Arizona pool player thread

BigCat said:
Well, since you asked...

I practiced 14.1 end patterns for about an hour tonight.

I live in Gilbert... and I also get in my vehicle to drive outside of Gilbert to play pocket billiards tournaments.

The last weekly tournament I played in, I won.

The last two DCT tour stops I played in, I placed.

I qualified for the 14.1 world championships back in August but couldn't make it to the tournament (in September) because hurricane Irene blocked out all incoming flights on the day I was supposed to fly.

I will never give Charlie Williams or Dragon Promotions another dime of my very hard earned money.

The Arizona ratings committee could care less about myself, anyone else that plays on the DCT tour, or any player rated above an 8.

I started a weekly open tournament at Skip and Jan's on Monday nights. It died after about 4 months due to low attendance.

I miss the Southern Arizona Straight Pool League that Jimmy Mendoza and Al Terpstra started and I took over for the following 2 years.

I still play with a Tony Zinzola cue... even after the negative thread about him and his workmanship.

From the looks of it, Jason stood up Abie today because he slept in. I don't know if Abie is mad at Jason.

I don't like pina coladas (I hate coconuts and anything coconut flavored) and I absolutely hate getting caught in the rain (it messes up my hair).

I'm pretty sure Mike Williams still wants to sleep with me.

Hopefully this should provide some fuel for the fire.

Discuss.

Ray Robles
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Here's some thoughts on your post Mr. big cat. :)

One of these days I want to try you some 14.1. My high run is 38 so dont expect much lol.

I live in phoenix and I drive 20-25 minutes to tournys and matches. Last one I remember playing I cashed. I dont usually play pool before 7 pm. Im a night owl. More on this later.

I would like to play in the DCT, see above post. They start at noon. Bad business for me.

The worlds.... DAMN YOU MOTHER NATURE!

Good ol korean/american/whatevergetshimapayday dragon? I'm not even gonna start on this one. Too easy.

No offense to the A.R.C. but they don't know shit about pool. Especially how to hndcp tournys. It was a good idea that gets watered down with every retard that is allowed to voice his opinion. I think You should only be allowed on the committee if you are an 9 rated player or higher without an agenda. Or at the very least cannot speak on matters above your rating.

I am a lil sad I never got to make it to your open 10 ball tourny on the nicest equipment in the state. Sick that the tourny isnt the strongest in the state but a shit hole like the deli has 30 strong week in and out. With 2 of the worst tables pool has to offer.

Brady used to tell me about that league. Did attendance drop or did you just get too busy?

Thought you switched back to the TAD? You sir, are cue spoiled :p

He said it was cool, but I still feel douchey. Ill find a way to make it right with him.

I don't really like alcohol. I drank 11 double rum and cokes after my friends funeral and I just lost my love for getting F'd up. Plus I'm quitting smoking and they go hand in hand. I like getting caught in the rain with a poncho LOL.

Last time I seen him, I could have swore I heard him say "That Big Cat is sexy and he knows it". Gave a lil hip action when he said it. I was in the process of getting my pic in the pool paper with Mr. jump so don't quote me on it LOL.
 
12310bch said:
Jason slept in? What a pussy( short for pusillanimous) What weekly tourney did you win ,Ray ?

Quote:"The Arizona ratings committee could care less about myself, anyone else that plays on the DCT tour, or any player rated above an 8."

I'm curious. Would you clarify this?
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I am a giant pusillanimous. BRB have to google that lol
 
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12310bch said:
Jason slept in? What a pussy( short for pusillanimous) What weekly tourney did you win ,Ray ?

Quote:"The Arizona ratings committee could care less about myself, anyone else that plays on the DCT tour, or any player rated above an 8."

I'm curious. Would you clarify this?
Click to expand...

No courage? Timid? You sure you got the right guy?
 
JasonCrugar said:
Here's some thoughts on your post Mr. big cat. :)

One of these days I want to try you some 14.1. My high run is 38 so dont expect much lol.

I live in phoenix and I drive 20-25 minutes to tournys and matches. Last one I remember playing I cashed. I dont usually play pool before 7 pm. Im a night owl. More on this later.

I would like to play in the DCT, see above post. They start at noon. Bad business for me.

The worlds.... DAMN YOU MOTHER NATURE!

Good ol korean/american/whatevergetshimapayday dragon? I'm not even gonna start on this one. Too easy.

No offense to the A.R.C. but they don't know shit about pool. Especially how to hndcp tournys. It was a good idea that gets watered down with every retard that is allowed to voice his opinion. I think You should only be allowed on the committee if you are an 9 rated player or higher without an agenda. Or at the very least cannot speak on matters above your rating.

