NY State "B" Players..

R

robbiecolt

Registered
just wondering if anyone who is a little more travelled than myself can enlighten me on the difference, if any, with B players in different parts of NY state, and indeed different parts of the country. I get that certain areas may have stronger competition, but i was always under my own little delusion that if everyones scores go to the BCA and they keep a national ranking system/database, then it should even itself out. the reason i ask -
I am from upstate NY, and there I am regarded as an "A" (BCA Ranking system). I have a winning record, and i consider myself a decent shot.
I recently stayed a few days in NYC, we went to a few rooms. my friends and I had a few drinks and decided to see if there was any action around. we ended up shooting around with a couple guys from the city. we got to talking and i said "hey, how about a set, race to 11, for $100?". no biggie. he said he was a B+ player at amsterdam billiards, i told him I was a BCA "A" rank. he was happy to play even up, and i assumed it was as we had all had a few drinks.
the guy bust me up 11-3. i had no complaints. he outplayed me in every department, and if i am honest, looked as though he was playing well within himself. i was pretty annoyed obviously. not at the guy, he was very magnanimous. in fact, he offered to play "double or quits" as they say in britain. i jumped at the chance to win my money back. by the time 1.30am rolled around, i was down $400.
anyway, i am just wondering how the different ratings translate in different areas in the country.
i'm new to the whole az forum, so i apologise if this has been discussed before. but i am still reeling from the fact i can't buy my iphone until next month :cool:
 
robbiecolt said:
....he said he was a B+ player at amsterdam billiards, i told him I was a BCA "A" rank. he was happy to play even up....
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Hmmmm....he said he was a lesser player but had no problem playing even....

<whistling>
 
B+, Amsterdam, British... was it Roger?

I find the B-level players in NY play pretty sporty. When I played and lived in Los Angeles, I was active in the USPPA--a west coast handicapped tournament system. According to their rankings, I was roughly a B player when I left LA. But the very next day arriving in New York, I was regarded as a C/C+ player. Two years later and I'm now a B/B+ and feel well certain that if I matched up with Bs in LA, I'd have a pretty decent advantage.

I think NYC has a strong source of the B through A+ level players (though not many pros, certainly not relative to the rest of the country, or perhaps even NYC 40 years ago). I think this really creates a strong competition at that level, so some of the Bs here can be pretty fierce.

Meanwhile, the few pros we have here play super sporty. You know it's pretty tough competition when you have Mika Immonen and Tony Robles playing in the ABC weekly handicapped 9-ball league. I think that having pros of that caliber prevents some of the A+/Open players from moving up in their handicap because they would then have to play Mika or Tony *even* which few people want to do.


robbiecolt said:
just wondering if anyone who is a little more travelled than myself can enlighten me on the difference, if any, with B players in different parts of NY state, and indeed different parts of the country. I get that certain areas may have stronger competition, but i was always under my own little delusion that if everyones scores go to the BCA and they keep a national ranking system/database, then it should even itself out. the reason i ask -
I am from upstate NY, and there I am regarded as an "A" (BCA Ranking system). I have a winning record, and i consider myself a decent shot.
I recently stayed a few days in NYC, we went to a few rooms. my friends and I had a few drinks and decided to see if there was any action around. we ended up shooting around with a couple guys from the city. we got to talking and i said "hey, how about a set, race to 11, for $100?". no biggie. he said he was a B+ player at amsterdam billiards, i told him I was a BCA "A" rank. he was happy to play even up, and i assumed it was as we had all had a few drinks.
the guy bust me up 11-3. i had no complaints. he outplayed me in every department, and if i am honest, looked as though he was playing well within himself. i was pretty annoyed obviously. not at the guy, he was very magnanimous. in fact, he offered to play "double or quits" as they say in britain. i jumped at the chance to win my money back. by the time 1.30am rolled around, i was down $400.
anyway, i am just wondering how the different ratings translate in different areas in the country.
i'm new to the whole az forum, so i apologise if this has been discussed before. but i am still reeling from the fact i can't buy my iphone until next month :cool:
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Well, I thinks speeds are relative... like everything else. A b player in NYC may be better than a b player in Michigan. Especially when leagues are involved. I think a very strong league, like Amsterdam, it gets harder to handicap people because its all relative to how others play. And with People like Mika and Robles spotting D players a million games on the wire, the handicaps start to get a little different than your average pool room in Dayton, OH.

Just my thoughts.

By the way, who was the B+ player???
 
StevenPWaldon said:
B+, Amsterdam, British... was it Roger?
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Could have been Tim Edmonds or John Cerns as well.

Or Jude putting on an English hustle!
 
I think that might be him, Steven P. I thought he said his name was Darren, but it could well have been Aaron with the accent. He is either irish or scottish. his accent didn't sound english as i recall.
oh, and vapoolplayer, i should have said that there was someone in the room who verified his skill level. he was a filipino guy who said he knew him (my friend was asking around - not disclosing that we were going to gamble)
we were chatting for a while, he said he played once a week at Amsterdam team night.
I thought i had a good shot at the cash - i had been holding my own against A players in the city that whole weekend. this guy was supposedly lower in skill and played once a week, as opposed to my 3/4 times per week.
i just found the whole thing very interesting and it got me thinking about places in the country that i need to be careful if i'm getting action from supposed similar skill levels.
 
cleary / stevenP- mika and robles play there??
man, thats some sporty league. whats the average player in there..C/C+?
 
