A huge thanks to Manwon and the great community on here.

Peter.

Registered
Hey guys, thanks for checking out my post. A couple years ago I made a post asking for guidance in becoming a better pool player. Looking back at it now I looked ridiculous, in a literal sense of the word. Nevertheless, I got a ton of advice from this awesome community, a lot of which I have followed and has been very helpful. Amazingly, one of the users here, Manwon, took it upon himself to even give me two cues and a case through the mail to help me along. That act of kindness was astonishing to me, and I have spent the last couple years doing my best not to put it to waste. It's been kind of a rocky road to be honest, but hey I'm still here haha.

I moved to Seattle recently and I got the chance to learn just how hard it is to play on full size tables. I really had no idea how much harder it is than the bar tables I started learning on. Today I beat the 9-ball ghost in a race to 7 for the first time, which may not be a big deal to many of you but it sure felt like a milestone to me. I contacted a local pro by the name of Dan Louie today, who y'all may or may not know. I'll be getting lessons from him later this week. It sure feels good to see the improvement coming. Thanks again to Manwon. Have a good one! Thanks for reading, and wish me luck figuring this damn game out haha
 
Beating the 9 ball ghost race to 7 is a big deal I think. I'm about a 6 in TAP 8-ball and would probably be a 7 in APA 8-ball at this point and I have not yet managed to beat the ghost in 9-ball BIH in a race to 7. I guess it partially depends on what table you are playing on. All my tries are on a 9 foot table with triple shimmed pockets with one corner blocked so I have to pull out a super short stick about once a game. On good days I usually make it to 2 or 3 games before the ghost gets to 7. On my bad days I get skunked 7-0.

I've started paying attn to how some of the guys I've played against in weekly in-house tournaments are doing in the local money tournaments and I believe that if I could beat the 9 ball ghost occasionally and regularly get to 4, 5 or 6 games against the ghost on a tight table, that would be enough to have a good chance to start placing in the top 25% in the local tournaments like Planet Pool and Big Daddy's.

So yes, I think beating the BIH ghost in a race to 7 is a big deal. It will be for me anyway, assuming I ever get there.

I just moved to a place that fits the table better, so I won't have to use the "Troubleshooter" (36" stick) anymore. Also, it is only double shimmed now instead of triple shimmed, so overall it will play very close to a Diamond Pro now. This will make things much easier for me. It will be a month or two before I can get back to playing regularly again. Then I will resume my quest to beat that stubborn BIH ghost.

Congratulations and keep on keeping on!
 
Hey guys, thanks for checking out my post. A couple years ago I made a post asking for guidance in becoming a better pool player. Looking back at it now I looked ridiculous, in a literal sense of the word. Nevertheless, I got a ton of advice from this awesome community, a lot of which I have followed and has been very helpful. Amazingly, one of the users here, Manwon, took it upon himself to even give me two cues and a case through the mail to help me along. That act of kindness was astonishing to me, and I have spent the last couple years doing my best not to put it to waste. It's been kind of a rocky road to be honest, but hey I'm still here haha.

I moved to Seattle recently and I got the chance to learn just how hard it is to play on full size tables. I really had no idea how much harder it is than the bar tables I started learning on. Today I beat the 9-ball ghost in a race to 7 for the first time, which may not be a big deal to many of you but it sure felt like a milestone to me. I contacted a local pro by the name of Dan Louie today, who y'all may or may not know. I'll be getting lessons from him later this week. It sure feels good to see the improvement coming. Thanks again to Manwon. Have a good one! Thanks for reading, and wish me luck figuring this damn game out haha

You certainly picked a good person to get lessons from. Great to hear this story about somebody interested in playing good pool. How tight was the table you beat the ghost on? :) Good luck with all, I know you'll certainly have a lot of practice time up there when rainy season starts; it's a perfect pool city.... rain and one pocket/14.1 players.
 
Dan Louie is an awesome guy and you are going to learn a lot. I felt like I learned a lot just watching him play people years ago up at the 211. Also a very down to earth guy and approachable. I'm jealous, you are in for some good and informative lessons from one of the best! :)
 
I remember your post well. I was new to AZ then. I thought what a great guy Manwon was and still think that. I often wondered what happened to you. Thinks for the update.

