Incidentally I was in a goofy spot once. I played a guy a 15 ahead 10 ball session. The other player and I were supposed to play straight through, i.e. if someone wears down they concede. We had arranged with the pool room owner to allow us to stay through the night if needed.
Well, play began and we played until 2am (I was +7 at this point). Unfortunately so many people had stayed around to watch that it attracted the attention of the police. They ticketed the owner of the poolhall for being open past bar close curfew and forced him to close and for everyone to leave. So the pool game got suspended until noon the next day.
Play began at noon but it changed things up a little. My opponent made a comeback and it was a grueling day two, see-sawing most of the afternoon. Finally I made a run and got a lead again but just as I was stringing some wins together at the end they had to shut down again. I finished day two +9.
Now, keep in mind I was a sales manager at a corporate job and was supposed to report back for work at 8AM Monday. But I was also in the middle of a match that was supposed to have finished well before this point. What to do? I called my boss and told them I couldn't come in. I explained the situation. This was a rare event, my track record was spotless. This match had become very important to me and there were other people involved betting and depending on me. My boss was pretty upset I called in and basically said "I'll see you TOMORROW".
Unfortunately I couldn't put it away. I ended day three just +13. Two games away. But I couldn't call in another day without literally risking my job or future prospects. I have a family that comes before pool. This lead to quite a controversy.
Some people thought I should forfeit because I couldn't play every available hour until the match was finished. Some people thought the game should be paused until the following Saturday. Some thought pro-rate.
In the end I agreed to play after work from 6PM-2AM each day until the match was completed. If I was prohibitively exhausted due to working in the morning that was too bad, it was that or forfeit the match. This had to be negotiated between a number of involved parties.
I was SO tired when I showed up to play that night. I have never felt more pressure. I was two racks away from victory, yet if I lost a game or two and let my opponent rally back at all it could turn into further back and forth. Given the schedule we'd agreed to I knew this was as good as losing. How would you feel if you had played for 3 days to get 13 ahead and now feel like if you can't close it out immediately you almost lose by default?!?
Fortunately for me I won the first two games that night. I can't believe it. Too good to be true. It was very anti-climactic. Everyone showed up again to see round four and it was over immediately.
The point is that all of this was due to an unforeseen event with the place being shut down. It disrupted the entire plan and caused added complication. There was no way that working Monday should've been a factor in a set that was never supposed to last beyond a little into Sunday. Looking back, as tacky as it may seem to a boss to call in over a pool game, with my track record and what I did for the company I feel I was treated a little poorly. My boss probably should've told me to take off until the match finished. I mean, 5 years of being either a top sales person, a super star trainer, and then years of management blowing the doors off my goals and paving way to expand into new products, and never any drama. I think I just caught my boss on a bad day when the VP was busting their chops or something. Bad call on their part I think and just another bad roll about the deal.
Sorry this got long. I haven't thought about that for a while (blocked it out I'd say!) and it all came back as I started typing. Those were the longest four days of my life. I like to say I had three phases of my life: My childhood, my adult life, and that match. Seriously. That was the last 'ahead' set I played. Now I play sets and tournaments.