Look to me like you had the stall game on for a good bit of the match. I vaguely remember a few no brainer shots where you would’ve nutted John up hard but elected to move a few balls and leave him long. Made me think you would never do that against me, or at the very least only once. Cold beer says you play at least a ball better than what we saw that match.
$10,000 One Pocket Challenge: Lou Figueroa vs John Barton
- Thread starter ShootingHank
- Start date
Look to me like you had the stall game on for a good bit of the match. I vaguely remember a few no brainer shots where you would’ve nutted John up hard but elected to move a few balls and leave him long. Made me think you would never do that against me, or at the very least only once. Cold beer says you play at least a ball better than what we saw that match.
It appears CTE only works if you have pool skills.
I just watched the first game in its entirety (skipping over all the introductions...). Holly batman, when Barton brought out that chicken wing stroke on the high speed shot he was trying to remove from your pocket (and mis-hit). No lie, I was eating, and burst out laughing, spitting my food.
Kinda makes you wonder how in the hell did he manage to win 7 games and make it close.
You have to understand pool games....they’re war games....you don’t just play one-pocket...
...you play your opponent......Lou knew that he could leave JB teasers...
...from which John would leave more than he would make.
I’ve played a little one hole and get what you’re saying, that was just one example I could remember and have a fishing trip to plan for right now so I don’t want to watch that match again. But you’re not trying to say ole Lou was in high gear the whole time, are you? Of course you aren’t.
Pretty sure the final score was 9-6 and not 9-7.
There was no coach. And the fact is that the shot that Lou was CONVINCED was a shot that was a pro level shot that was above my pay grade was the EXACT shot that the actual pros panned as the worst shot ever. And I was actually proud of that shot until Lou said it was the shot that made him think I was being coached. I thought I did something clever. But it was a terrible shot and I lost the game a few shots later.
Yeah, everything I told myself to do went right out the window.
My one major regret for this match is that I didn't prepare properly. I had plans to train and as it happened we ended up traveling the country in the months prior to the match and I neglected to really bear down and train. I absorbed a lot of knowledge but failed to practice and really get my stroke in order. Then the second huge mistake was scheduling it two days after a major show. I really thought I could handle it and I was simply beat up from the show. What kept me from practicing was arguing on the net. To wit I once sat outside of one of the nicest rooms in America for two hours so I could get my licks in on this forum. Lastly, I wasn't mentally ready. I literally did everything wrong that a person could do mentally when I got there. Joking around, confronting another antagonist, being cocky, playing to the tv audience...
All around I simply sucked. But I stepped up and played and I am ok with that. The months of travel were punctuated with so many people helping me with my game that I will be forever grateful to all of them. As well the promotion I got for JB Cases was immense. I couldn't have spent 10k on anything else that would have kept attention on our logo so intensely for some many months.
And along with the regret that I didn't prepare properly was that I feel that I let Stan and the CTE crowd down. I am a much better cheerleader for CTE than I am a player. None of the "naysayers" have ever wanted to play a player. For all of the knocking Lou has never ever once challenged Stan to play.
I stepped up with the worst of it against a hundred ball runner and bet my own. Regardless of whatever anyone wants to say I have heart and it took a literal hustling team to make this match happen - people pretending to be my friend to pump for information, antagonists keeping me occupied online, people making comments like calling me a coward if I didn't accept the challenge...they had it coordinated. But regardless I had the opportunity to be better and do better. While I would have liked to have won I wasn't prepared to win and that's all on me.
All that said I enjoyed myself and from the conclusion of that match my business has increased beyond my wildest dreams. We have eclipsed the best years with instroke many times over. So I am a shitty player with too much heart for his skill level but in pool cue cases I am a world champion. And in life I hit the lottery with my wonderful wife and awesome daughters and good friends. So I don't mind being the butt of your pool jokes. I clearly earned it. I wear my heart on my sleeve and don't have to lie to make money or hustle anyone and I can be very proud of that.
And as long as you all are talking about me, more eyes on our cases. You knock and I make money. How can I not LOVE that?
All around I simply sucked. But I stepped up and played and I am ok with that. The months of travel were punctuated with so many people helping me with my game that I will be forever grateful to all of them. As well the promotion I got for JB Cases was immense. I couldn't have spent 10k on anything else that would have kept attention on our logo so intensely for some many months.
And along with the regret that I didn't prepare properly was that I feel that I let Stan and the CTE crowd down. I am a much better cheerleader for CTE than I am a player. None of the "naysayers" have ever wanted to play a player. For all of the knocking Lou has never ever once challenged Stan to play.
I stepped up with the worst of it against a hundred ball runner and bet my own. Regardless of whatever anyone wants to say I have heart and it took a literal hustling team to make this match happen - people pretending to be my friend to pump for information, antagonists keeping me occupied online, people making comments like calling me a coward if I didn't accept the challenge...they had it coordinated. But regardless I had the opportunity to be better and do better. While I would have liked to have won I wasn't prepared to win and that's all on me.
