Lou, I should have used that line when I saw you Saturday morning. Dangit, why didn't I think of that?
Fedor Gorst - looking for action in Louisville, KY tomorrow. If you could - would you?
- Thread starter OverTheNut
- Start date
Rusty in Montana
Well-known member
If given the chance and it was a nice weather conditions day outside so that my arthritis wasn't acting up darn right I'd give it a go .
When I met Earl Strickland and Shane Van Boening I knew I didn't have much of a chance but it was enjoyable just the same .
We had a good visit and took a coup!e pictures .
When I met Earl Strickland and Shane Van Boening I knew I didn't have much of a chance but it was enjoyable just the same .
We had a good visit and took a coup!e pictures .
fedor doesn't?
Doesn't what?
First of all: I think Fedor is terrific. Love the kid.
I am not of the school of thought that thinks a player profits from playing an opponent who is WILDLY superior to him. The profit comes from playing an opponent who is better than you by a moderate degree. I have profited greatly from playing people better than myself even, but players who could, for instance, give me eight to-six in one pocket or the seven in nine ball. In the long run I’m a loser, but if I finish only four or five games down in a three hour session I’ve probably improved my game.
I go out of my way NOT to play people who are obviously worse than I am, and I have made it a personal rule not ever to play anybody worse than myself for money. Too much Catholic guilt. In addition, I don’t play anybody whom I don’t like.
I have, of course, had the experience of playing someone wildly better than me in a tournament. Some years ago I had to play Evgeny Stalev one pocket at the Derby. The match was scheduled to start at something like 2:00. At 1:30 I was fortunate enough to find our assigned table open. I practiced about ten minutes and Stalev popped up. I yielded the table and he took a few warm up strokes. By now it was 1:45. He looked at me and asked, “Is it allowed to start early?” I said I didn’t see why not. We flipped a coin and started. At 2:07 our match was over. I told Stalev I would report his win to the desk. He thanked me and went off. I waited about twenty minutes before I went to the desk because I was embarrassed to report a loss which would appear to have lasted only seven minutes if we had begun at the scheduled time.
What was I supposed to learn from that drubbing?
I am not of the school of thought that thinks a player profits from playing an opponent who is WILDLY superior to him. The profit comes from playing an opponent who is better than you by a moderate degree. I have profited greatly from playing people better than myself even, but players who could, for instance, give me eight to-six in one pocket or the seven in nine ball. In the long run I’m a loser, but if I finish only four or five games down in a three hour session I’ve probably improved my game.
I go out of my way NOT to play people who are obviously worse than I am, and I have made it a personal rule not ever to play anybody worse than myself for money. Too much Catholic guilt. In addition, I don’t play anybody whom I don’t like.
I have, of course, had the experience of playing someone wildly better than me in a tournament. Some years ago I had to play Evgeny Stalev one pocket at the Derby. The match was scheduled to start at something like 2:00. At 1:30 I was fortunate enough to find our assigned table open. I practiced about ten minutes and Stalev popped up. I yielded the table and he took a few warm up strokes. By now it was 1:45. He looked at me and asked, “Is it allowed to start early?” I said I didn’t see why not. We flipped a coin and started. At 2:07 our match was over. I told Stalev I would report his win to the desk. He thanked me and went off. I waited about twenty minutes before I went to the desk because I was embarrassed to report a loss which would appear to have lasted only seven minutes if we had begun at the scheduled time.
What was I supposed to learn from that drubbing?
give up a spot. would be stingy not to
Looks like he found a game against someone named Mike Brown. Said he will try to stream it if he can.
I've seen Fedor give up spots. This op didn't appear that way.
Looks like he's playing a local 600fr. He's streaming it so I guess we'll see.
Looks like more of a meet and greet situation.
I thought asking for action and practice for DCC seemed disingenuous if it wasn't making an actual gamble of it. I could be wrong.
Last I played Efren was when he won the dcc one-pocket. It wasn't 10/7 but it wasn't 12/3 either. I won a few games, he won more. Seemed to genuinely enjoy himself, I did too.
