My Fargorate progression

[BasementDweller]

The TD invited me to to their next week's event, which was a 500 added split bracket at the same venue, with #6 being the max handicap allowed. I was worried about it taking forever. Their prior event at another room started Sat at noon and ended Sun at 8AM. It had 70 players, double elimination 10 ball. This one was capped at 32 players, short races, and 9 ball. So I felt it could be done around 1am.

35 players showed up. I won my first match, lost my next 2.

The ratings are close, but nowhere near as good as fargorate. The person who beat me the second match was rated 5, same as me, but is a 633 with 1200 robustness. She went for the first blind bid.

And another guy is 584 with 992 robustness and rated a 4. (I'm a 572 currently). These two examples were the only two I actually knew from before and knew could play and had lots of fargo robustness as they are like me and travel a lot to play.

Anyway, I lose, and it's still early, maybe 4pm, and I'm killing time. I hit balls for a couple racks with a banger, who didn't know how to play 9 ball. I showed him how to rack, with the 9 in the middle.

(the tournament ended up finishing at 8pm, the last two players chopped it. I was super pleased it ended early).

Then a guy I played in the prior week's tournament asked me to play. I remember we played a race to 3 and it went hill-hill in the tournament. He didn't really impress me, but I didn't remember too much. I asked do you want to play cheap? He said what's cheap? I say 5 a game? He says let's play a race to 3 for 100. I say ok. We go to the 9' Diamond, and he then asks how about race to 5 for 200 instead. I say ok.

Now, this guy is jumping around, hooting and hollering, riding the 9, and has his friends cheering him on. He's flying high and beats me 5-1. I message a friend of mine and say: "now I know how it feels to play me!" (I've been known to do the same thing depending on who I'm playing).

Second set I win 5-2. He's a little quieter. ha ha.
Third set we raise the bet to 300, I win 5-1.
4th set I lose 1-5. We are even.

He is playing fast and lose and getting out. But I know I play better watching him now a few sets.

5th set I lose 2-5. I'm down 300 now.
He has a corporation all in with him. I ask is anyone betting on me? ha ha

6th set is for 300 and goes hill hill. We back up jack up to 500.
7th set is race to 5 for 500. It goes hill hill. We back up and jack up to 600.
8th set is race to 5 for 600. It goes hill hill. We back up and jack up to 700.
9th set is race to 5 for 700. I win 5-3. I'm up 400 now.
10 set is race to 5 for 700. I win 5-1. I'm up 1100 now. All his partners drop out.
11th set is race to 5 for 700. I win 5-3. I'm up 1800. He finally quits and says he can't beat me.

I counted up the games when I went home, and ended up 44-39 (including the 3-2 tournament win). He should have beaten me though. He dogged at least 5 9 balls, no lie, and maybe 5 more 8 balls that were all pretty easy.

I haven't gambled this much in years. I can't even remember the last time.

Some of the outs I made on the 9' Diamond were super, super nice. I went home with a big smile again. I think because I played really well (at times), more so than the money. ha ha. The room opened up in Nov, but I'm not sure if the cloth on the 9' Diamond was older. It felt more like 1 year old cloth than 1 month old cloth. Anyway, the table was playing tough, and I impressed myself at times.

Proceed with caution as you're entering "Bald Mike" territory. I believe your story though.

Do the math.

 

[highkarate]

The TD invited me to to their next week's event, which was a 500 added split bracket at the same venue, with #6 being the max handicap allowed. I was worried about it taking forever. Their prior event at another room started Sat at noon and ended Sun at 8AM. It had 70 players, double elimination 10 ball. This one was capped at 32 players, short races, and 9 ball. So I felt it could be done around 1am.

35 players showed up. I won my first match, lost my next 2.

The ratings are close, but nowhere near as good as fargorate. The person who beat me the second match was rated 5, same as me, but is a 633 with 1200 robustness. She went for the first blind bid.

And another guy is 584 with 992 robustness and rated a 4. (I'm a 572 currently). These two examples were the only two I actually knew from before and knew could play and had lots of fargo robustness as they are like me and travel a lot to play.

Anyway, I lose, and it's still early, maybe 4pm, and I'm killing time. I hit balls for a couple racks with a banger, who didn't know how to play 9 ball. I showed him how to rack, with the 9 in the middle.

(the tournament ended up finishing at 8pm, the last two players chopped it. I was super pleased it ended early).

