Let the sharking begin.
LOL "sharking"
Funny bit is, there is actually a chick in our 9-ball division that wears outfits that looks like they came straight from a strippers dressing room! And it's not just for league nights!
how are ya'll doing in league ?
- Thread starter lorider
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LOL "sharking"
Funny bit is, there is actually a chick in our 9-ball division that wears outfits that looks like they came straight from a strippers dressing room! And it's not just for league nights!
I played pretty good last night and lost. I played a 6 in 9 ball (I'm also a 6) and I lead almost the entire match, but he got 9 points in the last rack to my 1 to edge me out by 3 points. I can't complain about that because he shot well and made a good out. What I'm mad at myself about is that I had 5 or 6 dry breaks last night which is very uncommon for me playing 9 ball, and it made the difference in the match. I just couldn't figure out where to break from. I have Joe Tucker's racking secrets dvd so I should have went up and looked at the racks to determine where to break from, but sometimes I don't like doing that because the other person can draw the wrong impression that you think their racks are bad. I've learned my lesson though. That one was on me. Good night overall though. Our team won 8 ball handily (even though I didn't get to play), and we came back to get the win in 9 ball too.
Do it! Make sure you check the rack. I've had guys purposely leave gaps.
I played a 3 one night that would rack the balls as tight as possible. I was making 2-3 balls each break. On the fifth rack, her boyfriend went up to her while she was racking and pointed at a few spots and she racked differently. I walked up and the rack was FUBAR! I told him that a move like that is BS and I made them rerack till it was tight.
If a person takes offense to you checking the rack, that's their problem. I play on pretty beat-up equipment and getting tight racks is pretty tough to do. I've also seen it where the person racks, it's all nice and tight and then the head ball rolls off on its own.
What I hate, is the guy who looks at the rack and then -- without saying a word -- twiddles his finger to indicate a gap and that I should re-rack. So when I check the rack and I see a gap I say, "can you try that again, the rack isn't tight."
Just to be clear I wasn't getting bad racks. The guy I was playing with was racking as good as you can on a worn Valley with worn balls and a plastic rack. Racks with gaps can be great racks if you know where to break from. I just need to make myself go up and look for the gaps, but most people don't understand that you're not suspecting them of giving bad racks.
I played pretty bad last night. Rattled 2 nine balls. Ended up winning 6 out of 9 games. Overall 80-28 for the season.
Finished League Seasons with a good solid year, one league a little softer than the other, combined together with a 148 - 49 record. At a winning percentage of 75.1 %, that's just not MVP status and as I finished 3rd and 2nd in that race and my teams finished 1st and 2nd place in the other league losing on a tie breaker, my performance overall being down a little didn't help towards the clean sweep of both leagues. Our MVP shot at a 83 % pace and certainly deserved to be # 1 and the # 2 player shot at a 80 % clip. leaving them with an average VNEA Style of 9.24 and 9.17 respectively, Very good years. Next Stop VNEA International Championships in Las Vegas.
Banks
Banned
I've wondered about lasik, but that whole money thing keeps getting in the way. :embarrassed2:
He won maybe one, possibly two, matches last session, but he's making up for it this session. We played a little more last night and he wasn't making even 3 balls in a row. Maybe I had him scared!
Ever play someone that for some reason you just cant beat...Sometimes I think I'm just not supposed to win...I played a guy yesterday that just seems to have my number...Back story --> First time I played him was last season (9-ball) he breaks makes a ball shoots at the 1 ball in the side mach 3, It nipples out crashes into a pile of balls and makes the 9 (race to 1...what ya gunna do?) ...next time I play him...9 on the snap :angry:....been waiting to play this guy this season in 8 ball...
I break, they spread out great and I get a ball...has B&R written all over it!...So I'm running out, I have one kinda tough shape shot where I have to fall in a window and draw right back through the same window to get shape on my last ball (7 ball) before the 8. I shoot the shot and draw it right back through the window, speed looks spot on...I'm out...wait no I'm not because the Q-ball hits a tiny little pebble of chalk on the felt and is knocked off track just enough to hook me!!!!!
