Just wondering
Did you win or lose the biggest match of your life?
- Thread starter sammylane12
- Start date
No such moment in the sun. I am though, better now than in any match I've ever played. So in that regard, won. Still wonning.
It's hard for me to find a "Biggest" match. I have won some Finals and come in second a time or two as well. If I make it to the finals normally I am playing my best so if they win it's because they played well, so no regrets. 
With that said my "biggest stage" match came playing Jim Ward in the finals at The White Spot way back in '89. I missed one ball and that's all Jim needed to get to 13. 13-4 was the final score. ☺ No shame nor blame.
With that said my "biggest stage" match came playing Jim Ward in the finals at The White Spot way back in '89. I missed one ball and that's all Jim needed to get to 13. 13-4 was the final score.
☺ No shame nor blame.Biggest match of my LIFE was the day I was married. Still winning after 56 years!!!!
Pool games ??? 50/50
Pool games ??? 50/50
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
It was a tournament on his home turf. He was one of the "golden child" guys of that hall. Great pedigree and a heck of a player. I had to go to 3, he had to go to 5. It ended 3-1 with me winning. I know outrunning a handicap is difficult and he would most likely destroy me even up. Believe me, I still had to work like a bastard to win it though. He left me so terribly. CB was always offline for shape and I had to kick probably 5 times and nailed 4 of them perfectly into center pocket, the other kick was hit on the correct side to leave him nothing. Guy also had me jumping several times, which I nailed, I usually suck at jumps but was dead on that day. I was just seeing everything on the table and it felt so good. He was digging in and was out to win.
The best was when I was on the hill. It was his break and he absolutely smashes them. Nothing dropped and the 9 was literally in the jaws of the far foot pocket.
CB ended up on the first diamond in the kitchen about 10" away from the 1B. 1B is not make-able, about 1st diamond a few inches out from the head rail. I end up caroming off of the 1 B and into the 3 (~1" off the head rail), I long table length cross banked the 3 from the head rail right into the 9, and I ran the CB into the 5B along the head rail and pocketed it. I absolutely meant to do the shot that way, a lot could have went wrong, one of those 5% chance shots but oh boy I nailed it that day.
He's a good guy but he was PISSED. He would barely shake my hand, and I later heard him telling the bar tender that that's why he didn't play 9B, it was nothing but luck! I didn't say a word.
Was it luck? I saw the shot, I meant to do the shot, I executed the shot flawlessly. I mean, it was a tough shot but those percentages are malleable and sometimes you have to give luck a chance by shooting it good.
The best was when I was on the hill. It was his break and he absolutely smashes them. Nothing dropped and the 9 was literally in the jaws of the far foot pocket.
CB ended up on the first diamond in the kitchen about 10" away from the 1B. 1B is not make-able, about 1st diamond a few inches out from the head rail. I end up caroming off of the 1 B and into the 3 (~1" off the head rail), I long table length cross banked the 3 from the head rail right into the 9, and I ran the CB into the 5B along the head rail and pocketed it. I absolutely meant to do the shot that way, a lot could have went wrong, one of those 5% chance shots but oh boy I nailed it that day.
He's a good guy but he was PISSED. He would barely shake my hand, and I later heard him telling the bar tender that that's why he didn't play 9B, it was nothing but luck! I didn't say a word.
Was it luck? I saw the shot, I meant to do the shot, I executed the shot flawlessly. I mean, it was a tough shot but those percentages are malleable and sometimes you have to give luck a chance by shooting it good.
9-ball race to 5 against Mika, years ago...
I broke and ran 4 1/2 racks - then he ran 4 1/2 for the "win" (I'm still calling it a tie).
pj <- who let the dog out?
chgo
I broke and ran 4 1/2 racks - then he ran 4 1/2 for the "win" (I'm still calling it a tie).
pj <- who let the dog out?
chgo
I think the tendency is to only remember the matches you won (or tied ). I'll go with beating SVB in the US Open on the TV table.
14.1, not nine ball.
). I'll go with beating SVB in the US Open on the TV table.14.1, not nine ball.
