back from Vegas APA team and Three man

frankncali

frankncali

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I got back real late saturday night or early sunday morning from 8 days in
Vegas.
I had a good time and will go back again next year.
I played on a Triple-Play three man event and 8 ball team. The ThreeMan
team got fifth (second year in a row) and lost to the eventual champs.
Jeff, Ritchie and Ike are a heck of a team. Our team finished in the money at 129th. It was probably farther than we should ahve went but we should not have lost when we did. I am a SL 7 and dogged my match to give victory to the other team. I made the 8 but scratched. I dont think I will ever forget the shot or the 7 days it felt like it took the cue ball to travel up table and
scratch. I was very disappointed in myself and for my team.
We are a team of average hackers that the APA wants and some of our lower rated players had come to life playing well. I would have liked to go at least to the next round and see what happened.
The team event was actually pretty level. I never saw a team that was way underrated and only the first team that we played and lost to had a couple guys that shot better than their SL. We had chances in each of those matches however with one going hill to hill and out SL4 missing an easy 3 ball out. Oh well....everyone played pretty well and we did make the money.
The three man event is a different story. How the APA thinks that the two teams in the finals are made up of normal everyday APA players is beyond me.
Sure the event is for the leagues elite but there has to be a limit.
The finals had these teams in it..
Kenny Brisbon
Jason Kirkwood
Brandon Ashcroft

Ike Runnels
Ritchie Idrovo (sp?)
Jeff Sargent

I dont know how active these guys are in the weekly APA but some are pretty active in higher skill level tours and do pretty well.
Out of the teams in the event the best two made the finals. Only once did I see either of them in any jeopardy of not making the
finals. The California Three Amigos played the team with Kenny on it and had a chance. Kenny lost the first one and then Jason played very well and won the next won. Brandon was played Elias Valles of the LA area and was down
4-0 in the 8 ball portion. He won the last game coming out of the 8ball
down 4-1. He then broke and ran 6 racks of 9 ball for the win. He played well but IMO complained a bit too much about the rack. The referee came over to rack and he even reracked which surprised me. The rules are supposed to be that the balls are racked by the ref and thats it. Brandon even grabbed the rack at one point and was racking for himself. Out of all the matches this was the closest either team came to losing that I saw.
Brandon played well in those 6 racks putting it away.
There were numerous complaints that were made by players and LOs about the two teams being let in and if they were eligible. The APA never really gave an answer except to say that they were eligible on paper.
I have been in the last two years and am not sure if I want to play in it again.
Our team can be beaten by the regular APA 7s and 9s much less by one of the best bankers in the world, a guy that won a Open pro event and
a guy a couple weeks removed from winning a Fl Pro Event.
Its a fine line because I dont think that skill level has anything to do with
Amateur status. However because of the top out of the handicaps it does
make it a very wide range of players gathered in the SL7 and SL9 category.
When asked to compare it and why its wrong for them to play I could only think about myself and other playing even with a bunch of players rated 6s and 7s in 9ball and 4s and 5s in 8ball. Theres a least 2-3 SL gaps between the average top APA players and this group.
Nevertheless the guys played well and in this event deserved to reach the finals. They were the two best teams.
A couple Minis later I was done with pool and ready for home. Overall I had a good time and did not get sick until the last day. ( I get sick every time I visit Vegas).
Hopefully next year I can make it back to regionals and then onto nationals
but no matter I will still goa nd play minis and watch the teams I know.
A local girls team placed 5th and a 9 ball team got 9th. Both lost by one ball and had shots at it. Thats hope I guess. All was not lost as a team member
won a raffle from Franks Center (no relation) and got his choice of cases
up to $500. He got a really nice Instroke.

BTW- I met alot of people there but did not ask any if they were AZers. I saw Marissa but never really had a chance to go up and talk to her. I always thought there would be another chance. I hope to be able to go to the
DCC but time and Money will probably not let me.
 
Frank,
Many thanks for the update. Sounds like overall a very good experience - but welcome to the harsh realities of handicapped "amateur" events. In general, the real pool fanatics that are there to have a good time will do so. The gamesmen, rulemongers, poor sports, and near-professionals - well, they won't enjoy themselves as much. My thought is to practice enough so we don't have to play in handicapped events. :) :)
 
Williebetmore said:
Frank,
. My thought is to practice enough so we don't have to play in handicapped events. :) :)
Click to expand...

My skill level and job tend to get in the way. :D
I would like to play better and be more competitive on the regional level.
I think the guys that are Pros have a unique talent that by just practicing
might not be reachable by all.

