Give me a story of the worst time you dogged it/choked...

Dog

25 yrs ago playing real good, just came into some money, living in vineland playing out of jose Garcia place. guy comes in from philly lookin to play. they call me up I come down. we decide on back pocket 9 race to 5 for 500. I broke ran rack,broke ran rack, won next game, broke ran to get on hill. All of the sudden forgot how to play lost 5 in a row
 
Icon of Sin said:
My worst happened last night... want to hear others stories...[/QUOTE

This ones easy for me. Last year I was in the finals at a 10 ball tournament with Francisco Galindo. The cueball was on the rail but the 10 ball was a foot from the pocket almost straight in. I jumped straight in the air and dogged it!! A few weeks later I was in the finals with him again and finally broke the ice and won :-). That was the first time after drawing him at least 6 times in my life including back in the 90s....This game is tough :-)
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jrhendy said:
My worst time turned into one of the best things that ever happened to me.

1960 and I was a wannabee pool player with $20 in my pocket and a pregnant wife at home. I went down to The Wonder Bowl in Anaheim, CA that had a 24 hour pool room inside. I had this young guy stuck 18 games for $10 a game playing three red ball snooker on a 5 x 10. I wanted him to quit, I needed the $$ so bad, and he kept asking me to raise it. I finally gave in and we jacked it to $20 and I started dogging it. He beat me ten in a row and I was busted. The young guy was 17 year old Richie Florence.

It upset me so much I went out and got a job and worked until I retired a few years ago.

I played Richie again around 30 years after he put me to work. I told him he was one of the best friends I had and he never even knew it.:grin-square:
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I'm not sure losing to a young Richie Florence can be considered choking LOL:thumbup:
 
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I've got a little dog in me. My most recent was just this past Wed night at a bar tournament. It started by getting knocked into loser bracket by lower level player in my first match in a race to 2 playing 9 ball. Loser brackets play a single game of 8 ball. I've just about worked my way back into the money, where my opponent breaks but misses their next shot. I almost run out, leaving just the 8 ball that was tied up, but I did get it freed. 3 or 4 innings later and I'm still shooting (and missing) the damned 8. There were a couple times I didn't have a clear shot, but at least 2 inexcusable chokes.

I played a NAPA or NAPL tournament not long ago. It was my first rated tournament and no one knew me. They gave me a rating higher than my abilities and I had to play my first match giving my opponent weight...3 games on the wire in a race to 5. I knew I was up against it but didn't care, I just wanted to play. My opponent was not strong and I tie it up 3-3 pretty quickly. However, my opponent who couldn't run more than 2-3 balls ended up winning the match 5-4.

These loses sting the most both at the time, and after the fact...sometimes long after. They are also the situations that end up motivating me the most.
 
I've got several good choking stories, this is the one that comes to mind.

I'm playing Cole Dixon and playing perfect, up 5-0 in a race to 7 9ball. I can do no wrong and he can do no right. He is disgusted after I finally miss a shot and I get lucky leaving him hooked. He is pissing and moaning and gets up and one strokes a 2 rail kick at like the 5 ball in the center of the table. He kicks it in, gets shape, and proceeds to turn the clock back a few years. Before I know it, he is now up 6-5 and as he is running out he misses a bank and scratches.....I have bih with 4 balls on the table. The 6 ball is about a diamond down from the corner pocket on the short rail and my next ball is on the other end of the table a diamond up from the long rail. My only issues are a couple balls in the middle of the table. I can either follow with inside or draw for good position and neither option should be an issue. I decide to draw the ball and after I'm already down on the shot with a little angle I get up to readjust. I override my whole preshot routine and move the cue ball out a bit more for a little steeper angle to get me closer to my next ball. I get down fire it in and watch in horror as I draw the cue ball right into the side pocket......I've never wanted a mulligan more badly in my life as I watch the rock in what seemed like slow motion roll right into the side. I just sat there in my chair in disbelief as he ran out the last few balls.

Funny thing is, I ran into him in the parking lot after the match and he told me verbatim "what you did with that cue ball should never happen"........I couldn't agree more. I don't think I've had that bad of a scratch before or after. I then regrouped won a bunch of matches and guess who is waiting for me at the end of the bracket.....Mr. Cole Dixon. I just got done with a couple hill hill matches playing great and my nerves were shot. He beat me very easily and I never put up a fight. It was still a pleasure to get to play him not only once but twice, in the same tourney. I still wonder what would have happened if I would have run the couple ducks to make it hill hill.....
 
I got another one. But I don't think I choked.
I'm playing a 9 ball race to 5 dead even with my opponent.
I win the coin flip and get the first break. I run 4 racks straight and lose 5 to 4.:(
 
My choke, failures are atleast 10x my favourable outcomes. Almost weekly (or more often) something seems to stick in my head that bothers me for that week. One big one I will never forget, local 9b even 2 years ago, race to 4. I have him down 3-0. I dogged an 8b he finished the table, I lost the match 3-4. I fell apart totally. Just one of many failures.
 
