A B Player high?

F

fxskater

Ryan The Salmon Arm Lynn
Silver Member
I'm looking for some of you to judge my skill level. I don't get to hang around in a poolroom and watch lots of other players play, but I'm trying to figure out if i have passed on from a decent or high b player to a lowly A player. Or at least tell me what i would be in your area.

In the last little while i have been getting noticebly better. In Vegas, on the 7 footers, i was running an average of about 1 in 8 racks, or around 1 per race. Noone showed up for our tournament on Monday night, so a few of us stuck around and gambled for really cheap. I played 1 guy a race to seven 9-ball, giving him 2 games, and only gave him 1 chance at the table in 4 games. I broke and ran 2 in a row, then gave him a shot in the next rack, then broke ran a few and combo'd. After that i played another guy 5 games and i broke and ran, broke, played safe then ran out, then broke and ran. Last Friday on a double shimmed Gold Crown i ran one off a dry break, then broke and ran, then broke, didn't make a ball and ran 4 balls or so for the win, then broke and ran. Lately it seems im running out just about every chance i get, except when I'm bored, with no challenge or no $$$'s, then I won't play so well. But if someone puts the $$$'s up i can get back to breaking and running at least 1 rack, usually 2 in any race to 7.

In Play Your best 9-ball Phil Capelle said Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland both broke and ran about 30% of the time. To me it seems I'm not really far away from that, and it seems a little more achievable now. I know i still have a long way to go to achieve that kind of consistency, but where would my game be rated by other observers? I used to have a little bit of difficulty with some players in town, but now it seems i can spot just about any bar player th 7 and 8 and still win about 3 out of 4 races to 7.

Based on this, would you say i have stepped up to a lowly A, or am I still a fairly high B player?
 
Well, thats the thing, I think I'm an A player now, but i don't get to play in a pool room to judge myself against others. I feel in a race to 7 i am gonna run at least 1 rack every time. The only thing suffering now is that i shoot at everything and rarely play safe. I gotta find a balance, then a can truly be a A player. I used to be very defensive minded, when i thought i might miss, i played safe every time. But doing that i never got good at TOUGH SHOTS. So i changed for a while to all out aggressive, now i can feel comfortable playing TOUGH SHOTS, but I am passing up good safeties, when i find my balance I think i will be an A.

Thanks for the responses.
 
RichardCranium said:
We are riding in the same boat....... A potential...but not there yet....Thats part of the fun of this game.....the potential to improve...If I ever get to the point where I start thinking I can't get any better...I will probably get bored and quit...

From my experience.....The guys in my town that run around trying to get everyone to think they are an A player are not as good as they think they are..."they just don't know it yet"

The true A players in my town could care less if anyone thinks they are a A player....Some would probably prefer to be thought of as a B player.... ;) ;)
Click to expand...

Your right. The only thing that matters is the enjoyment of playing the game and improving. I know 2 pros in particular that have come up to me on separate occasion and one me they just learned something they never new and the other had just figured something out. I usually play anyone without arguing a spot, I just want to play and enjoy.
 
fxskater said:
In Play Your best 9-ball Phil Capelle said Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland both broke and ran about 30% of the time. To me it seems I'm not really far away from that, QUOTE]

no offense here, but i think you're overestimating your game.

have you played in any high level tourneys?

do you gamel alot??

if not, try both of these things and you'll see where your at.


gambling will tell you VERY VERY QUICKLY what level you're at.

VAP
Click to expand...
 
It's the consistency that matters. Not how well your best game went. I'd say I'm a high A player, not because I string countless racks together, but because my consistency. I've never ran more than 5 racks of 9-ball in my life, but my low match play level is quite near my high match play level. My level doesn't fluctuate much.