I think it could depend. Back in the 80s I gambled with Ray Martin even in one pocket. I knew who he was but thought he was an old man and couldn't play anymore. Turns out he wasn't that old and could still play just fine. I lost every rack but we had good battles and long games. He played very, very conservative. In that session, I did learn a lot. A real lot.
Another time I gambled with a teenage Dennis Hatch even in one pocket. I knew who he was but thought he was too young and inexperienced to be a good one pocket player. Turns out he wasn't that inexperienced and played great one pocket. I lost every rack but the difference was he was very aggressive, hardly ever missed, and every tiny opening I gave him cost me 6, 7 or 8 balls. No games were close. In that session, I didn't learn anything.
I'm guessing if that old Ray Martin would match up against that young Dennis Hatch, it would be a battle, and Ray might even have the better of it. In this case, I learned more from the better player because of his style and strategy choice to out move me instead of out shooting me.
On a side note, Ray never used the same break twice. I only knew one break and had no idea there are several. Going by memory, splitting the first two balls is the most aggressive. All the other breaks spread the balls less with less risk. Those breaks drug out every game into defensive / maneuvering battles. I lost a lot that day...should have pulled up much sooner.
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I think that's a question for yourself - what mistakes did you make and what would you have done differently?
I've played quite a few pros including a few 800+ players. Every time, I've been able to reflect back on the match and come away with lessons learned, lessons that I wouldn't have learned from just watching.
People work for their money. I’d play him. It would be well worth a hundred bucks just for the opportunity. I have wasted a hundred dollars on so many things in my 61 years. Maybe you have never poorly spent a hundred. I bet you have paid a hundred dollars many times for things, experiences or trips that I wouldn’t take if one gave them to me. Everybody is different about what they like.
You'd have to be damn good to return a top pro serve.
Can't you imagine the look of Phil's face when you shank in the water/ woods every other hole.
7 putt the greens.....
I'm not a make a wish kid.
I don't understand any of this
Personally, I don't like the way he worded his offer. He's one of the top two or three players in the world, if he truly wants "action" and not donations, offer up some weight. I'd like to see Filler show up to take him up on his offer and then we'd see how sincerely he was really looking for "action".
If he was looking for donations, I would have rather seen him write: "Stop by for a $100 race to seven and if I win, and if you're interested, I'll tell you what I see to help improve your game". That says a few things:
- It's really a social meet and greet lesson.
- If you happen to win, you don't have to pay me, and I'll give you $100.
- You're paying for personal pool advice from one of the top few players that ever lived.
Possession is 9/10ths ?
I sort of agree, but don't you think the challenger should be the one to negotiate a spot based on their skill level? Fedor won't know everyone's skill level so it would be impossible for him to know what kind of weight to give, even though he's the best in the world and could probably beat anyone on any given day.Personally, I don't like the way he worded his offer. He's one of the top two or three players in the world, if he truly wants "action" and not donations, offer up some weight. I'd like to see Filler show up to take him up on his offer and then we'd see how sincerely he was really looking for "action".
If he was looking for donations, I would have rather seen him write: "Stop by for a $100 race to seven and if I win, and if you're interested, I'll tell you what I see to help improve your game". That says a few things:
I think he would have made more with that approach. Follow me for more marketing tips.
- It's really a social meet and greet lesson.
- If you happen to win, you don't have to pay me, and I'll give you $100.
- You're paying for personal pool advice from one of the top few players that ever lived.
When I wanted to play the best player in the room and I was a scrub, I would ask him for the 5ball for cheap $20-50 sets, and he would give it to me because he knew the disparity in skill level. I would sometimes win, sometimes lose, for the experience. But he never once walked up to me and offered the 5 ball. He would try to give me the 7 or 8 ball, and I knew that was no spot at all. This was before Fargo was around so I had to go based on what was in front of me.
I think the challenger needs to ask for what spot they need, not the other way around.