...and when I said it can be an effective strategy if you don't have other options, I was trolling
i have not posted any of my matches this week so here goes.
last sunday double jeapordy. 9 ball i faced a 7. he won 55-35. i played the same guy 8 ball. lost again 5-0. what can you do when you think you play a lock down safe and the guy kicks 3 rails and pockets the 8 in the called pocket. he made a whole shit load of fantastic shots off my safes.
tue night apa 8 ball. i played another 5 and won 4-3. both of us played great and the match coulda went either way. i played a safe on my last ball with him on the 8. i got bih to make 2 easy shots to win the match.
wed night napa. i faced a pretty good player for his handicap. it was a 4-3 race and i lost 3-3. after a 6 game win streak in napa i have lost 2 in a row. gotta get back on track with my sat napa division today.
last sunday double jeapordy. 9 ball i faced a 7. he won 55-35. i played the same guy 8 ball. lost again 5-0.
what can you do when you think you play a lock down safe and the guy kicks 3 rails and pockets the 8 in the called pocket. he made a whole shit load of fantastic shots off my safes.tue night apa 8 ball. i played another 5 and won 4-3. both of us played great and the match coulda went either way. i played a safe on my last ball with him on the 8. i got bih to make 2 easy shots to win the match.
wed night napa. i faced a pretty good player for his handicap. it was a 4-3 race and i lost 3-3. after a 6 game win streak in napa i have lost 2 in a row. gotta get back on track with my sat napa division today.
...and when I said it can be an effective strategy if you don't have other options, I was trolling
You mean like right now?
Yes, blasting the balls can slop something in, but it's a "give up" shot and useless in games in games where you have to call your ball and pocket. Why not learn how to control the cue ball in order to play effective and reliable safeties instead?
You got me all wrong, I do rely on cue ball control. As a matter of fact, I don't use the "blasting" tactics anymore, maybe a few times in several matches. I did use them quite often in the (relatively recent) past, but as my aiming and CB control improved, I usually don't have the need to refer to blasting the balls and slopping something in. But you have to admit that tactic can be a threat in the hands of a banger if luck is on his side. It's not just me saying this. Dozens of people on this forum regularly complain about losing games and/or money to weaker players who hit every shot 100 mph and keep getting some incredible rolls.
...and when I said it can be an effective strategy if you don't have other options, I was trolling
It's not a strategy if you don't know what's going to happen. It's a crap shoot, and a person might get some fortunate bounces, since there are six holes on the table. But its certainly not a strategy.
So you're saying that playing with probability in order to increase the chances of getting one or more positive outcomes isn't a strategy?
its probably a strategy to lower level players that dont know what the heck the are doing at the table.:grin-square:
in other words people that dont grasp the concept of cue ball control...proper shot selection...know how to cheat the pocket for position on their next shot...etc....etc...
i am off now to play in a singles qualifier for regionals. hope i dont get put out by a 1 again like last time.
frustrating when they get bih and run 2 balls ...miss and leave you locked up tighter than ft. knox. get bih ...run 2 balls ...miss and leave you locked up again.. rinse and repeat over and over.
its probably a strategy to lower level players that dont know what the heck the are doing at the table.:grin-square:
in other words people that dont grasp the concept of cue ball control...proper shot selection...know how to cheat the pocket for position on their next shot...etc....etc...
i am off now to play in a singles qualifier for regionals. hope i dont get put out by a 1 again like last time.
Of course it's a tactic for lower level players. I mean, I'm the definition of low level and I still rarely have the need to blast at anything at all :grin-square: All I'm saying is that this tactic is too underestimated, mostly because of the fact that most serious players mix up complete novices and casuals who just bang balls around with lower-level league players and bar bangers who know little about the game, but still know something. They understand how probability works. If your odds at pocketing something are already low due to poor shooting skills, then why not lower them a little more by blasting the OB at full power instead of pocket speed? It fairly increases the chances of the same OB and all other balls hit by either that OB or CB dropping somewhere. It's risky as hell, but the chances of them actually pocketing something aren't very low at all. Sometimes it will backfire and they'll end up sinking the 8ball and losing the game, but on many occasions they'll drop something they wanted and stay at the table. The only requirement is that the game must not be played by call shot rules.
The reason I brought this discussion up right now is because I'm annoyed by so many people complaining about losing to lower players in the exact same way, while there are simple strategies to almost completely neutralize the ability of those players to slop balls in consistently. Please, if you find yourself in a situation where you're threatened by a guy who hits his shots full speed and "whose luck never seems to run out", do one of the following. First, if it's 8-ball, simply position the 8 ball next to any pocket you want. I'd like to see the guy playing heavy artillery then. Second, if you need to play a safety, do it by placing the CB on a position which doesn't allow him to easily hit more then one of his balls. He can still get lucky and pocket that one somewhere, but if he's not able to hit a cluster, the chances of something actually dropping are not that high. Third, if you see your opponent keeps blasting every shot and doesn't pay attention to where the CB is going, set him up by leaving him an obvious shot he'll almost certainly choose, where he'll end up scratching and giving you BiH.
Damn, I just betrayed my fellow bangers...
