BCA Nationals and your experience

R

Raider510

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey all, just wanted to post up a few thoughts and see how others experience was at the BCAPL National Championships these last couple weeks.

I had a pretty good experience again this year, although I should have practiced much more. Those 7 foot Diamonds take some getting used to! I felt that I shot much better than last year, and if it wasn't for some costly mistakes on my end that were completely avoidable (making the 8 ball and scratching twice, etc.) I should have at least placed in the money for the Men's Open. :)

Didn't see as many pros this time around, maybe it just because I wasn't at the Riviera as much as I have been the last couple times I went.

My highlight was probably the last match I played, even though I lost I was strangely at ease and not worried in the least that I was losing. I was just happy to be playing. I had some good conversation with the gentleman I was playing and his friend (who shot in the Super Seniors I believe) and they both paid me a great compliment for my honesty and integrity.

The first game my opponent scratched on the break. So naturally I have BIH, and I'm in the midst of my practice stroke about to shoot when I barely touch the CB with my tip. I hesitate for a second, waiting for him to call foul, but only silence..... Realizing he hadn't seen what happened, I stood up from the shot, walked over to him and told him that I fouled and it was his BIH. He was a bit surprised I think, and continued on with his turn.

Afterwards, my GF told me that they were speaking very highly of me and my actions. It made me feel pretty good to know that my integrity was appreciated so much.

Anyways, just wanted to share that, sorry for the long winded post lol. I might get flamed for saying this, but I don't care: Winning isn't always everything at the pool table. I'd rather have the respect from my opponent and know that I played them an honest game :)
 
Great Show

Once again I had a great show...my patience sometime amazes me! Actually, I love teaching the Jump Shot (especially when I hear I've never jumped a ball in my life) everyone seemed to understand what I showed them. Mastering the Jump Shot DVD, Frogs and Tadpoles...
Jerry's DVD plus the Bobble Ball... sold lots of product and that for sure was a blessing!
Now I'm home and feel every bit of the aches and pains of standing on my feet for so long...man I'm getting OLD!
 
Robroy said:
Once again I had a great show...my patience sometime amazes me! Actually, I love teaching the Jump Shot (especially when I hear I've never jumped a ball in my life) everyone seemed to understand what I showed them. Mastering the Jump Shot DVD, Frogs and Tadpoles...
Jerry's DVD plus the Bobble Ball... sold lots of product and that for sure was a blessing!
Now I'm home and feel every bit of the aches and pains of standing on my feet for so long...man I'm getting OLD!
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My dad received a jump lesson from you, I believe. He said he enjoyed it, and it helped him in his match! :)
 
In spite of my dull performance, I had a great time. I bombed in the singles, won the second chance and was either running out or dogging it during team. My girlfriend's team took 3rd in the Master/Advanced. She played great although her team must take the credit for their finish. Here's a vid of her lip synching after we had a few too many bloody marys on the plane -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QXHGiYjqTk&feature=youtu.be
 
Jude Rosenstock said:
In spite of my dull performance, I had a great time. I bombed in the singles, won the second chance and was either running out or dogging it during team. My girlfriend's team took 3rd in the Master/Advanced. She played great although her team must take the credit for their finish. Here's a vid of her lip synching after we had a few too many bloody marys on the plane -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QXHGiYjqTk&feature=youtu.be
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Very nice. Refreshing tune to listen to this morning. Very nice job lip syncing.

She looks like a 'fun' person to be with. Lucky you. :smile:
 
klockdoc said:
Very nice. Refreshing tune to listen to this morning. Very nice job lip syncing.

She looks like a 'fun' person to be with. Lucky you. :smile:
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What is very comical is how nobody on the plane paid any attention to us. We had four drinks each right before we got on our flight (they even called my name over the loud speaker to go to the gate) and then had another two on the flight. We did the music video and passed out. We're normally not big drinkers but we just wanted to take a little bit of Vegas with us. Seriously, it's always a great time. I wish the pool-part had gone a little better for me but I'm sure about 5,000 people feel the same way.
 