I am a lil sad I never got to make it to your open 10 ball tourny on the nicest equipment in the state. Sick that the tourny isnt the strongest in the state but a shit hole like the deli has 30 strong week in and out. With 2 of the worst tables pool has to offer.

Brady used to tell me about that league. Did attendance drop or did you just get too busy?

Thought you switched back to the TAD? You sir, are cue spoiled :p

He said it was cool, but I still feel douchey. Ill find a way to make it right with him.

I don't really like alcohol. I drank 11 double rum and cokes after my friends funeral and I just lost my love for getting F'd up. Plus I'm quitting smoking and they go hand in hand. I like getting caught in the rain with a poncho LOL.

Last time I seen him, I could have swore I heard him say "That Big Cat is sexy and he knows it". Gave a lil hip action when he said it. I was in the process of getting my pic in the pool paper with Mr. jump so don't quote me on it LOL.
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Sorry for the late response... work always interferes with my real life.

Sure we can play some 14.1, I've been known to be seen at MS on Friday nights.

Mother Nature can suck @##%%#$^^$%&^%!@*&.

It's all good with the 10 ball tourny... it is what it is.

That 14.1 league was great. After running it for the 3rd year, I had to give up as the league operator because I was going back to school to work on my master's degree. I didn't think I would be able to spend adequate time running the league and keeping the website up to date in conjunction with school. So Ron Skrecz (sp?) was supposed to take over for the 4th year. He tried to get it running, but it didn't get enough interest. A couple of years ago, I tried to get some interest going again for it, but I could not get enough people together for a good session.

I did switch back to my Tad... and then I switched back to my Tony Zinzola because by that point I had already gotten too used to my Zinzola. And I'd already learned my lesson about changing cues once I've gotten used to one. Plus, I'm really comfortable with how my Zinzola plays right now. And yes... I am cue spoiled :)

Your description of Mike Williams sounds spot on... I have no reason to doubt your recollection (especially the hips).

Ray Robles
 
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12310bch said:
Jason slept in? What a pussy( short for pusillanimous) What weekly tourney did you win ,Ray ?

Quote:"The Arizona ratings committee could care less about myself, anyone else that plays on the DCT tour, or any player rated above an 8."

I'm curious. Would you clarify this?
Click to expand...

It was a new weekly open 9 ball tournament (single elim, full race to handicap) that Thor was trying out over at Main Street on Friday nights.

Clarifying my statement on the ratings committee would probably require multiple diagrams and some accompanying text to clarify the diagrams. Suffice it to say that I did not come to that opinion lightly. You can do a search on this forum for multiple threads about the Arizona ratings system/committee. There have been many a discussion about this topic.

Ray Robles
 
BigCat said:
Sorry for the late response... work always interferes with my real life.

Sure we can play some 14.1, I've been known to be seen at MS on Friday nights.

Mother Nature can suck @##%%#$^^$%&^%!@*&.

It's all good with the 10 ball tourny... it is what it is.

That 14.1 league was great. After running it for the 3rd year, I had to give up as the league operator because I was going back to school to work on my master's degree. I didn't think I would be able to spend adequate time running the league and keeping the website up to date in conjunction with school. So Ron Skrecz (sp?) was supposed to take over for the 4th year. He tried to get it running, but it didn't get enough interest. A couple of years ago, I tried to get some interest going again for it, but I could not get enough people together for a good session.

I did switch back to my Tad... and then I switched back to my Tony Zinzola because by that point I had already gotten too used to my Zinzola. And I'd already learned my lesson about changing cues once I've gotten used to one. Plus, I'm really comfortable with how my Zinzola plays right now. And yes... I am cue spoiled :)

Your description of Mike Williams sounds spot on... I have no reason to doubt your recollection (especially the hips).

Ray Robles
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No worries. All you big cats gotta eat,and feed the lil cats ;)

By MS you mean metro???? You are gonna need a spot :p

Yup motherfist(*&^ her lol.

I think it's skrez... Could be wrong.

I had a a sweet jacoby and I let brad talk me into trading it for a P.O.S. mcdermott. Worst pool mistake I ever made. I played with it for 2 years and did ok with it. Just felt like something was missing when I played though. Up until a couple months ago, when I bought a judd, did I realize the gravity of my mistake. I feel like a ninja whose katana has been returned to him.... If I tried to play with anything else now I would be screwed. Unless you gave me your TAD, then I would try to manage lmao.

I'm tellin ya, Mr williams is hot on the trail for some panda love lol.

Happy holidays Ray!!!
 
