A couple of disclaimers, up front. This will likely be long (I'm like that), so I apologize up front. And this is referring to an APA tournament (though I suspect it would apply in general terms) so if anything regarding APA offends your sensibilities, this is your warning. 
I got to play in our end-of-session Best of the Best tournament yesterday, 9-ball version. Here in our territory, you have to finish in the top 20 in your division, in winning percentage, in order to qualify for this tournament. It is a $20 entry, all money paid out, the number of places based on the number of entrants. It isn't divided by Skill Level, so everyone plays everyone, depending on where you were drawn in the bracket. (Blind draw, of course.) We play matches based on our skill level, just as we would during league play, though there is no accounting for innings, as the scores aren't reported. You just have to score the required amount for your Skill Level before the other guy does.
I have been fortunate enough to play in a couple of these over my short 2 and a half years of playing pool. So I'm not completely new to the experience, though I am still "new" as far as "being experienced", if that makes any sense. I ate reasonably, and nursed 2 beers over the course of 8 hours, so I handled all of that part pretty well, imho.
As we are fairly remote, and in the northern "half" of our LO's territory, we only draw from 5 divisions in 9-ball, currently. Still, that means there are 100 players qualified and invited. We had 22 show up for this tournament. The Skill Levels varied from SL2 to SL8, with the bulk being SL4's and SL5's. (I'm an SL4.)
I got what I considered a pretty favorable draw, with more of the "better" players (by my estimation) on the other half of the bracket. (Still, all of these players made it to the top 20 in their divisions, so they had to play well enough to win some matches.) As a result, I made it fairly deep into the winners side. I got knocked to the other side by an SL5 who was pretty good, though he was having a bad game of it, early on. Problem was, I was, too. Still, I managed to hang in, and had a chance to win, if I had closed out a run. It was right there for me, all I had to do was execute. Sigh. Missed opportunity.
Then I had to wait. Turned out that I was going to get the winner of the one SL8 and the one SL7, who had both somehow gotten bumped over to the other side of the bracket. (Probably one sent the other there, only to be followed later in the bracket.) I wasn't freaked out, much, and kind of looking forward to it. I had no illusions that I was going in likely to win, but looking to give them a good match and see what happened.
The SL8 won. He is regarding pretty highly around the state, certainly one of the better players we have, make the trip to nationals most every year, either singles, doubles, teams or some combination. I confess, as we started, I think I let that fact get to me some, as he was running balls effortlessly. (That was fun to watch. It was a strange feeling, watching your opponent scoring so much, so often, so seeming easily. I smiled watching it.)
Still, I went in and got what I could, when I could. Picked away, made a couple few ball runs. I was shocked when the score keeper told me we were down to about 5 or 6 points away, each of us. (For those who don't know, an SL4 has to get to 31 before an SL8 has to get to 65.) Now I started thinking, probably too much. We trade a few, and he made a surprisingly unexpected error, and left me an open shot on the 3. Of course, I overthought it, and tried to get too fancy for position on the 4, and screwed it up. That was it.
I finished tied for 5th, and got my entry fee back, plus a little. I was the last person from my division in the bracket. I told myself, that I played well much of the time, and learned some stuff, as well. Now comes the hard part. Stopping myself from being too disappointed and upset with myself for letting the opportunity slip away. And how to really "learn" from it. How to manage myself and my game better, so that I don't do that again.
We don't have actual "tournaments" here very often. So as much as I would like to jump back in and try again, it's not likely, right away. No, I'm not interested in gambling, for a variety of reasons. I simply want to learn how to execute and minimize my mistakes.
That's it. I did have a great time, and I did play well for some stretchs as well. I hope others can have as good a time as I did. And I hope that I really can "learn" from it.
Missed opportunites, darn it!
I got to play in our end-of-session Best of the Best tournament yesterday, 9-ball version. Here in our territory, you have to finish in the top 20 in your division, in winning percentage, in order to qualify for this tournament. It is a $20 entry, all money paid out, the number of places based on the number of entrants. It isn't divided by Skill Level, so everyone plays everyone, depending on where you were drawn in the bracket. (Blind draw, of course.) We play matches based on our skill level, just as we would during league play, though there is no accounting for innings, as the scores aren't reported. You just have to score the required amount for your Skill Level before the other guy does.
I have been fortunate enough to play in a couple of these over my short 2 and a half years of playing pool. So I'm not completely new to the experience, though I am still "new" as far as "being experienced", if that makes any sense. I ate reasonably, and nursed 2 beers over the course of 8 hours, so I handled all of that part pretty well, imho.
As we are fairly remote, and in the northern "half" of our LO's territory, we only draw from 5 divisions in 9-ball, currently. Still, that means there are 100 players qualified and invited. We had 22 show up for this tournament. The Skill Levels varied from SL2 to SL8, with the bulk being SL4's and SL5's. (I'm an SL4.)
I got what I considered a pretty favorable draw, with more of the "better" players (by my estimation) on the other half of the bracket. (Still, all of these players made it to the top 20 in their divisions, so they had to play well enough to win some matches.) As a result, I made it fairly deep into the winners side. I got knocked to the other side by an SL5 who was pretty good, though he was having a bad game of it, early on. Problem was, I was, too. Still, I managed to hang in, and had a chance to win, if I had closed out a run. It was right there for me, all I had to do was execute. Sigh. Missed opportunity.
Then I had to wait. Turned out that I was going to get the winner of the one SL8 and the one SL7, who had both somehow gotten bumped over to the other side of the bracket. (Probably one sent the other there, only to be followed later in the bracket.) I wasn't freaked out, much, and kind of looking forward to it. I had no illusions that I was going in likely to win, but looking to give them a good match and see what happened.
The SL8 won. He is regarding pretty highly around the state, certainly one of the better players we have, make the trip to nationals most every year, either singles, doubles, teams or some combination. I confess, as we started, I think I let that fact get to me some, as he was running balls effortlessly. (That was fun to watch. It was a strange feeling, watching your opponent scoring so much, so often, so seeming easily. I smiled watching it.)
Still, I went in and got what I could, when I could. Picked away, made a couple few ball runs. I was shocked when the score keeper told me we were down to about 5 or 6 points away, each of us. (For those who don't know, an SL4 has to get to 31 before an SL8 has to get to 65.) Now I started thinking, probably too much. We trade a few, and he made a surprisingly unexpected error, and left me an open shot on the 3. Of course, I overthought it, and tried to get too fancy for position on the 4, and screwed it up. That was it.
I finished tied for 5th, and got my entry fee back, plus a little. I was the last person from my division in the bracket. I told myself, that I played well much of the time, and learned some stuff, as well. Now comes the hard part. Stopping myself from being too disappointed and upset with myself for letting the opportunity slip away. And how to really "learn" from it. How to manage myself and my game better, so that I don't do that again.
We don't have actual "tournaments" here very often. So as much as I would like to jump back in and try again, it's not likely, right away. No, I'm not interested in gambling, for a variety of reasons. I simply want to learn how to execute and minimize my mistakes.
That's it. I did have a great time, and I did play well for some stretchs as well. I hope others can have as good a time as I did. And I hope that I really can "learn" from it.
Missed opportunites, darn it!
