Maryland 14.1 Tournament - my story and AWARDS

Steve Lipsky said:
About the stroke, I've never paid any attention to fundamentals and I'd be terrified if someone tried to adjust anything to my back arm.

I'm a believer that any reasonable stroke can work.

Willie, .... my biggest advice to you would be to try to increase the pace of your game just slightly.

My major straight pool influence has been Danny Barouty,

- Steve
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Steve,
You are very lucky to have fallen into a stroke like that (mechanically one of the most perfect I have seen). Anyone who tried to "adjust" that stroke has rocks in their head; it is basically that "perfect" stroke that the stroke guru's talk about.

I did get to see Danny Barouty play a fair bit (one of my missions for this event). He definitely was impressive with tons of patterns requiring minimal cueball movement. I hope to see both of you play some more in the future.

You are right on target with the "pace of play" advice. I'll e-mail you with the details; but basically I had a new stroke change the day before the tournament, a new aiming system the week before the tournament, the pressure of playing someone who just hit me with a 67, what seemed like incredibly difficult layouts, and the added pressure of the AZB spectators in attendance. That's all of the excuses I could think of for now.

When I arrived Friday, and watched some of these great players; I was immediately struck by the rhythm and looseness of their strokes. I have been developing the mechanics of my stroke for almost 2 years now; and I have only recently tried to get some rhythm and smoothness into the stroke. Once I do that (and can get my stroke where it feels grooved/automatic), I DEFINITELY plan to pick up the pace some.

Every stroke I had to think about the layout, then think about the correct shot, then think about what swing thoughts I would concentrate on, then correlate the 2 separate aiming systems I'm working through. Just too ponderous; but only temporary.

Thanks for all of your help; it is much appreciated.
 
Kay was impressed by the idea that there was no one at the tournament wearing jeans. The whole thing was a class act.

We have Williebetmore’s autograph and will hold it until he wins the 14.1 championship. At that point we may consider its historical value and give to the Smithsonian.

Tried to get Steve's autograph but it just didn't work out.
 
COLLECTION GURU said:
IT IS A CINCH YOU ARE NOT AN EYE DR.!!! THERE WAS A HUGE GUY WEARING BLACK THAT LOOKED SMOOTH TO ME AND MANY OTHER FANS; PERHAPS YOU DIDN'T NOTICE HIM BUT HE WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR.
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CG,
I stand corrected....that big guy had the best stroke I've ever seen.....now can you loan me that twenty bucks?
 
Williebetmore said:
Joe,
I'm free Sat. & Sun. June 23rd & 24th. PM me if you are interested in playing.
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Don, Check your PM's. I am good to play on the 24th if that still works for you.

Thanks, Joe
 
Williebetmore said:
breakup,
I feel like I'm in an American Express commercial.

Flight to Maryland = $300.

Entry fee to tournament = $150.

Lessons and tips from the greats of the game = $3 (I had to buy coffee for some of them).

Cocktail party, socializing with some of the greats = $30 (I had to buy a new shirt, otherwise it was free).

Seat to watch the greats play close-up = $3 (that coffee thing again).

Knowing that breakup was at the same time chewing on some stale marmot jerky while wondering why his "Grizzly Bear Petting Zoo" idea was not working out = PRICELESS

P.S. - Here is a picture of the last match I got to sit and watch.....poor me. Thanks to BANKONIT for the photo.
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wondering if he will show off the other pictures he took throughout the event - did he mention?

thanks.
 
JoeW said:
Kay was impressed by the idea that there was no one at the tournament wearing jeans. The whole thing was a class act.

We have Williebetmore’s autograph and will hold it until he wins the 14.1 championship. At that point we may consider its historical value and give to the Smithsonian.

.
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Joe,
The tournament dress code was "no jeans"; a nice touch.

