Tournament experience

Flakeandrun

Flakeandrun

Well-known member
Played in a tournament last night (8-ball, that weird hybrid between Chinese-8 and WPA rules - no pockets called except the black - alternate break - 9foot tables - amateur only)

Smashed my first game 6-0. Didn't play that great, and it was against a guy I had previously lost too in a 9-ball tournament. I had couple of run-outs, and then he got mighty upset about it all and turned to shit (...I always take some joy from that, given that I make a lot of effort with my own temperament). He actually complained to the TD that I shouldn't have been playing, and I never quite figured out the reason why... I am also pretty convinced that it's this guy who convinced another TD that I was 'too good' for a tournament, which I have posted about previously in another thread. This TD was pretty chill about it, told me the dude was a big baby. I am curious about it, but can't be bothered to press it or find out at this point.

Annoyingly, I had to wait nearly an hour for my next game, and I was playing someone fresh from their previous game. I am not sure how scheduling works, but with 32 people I felt this was something that could have been avoided, and it irked me... Coming in cold to play someone hot.

Now, the tournament was amateur only... but I ended up drawing this 16year old covered head-to-toe in branded gear, branded and patched case, branded cues, who absolutely demolished me :ROFLMAO: He took me 6-1, and he played really well. He went on to win the tournament. Kind of situation that makes me wish I started playing younger... but then I enjoyed talking to girls, and having a life at that age (I feel pool is probably this lads life :ROFLMAO:). His family came to watch him which I found quite sweet, and he trains with some top Chinese-8 guys according to his dad.

In the first rack, I missed a chance to run out, as I played a poor positional shot that left me with a long cut. Rather than take it on (which I probably should have, but sitting down for one hour convinced me I should play it safe), I played a decent enough safety for most people, tucking the CB up behind the 8 and leaving nothing but a hard, long jump... He played an absolute worldy of a jump shot, length of the table and screwing back down table. I knew right there and then how things were going to go :ROFLMAO: He made one miss in the whole set (besides a couple of dry breaks), which is where I picked up the rack. Putting one on the board is always nice in these situations, and If I am honest, I accepted my fate pretty early on (which I probably shouldn't have, but we've all been in that frame of mind I suppose). He actually played some of the best pool I've seen in person and looked super composed, robot-like, but had some character in his shot selection.

There was also some other decent players, and I spent an hour or so watching before going home. Some good teenage, and also some female talent on show. The venue was pretty nice, 20+ 9footers with every table having a sofa, it had a wide open and well stocked bar and viewing area... decent music too (handy considering I forgot my headphones).

Such a fickle game, and this helped remind me of just how many things can decide if you have a good or a bad day on the table. Normally, I'd say I don't mind losing if I played well, but this is one of the first times where I've had an average day on the table, and still enjoyed myself. Anyone else ever had a day to forget, but actually enjoyed it?

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Flakeandrun said:
Annoyingly, I had to wait nearly an hour for my next game, and I was playing someone fresh from their previous game. I am not sure how scheduling works, but with 32 people I felt this was something that could have been avoided, and it irked me... Coming in cold to play someone hot.
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I hate that. I lost in the league MVP playoffs similarly. I won the hot seat match and then had to wait for the losers bracket to finish, just to face the slowest player I've ever seen. He shoots a good game and he's certainly capable of getting the best of me, but sitting down waiting and then getting iced when my game finally starts... definitely didn't help matters. I now call him the Glacier.


Flakeandrun said:
I accepted my fate pretty early on
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Sometimes that takes the stress off and and you pay better.
 
tomatoshooter said:
I hate that. I lost in the league MVP playoffs similarly. I won the hot seat match and then had to wait for the losers bracket to finish, just to face the slowest player I've ever seen. He shoots a good game and he's certainly capable of getting the best of me, but sitting down waiting and then getting iced when my game finally starts... definitely didn't help matters. I now call him the Glacier.
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Yeah, It's like a race between a cold-start and an engine that's been ticking for a while. Definitely affected my mindset going in. I also think I should have taken that hard cut in the beginning. If I made it, I think the dynamic could have changed or been different. I think I played what I thought was the situation, and I was to some extent (as I didn't feel comfortable taking it on), but actually I also feel I wasn't giving the kid a fair look and judged him before I saw a shot played. I kind of saw all of the logos as a costume, rather than acknowledging that he earned them. So, I can take some learning away from that.

