how are ya'll doing in league ?

us820

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Another decent week. Have my own woes about sandbagging, but whatever, right?! Played a 2 in 9 ball first this week. He won the first rack with a nifty little 6 ball run-out (2 banks and a carom in there mind you...next I win four out of the five I need to win the match and we are on the hill-hill game, I break dry and don't see the table again, match over. Yes a GD 2 effin ran out on me TWICE...in one match, mind you this "2" was a 4/5 last session.

Next I play 8 ball. Another 2. I know this player is a 2 and rightfully so. So I am about sick and tired of getting shithammered by sandbagging 2's and 3's. The 5's 6's and 7's rarely beat me. So me and this 2 had a marathon match. I won 5-0, but it went 44 innings...I would be surprised if I am not a 3 next week.

In all honesty, if players cannot play their correct level from week to week, why should I be the only guy out there trying not to lose 2 games against 4's 5's and 6's...note ...I won't be.

Our team won the night (8) 3-2, (9)3-2...as of last week we were 1st in 8 ball and 4th in 9 ball but only 2 games out odf 2nd, we will have to see how it goes this coming week, as we have the first place 9 ball team coming up, and we have a lot more power then they do.

Not really on the fence anymore about it though. Seriously over being a 6 that has to play other 5/6's at a disadvantage because they work their handicaps so well.

Try to be a 7.The better you get the less the handicap matters.You WILL get sandbagged but you will never be a good player playing the ****o bagger routine.
 

Atlatlien

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Kinda crazy night last night.

I'm a 7 speed in UPA 8 ball and got matched up against a 2 speed. 6-2 race. Tried a touchy safety in the first rack and knocked in the hanging 8 ball to put my opponent on the hill...

I won the next 5 games in a row to claw my way to the hill and after some mid-rack back and forth, got down to the 8 ball and dogged about a 60 degree cut leaving an easy 3 ball out with the 8 on the rail about 2 inches from the corner pocket. She called time out on the case ball and got good advice. But then she hit the shot too soft and left herself a super thin cut on the 8. Chunked it and left me the easiest shot of the match.

Even against a 2 that sucks, a 4-game spot was pretty intimidating but I ended up stumbling my way through it successfully.
 

Mkindsv

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I tell everyone on my team before the first match, play the absolute best you can, let the handicap work itself out.

I am of that camp as well. We always play to the best of our ability on my team, but its a damn shame that so many decide to crap all over the system and sandbag...I don't care who it is, I want their best game. I have beaten the best player in the league and lost to some of the worst players in the league...thing is, if you are one of the better players, you shouldn't be able to manipulate your handicap to where even players are spotting you three to five games. It gets ridiculous.

The infuriating thing is that after the match I played a SL 7 race to 4 for 50 bucks and beat him 4-1. I was loose didn't over analyze just approached the shot and fired.


I often have this issue...something about the team aspect of it changes my game completely. I am more tentative, less focused and therefore play sub-par. I decided this session to try for individual goals, hopefully counteracts the idea of me letting my team down, so far it is working.

Try to be a 7.The better you get the less the handicap matters.You WILL get sandbagged but you will never be a good player playing the ****o bagger routine.

I am a plenty good player as it is. Just tired of giving games to people that don't deserve or need them. If it were one or two players that would be one thing, but it is whole teams. The team we played this week had no fewer than 3-5s last session and 2-4s s and 2-2s...this session, all the same personnel, not one of them above a 3.

I think I kinda pissed off the guy that beat me Monday night a bit when I shook his hand and said "2 huh, I don't know how its possible to be a 2 and a MAN" maybe he will get the point, maybe not...but it is chickenshit to cheat.
 

Coop1701

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had to play my normal TAP match plus we had to preplay for next week since the venue is having a huge tournament. I won both my matches. But continuing my downward spiral in APA. Just can’t seem to put a lot of points on the board. But my team won huge. Gotta give my APA team props. 73-26 win in 9 ball. Gotta love it.
 

SpinDoctor

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As predicted in here, we played a team this week and when my team put me up as a 7, their captain(a 6) and one other player(a 2) were left. I heard them talking about it and he refused to go up because he didn't want to risk his rating going down so he put up the 2. Needless to say, it didn't end well for her but she was super nice about it.
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The in house 9 ball league finally concluded. I got the best player rank wise as my first round draw. I of course groaned but that's basically the format of how my league did things. we used a win/loss record bracket for our 16 week league.

Honestly, I knew I had a small chance of winning, but I still went in there 2 hours early and got some super warm up time while I waited. I first did simple drills to get my stroke in line and then I played 14.1 which is my favorite game. Just to get more into a relaxed mood.

I lost, but what I learned is that as a D player, I have the mentality that many higher ranked players like to see. I'm dedicated to get better. I got a lot of compliments from the improvements I made and I almost did win it out. As you can imagine, the handicap was heavily in my favorite but he as a top player made the moves necessary to win. It was surprisingly a longer match than what everyone expected. I held my own and didn't break down. but that's my competitive side.

anyways, the league wont be returning for a while due to the room doing some renovations. I'm considering joining a league down in NYC, but the travel will be too much for me. Maybe I'll just take the break and relax.
 

