Last Friday afternoon I unexpectedly had a couple of hours to kill. I ended up in a poohall. Go figure. I only make it into this room a couple of times a year. The place is known for having very strong players to say the least. The place has a mix of 8 or so 7 foot Valley tables, 8 or so 8 foot Diamonds, 4 9 foot diamonds and 2 billiards tables.
I walk in Friday shortly after lunch. I only have about and hour and a half until I have to go, I expect to just practice a bit. I get some balls and start on Joe Tucker’s brainwash drill. This is a fun way to pass some time.
It does not take long until the guy playing at another 9 foot table starts in wanting to play. “Wanna play some? A little nine ball?” I politely decline, tell him I have to leave soon and that I don’t care much for 9 ball anyhow. “We can play eight ball.” I tell him maybe in a little bit.
I don’t know this guy and I have never seen him before. Of course, that means very little. There are tons of strong players I don’t know. I don’t get out much. However, I can put two and two together. Since walking in I have seen him chatting with the bartender and a couple of other guys I vaguely recognize. He must be at least somewhat regular in the local scene. Any regular at this place that challenges a stranger is going to be at least a couple of balls better then me.
About 5 minutes later he asks “Ready now?” He has been persistent in trying to get me to play, but in a decent way. Not barking, not trying to make a scene out of me not playing him. At this point, I believe that if I tell him I am not interested in playing him today he would drop the whole thing. In my mind, this makes him an ok guy so I decide that I will play him if he is willing to play cheap.
I am fairly confident that he would kill me playing 9 ball. I am not a strong player and I play 9 ball particularly bad. Something about that game just gets in my head and eats away at me. 8 ball is a possibility. I like the game. Still, I have to expect this guy play a pretty sporty game of 8 ball also. Since I am only going to play if we agree on a low wager, I don’t want to ask for a spot. Asking for a spot from a guy I don’t know when playing for a low amount is way to nitty for me. I am not worried about getting robbed, and it would be nice to get into a game that I might have a chance of winning. So a reply, “Yea, I’m ready. How about straight pool?”
This guy could be a straight pool monster, I don’t know, but I figure this is the only game where I may have an edge. He is a young guy, I would guess early twenties. There is a good chance that he has played little if any straights. I am hoping I am more knowledgeable about the game and that will even out his stronger playing skills. I am hoping for a good match up.
He agrees, says he has only played a couple of times. We will use his table. Looking at the time, I only have just over an hour to play. Not a lot of time for straight pool. I suggest we play to 50. He agrees. The subject of money has not come up yet. I break the ice and ask “What do you want to play for?” He says it does matter. I let him know that I will not play for much. He says name the amount. I suggest $20. “No problem” he says.
I rack the balls up and ask him if he want to lag of flip for the break. “Naw, you can break.” This throws me a bit. Could be he really does not know the game and he thinks the break is an advantage like in every other game. Or, he knows the game. Either way, I am ok breaking. I actually prefer to break. Most of the time I have a good break and I leave either no shot or a hard shot.
I take the opening break and make a good one. Two balls, the correct two balls, pop out to the rail and back. The opposite corner balls comes back to the pack, the ball I struck rolls up to the side and about a half ball past the bottom of the rack. The cue goes back deep in the kitchen. Not on the rail, but not hanging out in the middle either. Not an easy shot. Miss to thick the rack will get splatted.
My opponent steps up and play safe, contacting the loose ball putting the cue back up table. If he does not play straight pool, he certainly plays enough pool to avoid obvious mistakes. We trade safeties back a forth for a few innings. He certainly can play a good safety, but I have the better safety game.
At this point, I still really don’t know how good he can play. While I do enjoy trading safeties back and forth until somebody blows it, I prefer something different. The problem with trading safeties until your opponent leaves you a shot is that often the shot does not lead too much. I much prefer to play a safety that leaves a hard shot that will break out balls. More often than not, out of frustration, my opponent will go for the shot, miss, and sell out.