The autograph you have is actually NOT the first one I've given. About 3 or 4 years ago at DCC I was watching a match of a very famous player who is a friend. I was running errands for the player; and one of the fans came up to me and said, "hey, I saw your match this morning; you played great (I was NOT entered in the tournament). Can I have your autograph?" That's when I decided to sign "Williebetmore", and the guy looked happy.

It is entirely possible that the Smithsonian may purchase the valuable autograph from that other guy - perhaps you could put out a contract on him.
 
9balllvr said:
wondering if he will show off the other pictures he took throughout the event - did he mention?

thanks.
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9B,
BANKONIT e-mailed a bunch of photo's to me. I asked him to post on the main forum. If he doesn't after awhile; maybe I'll ask him if I can. Perhaps a few PM's from interested forum members would light a fire under him.
 
This story got buried about six pages back so I wanted to tell it again. It is worth repeating.

Kay and I had a grand time. Great people, nice room, good staff, players, and spectators who were polite, personable, and yes people were more than helpful.

My contribution -- a story. Kay (my wife) has very limited vision and needs to use binoculars to watch a pool match. This was her (and my) first time watching a 14.1 tournament. Thorsten Hohmann has just run about 30 balls and is in the middle of a rack. Kay is about 20 feet away, intensely interested and is using her opera glasses / binoculars. She does not realize that she is staring Hohmann straight in the face over the pocket. He just continues with the shot, makes it and then looks up and, of all things smiles politely at her as if he knew that she had limited vision. He did not know about her problem and showed one helluva lot of class. BTW he was playing a tense game at the time.

But then the whole pool related weekend was like that for us. A sincere thank you to everyone involved. My wife is now and admiring 14.1 groupy (or so I tell her).

BTW, Immonen should not be named the "Ice man." I personally observed him smile and joke around more than once.
 
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Williebetmore said:
9B,
BANKONIT e-mailed a bunch of photo's to me. I asked him to post on the main forum. If he doesn't after awhile; maybe I'll ask him if I can. Perhaps a few PM's from interested forum members would light a fire under him.
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that would be great - i would PM him, however, i need to clean out my message box - it is pretty much full at this point.

looking forward to seeing some pics.

9balllvr
 
Williebetmore said:
Wei,
Well, here is my most memorable shot of the tournament; the text on the table itself explains the situation. I'll try to post some other memorable shots later this weekend if I get the time.

http://CueTable.com/P/?@3KIML3NAVd3..._GOOD).&ZZ3uApM@1KeGD3NAVd3PObK2qQtE&ZZ3uApM@
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Cut the 11 in the corner with high right going 4 rails to slightly underneath the 14 for a perfect break shot?

Sorry, I was not familiar with the Wei table options and saw the bank after I typed this; however, I think this would work as well.

http://CueTable.com/P/?@3KIML3NAVd3..._GOOD).&ZZ3uApM@1KeGD3NAVd3PObK2qQtE&ZZ3uApM@
 
Williebetmore said:
Wei,
Well, here is my most memorable shot of the tournament; the text on the table itself explains the situation. I'll try to post some other memorable shots later this weekend if I get the time.
Click to expand...
That's pretty impressive to pull off after sitting through almost 5 racks (while knowing Steve can easily run another 33 balls :eek: ) Playing 1p all these time all I know is to duck... :o

Btw, just a quick note. You can include a table layout directly in a post now. It will make your post even more interesting and save people another click. Check this thread for details :)

Instructions on Adding a CueTable Layout to Your AZ Post


CueTable Help

 
cuetable said:
That's pretty impressive to pull off after sitting through almost 5 racks (while knowing Steve can easily run another 33 balls :eek: ) Playing 1p all these time all I know is to duck... :o

Btw, just a quick note. You can include a table layout directly in a post now. It will make your post even more interesting and save people another click. Check this thread for details :)
Click to expand...

Wei,
Yes, I was fairly shocked that it went in, shocked also to run another 30. Steve has world class firepower, I didn't want to embarrass myself too badly.

P.S. I tried enclosing the code after the fact (the day after the original post) with the brackets; but it only gave me an empty table - is this embedding something that perhaps only works during the original posting process??
 
