have you ever been in dead stroke & been beat??

asn130

asn130

Night owl
Silver Member
Just wondering. Everytime deadstroke has happened to me, i kinda go into a trance where i don't rack anymore. (not that it happens very often :p )

When i've watched 2 players match up & one of them gets into dead stroke, the other guy kinda (usually) gets a defeatist attitude & pretty soon is playing below his/her normal speed. I've always wanted to see 2 good or great players both get into deadstroke & watch.

To me, there is a difference between playing your best game & dead stroke. I've played my best game & gotten beat many many times.

I guess how i define dead stroke is: Every ball goes from everywhere, speed is perfect, stroke is perfect. You gain the ability to make balls that don't go. And the funny part is, when they go, you aren't supprised.

It's only happened to me 3 times in my life (been playing 15yrs).

The first time happened after i had only been playing for 2 years & didn't know anything about playing shape on the next ball. It lasted for about a week & the shots i was pulling off during that week, i will never be able to do again. Period. But boy was it fun.

The other two times, it only lasted for a few hours & was gone.
 
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Watch Mika vs. Jim Rempe at the '98 U.S. Open or Mika vs. Efren at the 8-ball round robin. You'll have a chance to see a player lose although he's in dead stroke!
 
My answer to you title question:

If you haven't, you must not be playing against the right people. ;)
 
If you aren't getting to the table it doesn't matter how good you're playing. Unfortunately, that's a huge difference in the game we play and a game like golf where, if you go out and play fantastic, no one can take it away from you. The best they can do is go out there and play better. In pool, you might be playing the best pool of your life but never get a chance to win because either your opponent isn't letting you to the table or the balls are just rolling bad for you. So, yeah. I've been in dead stroke and lost. Everyone has.
 
VIProfessor said:
Watch Mika vs. Jim Rempe at the '98 U.S. Open or Mika vs. Efren at the 8-ball round robin. You'll have a chance to see a player lose although he's in dead stroke!
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i just ordered the Mika vs. Jim Rempe match. can't wait to watch it.
 
I've lost matches where the only times I failed to pocket a ball was on the break. That makes me playing 'almost' perfect pool with the exception of the breaks. That also means that my opponents played perfect pool that included most or all of their breaks. Most memorable was a race to 5 in a local weekly tournament. My opponent came up empty on the first break and I got out through the back door. I then broke and ran the next two racks making the score 3-0 and thinking I'm pretty much home free. On the 4th rack, I came up empty on the break, and the guy ran the rack out. Score 3-1. He put a 3 pack together to make it 3-4 in his favor. On the last rack, he ended up pocketing a ball, but with no look at the one so he played a push out that I declined. He then clipped the one in with a nice kick and was home free for the 3-5 win. I made three mistakes throughout the whole match, and two of those three were arguable. First, I lost the lag for the first break, but he came up empty and I ran it out so the first mistake didn't hurt me. My next mistake was not pocketing anything on the break on the 4th rack. This cost me 4 games. The final mistake was electing not to kick at the push out. I was sure I could kick it, but not safely and likely leaving it open so I gambled with the hopes that he'd do exactly what I feared I thought I might do. This cost me the 5th and final game.
Lessons learned: The importance of the break, and most of all if you are sure you can avoid fouling when faced with a push out, take the shot because anything can happen. And it's better that one of those "anything can happen" shots happens to you and not your opponent.
dave
 
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Tokyo-dave said:
I've lost matches where the only times I failed to pocket a ball was on the break. That makes me playing 'almost' perfect pool with the exception of the breaks. That also means that my opponents played perfect pool that included most or all of their breaks. Most memorable was a race to 5 in a local weekly tournament. My opponent came up empty on the first break and I got out through the back door. I then broke and ran the next two racks making the score 3-0 and thinking I'm pretty much home free. On the 4th rack, I came up empty on the break, and the guy ran the rack out. Score 3-1. He put a 3 pack together to make it 3-4 in his favor. On the last rack, he ended up pocketing a ball, but with no look at the one so he played a push out that I declined. He then clipped the one in with a nice kick and was home free for the 3-5 win. I made three mistakes throughout the whole match, and two of those three were arguable. First, I lost the lag for the first break, but he came up empty and I ran it out so the first mistake didn't hurt me. My next mistake was not pocketing anything on the break on the 4th rack. This cost me 4 games. The final mistake was electing not to kick at the push out. I was sure I could kick it, but not safely and likely leaving it open so I gambled with the hopes that he'd do exactly what I feared I thought I might do. This cost me the 5th and final game.
Lessons learned: The importance of the break, and most of all if you are sure you can avoid fouling when faced with a push out, take the shot because anything can happen. And it's better that one of those "anything can happen" shots happens to you and not your opponent.
dave
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that's kinda what i was talking about, but not quite. It sounds like you did everything you could have done & got beat by the rolls. Sounds like you played perfectly

To me, there is a difference between playing your best game & dead stroke. I've played my best game & gotten beat many many times.

