms to submit their own events, I'd send ours in every month.

sjm said:

Agreed that they are not merit-based picks. In post 32, I explained why I like going young.

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Verner and Childress are the only ones eligible. I like the progress of Childress, but at times, he just gets swamped by better players. Next year will be huge for him. If he improves as much next year as he did this year, he might break through.