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Aaron is a legit B+ player.

I think Aaron is a Jersey guy.



Eric >6 and 1/2 dozen
 
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robbiecolt said:
i just found the whole thing very interesting and it got me thinking about places in the country that i need to be careful if i'm getting action from supposed similar skill levels.
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Just a suggestion... you could always start out lower and a shorter set... say $50 and a race to 7... which would allow you to judge your opponent's speed without dropping a c-note.... fwiw.
 
robbiecolt said:
cleary - mika and robles play there??
man, thats some sporty league. whats the average player in there..C/C+?
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Yea, the Thursday night league is pretty tough.

Not sure about the average player at Amsterdam. I guess C+/B sounds about right. Im a C player and I feel below average there... which is why I like the place.
 
good point...we had met these guys a the bar and a few of us started shooting and the racks were going back and forth to be honest. he looked a pretty relaxed shooter.
i double checked with him that he wanted to gamble with me as there was a differential, on paper at least, with skill level. he made a good poin that although i didnt know him, he also didnt know me, and that i could be higher than my self-prophesed A level. i thought this was a very good point.
i think we both thought we had got a good look at each others games before that.
i'm not so much annoyed by losing the cash - don't we all? you'll win today, and lose tomorrow. and i ended up +750 from the whole weekend.
it was the handicap thing and how NY would compare to the Chicagos and the LA's that piqued my curiosity more than the cash i suppose.
 
robbiecolt said:
I think that might be him, Steven P. I thought he said his name was Darren, but it could well have been Aaron with the accent. He is either irish or scottish. his accent didn't sound english as i recall.
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It could be Darren Appleton. He is a B+ here in Europe. His accent does not sound like English at all, especially when he is drunk :D

Oh, it can't be him, he was playing near the other Amsterdam this past weekend, in the Netherlands. www.eurotour.nu
 
Sounds like it may be him. He's Scottish, I believe. He posts on here, though I don't know how often. I've played him once, had a chance to chat him up during the match. Seems like a nice guy, and a good shooter.


robbiecolt said:
I think that might be him, Steven P. I thought he said his name was Darren, but it could well have been Aaron with the accent. He is either irish or scottish. his accent didn't sound english as i recall.
oh, and vapoolplayer, i should have said that there was someone in the room who verified his skill level. he was a filipino guy who said he knew him (my friend was asking around - not disclosing that we were going to gamble)
we were chatting for a while, he said he played once a week at Amsterdam team night.
I thought i had a good shot at the cash - i had been holding my own against A players in the city that whole weekend. this guy was supposedly lower in skill and played once a week, as opposed to my 3/4 times per week.
i just found the whole thing very interesting and it got me thinking about places in the country that i need to be careful if i'm getting action from supposed similar skill levels.
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whichever - darren, or aaron, i got smoked.
sounds like there are a good depth of B/A player in NYC, i'd like to play there. i'm trying to move there soon so maybe i'll check out amsterdam.
whoever he was, the european chick that was hanging out with him (may be his g/f, i'm not sure) was SMOKIN hot, and a pretty decent shooter too. don't tell me there's a bunch of hot chicks at amsterdam too, or i'm running out of excuses not to move to the city ;)
 
robbiecolt said:
whichever - darren, or aaron, i got smoked.
sounds like there are a good depth of B/A player in NYC, i'd like to play there. i'm trying to move there soon so maybe i'll check out amsterdam.
whoever he was, the european chick that was hanging out with him (may be his g/f, i'm not sure) was SMOKIN hot, and a pretty decent shooter too. don't tell me there's a bunch of hot chicks at amsterdam too, or i'm running out of excuses not to move to the city ;)
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It is my understanding that New York city`s rating system is very modest/humble.NYC`s B players are equal to 'A' players in other parts of the country.in some rare occasions even C + players of NYC are equal to A - players in other parts of USA.:cool:
 
Hot chicks? You decide.

robbiecolt said:
don't tell me there's a bunch of hot chicks at amsterdam too, or i'm running out of excuses not to move to the city ;)
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Check this out:

http://www.williamfuentes.com/

This guy has an incredible "photoblog" going, and most of it centers around the pool/social life at Amsterdam, also covering other areas of the NYC area.

If you surf this website for a couple of hours, you'll be packing your bags tomorrow.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
It could be Darren Appleton. He is a B+ here in Europe. His accent does not sound like English at all, especially when he is drunk :D

Oh, it can't be him, he was playing near the other Amsterdam this past weekend, in the Netherlands. www.eurotour.nu
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Did you say Darren Appleton was a B+ player? Easy there Roy. If he's a B+, there aren't many 'A' players out there. You must be in for a piece of his action. :smile:

As far as that goes, a true B+ player in New York might be able to run 50-60 balls. And 80+ on occasion. He would be considered an 'A' player just about anywhere else he lived. I think Robbie got "hustled" by a smooth con man. And there's nothing wrong with that. :rolleyes:
 
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