My Fargorate progression

Oh, I've been practicing the 10 ball break a LOT. Maybe 5 hours across 3 days. I started it on the 9' GC in Atlanta. Making a ball was super hard. But I finally figured out how to develop a lot of power and control. I then took that to the 7' Diamond and it all paid off. On that table, the power was enough to pocket the balls. When I played the Vegas event last Jan, I had almost no success on the break. I should be in a better shape for that now.

While I was in Atl I was doing the Kinnister/Neils drills on the 9' GC for a couple weeks. Then the last week there I played only on the 7' Diamond. Now in Philly I'll be only on the 7' Diamond until the Vegas tournament. I think it was a good decision to do the 9' first to learn the drills better, then switch to the easier table.
 
iusedtoberich said:
A year has passed. Would you believe I am exactly the same? haha. 570 1/8/25 and 570 1/10/26. I'm def playing the best pool of my life right now, even though I was 577 6 months ago. I feel on fire.

The tournament in Atlanta went great. I won my first two matches by a huge margin. Then I played 2 strong players that got the best of me. The second was Kim Davenport. First time I ever played him, or watched his game up close. He still was playing with a 1990 cue, haha. It was something custom from the time with a long ivory ferrule. Of course he beat me, but I won won game with a really nice out, and should have won a second but dogged the 9.

I'm back in Philly now. I played a Solatto match last night. My opponent was mid 400's, but I broke and ran 5 or 6 racks in 4 sets (barbox). And had a ton of runouts after his early miss or scratch. I think the last time I broke and ran a rack was 6 months ago.

I have a lot of games lined up the next two weeks, and I've been doing the 6 pointed star several times each week. I'll be the most ready I've ever been for a tournament for the Vegas 567 cap at the end of the month.

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That's really cool you got to play Kim. Used to love watching him play. So solid.
 
It seems all my practice was for nothing. I got bbq'd yesterday vs 2 locals. One on the 9', one on the 7'. haha. I will try again today. I have an action match at 3:30 pm vs a 576.
 
My match yesterday vs the 576, we have played a few times before in the last couple of years and went back and forth. Yesterday we played races to 7 for $200 on the 7' Diamond, 10 ball. He beat me 7-0! haha. I don't think I played bad, it's just I'd run the wrong group of balls before missing, and leave him a 3 or 4 ball out almost every rack. I told him after the set "Lucky for me I didn't say shutout pays double (I often do)".

The second set he was up 1-0, and I put my stick on the table to get involved in a side shit show side betting on the ghost vs a straight ticket. We left it at that. I had too much side bet that no way I could play anymore until the ghost set was over. That's a story for another time.

Now, I'm heading back to the pool hall to play a 517, 10 ball on the 7'. I'll be giving him a spot. We are going to try to stream it. If we do, I'll have a link in about an hour.
 
Dude, I am watching and the score is 5-3 you were shooting a long shot on the 3. The shot before, your opponent scratched in the left hand side pocket, stopped the ball with his stick and dragged it up to the top rail with his hand. You shot it from there when it seemed you should have ball in hand. Did he not inform you of the scratch?

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@TheGrandWazoo you are right, I slept it. I had no idea until now. What happened was early in the match I was playing on my phone, and asked if he made a good hit on a shot. He said yes, then said "pay attention, I'm not going to tell you again". He kept his word. haha. I'm not mad, that was all on me.

We both shot like dog. I was depressed that I played so bad.
 
iusedtoberich said:
@TheGrandWazoo you are right, I slept it. I had no idea until now. What happened was early in the match I was playing on my phone, and asked if he made a good hit on a shot. He said yes, then said "pay attention, I'm not going to tell you again". He kept his word. haha. I'm not mad, that was all on me.

We both shot like dog. I was depressed that I played so bad.
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The thing is, he stopped the cueball from scratching, then he moved it. That puts the onus on him to tell you that you had BIH. If he doesn't touch the ball, then you KNOW he scratched bcz the cueball is not on the table. One of the reasons why UPL has a loss pf game penalty for doing that.
 
I won vs the 515 11-7 and 11-8. (11-9 was the race). I wasn't playing good all night. I felt good in my stance and sighting, but some balls missed that really surprised me as to why. The first set I was up most of it and he came back a bit at the end. The second set he was winning 8-6, (on the hill), and I won 5 games in a row to steal the set. The last 2 games I started my innings with 2 kick shots that I pocketed and ran out from there.

Also a few nights ago I bought a used jump cue. Then I spent 3 hrs practicing with it, including shooting every shot with it with a small hop on each shot to get used to it. I haven't had a jump cue except an older style from the 90's in my closet for the past 20 years. This is one of those import ones with a CF shaft. Not premium like the Predator and Cuetec, but a definite improvement over my old style one. Anyway, it came in use a few times during my match, and I pocketed 2 jump shots and got position.

I just hate carrying all this stuff now. I went from having 1 cue in an art style 1x1 round tube case, to now I have my big 2x4 case, playing cue, break cue, jump cue, plus a claw to hold them all. Plus takes forever to break them down and set them all up. With only a playing cue, I don't even need a claw, because the cue never leaves my hand when I'm sitting down.
 
Oh, 2 types of shots I remember why I missed and was mad at myself afterwards for knowing better but still doing it. One was the typical deceleration of the stroke that causes the swerve to be maximized and ends up cutting the ball a lot differently than intended.

The second was high inside or outside when very close to the rail, and how the CB almost exclusively turns into the the direction of the spin, and there is zero squirt in the opposite direction, ending up striking the OB a full ball differently than anticipated. Yikes, that shot is brutal how much the CB moves sideways.
 
Oh, I think I finally figured out the 10 ball break. The HARD break was not working on this table. We were using a Magic Ball Rack brand rack (the best one imo), and it was making everything perfectly tight. I took some speed off, but still bridged and hit the same way as the hard break, and I had a ton of success. I'm using a high closed bridge, as high as I can without raising my palm, and striking down on the CB. I'm getting a good pop, stopping the cb center table, and pocketing some balls.

I don't know if that will work in Vegas. The Outsville rack being used there does not rack nearly as tight as the Magic Ball Rack. Well, I at least have a few more breaks than I did last year's Vegas event.
 
I actually watched your stream last night. I'm probably a low 500 Fargo, and it was good for me to see players better than me, but not at the pro level. Really enjoyed watching your steady cuing. The guy you were playing, the 515 I think, it sometimes looked like the stream was in fast motion.
Thanks for streaming!
 
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