Then a guy I played in the prior week's tournament asked me to play. I remember we played a race to 3 and it went hill-hill in the tournament. He didn't really impress me, but I didn't remember too much. I asked do you want to play cheap? He said what's cheap? I say 5 a game? He says let's play a race to 3 for 100. I say ok. We go to the 9' Diamond, and he then asks how about race to 5 for 200 instead. I say ok.

Now, this guy is jumping around, hooting and hollering, riding the 9, and has his friends cheering him on. He's flying high and beats me 5-1. I message a friend of mine and say: "now I know how it feels to play me!" (I've been known to do the same thing depending on who I'm playing).

Second set I win 5-2. He's a little quieter. ha ha.
Third set we raise the bet to 300, I win 5-1.
4th set I lose 1-5. We are even.

He is playing fast and loose and getting out. But I know I play better watching him now a few sets.

5th set I lose 2-5. I'm down 300 now.
He has a corporation all in with him. I ask is anyone betting on me? ha ha

6th set is for 300 and goes hill hill. We back up jack up to 500.
7th set is race to 5 for 500. It goes hill hill. We back up and jack up to 600.

8th set is race to 5 for 600. It goes hill hill. He asks what now? I say I'm going to the bathroom now, when I come back, you all tell me what the new bet is. We back up and jack up to 700.

9th set is race to 5 for 700. I win 5-3. I'm up 400 now.
10 set is race to 5 for 700. I win 5-1. I'm up 1100 now. All his partners drop out.
11th set is race to 5 for 700. I win 5-3. I'm up 1800. He finally quits and says he can't beat me.

I counted up the games when I went home, and ended up 44-39 (including the 3-2 tournament win). He should have beaten me though. He dogged at least 5 9 balls, no lie, and maybe 5 more 8 balls that were all pretty easy.

I haven't gambled this much in years. I can't even remember the last time.

Some of the outs I made on the 9' Diamond were super, super nice. I went home with a big smile again. I think because I played really well (at times), more so than the money. ha ha. The room opened up in Nov, but I'm not sure if the cloth on the 9' Diamond was older. It felt more like 1 year old cloth than 1 month old cloth. Anyway, the table was playing tough, and I impressed myself at times.

Good stuff I’m jealous that sounds fun

 

[iusedtoberich]

Proceed with caution as you're entering "Bald Mike" territory. I believe your story though.

Do the math.

ha ha ha! That's funny as hell.

I got the money in paper after each set, and some venmo at the end.

Funny, when I was 18 or so in the mid 1990's, we usually played a game 2, 5, 10, 15, for $5 a weigh (or way?) I think we called it. We usually played it 4-6 handed. One day, one of the regulars and me played it 1 on 1. He said let's play 20 a weigh. That was a lot, more than we ever did. I end up winning a few hundred. Then we go to 50 a weigh. Then 100. You know the rest. I end up winning 8,000. At the end, he says "you know you're not getting all of it". I said "I know. How about you give me 800, since you beat me for that a few weeks ago". (true). He says yes, that's fair. I pay his time.

Looking back now, I think the last game must have been for 1000 a weigh. ha ha ha.

I never see him again, never get a dime, and he was there every day before then.

A couple years later, his little brother starts coming in and becoming a regular. I didn't even know it was his brother at first. He ends up telling me his big brother was so embarrassed and never came back. I was cracking up.

 

[iusedtoberich]

My recent gambling reminded me I like gambling a lot more than tournaments. You get so much more play, and get a chance to really get in stroke, and also test yourself better I think.

The one upside to tournaments is the table time is cheaper if you end up playing the whole day. And if they are fargorated, you get that benefit to see where you stand.

Downside to tournaments is all the waiting in between rounds, and it just doesn't feel as serious as gambling sometimes.

Gambling with Salotto I've found takes so many extra steps its a pain in the butt and takes the flow out of the session.

 

[iusedtoberich]

I'll be on the stream tonight at 8PM. I'm playing my 25 year friend 10 ball on the Diamond 7', using the same format/rules as the $1000 entry 578 and under I'm in in a few weeks. He is a 595, I'm a 572. He was the 7 better than me 25 years ago, but he quit for 20 years and just recently came back a couple years ago. We have gone back and forth this year. I feel good and feel I can take him.

PA ProAm pool on YouTube. This is the page, but the direct link is not ready yet. https://www.youtube.com/@PaProampool/featured

 

[iusedtoberich]

Corrected link:

Set 1 (match starts at 11 min):

Set 2:

2 pack on set 2 starting here 48:28:

PA Pro-Am presents Battles at Bluegrass Episode VIII - Doug Cogliano Vs Nick Papageorge Set 2

PA Pro-Am presents the Battles at Bluegrass Episode VIIIDoug Cogliano (597) Vs Nick Papageorge (572)Set 2 Race to 9Live from Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelp...

www.youtube.com

 

[ShortBusRuss]

Direct link

Bad link. I tried to post the correct one, but the forum won't accept the live link.