SpinDoctor

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Last night was an interesting one for our CPA(APA in Canada) 8 ball team. We whitewashed our opponents for the entire match. Our team ranks were 2,3,3,5 and 7 and everyone in our lineup played well.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a team not win a single game over a full match before.
 

Mkindsv

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Played last week, pretty lackluster...won my 9 ball match 5-1, lost 8 ball 2-0 to yet another sandbagging POS. This one opened with a break and run and then a 7 ball run down to the 8...left me hooked...I shot a total of 1 time in that match. I wish it were just that bad players were giving me the games of their lives, but the cheating is really getting out of hand.

We still beat their team 3-2 in 9 and 3-2 in 8, should get us to first place in 8 ball and 2nd in 9 ball after 6 weeks. Had a bye this week while one of our teams was cashing in 3rd place at TAP nationals...pretty cool, even though I can't remember a time our team lost to theirs. They have a few really good handicap managers on their team as well, but congrats to them on a great showing.

I really think TAP needs a better system. There should be a rule that you can only be 1 rank below your highest achieved rank in any one year period, that would do away with a lot of the BS...not holding my breath though.
 

lorider

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My game has regressed quite a bit lately. I have lost every match in the last 3 weeks in both 8 and 9 ball. Some were beatdowns. I dont recall ever being in a slump like this before.

I decided to play in 2 splash board qualifiers last weekend ...one 8 ball and the other 9 ball. I got there an hour early and practiced some mother drills and shots I have difficulty with. I used the stroke drill where you hit the cue ball up table and back to your cue. The first couple if tries the cue ball drifted back to the right by a court hole inches . I got it straighter out to where I hit dead on 20 times in a row. I then worked on various shots and came away satisfied with my performance.

I won my first 8 ball match 4-1 . I lost the next 2 matches my a score of 4-2 in both. I went undefeated in the last splash board I had entered. Heck of a difference this time.

So I played in the 9 ball next. I lost the first match 38-24 to a former team mate who has never beat me before. . I lost the next match to a 2...yea...a 2. One of those games where she shot great and I shot bad. Heard later she also beat a 5 that I had lost to in 8 ball.. Should have made me feel.better about my loss to her but it did not lol.

Well ....that was a waste of time and money.

So I played 9 ball in my Sunday night league and faced a 4. I lost 31-42.....needed only 4 points to win. I played better than i did in those tournaments but still lost.

Decided to take a few weeks off and he my head straight. Then I started debating if I should just practice over the next couple of weeks while I am skipping league or just take a complete hiatus for a while.
 

CGM

It'd be a lot cooler if you did.
Silver Member
Well I got destroyed by a 6 in 9 ball on Friday, won the SL 6-7 Regional Qualifier on Saturday and got destroyed by a SL 8 on Sunday. My inconsistency drives me insane. I've been working on break and position drills all week because that's been getting me in a bind the last few weeks.
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Decided to rejoin one of my previous league's as the last one I played in has taken a long bye until January. Had to go play at a place I've only visited but never played in. Making the transition from great equipment to bad is going to be tough for me. I won the match though as I had a huge handicap in my favor, but the guy I was playing is one of the top players so he is never an easy out.

Still, glad to be back on the table once a week. Just have to make it there earlier to get some practice in as these tables are rough.
 

jokrswylde

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Had my best match of the session so far last night. Won 4-0 and had another B&R on the big table. But in typical bar banger fashion, had a great 4 ball run to end a match and got perfect shape on the 8 only to dog it.:rolleyes:
 

justadub

Rattling corners nightly
Silver Member
I've been on a pretty good streak the last couple weeks, both 8 and 9. got an 18-2 against a nemesis of mine, who usually gets me, last week, capped off by two 9-on-the-snaps in a row, the last on the hill :p

The last two 8-ball matches I had, I felt really good about my play. The one thing that discouraged me is that the way I was playing, I should have gotten the 3-0, yet I managed to lose a game in each set. My team needs me to get that extra point more often, especially when I'm playing as well as I was. Still, its encouraging to do as well as I have, for a change.
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been out of pool for 14 years, started again in July of this year.

Monday - APA 9 ball - I'm an 8 and played a 6, 30% of his points came from rolls, he'd miss the 2 and slop the 9, or slop another ball and get perfect on the 2 again, when he missed I was hooked. I played for 20 years before coming back and I am generally very well composed and used to that type of stuff, but I was so frustrated I tossed my (not cheap Dzuricky) cue onto the table, at that point I stepped back and said screw it and started having fun. I told my opponent that I wasn't mad at him and we laughed about it and I started shooting odd shots just to get some practice in. I was down somewhere around 35-40 to 20 at that point, I lost 48 to 42 (I have to get to 65). I have never had a night push my buttons as much as that one but in the end my opponent made the balls he needed to make to win and I didn't. The week before our team had a clean sweep, that night we were swept :grin:

Tuesday - APA 8 ball - I'm a 6 and played a 3 (5-2 race). He broke and didn't make anything and I ran them down to the 8 but went 1 mm too far so had to put extreme right on the cue to throw the 8 to the left but barely clipped the 4 on the way by (most people didn't even see it move) and made the 8, down 0-1 (he's on the hill) I won the next 5 games to win it 5-1. None of the other games were close. The funny part is we're pretty sure their captain (who is also a 6) didn't play me because he didn't want to lose, as it turns out, he played our captain who is a 4 and he lost :) Karma...