Speaking of BAD experiences....Well I didn't experience it, but a good friend of mine did this past week.

Several years ago, he moved from my home state, back to Taiwan and being the pool enthusiast that he is, continued to play and got a BCAPL team together to come to Vegas and play.

They won the Advanced Team events. 1st place. They were placed in this division as a result of the following.

Two of their team members came in 1st and 2nd in the Mens Open Division.

Here is the kicker......BCAPL wouldn't pay them for their finish in the Open Singles. They said they were TOO good! They lost out on around $17000.

I never knew that there was a playing requirement prerequisite for playing the BCA tournament if you have never played there before!

I know of plenty of individuals that have won BCAPL Junior Championships and that have played in the Open Singles and have won and never got penalized for shooting too good. Much less, lost their winnings.

Also know people that have been semi pros, haven't played for a while...gotten taken out of Master status and allowed to play in the Open and ended up winning that division. They still paid them.

I think they got a raw deal. :angry:
 
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Robroy said:
Once again I had a great show...my patience sometime amazes me! Actually, I love teaching the Jump Shot (especially when I hear I've never jumped a ball in my life) everyone seemed to understand what I showed them. Mastering the Jump Shot DVD, Frogs and Tadpoles...
Jerry's DVD plus the Bobble Ball... sold lots of product and that for sure was a blessing!
Now I'm home and feel every bit of the aches and pains of standing on my feet for so long...man I'm getting OLD!
Click to expand...

Jose Parica could have used your instruction on how to jump balls...he blew every one he tried in the Open 10 Ball.:smile::thumbup:
 
LAMas said:
Jose Parica could have used your instruction on how to jump balls...he blew every one he tried in the Open 10 Ball.:smile::thumbup:
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I agree, I have helped some and many more can get a little insight on the shot. The Pros have a great stroke so they can get away with minor errors... that being said, it sure comes in handy when the jump cue is used right.
 
Robroy said:
I agree, I have helped some and many more can get a little insight on the shot. The Pros have a great stroke so they can get away with minor errors... that being said, it sure comes in handy when the jump cue is used right.
Click to expand...
Here is something I didn't know. Maybe some of you out there didn't know either. I went up to Vegas for Friday and Saturday just to say hi to a few people and to watch a little of the 10- Ball. First person that I see is JA so I think we are gonna chat about how things went for him in the 10-ball but instead he keeps talking about how his son Lee was all excited to talk to Robin's son on the phone. Well here is the think Robin's son (Drake Bell) is on Nickleodeon I guess he is a star to the kids. So if any of you out there have kids and they watch nickleodeon they will probably know him. Anyway I guess its just something I thought was cool. Talented family I guess, oh and Robin, I know that you know JA very well but in case you didn't realize your son really made JA's day.
 
Raider510 said:
The first game my opponent scratched on the break. So naturally I have BIH, and I'm in the midst of my practice stroke about to shoot when I barely touch the CB with my tip. I hesitate for a second, waiting for him to call foul, but only silence..... Realizing he hadn't seen what happened, I stood up from the shot, walked over to him and told him that I fouled and it was his BIH. He was a bit surprised I think, and continued on with his turn.
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There are mixed feelings about this one, should you call a foul on yourself? Well my take on it is that if it’s for funzies; absolutely; yes! But under tournament situations no. This may sound like I am not very honorable but I deal with it like this. I stand up and verbally address my opponent, I say something like “what, you say something?” or “huh, what did you say?” so I am not only giving them an opportunity to call the foul but I am giving them a hint that there is something amiss. This is sort of in between calling the foul on yourself and just ignoring the fact that you did.

The reason I am not an advocate of calling the foul on myself during tournament situations is that if there is no referee the sitter has a job and that is to be watching and be alert and good at recognizing fouls and potential foul situations if they are not good at that then that is a weakness like any other. So sure do the right thing yes but (for me) I am not going to do what I feel is “their job”.