Finally back to playing (pain free).... I was hit in a fender bender about a month ago, and a week after it happened my neck and back were all screwed up :frown:
Played the last week of the session for TAP 8-Ball on Wednesday night. As a team, we finished the regular session solidly in 4th place :angry:. This may have been the last session I captain a Wed night TAP team. We had a steady 4 shooters show up each week, and it was like pulling teeth to get a fifth shooter every week. And to boot, 2 of my best shooters (a 7 and really strong 6, who is actually a stronger player than the 7 is) were the dead beats every week. It was one excuse after another, usually choosing to go shoot in our (very large) local league (24 teams, 200+ players in it). I play in that league also, but still managed to do both, dont see why they couldnt as well...
So.....Individually, I was in the lead or right behind the leader all session for our MVP race, until I got injured. When I returned, I came back in third place, and a good bit behind the leader. I won out the last two weeks I played, beating a 6 last week, then a very tough 5 this week who was 10-1 on the session. I shot well and beat him 5-1.. But Im pretty sure I came up just a bit short of defending my MVP title, and most likely finishing in second (I beat the guy who will win earlier in the session 5-1 on his home table)..
Played NAPA 8-Ball this afternoon, and again, the same issues with this team as the TAP team (and a completely different group of players). If our best player, who is hands down the best player in our area is there, we have a really strong team. Without him, were decent, but definitely not the best in the league. Were going to finish in third most likely, with only one week left in the session..
This was our first ever session of NAPA league, and I really liked it. No one wants to play on a Sunday afternoon at 1pm around here, so we most likely wont play in the next session unless things change (which is unlikely, due to 4 other competing leagues having Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on lock down...).. But, I did really like the league, and would like to play again if possible...
Just like TAP, I was the leader in the individual points race before I sat out for a few weeks. I was, again, in third when I came back. Not sure if I can catch both guys in front of me or not, but I didnt help my cause by not getting the 21 points for a rackless win today. I won 6-1 (I think he was around a mid 50's player), losing that one game by putting in an early 8 :angry:. If I dont do that, I think I had a good shot at winning it, but instead I only got the 14 points for the win....
Oh well, theres always next session, but Im really getting tired of doing this captain thing.....
Played the last week of the session for TAP 8-Ball on Wednesday night. As a team, we finished the regular session solidly in 4th place :angry:. This may have been the last session I captain a Wed night TAP team. We had a steady 4 shooters show up each week, and it was like pulling teeth to get a fifth shooter every week. And to boot, 2 of my best shooters (a 7 and really strong 6, who is actually a stronger player than the 7 is) were the dead beats every week. It was one excuse after another, usually choosing to go shoot in our (very large) local league (24 teams, 200+ players in it). I play in that league also, but still managed to do both
, dont see why they couldnt as well...So.....Individually, I was in the lead or right behind the leader all session for our MVP race, until I got injured. When I returned, I came back in third place, and a good bit behind the leader. I won out the last two weeks I played, beating a 6 last week, then a very tough 5 this week who was 10-1 on the session. I shot well and beat him 5-1.. But Im pretty sure I came up just a bit short of defending my MVP title, and most likely finishing in second (I beat the guy who will win earlier in the session 5-1 on his home table)..
Played NAPA 8-Ball this afternoon, and again, the same issues with this team as the TAP team (and a completely different group of players). If our best player, who is hands down the best player in our area is there, we have a really strong team. Without him, were decent, but definitely not the best in the league. Were going to finish in third most likely, with only one week left in the session..
This was our first ever session of NAPA league, and I really liked it. No one wants to play on a Sunday afternoon at 1pm around here, so we most likely wont play in the next session unless things change (which is unlikely, due to 4 other competing leagues having Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on lock down...).. But, I did really like the league, and would like to play again if possible...
Just like TAP, I was the leader in the individual points race before I sat out for a few weeks. I was, again, in third when I came back. Not sure if I can catch both guys in front of me or not, but I didnt help my cause by not getting the 21 points for a rackless win today. I won 6-1 (I think he was around a mid 50's player), losing that one game by putting in an early 8 :angry:. If I dont do that, I think I had a good shot at winning it, but instead I only got the 14 points for the win....
Oh well, theres always next session, but Im really getting tired of doing this captain thing.....
I've wondered about lasik, but that whole money thing keeps getting in the way. :embarrassed2:
He won maybe one, possibly two, matches last session, but he's making up for it this session. We played a little more last night and he wasn't making even 3 balls in a row. Maybe I had him scared!
Luckily I'm active duty Air Force, so LASIK was free! My visual acuity was perfect the next day, but I have had some problems with angles and aiming here and there. Sometimes I can see angles perfect and other times my eyes just weren't working together. After about 3 weeks or so I've gotten used to it and I think I can see better than ever. LASIK is expensive on the civilian side (especially if you have the flap laser-cut) but it's the best present you could ever give yourself.
That sounds very dangerous.