Lynch said:
I've got several good choking stories, this is the one that comes to mind.

I'm playing Cole Dixon and playing perfect, up 5-0 in a race to 7 9ball. I can do no wrong and he can do no right. He is disgusted after I finally miss a shot and I get lucky leaving him hooked. He is pissing and moaning and gets up and one strokes a 2 rail kick at like the 5 ball in the center of the table. He kicks it in, gets shape, and proceeds to turn the clock back a few years. Before I know it, he is now up 6-5 and as he is running out he misses a bank and scratches.....I have bih with 4 balls on the table. The 6 ball is about a diamond down from the corner pocket on the short rail and my next ball is on the other end of the table a diamond up from the long rail. My only issues are a couple balls in the middle of the table. I can either follow with inside or draw for good position and neither option should be an issue. I decide to draw the ball and after I'm already down on the shot with a little angle I get up to readjust. I override my whole preshot routine and move the cue ball out a bit more for a little steeper angle to get me closer to my next ball. I get down fire it in and watch in horror as I draw the cue ball right into the side pocket......I've never wanted a mulligan more badly in my life as I watch the rock in what seemed like slow motion roll right into the side. I just sat there in my chair in disbelief as he ran out the last few balls.

Funny thing is, I ran into him in the parking lot after the match and he told me verbatim "what you did with that cue ball should never happen"........I couldn't agree more. I don't think I've had that bad of a scratch before or after. I then regrouped won a bunch of matches and guess who is waiting for me at the end of the bracket.....Mr. Cole Dixon. I just got done with a couple hill hill matches playing great and my nerves were shot. He beat me very easily and I never put up a fight. It was still a pleasure to get to play him not only once but twice, in the same tourney. I still wonder what would have happened if I would have run the couple ducks to make it hill hill.....
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Wow, not only a great story of unfortunate results but a legendary Cole Dixon story to boot....Thanks for sharing that :-)
 
most recent - local 9ball tourney, Diamond bar boxes, race to 4. Opponent breaks and runs first rack, 3-9 combos the 2nd, and early 9s the 3rd as well. Fought back to hill/hill, great break, running, running, running, tittied the 8 ball on an easy shot in the (giant, gaping, HUGE) side pocket....played great, missed something routine, lost! Pool sucks!! lol. ok, maybe it's my concentration that SUCKS! :sorry:
 
At the BCA open teams, we're up 12-9 and I am working on a b-n-r. Get to the last ball before the 8. It's less than 2 inches from the side, and all I have to do is roll it in, get about 3 inches down the rail, and shoot the 8 in the opposite side. I slow-roll the CB, get perfect shape, but somehow the OB didn't have enough energy to get to the pocket. Guy then runs out on me, and I'm just standing back against the wall, smoke coming out of my ears I'm so mad that I may have just cost us the match. Luckily, one of their guys makes the 8 out of turn executing a breakout, and we win 13-11.
 
markgw said:
Wow, not only a great story of unfortunate results but a legendary Cole Dixon story to boot....Thanks for sharing that :-)
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It was a pleasure to watch him play even though it was near the end of the road for him. When we were in the parking lot I asked him if he ever had a match slip away from him. He said many moons ago he was playing Dallas West and had a big lead like 12-1 or something like that going to 13. He said it was winner break and after a failed safe he never got a decent shot again. He said Dallas would run a couple and then play safe and just repeat the process. This wasn't really a case of choking but really more of a case of slightly losing control in a single rack and never being able to retain it for the rest of the match....

I also won a tourney a tourney once by choking and then my opponent did it right back......It was one of the stranger endings I've ever seen or been a part of. This happened in a little hole in the wall bar in Sidney, Mt. There were 45 players and 1st was $1100 and 2nd around $5-600. I win the hot seat match against a much stronger player and then the same guy comes back to play me in the finals. He beats me first set 5-0. The second set I came out firing and it goes hill hill with him breaking dry. I make an incredible out and have a stop shot on the key ball with a little angle down the long rail and the 8 pretty much hanging in the side. I take a drink of water, take a deep breath, go through my preshot routine, fire the ball, and dog it badly......You could hear the sighs in the place and I think I proceeded to swear as I made my way to the chair. He makes about 3 balls and gets a little reckless with the ducks and scratches in the side. He immediately swipes the rest of the balls with his stick, conceding and the tourney is over.....I would have had bih with a stripe and the 8. So I dogged it badly and still won the tourney. I left the tourney mixed feelings even though I won. There is something about not finishing strong that really bothers me. I guess lots of strange things tend to happen in hill hill games lol.
 