For instance, during 7 ranking events last season with the 32 best players in Finland, my worst loss was 7-5 or 9-7. I was beating players left and right and when I was defeated, it was always a tight match, most losses were hill-hills. And yes, there are many good players in Finland, last year at the WPC there were 4 Finns and one Finn (Markus Juva) just won a Eurotour event. I'd say my high game is low A, but my worst game is high A. :)
 
VA:

I do gamble, but only small amounts, noone will give me any gamble, even when i am willing to give the 7 and 8, maybe I'll have to start offering the 8. I step up my game under pressure. I am always broke though, with never more than $100 money to blow for 2 weeks. So the most i have gambled for is $20 a game, and i took $80 pretty wuickly before the guy quit. I have played $100, $80, $60 entry tournaments in the past, but havent played in one for about 6 months, since my game has noticebly improved. Vegas was $125 entry, and i had an pretty tough draw to start, JEFF FRUGAL. He makes AE cues. After that i knocked out a master, beat some other crappy guy, and then lost to 2 bad rolls in a hill hill match. I say 2 bad rolls, because i played the same position to the same ball and twice it rolled out by over 4 inches. In local bar tourney's i win about 90% of the time, not playing well at all, generally because of boredom. I put myself in pressure situations all the time, and my game picks up.

I think there is 2 types of people. 1 type picks up thier game in pressure situations, and 1 type folds or cracks under the pressure.

I used to have low confidence going into bigger tourny's, and fold. But now I KNOW i have a GOOD chance of winning, and i can now concentrate and pick up my game under pressure. Even those mid match breakdowns i can generally recover within 1 rack.

I think playing in Vegas helped me the most. It gave me a huge shot of confidence, knowing that i could beat lots of the players there, and even alot of the masters. Getting to see all the players in the nationals, helped me know where i stand. Going down there my goal was to make the money, now i see that was a pretty low goal and my new goal is to make the top 128, which is still a fairly reachable goal.
 
My low game has been pretty good lately, and i can generally bring myself back up to my average game inside 1 or 2 racks.

Having another player break and run 1 or 2 racks used to kill me for a whole match, now I'm just waiting for my opportunity to show him 'Hey, I can do that too.' I would consider my low gear still a B or B+ player and my high gear a mid range A player.
 
A or B

FX enter yourself in a few A tournaments
See where you stand or fall.

An A level player in my area is an open player that scores well into the money at the Joss Tour top 16 on up.

There are also plenty of A tournaments around that these players compete in.

The big difference I see is in the A vs B is not making balls but safes kicks and overall decisions

An open table can be run out by lesser skilled players.
Mistakes (lack of) and Knowlege is what seperates the higher skilled player.

I can only tell you the rating system in my location.

Also if you are winning 90 pecent of the bar events you are playing down.
You should play matches that you have a 40 to 60 percent chance of winning.

This will also step up parts of your game other than pocketing balls.

Cheers and the best always
 
For a bit of a reference play some Fargo, Equal Offense, Bowlliards
or "99". Just to see what your scores are.

How do you do against the ghost? Its not a great measuring stick but it will
give you and others a guide.

Also dont fall prone to only remembering when you play well. I think its very common for people to do this.
I also think you need a longer section of your pool life to get an accurate rating. I ran 6 racks of 9ball once and I was a solid "C" player. It just happened.

I like the progressive style practice routines. They give you instant feedback
as to your progression. Even playing someone and winning can be misleading
over the short haul.

Have fun and dont worry about it. It will come and then the next thing you know you will be talking crap about us lowly "B" players ;) .

frankncali
 
This was posted by someone on another thread a while back:

"I found this on google groups (rec.sport.billiard) a while back....

D- Player
-Will not run a rack.
-Average run is about 3 balls.
-With ball in hand, will get out from the 7, one out of 3 times.
-Rarely plays a successful safe.

C-Player
-Will probably run one rack, but usually not more than one.
-Average run is 3 to 5 balls.
-With ball in hand, will get out from the 7, two out of 3 times.
-Mixed results when playing safe.
-Inning ends due to botched position, missed shot or attempting a safe.

B-Player
-Able to run 1 to 3 racks.
-Average run is 5-7 balls.
-With ball in hand will get out from the 5, 2 out of 3 times.
-Most of the time a "B" player will play a "safety" which maybe hit easily 2 out of 3 times.
-A typical inning will end with a missed shot, a fair safety, or a won game.

