Yesterday, I saw a terrible roll. I mean, truly bad. It was Tony Robles playing Ben Nunan. It’s early in the match and Nunan is running out the few remaining balls, all down table, and he cuts the seven in, using the ten to stop the cue ball. Well, the ten goes in and Nunan didn’t call it. I think he knows what’s suppose to happen next, but he asks Tony anyway. Tony tells him the bad news and spots the ten back up and guess what? The cue ball, ten, and nine all end up on a perfect diagonal line pointed straight to the left corner pocket. -- he is hooked by the uncalled, but now spotted, ten. Ouch.
I alternate between the Efren – Archer match and the Deuel -- Hundal match. Hundal wins, 9-7, but I am impressed by Cory’s combination of finesse and power play. He can do either and seems one of the few players with both games in his arsenal.
Which brings me to another observation, watching all these high level players: there is a huge discrepancy amongst these top-flight players in regards to how level they hold their pool cues. I guess I’ve always heard the “keep it level as possible” mantra, and I'm seeing that the players here are all over the place on this issue. There are players like Deuel and Archer that keep their cues very level. But then you’ve got guys like Strickland and Hatch and Ortmann who have their grip hands *way* up in the air. I’m not sure what to make of this, but will continue to observe.
For dinner I head over to Morton’s steak house figuring I’ll sit at the bar, have a couple of beers and one of their prime beef burgers. All is going according to plan until two guys sit down next to me. That would be two *wise guys* complete with razor cut hair, dark suits, and watches that probably cost more than your car and my car put together. The bartender, Jennifer, comes around the bar and kisses them both on the cheeks. And then one of the guys gets up and comes over to me and says, “Would you mind moving over a bit?” And I’m like, "Sure, no problem." But I can tell it’s not exactly a question he’s asking. Then the guy says, “No. We’ll just move this extra bar stool out of the way and we’ll all have plenty of room.” The guy removes the stool to my left and I scoot over giving him plenty of elbow room on my right. Both guys order the salmon (which is brought over by two servers in tuxes -- my burger is brought out by the bartender). All the while “the guys” are talking about an apartment in Miami and an unidentified guy who has "taken ill” and now I’m really glad we ALL have “plenty of room” because I’m picturing in my mind that if I accidentally bump the "guy" nearest me, he might just grab the big over-sized serrated wooden-handled steak knives they give you at Morton’s and repeatedly stab me in the chest, before ordering his dessert. "The guys" finish their dinners and another server in a tux comes over with a silver tray and offers them a complimentary after-dinner drink. Jennifer the bartender slides my check across the bar and I gratefully pay up and make my way back to The Strip.
Back in the tournament room I see Sarah Rousey standing with another woman, to one side of the Sylver Ochoa vs. Manny Chau match up. She looks strangely familiar, so I go up and, as I am want to do in the case of strangely familiar women, say, “Excuse me, but are you Trigger?” And she says yes and I tell her who I is and we talk like we’ve been friends for years, all through the magic of AZ Billiards. I buy her a drink and we talk and watch the match. She is rooting for Sylver who, it turns out, is also her Scotch Doubles partner. But unfortunately, Manny is playing double tough and defeats Sylver 9-3.
Mark Griffin sits with me a while and we talk about the tournament, travel to Europe, my posts (I’m OK, so far). And then he whips out his phone and shows me all the nifty things CSI is doing with the tournaments going on, including the live match updates and the brackets. What was really interesting was how you could type in a team name and find your up-coming match. Or, in the case of an individual player, type in a name and the program would highlight all that individual's matches on the brackets. This is also available to players in the 8-Ball tournament rooms via several computers set up for the them to check their match scheduling. Lastly, he asks that I check in on the 8-Ball tournament, so I figure I‘ll check in on Melinda’s team, playing today at 1030 A.M.
I see Bob Jewett walking through the tournament room, brief case in hand. I have bad news for Bob: I’ve seen Barry Behrman walking around The Riviera Convention Center and his briefcase is bigger. Eventually, I get a chance to sit down with Bob, I buy him a beer and we chat while watching the Shane vs. Appleton match. I tell Bob I think SVB is in top form and will win. So of course Bob asks what I’m willing to bet and of course I tell him I know that no matter what I say he’s going to want odds. No bet. Unfortunately for my theoretical horse, Appleton does not miss much the entire match and wins 9-5. After the match, Shane just sits in his chair and does not move for several minutes. I cannot tell whether it’s shock, depression, or disgust.
Per Mr. Griffin’s request, I get up and wander the 8-Ball tournament rooms trying to make sense of what’s going on in a room with over a hundred tables and a couple thousand players and looks, to me, like the fall of Saigon. I study the charts and realize I’m going to need an Indian guide to understand any of this.