I did mention it to the TD, but I liked this guy so didn't press hard, more a few jokes and some ribbing, he was really friendly, and I don't think he makes much through organizing this event. Just encourages more players of American tables, and drums up future business.

tomatoshooter said:
Sometimes that takes the stress off and and you pay better.
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I agree, I have certainly felt that before. It usually comes from starting the match hopeless, not realization mid-game. I saw a stickered up kid and felt pretty confident despite my hour long wait and average performance in the first game. I thought, if I played 50% my speed and creamed the last guy, I could turn it up a bit. Boy was I wrong :ROFLMAO: I am pleased and will take some positives away from it, cause I think it's the kind of situation where I would normally lose my mind/temperament
 
tomatoshooter said:
I hate that. I lost in the league MVP playoffs similarly. I won the hot seat match and then had to wait for the losers bracket to finish, just to face the slowest player I've ever seen. He shoots a good game and he's certainly capable of getting the best of me, but sitting down waiting and then getting iced when my game finally starts... definitely didn't help matters. I now call him the Glacier.



Sometimes that takes the stress off and and you pay better.
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Curious about how slow his play is? I generally play fast, too fast for my own good, but have been working on taking long. Even set up a shot clock of sorts and took a full 30 seconds a shot just to see what it felt like, even gave myself an extension per rack for any hard shots and that felt glacial slow, what would you consider so play?
 
zetetikos said:
Curious about how slow his play is? I generally play fast, too fast for my own good, but have been working on taking long. Even set up a shot clock of sorts and took a full 30 seconds a shot just to see what it felt like, even gave myself an extension per rack for any hard shots and that felt glacial slow, what would you consider so play?
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The lad I was playing wasn't slow, it was just a long time between matches I felt. I do play against some 'slow' players though. I don't mind if it's methodical, or something that is self-learned as a PSR to increase concentration.

I play against this one older guy sometimes in my local (when there is no one else, as I have genuinely grown to dislike playing him - the type to bend rules and hope for the best with language barrier. The stand behind the line of your shot type). He takes forever to decide his shot, and actually slows the game down with ridiculous, unnecessary safety play. It's not like we play for anything other than the light fee. Possibly the least attacking player I have played against. Every shot is a 'two-way' shot. He actively seeks them out, rather than seeking to finish the table. He's not a bad player, but his style of play is garbage and counter-intuitive to enjoying the game imo.

So, I don't mind consistency - Selection, PSR, playing a shot. I can't stand the players calculating when slow play suits them - whether that is tying up the table and making 20minute + frames, or slowing right down in situations that could be climactic (if that makes any sense - just my thoughts).

Like yourself, I feel 30-seconds to be slow when playing casually. But It feels just about right whenever I've had one implemented in tournament play.
 
zetetikos said:
Curious about how slow his play is? I generally play fast, too fast for my own good, but have been working on taking long. Even set up a shot clock of sorts and took a full 30 seconds a shot just to see what it felt like, even gave myself an extension per rack for any hard shots and that felt glacial slow, what would you consider so play?
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At least a minute between shots. Often more. I try not to think about that stuff when I play and pretend like it's a normal amount of time to shoot. If I hook you good and you are weighing your options and none of them are good, I don't mind you taking your time.

I don't have much problem shooting too fast in a match although I wonder if I should slow down my practice. I feel·like more shots is more better but I wonder if I am conditioning myself to shoot fast and making myself more vulnerable to icing and harder to warm up.
 
A month or two ago my buddy and I were playing in a scotch doubles tournament and got sent to the losers side in our first match

He simply looked at me and said good, now we're in the "stay in stroke side".

10 hours later we finished double dipping the kings of the hill to take it.

There's something to be said for it...
 
Black-Balled said:
The lack of playing pool at a pool tournament really turned me off to organized play.

I'd rather hook up with a friend and play for table time or peyote or galactic championships, even for fun, than be at the pool room for 2 days with 8 hrs of pool in it.

