I played in the American Straight Pool Championship at Diamond Billiards in Richmond, VA, around....2013ish? It was filled with monsters (see attached photo). Karen played SO superb, dusting off champion after champion and ended up taking second place to Darren Appleton. She was something else!
I'm just a C+ player, but my friends who owned Diamond Billiards were kind enough to ask if "I" wanted to play (they knew I liked straight pool), so they sponsored me into the tourney. I was excited! Got to chat with Darren a little bit, a real gent! I forget the first pro I played, but he beat me handily. The second guy I played was the great champion Mike Davis. So, first of all, we are playing in front of a big crowd (most of which are my friends I play and match up with every day). They're there for half moral support - half to shark me. But it was funny.
I break, we have a lengthy safety battle, and I get to the first shot. I run a clean 14, leave a nice break shot..I'm off and running. And I'm strutting around the table like I'm going to run 100, and my pals are laughing and cheering me on. My sponsors were watching and I had to do "something". I make the break shot, run another 12 or 13, and then play safe. I didn't make another point the rest of the game, LOL! But, I was proud of my little 26 in a pro tournament.
The last guy I played, same story. He was an older gent from New York, but he was a stone cold straight pool champion and he took third in the tournament! Same exact scenario, though. I get to the first shot, run like a 25...and then never score another point. But, I was proud of my performance. I was definitely outclassed, but didn't dog it. I'll never forget that experience. I've attached a photo from the event. I'm in that little crowd, somewhere.