When I pass the BeBob Publishing booth I see Tom McGonagle and I congratulate him on his Singles Championship. Tom is a great guy and he recounts how he survived two hill-hill matches and how, on a couple of occasions, had to construct run outs he didn’t even believe he could pull off. I buy his book “Right on Cue” and get him to sign my copy.
I just love it when one of us older guys pulls off a win like Tom’s.
Lou Figueroa
I alternate between the Efren – Archer match and the Deuel -- Hundal match. Hundal wins, 9-7, but I am impressed by Cory’s combination of finesse and power play. He can do either and seems one of the few players with both games in his arsenal.
Which brings me to another observation, watching all these high level players: there is a huge discrepancy amongst these top-flight players in regards to how level they hold their pool cues. I guess I’ve always heard the “keep it level as possible” mantra, and I'm seeing that the players here are all over the place on this issue. There are players like Deuel and Archer that keep their cues very level. But then you’ve got guys like Strickland and Hatch and Ortmann who have their grip hands *way* up in the air. I’m not sure what to make of this, but will continue to observe.
For dinner I head over to Morton’s steak house figuring I’ll sit at the bar, have a couple of beers and one of their prime beef burgers. All is going according to plan until two guys sit down next to me. That would be two *wise guys* complete with razor cut hair, dark suits, and watches that probably cost more than your car and my car put together. The bartender, Jennifer, comes around the bar and kisses them both on the cheeks. And then one of the guys gets up and comes over to me and says, “Would you mind moving over a bit?” And I’m like, "Sure, no problem." But I can tell it’s not exactly a question he’s asking. Then the guy says, “No. We’ll just move this extra bar stool out of the way and we’ll all have plenty of room.” The guy removes the stool to my left and I scoot over giving him plenty of elbow room on my right. Both guys order the salmon (which is brought over by two servers in tuxes -- my burger is brought out by the bartender). All the while “the guys” are talking about an apartment in Miami and an unidentified guy who has "taken ill” and now I’m really glad we ALL have “plenty of room” because I’m picturing in my mind that if I accidentally bump the "guy" nearest me, he might just grab the big over-sized serrated wooden-handled steak knives they give you at Morton’s and repeatedly stab me in the chest, before ordering his dessert. "The guys" finish their dinners and another server in a tux comes over with a silver tray and offers them a complimentary after-dinner drink. Jennifer the bartender slides my check across the bar and I gratefully pay up and make my way back to The Strip.
Back in the tournament room I see Sarah Rousey standing with another woman, to one side of the Sylver Ochoa vs. Manny Chau match up. She looks strangely familiar, so I go up and, as I am want to do in the case of strangely familiar women, say, “Excuse me, but are you Trigger?” And she says yes and I tell her who I is and we talk like we’ve been friends for years, all through the magic of AZ Billiards. I buy her a drink and we talk and watch the match. She is rooting for Sylver who, it turns out, is also her Scotch Doubles partner. But unfortunately, Manny is playing double tough and defeats Sylver 9-3.
Mark Griffin sits with me a while and we talk about the tournament, travel to Europe, my posts (I’m OK, so far). And then he whips out his phone and shows me all the nifty things CSI is doing with the tournaments going on, including the live match updates and the brackets. What was really interesting was how you could type in a team name and find your up-coming match. Or, in the case of an individual player, type in a name and the program would highlight all that individual's matches on the brackets. This is also available to players in the 8-Ball tournament rooms via several computers set up for the them to check their match scheduling. Lastly, he asks that I check in on the 8-Ball tournament, so I figure I‘ll check in on Melinda’s team, playing today at 1030 A.M.
I see Bob Jewett walking through the tournament room, brief case in hand. I have bad news for Bob: I’ve seen Barry Behrman walking around The Riviera Convention Center and his briefcase is bigger. Eventually, I get a chance to sit down with Bob, I buy him a beer and we chat while watching the Shane vs. Appleton match. I tell Bob I think SVB is in top form and will win. So of course Bob asks what I’m willing to bet and of course I tell him I know that no matter what I say he’s going to want odds. No bet. Unfortunately for my theoretical horse, Appleton does not miss much the entire match and wins 9-5. After the match, Shane just sits in his chair and does not move for several minutes. I cannot tell whether it’s shock, depression, or disgust.
Per Mr. Griffin’s request, I get up and wander the 8-Ball tournament rooms trying to make sense of what’s going on in a room with over a hundred tables and a couple thousand players and looks, to me, like the fall of Saigon. I study the charts and realize I’m going to need an Indian guide to understand any of this.
When I pass the BeBob Publishing booth I see Tom McGonagle and I congratulate him on his Singles Championship. Tom is a great guy and he recounts how he survived two hill-hill matches and how, on a couple of occasions, had to construct run outs he didn’t even believe he could pull off. I buy his book “Right on Cue” and get him to sign my copy.
I just love it when one of us older guys pulls off a win like Tom’s.
Lou Figueroa
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Thanks again, Jay.