As a begginer I have too many dog stories, more than glory stories,

Playing a local 8 ball tourney (vnea) of course I end up drawing 1 of 2 master players in the tourney as my first match, Mike Lowe who is one of the better players around Mankato on any given day (has a firm handle on the masters division around here always is first or second). Anyway race to 5 with me a 'B" or unranked player getting spotted a game. I end up getting up on him 4-0 not shooting great but getting out when I could and playing smart and it was on from there, he starts picking away at my lead, 4-1,4-2, then I had a shot to put him away and all I could think about was, "I'm about to beat the best player here, and everyones gonna see it".....I missed an easy 8 to put him away and he runs out. 4-3, he then makes it 4-4 with an easy win on a wide open table over me to put us at hill hill. I break and run 5, he runs down to his last ball and misses kicking the 8 into the jaws of the side pocket, :eek: ok all I have to do is run my 2 and I'm golden here we go again with "I'm about to beat the best player here" thoughts. I run my two nervously and have a good shot on the 8 in the jaws of the side pocket, I take a second to calm myself, heart racing....stroke nice and soft, the 8 hits the side tit and stops dead. :frown: It leaves him tough but he proceeds to fire in a full table bank on his last ball and knocks the 8 in.

My second match was against the 2nd of two masters in the tourney(of course), but I handled him pretty easy (5-2) after being rattled my first match. Then they started putting "giant killer" on my score cards because everyone seen what had transpired the first matches ha!

Another I was playing at a bar near home and I was just shooting lights out couldn't miss, great shape. Blowing these bar bangers minds with my runs and runouts I don't know if they'd even ever seen someone shoot that well....all this in just freindly games with a bar stick. They'd take turns coming at me and I'd keep sending them back to their seats. Finally a guy asks to play $20 races to 3 which I more than gladly accept because he was one of the guys I had been punishing. I run out and grab my own cues since he had his, and proceed to screw myself out of $60 :grin-square: it was as if I had never held a cue, I was so embarassed all his buddies we're hooting and cheering him on to take me out and there was nothing I could do, he shot the same....I fell apart gah dayum
 
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Played in a major team event and our team was doing really well, and I was playing the last match of the round robin. I was up 4-0 against a weaker opponent (race was my 5 to his 4) and saw that my teammate had just won his match on the next table. Thinking we had enough points to advance, I let up, missed a bunch of easy shots, and lost the match. As soon as it was over, one of the other teams started high-fiving each other and
I went over to my team and they were just in shock and were like, "WTF were you doing!?" Turns out we needed that win to advance and get in the money.

It was a 2-hour drive home but the car was dead silent and it felt more like a week. I learned a valuable lesson, to never let up on an opponent no matter the score or situation.
 
One more - About ten years I'm ago playing Harry Platis for 2K at Derby City, Bank Pool, Race to Five. I'm in dead punch (went to the 7th round that year) and win the first three games in less than 20 minutes. I decide I better stall a little so that Harry doesn't quit on me. I let him win the next game and now it's 3-1. All of a sudden I have trouble finding the range and I'm missing all my banks. The match goes 4-4 in games and 4-4 in balls, one bank left for two thou! I have a fairly difficult cross side, but I hit it good. The ball bounces off both points of the side pocket and stays right there, a few inches down the rail. You know the rest, Harry banks it in to beat me. I feel like a total sucker, and I am. I sharked myself! :confused:
 
Nordic Championships ~15 years ago, playing race to 11, hill-hill, I have a difficult cut combo 1-9 but all I need is to hit 1-ball dead center. I reach for the shot, almost out if reach for me, I stretch a bit more while taking my practice strokes... and touch the cb with the tip of my cue. My opponent makes the combo with bih. Tyvm.
8-ball, my opponent breaks, balls scatter around the table and the cueball goes down. I take the cueball and take a bih from the kitchen but at the foot end of the table, doh :D
 
I haven't dogged a shot



This morning.



Morning is not over yet though.
 
Against Nicky...

Icon of Sin said:
My worst happened last night... want to hear others stories...
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Playing a race to 5 at the 1981 BCA National 8-ball event, I was so tight I missed a ball that was less than 2 inches from the side pocket. If I make it, the score is 4-3 Varner with me breaking...of course Nicky ran out and I lost 5-2.
 
I was hosting and playing Black Balled a month or two ago for a few bucks, even. Race to 5, 10 ball. Had him down 4 - 1. I had it in the bag baby! So, I prematurely took a trip to the bar and got me a Long Island Iced Tea, while entertaining visions of starting a thread entitled something like "I thrashed BB, the reigning Maryland state 9B champ!".

I don't recall from there any specific shot I dogged. Nor do I remember ever seeing a full ball to shoot at. BB took the cash! Then that sneaky tricycle riding sob ;) went to the barkeep and took care of the tab. Class act. I want revenge BB. My nightmares won't stop! :grin:
 
Hardtimes Humbler I

I think I've told this before, but was embarrassing enough to repeat:

First time at HT Bellflower ist Sunday tournament. Had just started back playing after 25 years. Thot I was ready. Not.

I won the coin toss. I was nervous. I (tried to break hard) broke and somehow trapped the cb under the shaft on the follow thru. Opponent says break again.

I did the exact same thing again. Brutally embarrassing. (Kind of like topping the ball on the tee so bad that it pops straight up to eye level.)

The other guy decided to break...I don't remember much after that. I lost 5-0 quickly. I left just as quickly after shaking opponents hand without eye contact.

I went back down to instructional league.:embarrassed2:
 
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