A-Player
-Will string 2 to 3 racks.
-Average ball run, 7-9.
-With ball in hand, will be out from the 3 ball, 2 out of 3 times.
-Typical inning will end with a well executed safety or a win.

OPEN-Players
-Average 8+ balls.
-String racks together more than once in a match.
-Is a threat to run out from every ball, from every position, every inning.
-Typical inning will end in excellent safety or win."

I don't know how accurate it is or if it will help you.
 
Last night I was watching a match and I realized that the difference between A and B is also in shot selection. A player with A or B skill level was facing a rather simple 4 ball run out, but made a bad decision and didn't get out.

START(
%FR4Q4%Ge1F9%He0Z7%IX6K8%PP1U1%QQ9R5%RX3F3%WQ4S1%XP4T6%Y[4C2
%ZR9P9
)END

He tried to roll for a good position near the B, but ended up almost straight on the 7, with a slight angle away from the 8. He tried to force follow the cueball from 2 rails to 8, but missed the 7 and scratched in the corner. I think the position play was B class, he should've had played a stop shot at A for a good angle on the 7 to get much more easily on the 8. That would've been an A class decision. Never to play position if you already have one.

Here's the situation:
 

Attachments

  • tilanne2.jpg
    tilanne2.jpg
    24.4 KB · Views: 286
mjantti said:
...the difference between A and B is also in shot selection...Never to play position if you already have one.
Click to expand...

Excellent example. Definitely something you will see top-level pros do, unless they are messing around with scrubs, like the majority of us.
Keep it simple!
 
fxskater said:
I'm looking for some of you to judge my skill level. I don't get to hang around in a poolroom and watch lots of other players play, but I'm trying to figure out if i have passed on from a decent or high b player to a lowly A player. Or at least tell me what i would be in your area.

In the last little while i have been getting noticebly better. In Vegas, on the 7 footers, i was running an average of about 1 in 8 racks, or around 1 per race. Noone showed up for our tournament on Monday night, so a few of us stuck around and gambled for really cheap. I played 1 guy a race to seven 9-ball, giving him 2 games, and only gave him 1 chance at the table in 4 games. I broke and ran 2 in a row, then gave him a shot in the next rack, then broke ran a few and combo'd. After that i played another guy 5 games and i broke and ran, broke, played safe then ran out, then broke and ran. Last Friday on a double shimmed Gold Crown i ran one off a dry break, then broke and ran, then broke, didn't make a ball and ran 4 balls or so for the win, then broke and ran. Lately it seems im running out just about every chance i get, except when I'm bored, with no challenge or no $$$'s, then I won't play so well. But if someone puts the $$$'s up i can get back to breaking and running at least 1 rack, usually 2 in any race to 7.

In Play Your best 9-ball Phil Capelle said Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland both broke and ran about 30% of the time. To me it seems I'm not really far away from that, and it seems a little more achievable now. I know i still have a long way to go to achieve that kind of consistency, but where would my game be rated by other observers? I used to have a little bit of difficulty with some players in town, but now it seems i can spot just about any bar player th 7 and 8 and still win about 3 out of 4 races to 7.

Based on this, would you say i have stepped up to a lowly A, or am I still a fairly high B player?
Click to expand...


Unless you have actually beat a known player to this forum, you probably are a C-player or you just suck. Besides start playing on the 9-ft tables. Stay off the kiddy boxes.
 
JustPlay said:
Unless you have actually beat a known player to this forum, you probably are a C-player or you just suck. Besides start playing on the 9-ft tables. Stay off the kiddy boxes.
Click to expand...