Of course technology will eventually solve this problem. The pool table of the future will be calling “legal” or “foul” electronically; so eventually this will cease to be a problem but for now I say “sorry; pay attention to the game whether it’s your inning or not”.
 
By the way, it’s BCAPL Nationals – not the BCA Nationals. The BCA (Billiard Congress of America) is now just a trade association and has no ties to BCAPL. The All-Taiwan Men’s Open Singles finals was a fiasco, and BCAPL did a good thing by disqualifying both players, BUT BCAPL should realize by now that only top players generally come over from other countries. They could have minimized the damage to the division with better research.



My league will not be sanctioning with BCAPL next year, as the July 17-27 dates just don’t work well with our short-summer lifestyle nor with our Spring end-of-season league scheduling. We’ll be sanctioning with ACS, as they have the best dates - May 11-17 – next year; I hear nice things about the Tropicana; Gary Benson – who used to run the BCA Natls – directs the ACS event; and the sanction fees are cheaper. I heard from a bunch of other players at Nationals their league’s will be doing the same.



Jumping off the Riviera ship probably had to be done, but choosing the Rio and being forced to late July dates due to the Rio hosting the World Series of Poker May-July was not a wise decision.
 
The only people complaining about the July dates are the Canadians. So be it --- for everyone else, it will be a plus. And getting out of the Riviera is a bigger plus.

I would like to hear Mark G. words on the Taiwanese situation before I comment.
 
Sounds like a good time had by all! Could someone post a link to the results for team and individual? Thx... Jude, I think I played a game against your girlfriend 3-4 years ago in the team events, I barely won, it was a memorable game, she's a great person.
 
rayjay said:
Sounds like a good time had by all! Could someone post a link to the results for team and individual? Thx... Jude, I think I played a game against your girlfriend 3-4 years ago in the team events, I barely won, it was a memorable game, she's a great person.
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I think you may have her mistaken for another person. She's only been playing pool for two years now. This year was the first time she actually competed although she did play in one mini last year. If you're not mistaken then thank you. I think she's pretty terrific, too!
 
Lloyd Nelson said:
By the way, it’s BCAPL Nationals – not the BCA Nationals. The BCA (Billiard Congress of America) is now just a trade association and has no ties to BCAPL. The All-Taiwan Men’s Open Singles finals was a fiasco, and BCAPL did a good thing by disqualifying both players, BUT BCAPL should realize by now that only top players generally come over from other countries. They could have minimized the damage to the division with better research.



My league will not be sanctioning with BCAPL next year, as the July 17-27 dates just don’t work well with our short-summer lifestyle nor with our Spring end-of-season league scheduling. We’ll be sanctioning with ACS, as they have the best dates - May 11-17 – next year; I hear nice things about the Tropicana; Gary Benson – who used to run the BCA Natls – directs the ACS event; and the sanction fees are cheaper. I heard from a bunch of other players at Nationals their league’s will be doing the same.



Jumping off the Riviera ship probably had to be done, but choosing the Rio and being forced to late July dates due to the Rio hosting the World Series of Poker May-July was not a wise decision.
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Duly noted on the BCAPL/BCA thing :)

I'm glad they are moving to the Rio, I think it will be a positive change for *most* people.
 
watchez said:
The only people complaining about the July dates are the Canadians. So be it --- for everyone else, it will be a plus. And getting out of the Riviera is a bigger plus.

I would like to hear Mark G. words on the Taiwanese situation before I comment.
Click to expand...

I too, would like to hear from Mark G. This was a very surprising development to hear that they didn't pay the winners.
 