Friends and foes alike

Me and my girlfriend wish you all a merry christmas and a kick ass new years. Be safe and enjoy the holiday spirit fools. Crugar out!
 
BigCat said:
It was a new weekly open 9 ball tournament (single elim, full race to handicap) that Thor was trying out over at Main Street on Friday nights.

Clarifying my statement on the ratings committee would probably require multiple diagrams and some accompanying text to clarify the diagrams. Suffice it to say that I did not come to that opinion lightly. You can do a search on this forum for multiple threads about the Arizona ratings system/committee. There have been many a discussion about this topic.

Ray Robles
Click to expand...

Ray, I know there are pros & cons on the rating system but experience shows that you have to have it to populate the tournaments. You won a
tournament with a full race to your handicap. Which I assume is a 9. So what is your *****? Without the 5,6,7,8 players there would be nobody contributing to your prize money.
Do you think 15 or 20 nines are going to show up? Do you think that a room operator is going to put up 2 or 3 hundred added just to see 5 or 6 nines bump heads? You think we should all play even? Fo'gedabowdit. Matter of fact, without the handicapped tourneys a nine probably couldn't get a game in Phoenix. You'd probably be sleeping in your car in Lodi, Ca. trying to get action.
Challenge another nine to a high stakes game in Phoenix. You'll be woofin' each other for 3 months tryin' to get an edge before anybody breaks a rack.
It is what it is. And if you look at it positively it is a way for you to make some money.

My thoughts. Now crush me if you please.:shrug:
 
12310bch said:
Ray, I know there are pros & cons on the rating system but experience shows that you have to have it to populate the tournaments. You won a
tournament with a full race to your handicap. Which I assume is a 9. So what is your *****? Without the 5,6,7,8 players there would be nobody contributing to your prize money.
Do you think 15 or 20 nines are going to show up? Do you think that a room operator is going to put up 2 or 3 hundred added just to see 5 or 6 nines bump heads? You think we should all play even? Fo'gedabowdit. Matter of fact, without the handicapped tourneys a nine probably couldn't get a game in Phoenix. You'd probably be sleeping in your car in Lodi, Ca. trying to get action.
Challenge another nine to a high stakes game in Phoenix. You'll be woofin' each other for 3 months tryin' to get an edge before anybody breaks a rack.
It is what it is. And if you look at it positively it is a way for you to make some money.

My thoughts. Now crush me if you please.:shrug:
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I believe you have misunderstood my original statement. I never said anything about not liking the rating system or stating that the system is not needed. I understand that it fills the rooms (I don't personally care for it but I see its merits). What I originally stated was that the "Arizona ratings committee could care less about myself, anyone else that plays on the DCT tour, or any player rated above an 8." I never once said anything about merits of having a rating system... to which your reply seems to address.

The ARC seems to just ignore players once they get to a certain level. The players that play A speed or above just don't get bumped anymore. I know from first hand accounts that the committee is made up of primarily lower rated players... and these members take the attitude that unless a player has won a bunch of tournaments recently, a player does not deserve to be raised. While this may hold some merit for 5, 6 or possibly 7 rated players, nothing could be further from the truth for A or Open level players.

As an analogy, look at the current pros that are winning tournaments right now (and by no means am I comparing myself, or any other top regional AZ player to the pros... I'm just trying to provide an example). There are a small handful of elite pros that are winning just about everything right now (SVB, Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen, Darren Appleton, and many of the Philippine players across the Pacific, etc...). Fair enough. But does this mean that other pro players that play just under the level of these elite players are not improving? Of course not... and it would be silly to imply otherwise. But if you apply the ARC's mentality of "what have you won lately", then you could make a very false, blanket statement of "well, no other pros are improving because they aren't winning any tournaments". Again, nothing could be further from the truth.

Some examples of pro players that have drastically improved over the last couple of years: Jason Klatt, Brandon Shuff, AZ's own Mitch Ellerman (who I do consider a pro), Mike Dechaine, Landon Shuffett, Chris Bartram, Donnie Mills, Shaun Wilkie, Jesse Engel, Hunter Lombardo, Mike Davis... this list could go on and on. And this list is by no means extensive. Almost all of these pro players have never won a major tournament (or course they have won smaller regional sized tournaments as they do play at a pro level... but this would be the equivalent of a top local Arizona player winning a weekly tournament... somewhat expected). But you simply cannot make the generic blanket statement that their games have not improved simply because they have not won a large, prestigious tournament. So, I believe that it's just as illogical to say that a 9 or 10 rated player does not deserve to be bumped a rating because they have not won a DCT event or a large regional event. There is so much more to a player's improvement than what tournaments they have won.