Nice reply, dickhead. So everyone on here that lives in the boonies and doesnt have a chance to play someone on this board sucks? My parents own a 9-footer that i get to occasionally play on, I got to drive an hour to play on horrible national 9-footers and an hour and a half to play on decent dufferin titan 9-footers. And anyone that thinks 8-ball is easier on a 7-footer obviously doesnt play. Its a different game. Maybe you should get your Kiddy Box game checked, cause I'd love to gamble with you on the bar box. 9-ball on a bar box is easy, but 8-ball is just different, not sure if its easier or harder, just different. I play about twice a week on 9-footers and twice a week on 7-footers, the rest of the time is on my shitty 8-footer, or ultra slow 10 foot snooker table, playing snooker. I occasionally get to play snooker on a few diferent 12 footers. Hell, since your so F*&^ING good at 9-ball on a 9 footer, how about we play snooker on the 12 footer? How about you stick to your Kiddy 9-foot table.
 
fxskater said:
Nice reply, dickhead. So everyone on here that lives in the boonies and doesnt have a chance to play someone on this board sucks? My parents own a 9-footer that i get to occasionally play on, I got to drive an hour to play on horrible national 9-footers and an hour and a half to play on decent dufferin titan 9-footers. And anyone that thinks 8-ball is easier on a 7-footer obviously doesnt play. Its a different game. Maybe you should get your Kiddy Box game checked, cause I'd love to gamble with you on the bar box. 9-ball on a bar box is easy, but 8-ball is just different, not sure if its easier or harder, just different. I play about twice a week on 9-footers and twice a week on 7-footers, the rest of the time is on my shitty 8-footer, or ultra slow 10 foot snooker table, playing snooker. I occasionally get to play snooker on a few diferent 12 footers. Hell, since your so F*&^ING good at 9-ball on a 9 footer, how about we play snooker on the 12 footer? How about you stick to your Kiddy 9-foot table.
Click to expand...


Listen, Asshole. Learn to read. The original thread is about the persons skill level A-player, B-player or C-level and how he is measuring it. My reply is about his skill level you idiot, not how well he plays 8 ball or 9-ball. If He wants to measure his skill, play a nationally known player on a big table and see how he does. If he wins or does well he could be an A player or even a pro. I did not say he had to play a person ON THIS FORUM- I said he SHOULD PLAY A PLAYER KNOWN BY THIS FORUM, by reading glasses.

Please, stop with the empty threats. And move out of your mommy and daddys house, a.
 
Can you learn to read to? In that thread it says, my parents have a table, and I have one, and I AM THE ORIGINAL POSTER!! Do you think we have to/too/two (not sure which to/too/two your brain can decifer and read, so i included them all) tables in MOMMY and DADDY's house? I'll go challenge Efren then, and if i win, then everyone will know I'm an A player? HAHAHAHA what a moron. An A player could lose 9-0, 9-1, 9-2 to any Pro on ANY day, and be PLAYING over thier heads. Playing a PRO to rate your skill level really PROVES NOTHING!! You really need to get your head out of your ass, and learn what A, B, C, and Pros are capable of. Skill level has nothing to do with the size of the table you play on, but your post about the KIDDY BOX shows you have absolutely no Pool Knowledge whatsoever. Anyone that has 1 IOTA of intelligence in this game knows that the BAR BOX is a tough place to compete if you are PLAYING 8-ball, 9-ball is a different story. Your reference to a KIDDY box just shows your lack of experience. The games have to be mentioned because an A player that can dominate on a Big Table, can be dominated by a bar box experienced B player playing 8-ball on the box.

Please, don't post anymore on this thread, its possible for you to look like A BIGGER MORON STILL, and I DON'T LIKE PICKING ON THE HANDICAPPED.
 
To me ..

A good player can play on all sizes of tables, and all games.

I have played 43 years, and other than longer shots, I thinkthe 9 footer
is easier to play than a 7 footer. English control is harder on a 7 footer,
you have more clusters, you have to worry about hitting other balls more
often. On a 9 footer, if you know the 'general' english to use, you can
get shape, and the cue ball reacts better on a good 9 footer more, so
you can get a lot of roll without having to force a lot of shots.