Having a table at home has made me a @BasementDweller
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That is the most frustrating part about almost ANY tourney. Even a small 16 person tourney can take hours with lots of sitting around, especially when the tourney director wants to stretch it out by using as few tables as possible. I do it rarely enough (just finally went over 200 robustness) that I do enjoy just hanging out sometimes with my people.
 
BasementDweller said:
That is the most frustrating part about almost ANY tourney. Even a small 16 person tourney can take hours with lots of sitting around, especially when the tourney director wants to stretch it out by using as few tables as possible. I do it rarely enough (just finally went over 200 robustness) that I do enjoy just hanging out sometimes with my people.
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I'm just there to make balls roll and you people are apparently a necessary inconvenience.

Kidding. I love everybody.
 
Black-Balled said:
The lack of playing pool at a pool tournament really turned me off to organized play.

I'd rather hook up with a friend and play for table time or peyote or galactic championships, even for fun, than be at the pool room for 2 days with 8 hrs of pool in it.

Having a table at home has made me a @BasementDweller
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i would agree with you except that where else can i find a bunch of 600-790 (our local 800 fell back below 800 recently), Rather donate 10€ than a couple hundred each to get them over to my table. Our last local 5€ tournament, race to 3 8ball had 2 guys above 700 show up. We play even here, no handicap, so gambling is mostly done the same, the going attitude is why should a stronger player be punished for the weaker player not wanting to put the work in to get as good.

Im sure you could convince someone to give you some type of handicap if they really wanted your money, but not something they didnt think was a lock.
 
zetetikos said:
i would agree with you except that where else can i find a bunch of 600-790 (our local 800 fell back below 800 recently), Rather donate 10€ than a couple hundred each to get them over to my table. Our last local 5€ tournament, race to 3 8ball had 2 guys above 700 show up. We play even here, no handicap, so gambling is mostly done the same, the going attitude is why should a stronger player be punished for the weaker player not wanting to put the work in to get as good.

Im sure you could convince someone to give you some type of handicap if they really wanted your money, but not something they didnt think was a lock.
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Thanks for sharing. We used to have tournaments like you described though they seem to have all disappeared.

Where in the world are you, can I ask?
 
BasementDweller said:
That is the most frustrating part about almost ANY tourney. Even a small 16 person tourney can take hours with lots of sitting around, especially when the tourney director wants to stretch it out by using as few tables as possible. I do it rarely enough (just finally went over 200 robustness) that I do enjoy just hanging out sometimes with my people.
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From a TD’s perspective, one or two slow players can add hours to a tournament, especially if they manage to hang around for a number of rounds in a double elimination format.

It’s not an easy fix to add a shot clock, as it would need to be done consistently - for all players in all matches on all tables. Violations would also have to be fair, not too punitive and enforced consistently.
 
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When on the winners side of the bracket if one can get on a practice or open table to shoot a few balls that helps a great deal sadly it just doesn't always work out that way .
 
Rusty in Montana said:
When on the winners side of the bracket if one can get on a practice or open table to shoot a few balls that helps a great deal sadly it just doesn't always work out that way .
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From a room owner’s / manager’s viewpoint, for most pool rooms, once the first 2-3 rounds of a double elimination tournament are completed, tables need to be made available for regular customers renting tables, so often there are not tables available for tournament players to practice on between matches.
 
I remember a local tourney in 9-ball that I had to play this old guy in league that I knew. Every shot took 5+ mins. drove me crazy. He would walk all the way around the table,....... stop, then walk all the way around it again. THEN, he would take forever to settle into his PSR, and MISS! I would practically would "go off" if I missed my shot b/c I knew what was coming.
Turns out, this guy did this on purpose.
Winning the match against him was just survival mode.
 
To ChrisinNC , I totally understand and can see you're point , however out here the last tournament I played in they brought in 3 more Valley 3 1/2' x 7' tables for a total of 5 the closest bar table that was open was a block down the street big deal right , but it was on Saturday and they open at 4:00 pm the next closest tables are 2 more blocks down main street oh yes and it was -38 below zero outside ha ha
As it turned out my partner and I did get on a extra table before our next match we ended up winning 3 rd place out of 20 teams .
This weekend there's another tournament but singles hosted in a bar with 4 tables and another bar across the street with 2 more .
The joy of small town pool tournaments ! The best part it's doubtful that the temps will be below 40 above ha ha
 
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