All that said I enjoyed myself and from the conclusion of that match my business has increased beyond my wildest dreams. We have eclipsed the best years with instroke many times over. So I am a shitty player with too much heart for his skill level but in pool cue cases I am a world champion. And in life I hit the lottery with my wonderful wife and awesome daughters and good friends. So I don't mind being the butt of your pool jokes. I clearly earned it. I wear my heart on my sleeve and don't have to lie to make money or hustle anyone and I can be very proud of that.
And as long as you all are talking about me, more eyes on our cases. You knock and I make money. How can I not LOVE that?
Well Lou insinuated that he laid down. Maybe he did but the video shows that I had more than enough opportunities to win almost every game we played. I also won 6 not 7. I dogged it right out of the gate when Lou left me a couple standard shots that I completely flubbed.
I took my shot and faded all the BS leading up to it and looking back it was a surprise that I won any games. Not because Lou was so great but because I was off the air.
You and I both know that Lou would NEVER play anyone else who is a CTE advocate and plays my speed or better for any money. Hell it took a group of people to convince him to play this match. And he and his group were dead scared to come to OKC and play for 20k. If it were the other way around and I was a winner over a guy who sucked as bad as I do and who wanted to go again I would have followed him to every state and country until he finally got the point that he couldn't win. But luckily for me Lou and the crew did not have the heart to go again.
Anyway, I would like to formally thank Lou for being a jerk about CTE. Without him and a few others the discussions would have died out long ago. And without him agreeing to this match I wouldn't have gotten so much promotion. If I had won then it would have been that much better but I am completely happy with the result for both my brand and CTE's acceptance.
Lou wasn’t in as high a gear when JB started shooting back...nobody is...you don’t get
as many shots.
JB started out looking like a deer caught in the head lights...
...he showed a lotta heart coming back.
And I thought he handled the loss reasonably well...he smiled and shook hands.
He was a better loser than Lou was a winner.
When you say Lou is a 100 ball runner (video said high run is in the 120s), don’t forget to inform people that your high run is in the 90s. Was it 98? So it’s not like he is way out of your league as you insinuated, *edit, and you had a ton of heart simply for getting in the box with a 120s high run player.
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of course there was
Of course there was a coach. People watching, even a guest in the booth pointed out you were being coached. For awhile you hid the coach behind a column too. All your big brave stepping up and playing is BS because you cooked the books from the first shot. That and the well known tendency to play down to the level of the person you are playing with, something Lou was guilty of, are the only reason you weren't blown out the first day. No coach the second day and your goose was cooked!
At one point when you were typing about it you said there was no agreement not to have coaches and Lou could have had one too. I suppose there was no agreement not to have a coach, or have Efren shoot every other shot for you, or any of dozens of other things. It is generally understood that you will be playing the game by yourself except in the rare exception of gambling matches where it is agreed beforehand that one or both will have a coach or one or both will use someone else to break for them.
As I already said, the problem was a coach could only advise according to what the table looked like. After you botched the first shot of your turn at the table the coaching did no good.
Since I am bothering to respond to you I'll remind you that I told you that you were a go off artist and I could take every dime you were willing to play for with a toothpick when you thought you wanted to play me. Recent events have sure proven the truth of what I said years ago!
Hu
Of course there was a coach. People watching, even a guest in the booth pointed out you were being coached. For awhile you hid the coach behind a column too. All your big brave stepping up and playing is BS because you cooked the books from the first shot. That and the well known tendency to play down to the level of the person you are playing with, something Lou was guilty of, are the only reason you weren't blown out the first day. No coach the second day and your goose was cooked!
At one point when you were typing about it you said there was no agreement not to have coaches and Lou could have had one too. I suppose there was no agreement not to have a coach, or have Efren shoot every other shot for you, or any of dozens of other things. It is generally understood that you will be playing the game by yourself except in the rare exception of gambling matches where it is agreed beforehand that one or both will have a coach or one or both will use someone else to break for them.
As I already said, the problem was a coach could only advise according to what the table looked like. After you botched the first shot of your turn at the table the coaching did no good.
Since I am bothering to respond to you I'll remind you that I told you that you were a go off artist and I could take every dime you were willing to play for with a toothpick when you thought you wanted to play me. Recent events have sure proven the truth of what I said years ago!
Hu
Was this the shot that you needed one ball, and you broke up the two balls on the spot? If it was, I remember saying in the booth, "wait, he's on the 1 hole," meaning there wasn't a good reason in my mind to break those balls up since you didn't need them (other than you couldn't see another ball straight, but a ball was a fairly easy kick off the side rail... I believe the 4-ball).
Or was it some other shot?
Freddie <~~~ all from memory, so it could all be some other match
I'd have to listen to the commentary again. Was it me who pointed it out? I remember there was someone sitting next to John, and that someone asked Ed to move him because he thought there was coaching going on. I can't remember if we thought there was coaching going on before someone else mentioned it.
Again, memory isn't what it used to be.
JB had a coach the first day.
When I figured it out I spoke to Ed, the room owner, and told him that that guy -- a room regular and an open level player -- couldn't be anywhere near JB the second day and he took care of it. I don't care who you are, coaching at 1pocket is verboten and considered cheating because so much of the game is the knowledge.
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Lou Figueroa