 

[JazzyJeff87]

I'll be on the stream tonight at 8PM. I'm playing my 25 year friend 10 ball on the Diamond 7', using the same format/rules as the $1000 entry 578 and under I'm in in a few weeks. He is a 595, I'm a 572. He was the 7 better than me 25 years ago, but he quit for 20 years and just recently came back a couple years ago. We have gone back and forth this year. I feel good and feel I can take him.

PA ProAm pool on YouTube. This is the page, but the direct link is not ready yet. https://www.youtube.com/@PaProampool/featured

This link worked for me. Just tuned in, saw your guy sink that combo on the 10. Don’t take any guff from this swine!

lol im sure he’s a nice guy but that’s my 2nd favorite saying. Rock on brother

 

[loggerhead12]

Thanks, that was entertaining. The shot to shape the 6 at the end of the first set was brilliant.

Like the announcers - "I think he yelled YOLO before shooting the 3 . . ."

I'm about a year behind you but hopefully on the same Fargo trajectory.

 

[iusedtoberich]

I won set 1 9-3. Set 2 I was down 0-3, then won 7 games in a row. Couldn't close it out. Lost set 2 7-9.

Funny, in the moment, I thought I played great almost all of set 1. And in the moment during set 2, I thought I got a ton of rolls and was not playing as well as set 1. When I went home and watched the whole match, I thought I played bad watching myself. ha ha.

I did have a 2-pack, I think my first in 10 ball. I also had a lot of super nice shots (to me anyway).

It was a good match, and I definitely went up the fargo ladder. We scored it on Solatto.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Thanks, that was entertaining. The shot to shape the 6 at the end of the first set was brilliant.

Like the announcers - "I think he yelled YOLO before shooting the 3 . . ."

I'm about a year behind you but hopefully on the same Fargo trajectory.

Thanks! I was looking at that path from right after the break. I was so disappointed I got the shape and then missed the next shot.

 

[ShortBusRuss]

Thanks! I was looking at that path from right after the break. I was so disappointed I got the shape and then missed the next shot.

I watched a few hours myself.. I agree, the first set was well played on your part, and you struggled a bit in the second. Opponent seemed to be struggling with fundamentals and thinking processes at first, and improved (a bit) later in the second set.

If you are looking for constructive criticism....

You had a draw shot late in the second match at a critical point.. (I think you were on 7, trying to get to 8..) You had three balls left on the table, and ended up nearly dead straight, a d needed a precision draw of about a foot or so, to get a workable shot on the next to last ball.. You set up on the shot, and I immediately thought.. "His bridge is miles too long... He is gonna have trouble controlling this draw..."

Result: Overdrew the draw, and ended on top of the ball.

Now... The takeaway here is... When you need to draw a precise amount.. A smooth draw with a long bridge.. Is not the way to go. This was a major problem for me in my early 20s, until I watched more professional play. What works a bit better is to move bridge hand closer to the CB, shot a half tip below center, and punch the ball back, instead of trying to smooth draw the CB back... A major clue when watching pros is they tend to strike these type of controlled draws "crisply".

Watching your first set, I both saw myself, and saw chatters mention, that you were punching the ball more on a lot of shots... This leads to both good control, and accurate shot making. What it seemed like to me from watching your play is.. You have not incorporated "half a tip to a tip above/below center" on shots requiring either precise amounts of follow/draw when straight in, or adjusting your tangent forward/backward by a precise amount, when stunning off of an angled shot.

A good player to illustrate what I am talking about is Joshua Filler. He uses stun heavily, and is extremely accurate when striking slightly above/below center to either get a precise amount of stun follow/draw when straight in, or in producing slight adjustments to the tangent line when cutting balls. It's this heavy use of stun that results in Filler always seeming to hit the ball "crisply", meaning he is always going to be "dogproofing" the stroke. Filler takes this to such an extreme, that when he lays on a angle where that speed just simply does not lay naturally for the position required, he will ALWAYS choose the position route that incorporates an extra few feet of travel, to make sure he can strike the cue ball to still have some slide to it as it is approaching the OB.

Feijen, when he was playing his very best, is another good example of this. Don't know how clear I communicated all this. Send me a PM if you have any questions..