Stats -- 2018 Buffalo's Pro Classic One-Pocket, May 2018

AtLarge said:

Here are some statistics from the 2018 Buffalo's Pro Classic One-Pocket event, played May 24-27 at Buffalo's Billiards in Jefferson, LA with pay-per-view streaming by PoolActionTV.

This was a 16-player, double-elimination event, with all races to 5. The winner was Justin Hall, beating Tony Chohan twice in a true double-elimination final match.

Conditions -- The conditions for this event included:
- Diamond 9-foot table with 4 1/8" corner pockets and blue Simonis 860 cloth;
- Aramith Tournament balls with a measles cue ball;
- triangle rack;
- rack your own with alternating breaks;
- re-break if a ball is made on the break;
- no shot clock;
- cue ball fouls only;
- 3 fouls in a row is loss of game (happened once);
- climbing up on the table (no feet on the floor) to shoot is permitted; and
- lag for opening break.

Nine matches were streamed. I was able to track stats on 7 of the matches (8 races to 5, 66 games), listed here in the order in which they were played:

Thurs. May 24

• 1. Efren Reyes defeated Danny Smith 5-3

Fri. May 25

• 2. Dennis Orcollo d. Reyes 5-3

Sat. May 26

• 3. Justin Hall d. Chip Compton 5-2
• 4. Tony Chohan d. Corey Deuel 5-4
• 5. Hall d. Orcollo 5-4

Sun. May 27

• 6. Hall d. Deuel 5-3 (Semifinal)
• 7. Hall d. Chohan 5-4 and 5-3 (Final)

■ Breaks from breaker's right side of table -- 38 of 66 (58%)

■ Games won by breaker

• When breaking from his left side of table -- 17 of 28 (61%)
• When breaking from his right side of table -- 27 of 38 (71%)
  Total -- 44 of 66 (67%)

■ Races won by winner of lag -- 5 of 8 (63%)

■ High run-outs

• 9-and-out -- Once: by Hall (Match 5)
• 8-and-outs -- 9 times: 3 by Hall (Matches 3, 5, and 7), 2 by Orcollo (Matches 2 and 5), and 1 each by Smith (Match 1), Reyes (Match 2), Chohan (Match 4), and Deuel (Match 4)

■ Race lengths

• Longest in total length (5 hrs., 3 min.) -- Hall d. Orcollo 5-4
• Highest in average minutes per game (36 min.) -- Hall d. Deuel 5-3
• Shortest in total length (2 hrs., 13 min.) and lowest in average minutes per game (15 min.) -- Hall d. Chohan (first race) 5-4
• Average race length -- 3 hrs., 49 min.
• Average minutes per game -- 28 min.

■ Average score of races -- 5 - 3.3. None of the races were shutouts or 5-1's; 3 races went to hill/hill.

■ Ball counts by length of run:
The total ball counts resulted from the following runs and fouls.
[Note -- excludes info from 4 games I missed in part: Game 1 of Match 1, Game 4 of Match 4, Game 1 of Match 5, and Game 9 of the first race of Match 7. Also excludes a game Deuel lost on 3 consecutive fouls.]

• 1 ball -- 154 times
• 2 balls -- 46
• 3 balls -- 35
• 4 balls -- 15
• 5 balls -- 11
• 6 balls -- 10
• 7 balls -- 9
• 8 balls -- 9
• 9 balls -- 1
• Plus balls pocketed by opponents -- 55
• Minus fouls -- 95
• TOTAL ball count (61 games) -- 630
• Average game score (these 61 games) -- 8 - 2.3

■ Distribution of run-outs to win the games:
[Note -- excludes the game lost on 3 consecutive fouls.]

• 1 ball -- 27 (42% of 65 games)
• 2 balls -- 12
• 3 balls -- 8
• 4 balls -- 2
• 5 balls -- 2
• 6 balls -- 0
• 7 balls -- 4
• 8 balls -- 9 (15% for 8-9 combined)
• 9 balls -- 1
• Average (mean) "out" run -- 3.1 balls
• Average (median) "out" run -- 2 balls
  

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AtLarge said:

For a professional one-pocket tournament, how do you all feel about using a table as difficult as the streaming table at Buffalo's? It was said to have 4 1/8" corner pockets. And shelves on Diamonds are deep. And some said the cloth was not new. So it was tough.

Does such a table make the event better or worse for the players or fans (compared to using a table with more accepting pockets). Does it increase the likelihood that the player who plays the best pool will actually win the matches and the event? Does it handicap particular styles of play, and, if so, is that a good thing?

Runs of just 1 ball accounted for 24% of the total ball count in the matches I tracked at Buffalo's. By comparison, it was about 15% at both the most recent Accu-Stats Make-It-Happen One-Pocket Invitational and at the most recent DCC One-Pocket event.

60% of the run-outs to win the game were just 1 or 2 balls at Buffalo's. It was 41% at the MIH event and 52% at DCC.

The average minutes per game at Buffalo's was 28. At the other two events it was 18 min. and 20 min. (At least part of that difference might have resulted from the 60-sec. shot clocks at the other two events and no shot clock at Buffalo's.)

Your thoughts?

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1pocket said:

I'm not a big fan of pockets that are not pro standard. Too tight or too loose does change the game. Honestly I do not get the point of tight pockets that are ostensibly "for One Pocket".

That said, I am all for nice big money One Pocket tournaments that are successful, and by all accounts, this one was. So.....

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AtLarge said:

For a professional one-pocket tournament, how do you all feel about using a table as difficult as the streaming table at Buffalo's? It was said to have 4 1/8" corner pockets. And shelves on Diamonds are deep. And some said the cloth was not new. So it was tough.

Does such a table make the event better or worse for the players or fans (compared to using a table with more accepting pockets). Does it increase the likelihood that the player who plays the best pool will actually win the matches and the event? Does it handicap particular styles of play, and, if so, is that a good thing?

Runs of just 1 ball accounted for 24% of the total ball count in the matches I tracked at Buffalo's. By comparison, it was about 15% at both the most recent Accu-Stats Make-It-Happen One-Pocket Invitational and at the most recent DCC One-Pocket event.

60% of the run-outs to win the game were just 1 or 2 balls at Buffalo's. It was 41% at the MIH event and 52% at DCC.


The average minutes per game at Buffalo's was 28. At the other two events it was 18 min. and 20 min. (At least part of that difference might have resulted from the 60-sec. shot clocks at the other two events and no shot clock at Buffalo's.)

Your thoughts?

Click to expand...

bmsclayton said:

Thank I really enjoy your stats after tournaments pal.

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