Williebetmore said:
Wei,
Yes, I was fairly shocked that it went in, shocked also to run another 30. Steve has world class firepower, I didn't want to embarrass myself too badly.

P.S. I tried enclosing the code after the fact (the day after the original post) with the brackets; but it only gave me an empty table - is this embedding something that perhaps only works during the original posting process??
Click to expand...

You did well, I think Steve would also agree. He must be ready to finish the match in case your shot didn't go. This would keep him entertained :)

Wish I were there... Perhaps another shot?

Note: you might want to check to make sure there is no gap or line gap between [ WEI ] tag and your layout link. The Test Area of the forum is a great place to try things out.
 
cuetable said:
Note: you might want to check to make sure there is no gap or line gap between [ WEI ] tag and your layout link. The Test Area of the forum is a great place to try things out.
Click to expand...

Wei,
No, it still doesn't show anything but a blank table. Oddly enough, I tried the same thing on my post in the Straight Pool section on break shots; and the table was embedded properly. Maybe there is just a glitch in this thread; thanks for the help.

I'll try to recreate a SPECTACULAR straight pool shot executed by Jeanette Lee at a critical point in her match with Mike Davis; I'll try to post it tonight.
 
JDB said:
Cut the 11 in the corner with high right going 4 rails to slightly underneath the 14 for a perfect break shot?

Sorry, I was not familiar with the Wei table options and saw the bank after I typed this; however, I think this would work as well.
Click to expand...

Hi JDB,

That shot was not available to him. The cut on the 11 was so thin there's no way he could have gotten the cueball to the opposite end cushion as his second rail.

The sick thing about his shot is the speed he played it at. Just firm enough to get to the pocket, to hold the position for the break shot. On unfamiliar equipment, it was a hell of a shot.

I remember thinking to myself as he shot it, "Wow... he's not really going to play THIS is he?? I must have put him in a real coma with my run. Wait, seems to be a problem, he's stroked it perfectly. Wait, the 11 is going to the heart of that side pocket. Well, at least he's not really going to get posi... wait, hmmm, he's perfect. Who the $*(@&# is this guy???"

- Steve
 
Williebetmore said:
Wei,
No, it still doesn't show anything but a blank table. Oddly enough, I tried the same thing on my post in the Straight Pool section on break shots; and the table was embedded properly. Maybe there is just a glitch in this thread; thanks for the help.

I'll try to recreate a SPECTACULAR straight pool shot executed by Jeanette Lee at a critical point in her match with Mike Davis; I'll try to post it tonight.
Click to expand...


If you can pm the layout link to me, I will take a look. I have thought of a possible cause but need to see the link just to be sure...

I promise I won't spoil it.. :rolleyes:
 
Steve Lipsky said:
I remember thinking to myself ................... Who the $*(@&# is this guy???"

- Steve
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Steve,
I'm flattered (..........I think). Had the pockets not been so generous; I might have considered a safety play. After watching you shoot, though, I considered my chances of getting back to the table somewhat slim after any safety exchange. The larger pockets DEFINITELY made my usual safety game significantly less effective (this was my first ever venture onto loose equipment).

I did learn pool initially from George Breedlove, and I am not sure I've developed the proper appreciation for what is difficult, and what isn't. He tries the most incredible shots on a routine basis; it is natural to want to emulate such shots; and I love to make the spectacular ones.

Here are 2 of my shots for Wei from a straight pool game against AZB'er "eales" (I know I'll need a witness). There are 2 pages on the cuetable diagram.

CueTable Help

 
cuetable said:
Wish I were there... Perhaps another shot?
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Wei,
Here is the shot of the tournament, made by Jeanette Lee in the match against Mike Davis....very close match, this was crunch time. JL comes to the table after Mike misses; but doesn't have a lot to work with. The solution (like the player who figured it and executed it) was both elegant and beautiful.

There are 4 pages to the diagram:

CueTable Help

 
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