Lloyd Nelson said:
By the way, it’s BCAPL Nationals – not the BCA Nationals. The BCA (Billiard Congress of America) is now just a trade association and has no ties to BCAPL. The All-Taiwan Men’s Open Singles finals was a fiasco, and BCAPL did a good thing by disqualifying both players, BUT BCAPL should realize by now that only top players generally come over from other countries. They could have minimized the damage to the division with better research.



My league will not be sanctioning with BCAPL next year, as the July 17-27 dates just don’t work well with our short-summer lifestyle nor with our Spring end-of-season league scheduling. We’ll be sanctioning with ACS, as they have the best dates - May 11-17 – next year; I hear nice things about the Tropicana; Gary Benson – who used to run the BCA Natls – directs the ACS event; and the sanction fees are cheaper. I heard from a bunch of other players at Nationals their league’s will be doing the same.



Jumping off the Riviera ship probably had to be done, but choosing the Rio and being forced to late July dates due to the Rio hosting the World Series of Poker May-July was not a wise decision.
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And why is it a good thing?
 
Yeah, I got to live the dream. Arrived in Vegas on 5/7 and watched the USBA 3 cushion championships at the Tropicana fron 5/7-5/10. Great stuff!

It was then on to the Riviera for the US Open 1-pocket championship. Even without having Efren there, it was a great event, and seeing the emergence of Darren Appleton as a new star in this discipline up close was great. Of course, Shane was a deserving champion, and when added to his Derby City 1-pocket, it can be said that he's the hottest 1-pocket player on the planet right now.

The US Open 10-ball was next and my first reaction was disappointment over the absence of my favorite player, Ralf Souquet. That said, the field was superstrong. To me, one of the questions coming in was whether Shane would rebound from the drubbing he took in the Derby City 10-ball event. Busty had beaten him 15-9, but the match, if my memory serves, was 14-5 at one point. Sure enough, they met very early in the event, and Shane had a bad day and was a 9-4 loser. His disgust at the end of the match was obvious, and things didn't go much better for him on the loser's side where Archer eliminated him well short of a chance to reach Saturay's final four.

Another player that I found interesting to watch was Oscar Dominguez. In his first match, he was five balls from the finish line leading 8-6 against eventual champion Orcullo, but missed and never shot again. Oscar later played NY favorite Steve Lipsky, and Steve, who played very well, broke dry at 8-8. Given a second chance, Oscar made no mistake about his runout to win the match. He then went on a fine winning streak that led him all the way to a 7/8 place finish.

Mike Dechaine was another player worth watching. He survived a nailbiter against David Alcaide when Alcaide scratched in the double hill rack and went on a nice run all the way to a fourth place finish.

Most of all, though, this tournament belonged to the Filippinos. Busty, Alex, and most of all, Dennis Orcullo, wowed me with their play. All of them had played in the nine ball event at Derby City, in which the Americans swept the medals with Shane first, Stevie second, and Dechaine third. This time it would be different, and after Busty beat Dechaine, the tournament came down to the three Fillipino superstars. Orcullo was much the best in the final against Bustamante, not missing a single ball, and offering a sampling of some of the greatest 10-ball I've ever witnessed.

Socially, I caught up with many good friends and more than a few acquaintances, but the highlight for me came early. Was having a bite with Darren Appleton when Bob Jewett, Greg Sullivan, and Ken Schuman invited us to join them. Dining with four cuesports giants, all of whom I'm lucky enough to count as friends, was a real treat for this diehard fan.

Also noteworthy was how many New Yorkers I caught up with for the first time in a while. Since my retirement in 2008, I only play pool in the daytime, so I can go a long time without seeing local pool friends I've made over the years. Alwaysnice to see them.

The most unexpected pleasure was when I ran into Cris Delagarza, now living in Switzerland, who I ran into in the Riviera gift shop and she had her lovely baby with her. A few years ago, Cris and I served together on the WPBA Board, and of course, she is well known in these AZB parts for her many fine posts. Cris has been and remains a great ambassador for our sport.

Glad to be home, and I reckon it's time to catch up on my sleep.
 
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