This was the meaning behind my original statement.

Ray Robles
 
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I was on the ratings committee for a short time, I might even still be the rep for Kolbys for all I know but one thing is for sure its really not working the way it should. I know for a fact that there are politics involved with room owners and different stuff, maybe not so much now that Northern and Metro are not bumping heads but it still a bunch of BS.

It is a thankless duty really to be a room rep because when you raise someone who subsidizes their income with pool they get pissed off at you for raising them to where they should be. Some bars keep players at a low rating because they are a good customer and whatnot. I wanted to lower a player who was rated too high, I could not do that, they had to show up to have it done but I was allowed to rate someone or raise them up.

I am all for moving up in the ranks and hopefully before the year is out I will have earned my way to a 9 rating. I do not play tournaments for the money so I am not concerned at all about sandbagging my rating so I can play in the big added 8 and under stuff, I just want to be a better player in the game I enjoy so much.

I see no fun in being underrated and running over people robbing tournaments, I do not pick off college kids in poolrooms anymore either. At one time I would go out and have fun winning easy money from kids that could not play at all but have not done that in a long time nor do I go play pub pool trying to rob the drunks like I did in the past either.

I really like the personal accomplishments of seeing those trouble shots that come up in games conquered and now they are routine and playing at a high level from time to time, IMO that is what the game is about, personal satisfaction with your abilities. When you make the game about money you will not enjoy it that much, you will just enjoy the money when your winning and hate the game when your not in action or getting the cash.
 
12310bch said:
After watching Gus and Mitch play the DCT Finale I can't believe either one is ready for prime time. That can't be their best game. I've seen better played 10B games at Lizard Acres.:scratchhead:
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Don't worry , they can both go into overdrive. Oops sorry, I am not in Arizona but I will be soon and I have my drivers license from there.
Hope no one gets mad.
 
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Ray, I totally misunderstood you.
I think that part of the problem is that in the lower and mid-level player's improvement is in leaps and bounds and easily recognizable while improvement in a top rated player may be infinitesimal thus not recognizable by a lower ranked player. This leads to a judgement of skill based on the obvious, tourneys or money won. Perhaps there should be a separate committee for ratings of 8 and above.
I personally know some 8's that are very tough and I don't think I've seen their top speed. I won't mention names of course. 9's and up are monsters to me and I only recognize the game they play as pool because of the numbers and the colors of the balls. I could not judge one from another,
but they know.:bow-down:
 
Merry X-mas Everyone in AZ!

I've been travelling around and finally got the Preacher Ronn 1 Pocket Schedule for 2012 added up to AZPoolScene.com.

I'll be adding it to the calendar in the next week. If you haven't signed up for notifications on the calendar, please go to the tournaments page and do so. Whenever we Add new tournaments, you will receive an email notification to the details. There are over 70 players already signed up.

Here is the link to the 2012 1 Pocket Schedule: http://mypoolscene.com/BreakingNews/tabid/146/EntryId/136/Preacher-Ronns-1-Pocket-2012-Schedule.aspx
 
12310bch said:
bump so it wont get lost
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Damn you beat me to it lol. Happy new years to you and everyone else who reads this! Fyi metro has free pool on mondays on the 9fts. Also the deli is now 9 and under. Should have just jumped straight to a 7 and under IMO. If they don't like playing John or Mitch, they prolly aren't gonna like it against a 9 or 8 either lol.
 
JasonCrugar said:
Damn you beat me to it lol. Happy new years to you and everyone else who reads this! Fyi metro has free pool on mondays on the 9fts. Also the deli is now 9 and under. Should have just jumped straight to a 7 and under IMO. If they don't like playing John or Mitch, they prolly aren't gonna like it against a 9 or 8 either lol.
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If it's not handicapped, the 9's & 8's will still be ahead of the game. Where are John and Mitch going to pick up a coupla bucks for the weekend now?
That is so blatantly designed to eliminate M & J that it sort of sucks. I don't understand their marketing strategy. I am totally confused. I don't want to play heads up with 8's & 9's in tourneys on a regular basis any more that I want to play 10's. The only thing that might be attractive is that it is a race to one. You might get lucky and beat one or two but how do you plow through 5 or 6 of those meat eaters? Especially with a $7 entry fee. All in all, the Deli tourney sucks. They only have 2 tables
so the race is kept to one. If they are trying to attract more players how long will it take? This seems to have been driven by the regulars at the bar complaining. It still confuses me. It's a nice bar . I like it there. But I can't waste Saturday nights on that tourney just for ego. Rant, rant and on and on I go. Sorry.:shrug:
 
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