I did have a good time in Vegas but it was a weird trip with team members
coming and going at different times and myself not having the funds that I normally have when in Vegas. LV can be a very hard place to be without
$$$$$.
 
u12armresl said:
When will you get there willie?
Click to expand...

U12,
Well, it better be before January (since my instructor is insisting I play at DCC and I'm pretty sure there's no handicapping in the tournament) :) :)

P.S. - The first time I tried to match up with one of the local hot shots, I asked for the last two. He said, "So you're asking for a spot? Spot is my dog." Evidently no dogs allowed in his pool playing universe.
 
frankncali said:
I got back real late saturday night or early sunday morning from 8 days in
Vegas.
I had a good time and will go back again next year.
I played on a Triple-Play three man event and 8 ball team. The ThreeMan
team got fifth (second year in a row) and lost to the eventual champs.
Jeff, Ritchie and Ike are a heck of a team. Our team finished in the money at 129th. It was probably farther than we should ahve went but we should not have lost when we did. I am a SL 7 and dogged my match to give victory to the other team. I made the 8 but scratched. I dont think I will ever forget the shot or the 7 days it felt like it took the cue ball to travel up table and
scratch. I was very disappointed in myself and for my team.
We are a team of average hackers that the APA wants and some of our lower rated players had come to life playing well. I would have liked to go at least to the next round and see what happened.
Click to expand...
As long as we're sharing, I also played in the 3-man event and the team event, and while we won neither, I left pretty happy:

3-Man: We had 3 really good 6's and one super-7. I'm not sure how our 7 would match up with Ike or Jeff, but I'm pretty sure he could take Ritchie Idrovo (though Idrovo is extra-strong on a bar table). Ours wasn't the strongest roster, but we made it to the final 32, and were happy -- our realistic goal was not to win but to make the money, which we did (only $150). We would have gone farther but our best player had to leave late Monday night for work, so we lost 2-1 Tuesday a.m. The hill-hill match was 7-5 with their player beating our 6, so I'm nearly certain our 7 would have destroyed that guy. Oh well. It was our fourth time playing in the 3-man and the first time in the money (not coincidentally, it was the first time we had the 7 on the roster). And I went 2-1 against some strong competition, finishing one match 7-6 with a B&R and then a Break and Run to a 4-9 carom.

Team Event: We also didn't really run into anyone who was too far off their right handicap, so we made it to the final 64 (they call that 33rd place, which sounds better). We were playing 6-5-4-4-4. At one point I played a 4 that had *really* strong moves -- she never made a ball that was in my way, combo'd all my ducks in and safed me without mercy ... (she was married to or the girfriend of their 7, Dennis, who apparently teaches some sort of pool school in Kansas). So that match took 49 innings, which I think was a record for me.

One more funny story: We got up 2-0 against a team from IN. They put up their 7 in the 3rd match (they had a 5 and a 3 back), so we ducked and put up our worst remaing 4 (so I could play the 5). About 3 innings into it, it was clear that 7 wasn't trying to win. He was safeing every time, trying to push the last two matches into sudden death, figuring they had a better chances of winning two races to 1. Actually not a bad idea, and not illegal since all the safeties were being marked.

In any case, here was my strongest move of the tournament: I checked with the ref, took a timeout, and told my 4 to go congratulate the 7 on a match well played. After conceding, we were back on schedule. They put their 5 up, he actually won the first game, then I beat him 5-2.

All in all it was a lot of fun. But exhausting. We lost our first match in both events and so had to play more matches to catch up. Between the 3-man and the team event I was up at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Somehow in Vegas I managed to get up earlier 4 days in a row than I do for my real job.

Cory
 
Thoughts on Vegas. I was in Vegas for the APA and had a good time. I thought the 3 man and the team event were well run this year. The mini's were run well also but I thought the sign up process got a little screwy on the first day. An hour before the noon sign-up, there was a line out the convention hall doorway. I'm sure that the people who showed up at noon had zero chance of getting in that nights mini's.
A couple of thoughts on the 3 man event. I thought they could have chosen a better format than the mix of 8 and 9 ball. The US Amateur format opens the door to some pretty lucky happenings. For instance the 9 on the break winning.(As opposed to the normal APA 9 ball rules) I felt they should have lengthened the race to 7 in 8 ball, if anything. As far as eligibility goes, there was some questioning of several players that probably should'nt have been allowed to play. But the APA signed off on it months in advance so there was really nothing that could be done on site. In the future, I would think some of the players would not be allowed to play based on being professional.
 
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