Larry, wishes I could say I beat the ghost to 7
 
Many thanks to Manwon for his contributions to the AZ Forum. I always read his posts a little more carefully because he knows his stuff. I followed his advice on sealing a shaft and was very pleased with the results.
 
Dan Louie is a great teacher and player. He's also a good guy. Wish I lived closer because I would take lessons from Dan.
 
i just want to make sure i under stand the concept of the ghost..

i know i heard how this works a long time ago.. but from reading these posts i am just curious as its what i think it is...

basically you break.. then take ball in hand and run the balls.. if you run out you win.. if you miss the ghost wins?

if i am incorrect.. please post your rules.. thanks :)
chris
 
Pretty much it... Beating the 9ball ghost with no BIH and having to make a ball on the break was how we always gambled tho...
 
Hey guys, thanks for checking out my post. A couple years ago I made a post asking for guidance in becoming a better pool player. Looking back at it now I looked ridiculous, in a literal sense of the word. Nevertheless, I got a ton of advice from this awesome community, a lot of which I have followed and has been very helpful. Amazingly, one of the users here, Manwon, took it upon himself to even give me two cues and a case through the mail to help me along. That act of kindness was astonishing to me, and I have spent the last couple years doing my best not to put it to waste. It's been kind of a rocky road to be honest, but hey I'm still here haha.

I moved to Seattle recently and I got the chance to learn just how hard it is to play on full size tables. I really had no idea how much harder it is than the bar tables I started learning on. Today I beat the 9-ball ghost in a race to 7 for the first time, which may not be a big deal to many of you but it sure felt like a milestone to me. I contacted a local pro by the name of Dan Louie today, who y'all may or may not know. I'll be getting lessons from him later this week. It sure feels good to see the improvement coming. Thanks again to Manwon. Have a good one! Thanks for reading, and wish me luck figuring this damn game out haha



It is good to hear that you are still posting on the forum, and I personally do not think you could have found a better instructor than you have in Dan. Dan is certainly one of the best players in the Northwest, and wonderful person to boot.

I live and own a pool room in Lakewood, Washington, which is about two miles from Ft. Lewis near Tacoma. If you ever get down this way, please stop by and hit some balls, I would like to see how your game is progressing, but you have to promise to take it easy on me!!:smile:

Thanks for the kind words, and when you get time send me a PM, and I will send you my phone number, also tell Dan the owner of Full Splice Billiards said hello.

Take Care
 
i just want to make sure i under stand the concept of the ghost..

i know i heard how this works a long time ago.. but from reading these posts i am just curious as its what i think it is...

basically you break.. then take ball in hand and run the balls.. if you run out you win.. if you miss the ghost wins?

if i am incorrect.. please post your rules.. thanks :)
chris

As concise as I can:

Break, ball in hand after the break no matter what, if you would have let an opponent (=ghost) come to the table before making the 9 on a legal shot, you lose.

I hope it went without saying you win if you do make the 9 legally. That's how we always played, ie, combos and 9's on the break were good.
 
Your on the right tract, & your especially fortunate to be spending time with Dan. Tell em I said hi, always a gentleman to play and match up with, and what a great smile he always seems to have.
 
What,s that mean? Table have 5 pocket,s?:scratchhead:

Regarding my statement about one pocket blocked on my table. There is a fireplace near that corner of the table that absolutely precludes the use of a regular cue when shooting away from that corner. If it is within two feet of the corner and depending on the angle I am shooting, I can't even use my jump stick (as a shorter stick). In those cases I had to use a really short (36") stick I bought just for those situations. It's called a troubleshooter. You can find them in various lengths in many billiard supply stores.

It's very difficult to shoot accurately from that position because also the fireplace didn't allow me to lean over (no room to stick my butt out). So I would be shooting with a 36" stick with my head about 2 feet above the stick.

My buddy called it a "house safety" anytime I missed and left him jammed up in there.
 
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