American 14.1 Straight Pool 2018

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
Tom Walter (no "s") is no spring chicken any more, but he can beat anyone in a 14.1 game if things go well.

Yes, Tom is a true old schooler and old timer known as a consummate grinder.

Tom's game, in my opinion, peaked in the 1980's and his greatest achievement was a 1981 win in the PPPA World 14.1 Championship over BCA Hall of Famer Joe Balsis, who was runner-up to Mike Sigel in 1980. Yup, I was there watching it. Yes, 37 years later he's still pretty capable. I believe Tom is about 70.
 

sparkle84

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes, Tom is a true old schooler and old timer known as a consummate grinder.

Tom's game, in my opinion, peaked in the 1980's and his greatest achievement was a 1981 win in the PPPA World 14.1 Championship over BCA Hall of Famer Joe Balsis, who was runner-up to Mike Sigel in 1980. Yup, I was there watching it. Yes, 37 years later he's still pretty capable. I believe Tom is about 70.

Not to nit pick Stu but Tom is "only" 64. Superb run against Efren, never any trouble.
He was so focused that he made the 125th ball and then got down to shoot his key ball for his next breakshot not even realizing he had won the game. Someone had to tell him.
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not to nit pick Stu but Tom is "only" 64. Superb run against Efren, never any trouble.
He was so focused that he made the 125th ball and then got down to shoot his key ball for his next breakshot not even realizing he had won the game. Someone had to tell him.

lol that's a great story. I love hearing stuff like that.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
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The noon bell just rang. Anyone have a stream?

(the AzB post times are behind)

edit -- now up
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
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Apparently that game was 125-0 rather than 125-60.

the stream team said he had ran 60 before tom walter came up. so maybe they were watching someone else.

on a side note, I love how they have incorporated the 3 cushion scoring system into this. I love how everything is presented on that frame.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
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the stream team said he had ran 60 before tom walter came up. so maybe they were watching someone else.

on a side note, I love how they have incorporated the 3 cushion scoring system into this. I love how everything is presented on that frame.

When commentators give numbers, beware.

As to scoring, wrongly scored games in 14.1 tournaments have been common. While I sort of hate to see high tech impinge on our old, traditional straight pool game, I guess it is better than having games wrongly scored.

Dechaine just beat Gorst 125 to 14 in 4 innings in the streamed match.

And Mike says he hates straight pool. He pocketed balls really well in this match. His 4 innings were: ran 42 and scratched on the break, ran 42 and played safe, ran 26 and missed, ran 16 to victory. His "Hohmann" power break was working well, too.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
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P.S. I've lost track today of where to find the Cuesco live scoring. Anyone have a link?
 
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ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dechaine just beat Gorst 125 to 14 in 4 innings in the streamed match.
Anybody know the size of the pocket openings on the streamed table matches? My guess just from eyeballing the overhead online view is no tighter than 4-3/4", and possibly even 5", which would partly account for the high runs - not that it still isn't quite impressive.
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Anybody know the size of the pocket openings on the streamed table matches? My guess just from eyeballing the overhead online view is no tighter than 4-3/4", and possibly even 5", which would partly account for the high runs - not that it still isn't quite impressive.

I can tell you right now it is not the tight table the room usually has in the same spot. But yeah, very very generous pockets on all those tables as I've played on all of them for the leagues being ran out of there.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
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125 and out for Hohmann against Chinahov.

I can tell you right now it is not the tight table the room usually has in the same spot. But yeah, very very generous pockets on all those tables as I've played on all of them for the leagues being ran out of there.

The table has the number 22 on the side, if that helps you spot it as one of the room's normal tables. They said on stream that it is a "normal" Gold Crown. Looks like it might be 5" corners, but I don't really know.

Edit -- That Hohmann game was under an hour. I predict the next one isn't.
 
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Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The table has the number 22 on the side, if that helps you spot it as one of the room's normal tables. They said on stream that it is a "normal" Gold Crown. Looks like it might be 5" corners, but I don't really know.

Yup, it's one of the normal tables at the place. Again, very generous pockets, especially for players of this caliber.

With how fast these stream games are going, I wish they would add another match right away if the players are available. unless the TO runs a very strict timeframe and it cannot be accommodated. Either way, fun games.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
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... As to scoring, wrongly scored games in 14.1 tournaments have been common. While I sort of hate to see high tech impinge on our old, traditional straight pool game, I guess it is better than having games wrongly scored. ...

Looks like I spoke too soon. In the just-concluded Kaci/Schmidt match, we had a scoring error. John scratched on a break shot and a point was not deducted. Fortunately, it had no effect on the outcome of the game.

So the high-tech approach is still subject to user error.
 

arcstats

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Looks like I spoke too soon. In the just-concluded Kaci/Schmidt match, we had a scoring error. John scratched on a break shot and a point was not deducted. Fortunately, it had no effect on the outcome of the game.

So the high-tech approach is still subject to user error.

I just watched the replay and you're right, but I'm not sure it was a user error. Schmidt scratched on a break shot with the score 25-13. He posted his foul because it showed -1. When Kaci cleared the table and updated the score, Schmidt's score remained at 25, but the foul was reset to 0. Sounds more like a software issue, not a user issue.
 

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
The stream has been awesome so far. I haven’t been able to watch as much as I want but I look forward to going back and watching the rest of the matches. This is easily the toughest 14.1 event in the world.
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
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I just watched the replay and you're right, but I'm not sure it was a user error. Schmidt scratched on a break shot with the score 25-13. He posted his foul because it showed -1. When Kaci cleared the table and updated the score, Schmidt's score remained at 25, but the foul was reset to 0. Sounds more like a software issue, not a user issue.

Aha, good sleuthing.

Edit -- But that situation (scratch on a break shot followed by opponent running the full rack) occurred several times with correct scoring.:scratchhead:
 
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