I see a way to play into the rack, leaving a clear shot on a ball in the cluster to the far end of the table. Not a real tough cut, but the cue and object balls are only a couple of inches apart and the shot is long. I think most straight pool players would let this one go. He steps up and drills it. Nothing but net.
The table is not mostly open. He runs five more balls before missing. I think, wow, I was wrong, he is not that good. The first shot was a great shot, but only getting five more balls with an open table says a lot. I can beat this guy easy. Of course, he could be stalling, but I already told him I have to leave at 3, so I did not see much point in that.
I step up to the table confident that I can win this game. Realize that I had not shot a single ball at a pocket yet and we are using his table, not the one I was warming up on. I look the layout over, identify the areas I need to take care of and set to work. Plop, plop, plop go the balls until my seventh shot where I miss. I only managed 6! I was shocked I missed such an easy shot, but it happens. However, something does not seem right. I was not really comfortable on any shot. Then it hits me, wow are these pockets small.
All the nine foot tables are Diamonds, the one I was warming up on had 4.5 inch pockets like I am use to. This was tighter. I grab two balls from the corner pocket and do a quick measure. Holy crap, I have never seen a table this tight. At best, they are 4 inches at the opening.
To make a long story a little shorter, I fell apart. Every time I got down on a shot I was scared. I would second guess my aim and way under hit the ball. I would either miss the shot completely or come up way short of position. The six was my best run of the game. Pathetic, I was sharked by pockets.
I ended up losing 35-50. My opponent never did show much straight pool ability, but I really don’t know if he was holding back or telling me the whole story. It’s hard to say. He did try to get me to play again, but I had no time.
What this table did was expose and magnify all my flaws. The biggest being that I can get knocked out of my game mentally pretty easily. I think it I would have been better off if I had not actually measured the pockets with a couple of balls. While I still would have realized they were tight, I would not have had the 4” number stuck in my head eating away like cancer.
I am now convinced that 4” pockets are the work of the devil. I mean really, isn’t straight pool is about patterns and knowledge? Super tight pockets just don’t seem to fit very well into the spirit of the game. Or, I may just still be a little pissed over the loss.
Anyhow, no real point, just a little slow today at work so I thought I would share.
I walk in Friday shortly after lunch. I only have about and hour and a half until I have to go, I expect to just practice a bit. I get some balls and start on Joe Tucker’s brainwash drill. This is a fun way to pass some time.
It does not take long until the guy playing at another 9 foot table starts in wanting to play. “Wanna play some? A little nine ball?” I politely decline, tell him I have to leave soon and that I don’t care much for 9 ball anyhow. “We can play eight ball.” I tell him maybe in a little bit.
I don’t know this guy and I have never seen him before. Of course, that means very little. There are tons of strong players I don’t know. I don’t get out much. However, I can put two and two together. Since walking in I have seen him chatting with the bartender and a couple of other guys I vaguely recognize. He must be at least somewhat regular in the local scene. Any regular at this place that challenges a stranger is going to be at least a couple of balls better then me.
About 5 minutes later he asks “Ready now?” He has been persistent in trying to get me to play, but in a decent way. Not barking, not trying to make a scene out of me not playing him. At this point, I believe that if I tell him I am not interested in playing him today he would drop the whole thing. In my mind, this makes him an ok guy so I decide that I will play him if he is willing to play cheap.
I am fairly confident that he would kill me playing 9 ball. I am not a strong player and I play 9 ball particularly bad. Something about that game just gets in my head and eats away at me. 8 ball is a possibility. I like the game. Still, I have to expect this guy play a pretty sporty game of 8 ball also. Since I am only going to play if we agree on a low wager, I don’t want to ask for a spot. Asking for a spot from a guy I don’t know when playing for a low amount is way to nitty for me. I am not worried about getting robbed, and it would be nice to get into a game that I might have a chance of winning. So a reply, “Yea, I’m ready. How about straight pool?”
This guy could be a straight pool monster, I don’t know, but I figure this is the only game where I may have an edge. He is a young guy, I would guess early twenties. There is a good chance that he has played little if any straights. I am hoping I am more knowledgeable about the game and that will even out his stronger playing skills. I am hoping for a good match up.