Wow. What year, Bob?I think the tendency is to only remember the matches you won (or tied
14.1, not nine ball.
pj
chgo
Hard to pick one match over 50+ years, but one of my earliest big matches was in 1975, a ACUI regional final 14.1 match that if I’d won would have earned me qualifying for the ACUI nationals and representing my school.
I still have painfully clear memories of losing pretty badly to a far stronger, experienced and very cocky player. He was a senior and I was only a freshman, so I competed the following 3 years in the same ACUI regionals, but never made it as close as I did that first year to winning it and making it to the nationals.
Okay, you have reminded me of "my biggest match in Life."
It happened in 1978 or was it 9?
I had just met the Lady to whom I am married today. I was courting her. We were playing 2 Bulldoggers at the H bar B in Oakdale CA (the cowboy capital of the world). I had long hair and a beard riding a full dressed Harley.It was closing time on Friday night. I had spent all my money on the evening. As I prepared to break the final game of 8 ball partners, she told me, "This is for a 6 pack of Michalobe ". I had never been able to win for even a dollar in the past.
In the H bar B, the first one to hit the ground buys the beer was a common contest. I didn't want to find out what happened if I didn't have the money to buy the beer. I broke and ran. So I credit my wife with showing me how to win under pressure. 
To answer the thread question, I win the big ones.
What really teased me out to post was Maha's talk about betting. I too learned the hard way, never let the other player get ahead by what they consider a big bet. Another rule of betting, with rare exceptions never let a gambler get back to zero. It's a natural stopping point.
There are a few gamblers that you can break the rules with but I have found these things to work long term.
Oh yeah, one more thing, when playing big, post! If you can't put it on the light, post it with a solid third party. If you can't do either, at least make the other player show before playing.
Hu
I've played many memorable matches.
I've won a state championship and another where I took second in front of a big crowd. I had a great 9ball tournament that I lost in the finals; I've won an USAF regional, Mediterranean, and European 14.1 championship, going 75 and out in one match; beaten several pros like Ike Runnels, Piggy Banks, Mark Jarvis, and Mark Wilson (also having played a truckload of other pros like Bustamonte, West, Hall, Parica, Smith, Appleton, Martinez, and Bergman). Won a qualifier for the 14.1 American 14.1 Championship. Probably my biggest pro win was at Red Shoes against Larry Nevel right after he had won the US Open One Pocket Open. And then there was my match against Efren at the 2000 US Open One Pocket when when I managed to win two games in a 4-2 loss in front of 200 in the stands.
I guess taking two games off The Magician would be it.
Lou Figueroa
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Nice... but of course these don't compare to how much was on the line for your historic win over JB.
pj
chgo
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
Biggest amount of money... I lost (around $2k).
Against highest FR I've played... I won (780, and under no illusions I'd get smoked several times over in any rematches).
Against highest FR I've played... I won (780, and under no illusions I'd get smoked several times over in any rematches).
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
Ike seemed like a pretty cool cat when I saw him in Thailand. Nice dude. Aspirational catalogue right here that most would be jealous of! I am.
ive played with the worst players in the world for big money and the best. beat them all. they were beat before the game started.
always post unless its someone you play regularly and no need to.
one guy always hung me for the last game. doesnt matter as he played me every week(friday) for years. i always made a big deal of it and he liked that as he thought he got one over on me.
my biggest score was on the biggest whale that ever lived at pool. we didnt post as he didnt. kept upping the bet from the first game of 8 ball for 500 might have been 300. ended up over 100 times that a game. makes you sweat. we played mostly on the wire as well.
always post unless its someone you play regularly and no need to.
one guy always hung me for the last game. doesnt matter as he played me every week(friday) for years. i always made a big deal of it and he liked that as he thought he got one over on me.
my biggest score was on the biggest whale that ever lived at pool. we didnt post as he didnt. kept upping the bet from the first game of 8 ball for 500 might have been 300. ended up over 100 times that a game. makes you sweat. we played mostly on the wire as well.