I guess how i define dead stroke is: Every ball goes from everywhere, speed is perfect, stroke is perfect. You gain the ability to make balls that don't go. And the funny part is, when they go, you aren't supprised.

It's only happened to me 3 times in my life (been playing 15yrs).

The first time happened after i had only been playing for 2 years & didn't know anything about playing shape on the next ball. It lasted for about a week & the shots i was pulling off during that week, i will never be able to do again. Period. But boy was it fun.

The other two times, it only lasted for a few hours & was gone.
 
Yeah I have. Lost to Oliver Ortmann in 8-ball European Championships.

Lost the lag, Ollie ran to 3-0 and broke dry, I ran to 3-1 and in the following rack ended up having no shot, Ollie ran to 6-1 and broke dry, I ran to 6-4 and missed a difficult long shot that required perfect cueball control and Ollie ran out 8-4. Wasn't really disgusted because I was able to put up a good fight against him without a true chance to win the match. :confused:
 
SILVER__WOMBAT said:
if you havent...then your prolly not playing pool
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Not sure how long you've been playing wombat, but re-read my first post & see if you know what i mean. (i just edited it with my definition of dead stroke)

When it happens it's the greatest feeling in the world. :D :D
 
mjantti said:
Yeah I have. Lost to Oliver Ortmann in 8-ball European Championships.

Lost the lag, Ollie ran to 3-0 and broke dry, I ran to 3-1 and in the following rack ended up having no shot, Ollie ran to 6-1 and broke dry, I ran to 6-4 and missed a difficult long shot that required perfect cueball control and Ollie ran out 8-4. Wasn't really disgusted because I was able to put up a good fight against him without a true chance to win the match. :confused:
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doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. Can't be mad about that.;)
 
asn130 said:
doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. Can't be mad about that.;)
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Thanks. Exactly what I thought after I managed to get over with the disappointment of losing and crashing out of the tournament. Can't understand how Ollie was in the loser side early in the tournament and then whooped my a$$ like that :)

Oh, another 8-ball match I lost being in dead stroke was in the Finnish Champs Team Finals. In semis I beat a tough guy 8-2 without missing a shot. Went to the final with high expectations and in dead stroke. Won the lag and broke a thunderous break which gathered 10 balls in the kitchen area (!), but unfortunately was still dry and my opponent proceeded to clear the table and run 6 more to lead 7-0 but then he came up dry on the break. I ran to 7-2 with a couple of really difficult shots and came up dry on the break again and my opponent promptly cleared the table for 8-2 win. Accu-stat stats 1.000 for both players ;)
 
Yes.

Against Johnny Archer at the Nashville tourney at J.O.B. Billiards.

I never missed a ball.
 
Anybody seen that Reyes vs. Wetch match where Jimmy didn't miss a ball, and lost 11-0? Efren shot 1.000 and Jimmy shot 0 times (two kicks and a safety).
 
Many times but this one stands out in my mind:
This happened to me at an event @ Jackpot Junction in Minnosota. 8ball, race to 5, alternate breaks, Diamond Smart 7' tables....first match I lose the flip, we stay on serve so I lose 5-4. Second match I lose the flip, we stay on serve so I lose 5-4....all games were runouts. I ended up get knee walking drunk and making expenses making stupid side bets on the rest of the events matches...turned out to be a fun day...:)
 
yes

yeah i've been in dead stroke in tournaments and got beat.action u can always keep playin.usually at least break even.
 
It has happened to me, but it didn't sting because of the generous words of my opponent. I played Tony Robles a race to 150 in straight pool once. I got four turns and made at least thirty in each of them, losing 150 - 129. When you average 32 an innning and lose, you just have to deal with it.
 
dead stroke

Yes, I have lost while I was in dead stroke. You know what, I don't feel bad when I loose because I'm happy that I'm even in dead stroke.:)
 
Great 3-cushion loss...

I once played in a 3-cushion tournament...15-pt matches...i scored 13 points in 3 shots and lost 15-13...sheesh...
 
lsabado said:
Yes, I have lost while I was in dead stroke. You know what, I don't feel bad when I loose because I'm happy that I'm even in dead stroke.:)
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I totally agree. Anytime i can get into dead stroke, I just feel lucky that the pool gods smiled at me that day.

When i started this thread, i wasn't really thinking about tournament play, i was thinking more about money matches. Where you aren't limited to a set race.

It really is true that you can lose in a tournament even if you are playing better than anyone on earth.

I've always kinda looked at it like this: I don't ever mind getting beat, i just hate to lose. Meaning: If i do everything i am capable of doing correcty & lose, i don't mind. But if i make a simple mistake & lose, it bothers me.
 
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