He agrees, says he has only played a couple of times. We will use his table. Looking at the time, I only have just over an hour to play. Not a lot of time for straight pool. I suggest we play to 50. He agrees. The subject of money has not come up yet. I break the ice and ask “What do you want to play for?” He says it does matter. I let him know that I will not play for much. He says name the amount. I suggest $20. “No problem” he says.
I rack the balls up and ask him if he want to lag of flip for the break. “Naw, you can break.” This throws me a bit. Could be he really does not know the game and he thinks the break is an advantage like in every other game. Or, he knows the game. Either way, I am ok breaking. I actually prefer to break. Most of the time I have a good break and I leave either no shot or a hard shot.
I take the opening break and make a good one. Two balls, the correct two balls, pop out to the rail and back. The opposite corner balls comes back to the pack, the ball I struck rolls up to the side and about a half ball past the bottom of the rack. The cue goes back deep in the kitchen. Not on the rail, but not hanging out in the middle either. Not an easy shot. Miss to thick the rack will get splatted.
My opponent steps up and play safe, contacting the loose ball putting the cue back up table. If he does not play straight pool, he certainly plays enough pool to avoid obvious mistakes. We trade safeties back a forth for a few innings. He certainly can play a good safety, but I have the better safety game.
At this point, I still really don’t know how good he can play. While I do enjoy trading safeties back and forth until somebody blows it, I prefer something different. The problem with trading safeties until your opponent leaves you a shot is that often the shot does not lead too much. I much prefer to play a safety that leaves a hard shot that will break out balls. More often than not, out of frustration, my opponent will go for the shot, miss, and sell out.
I see a way to play into the rack, leaving a clear shot on a ball in the cluster to the far end of the table. Not a real tough cut, but the cue and object balls are only a couple of inches apart and the shot is long. I think most straight pool players would let this one go. He steps up and drills it. Nothing but net.
The table is not mostly open. He runs five more balls before missing. I think, wow, I was wrong, he is not that good. The first shot was a great shot, but only getting five more balls with an open table says a lot. I can beat this guy easy. Of course, he could be stalling, but I already told him I have to leave at 3, so I did not see much point in that.
I step up to the table confident that I can win this game. Realize that I had not shot a single ball at a pocket yet and we are using his table, not the one I was warming up on. I look the layout over, identify the areas I need to take care of and set to work. Plop, plop, plop go the balls until my seventh shot where I miss. I only managed 6! I was shocked I missed such an easy shot, but it happens. However, something does not seem right. I was not really comfortable on any shot. Then it hits me, wow are these pockets small.
All the nine foot tables are Diamonds, the one I was warming up on had 4.5 inch pockets like I am use to. This was tighter. I grab two balls from the corner pocket and do a quick measure. Holy crap, I have never seen a table this tight. At best, they are 4 inches at the opening.
To make a long story a little shorter, I fell apart. Every time I got down on a shot I was scared. I would second guess my aim and way under hit the ball. I would either miss the shot completely or come up way short of position. The six was my best run of the game. Pathetic, I was sharked by pockets.
I ended up losing 35-50. My opponent never did show much straight pool ability, but I really don’t know if he was holding back or telling me the whole story. It’s hard to say. He did try to get me to play again, but I had no time.
What this table did was expose and magnify all my flaws. The biggest being that I can get knocked out of my game mentally pretty easily. I think it I would have been better off if I had not actually measured the pockets with a couple of balls. While I still would have realized they were tight, I would not have had the 4” number stuck in my head eating away like cancer.
I am now convinced that 4” pockets are the work of the devil. I mean really, isn’t straight pool is about patterns and knowledge? Super tight pockets just don’t seem to fit very well into the spirit of the game. Or, I may just still be a little pissed over the loss.
Anyhow, no real point, just a little slow today at work so I thought I would share.
). The pro also professes that the pocket sizes do not affect their play in any way; saying "hey, my target is 2 1/2 inches wide; there is PLENTY of room, no matter the pocket size."