Wednesday - BCA 8 ball - my handicap is/was a 9 (not sure what it will be tonight). I am 10 for 12 so far.

I subbed for one VNEA team when my APA team had a bye and I went 4 for 4.

I just put a table in my living room so hoping to stay in stroke more consistently going forward.
 

Mkindsv

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My 9 ball count is getting pretty dismal. I am now (after a loss this week) 2-3 in 9 ball this session. There are 15 weeks left, so I have no doubt I will right the ship and get rolling in that regard, but I have been practicing 9 -ball relentlessly. My pattern play and shot-making are better than they have ever been...yet somehow my league play is getting worse every time I play. May have to give it up for a little while during the practice sessions.

In 8 ball I am moving right along (4-2) with a 5 games to 1 win this week. I played really well, with only 6 misses in 6 games, all of which I was playing 2 way shots and promptly got out the next inning. Strategy-wise I am playing great 8 ball, the whole team is, we won 3-2 again this week in 8 ball, and lost 9 ball 2-3. We should remain in 1st place in 8 ball and probably drop to 4th or 5th in 9 ball.

This is a long session, usually it is the summer session that is this long, but I am definitely looking forward to the end of it already. I know we will finish in the top 3 and get our tickets punched to titleholders, especially if our secret new addition comes to fruition, but we will see.
 

Positively Ralf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
oddball question : about a year ago I won a pechauer cue with their standard shaft. so ive put down the cuetec 360. i am not a wolrd beater but i am a pretty good low level D player hovering around the D+ and C- levels depending on who you speak.

should i be playing more with the r360 over the standard pechauer shaft? what would you guys do? I only ask this because after coming back from league night, I noticed the cuetec there and realized I have not played with it in a long time.

or is this just a random question that I'm asking because I'm bored?
 

Mkindsv

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Two weeks in a row, my inconsistency is fairly consistent. Won a 9 lost a 9 won an 8 lost an 8. All four matches were against people I should have trounced. I get to the pool hall, I shoot great til the match starts...I lay an effin egg, get pissed, win my second match...play afterwards for several hours rarely missing a shot...rinse and repeat.

Still 14 weeks to go. Still time to turn it around. 5-3 in 8 and 3-4 in 9 so far. 19-3 and 17-4 wouldn't be a bad record I guess.
 

SpinDoctor

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's been a solid start to the season for my team, we are currently in 1st in our division with a bit of space from 2nd. The thing that's really propping us up is that we don't have a single player on our team with a below 50% win rate(including a 2 that just moved up to a 3 having won 6 out of 7 matches).

I haven't lost a match yet but I honestly don't think that this league is meant for a player like me because the handicap system doesn't equalize anything in 8 ball really. I've only had 3 players even win a single game out of my 8 matches so far and one of them was a gift(I scratched trying to kick an 8 in). I can imagine that in APA 9-ball the handicaps would be more beneficial but in 8-ball my opponent still needs to make 8 shots to win and in almost every case, they miss a ball and let me back in.
 

lorider

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
oddball question : about a year ago I won a pechauer cue with their standard shaft. so ive put down the cuetec 360. i am not a wolrd beater but i am a pretty good low level D player hovering around the D+ and C- levels depending on who you speak.

should i be playing more with the r360 over the standard pechauer shaft? what would you guys do? I only ask this because after coming back from league night, I noticed the cuetec there and realized I have not played with it in a long time.

or is this just a random question that I'm asking because I'm bored?

My advice is play with what you want to. I swap cues from time to time. Which reminds me I have not played with either my mc Dermott or meucci in quite a while. I was playing with a cheap Chinese sneaky Pete that weighs 21 oz and swapped to my predator with a 314 a couple weeks ago.

Those 2 cues are as different than night and day. Does not seem to affect my play too much. Won 9 ball friday night by 46-23 in a 46-46 race. lost two 8 ball games though. 5-1 in a 5-3 race and 5-2 in a 5-4 race. Was undefeated with 7 wins I a row in 8 ball untill those 2 losses Friday night.
 

ceebee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I played with lots of cues in my day & I liked my Pechauer. It is a good Tool. But, I now have a Guido Orlandi Conical Joint Cue . IMHO it is superior to everything out there. But.... it has a SUPER Joint, a LD Shaft & Cork Grip. It's a precision Instrument, not just a jointed Stick.
 
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