To me, the hardest to play is an 8 footer with tight pockets. I don't
play much on 9 footers anymore because I get tired of using the damn
crutch so much (I am 5'7").
 
fxskater said:
Can you learn to read to? In that thread it says, my parents have a table, and I have one, and I AM THE ORIGINAL POSTER!! Do you think we have to/too/two (not sure which to/too/two your brain can decifer and read, so i included them all) tables in MOMMY and DADDY's house? I'll go challenge Efren then, and if i win, then everyone will know I'm an A player? HAHAHAHA what a moron. An A player could lose 9-0, 9-1, 9-2 to any Pro on ANY day, and be PLAYING over thier heads. Playing a PRO to rate your skill level really PROVES NOTHING!! You really need to get your head out of your ass, and learn what A, B, C, and Pros are capable of. Skill level has nothing to do with the size of the table you play on, but your post about the KIDDY BOX shows you have absolutely no Pool Knowledge whatsoever. Anyone that has 1 IOTA of intelligence in this game knows that the BAR BOX is a tough place to compete if you are PLAYING 8-ball, 9-ball is a different story. Your reference to a KIDDY box just shows your lack of experience. The games have to be mentioned because an A player that can dominate on a Big Table, can be dominated by a bar box experienced B player playing 8-ball on the box.

Please, don't post anymore on this thread, its possible for you to look like A BIGGER MORON STILL, and I DON'T LIKE PICKING ON THE HANDICAPPED.
Click to expand...


Well, what is your whole fucking point of this thread anyway? You wanted posters to JUDGE or rate your skill level, isn' that correct? And I did just that- DIDN'T I ???? Thats my point! Playing pros or top players and in pressure situations weather for cash or tournaments does rate your level of play you, Idiot. Your are right any A-player can lose 9-0 to a top player, who cares, it happens at every tournament. Your whole thread is a waste of time. You have completely got off your own topic of discussion.

And If you don't like picking on the handicapped, why do keep exposing your own? So, getting back to your original thread- How has this forum and thread judged or rated your skill level? please let us all know.

Are you an A-player, B-player or a C-player? Or just a bumbling Idiot? I think your an Idiot who plays pool at a C-level.
 
Your rating me a C- Player is just you taking an obvious JAB. I have played in many larger $1000-$2500 added tournaments and have played top Players. As i stated, I KNOW i am at least a high B player, your lack of reading skills was not accounted for in my original POST. Maybe I should have been clear, although, all the other posters seem to have caught that much. Sorry my wording was so confusing for you. Find me a C player that can run 2 racks in a row on a fairly regular basis, 7,8,9 footers aside, and I'll find you a FORUM TROLL, that knows how to read. Your JABBED at me telling me to GET OFF THE KIDDY BOXES, when I was describing just 1 session. Your rating me as a C-Player? You must play in the strongest area in the COUNTRY. 4 Teams play out of my region, people that i Play against regularly. In Vegas, the Girls team won the Second Chance tourny, they are all C players, A team from Vancouver Placed 12th and they were all A and A+ players, Our team placed 25th with 3 B players, and the other team that came with us placed 33rd with 1 B player, 3 A's and 1 A+ that has WON Joss/Pechauer/Viking class events, with top regional pros. So I'm assuming I am a B+ - A- in a fairly strong region. Ask anyone that was in Vegas how the Canadian teams played. I'm just trying to figure out witch side of the A/B line I am on, since i have nowhere to play in the summer and have been getting alot better recently. I think i may have passed on to an A player, but, according to intelligent (read: Brain Smart or Thinky Thoughts) posters I'm probably still stuck at high B. Although with the AMOUNT of respect i have for SJM, i could very well be a LOW A. I still don't have a solid answer, so i guess i will wait for a large size Tourny within a few hours drive. Unfortunately i live in a region where i gotta wait 3-6 months for an event that has a decent field and is close enough. Your posts were amusing though, and i guess I'll take your advise and give Efren, Johnny, and Earl a call, to see if they wanna play, then I'll truly know whether I'm an A or whether THIER FUCKING PROS AND THEY ARE GONNA DOMINATE A PLAYERS AND B PLAYERS ALIKE. Playing PROS or players known to this board IS POINTLESS, unless they are lower class B, and A players. If i Beat the B's and some of the A's that would prove SOMETHING, losing to a PRO 9-8 or 9-1 doesn't neccessarily prove ANYTHING. Sorry if this post is hard to understand, i may have stretched beyond your reading ability using 2, 3, 4 and even 5 syllable words.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top