Kiamco gave Ignacio Chavez the 9-ball, in a race to 25 playing 10-ball for $3000.
Chavez won pretty easily. The rolls went his way and he followed them up with almost flawless play. His safety game especially got the best of Kiamco.
Chavez jumped to an early lead, and never looked back. He took the 4 opening racks, and after 13 games he found himself comfortably ahead at 10-3. Kiamco started coming back, winning 2 of every 3 games after that, to come within two games of Chavez who looked to demolish Kiamco in the beginning.
Kiamco started coming back; 10-4, 10-5, 11-6, 11-7. Chavez never gave up the lead, which became more dangerous as the set went on in the race to 25. It looked to be anyone's game when Kiamco came within two games of Chavez, the score then being 18-16. If ever there were a time for a comeback, this would have been it. Unfortunately for Kiamco, Chavez reasserted himself on the table and gave a clinic to those watching as to why he was ahead of the Filipino world-beater in the first place. I believe Kiamco only won 1 or 2 more games the rest of the set, as Chavez reached his 25th game without too much trouble.
The bet was $3000, and to my surprise they didn't play a second set despite playing relatively fast and finishing early. Kiamco had spent 16+ hours at Masters the day before, finishing his victories over Shin Park at 930am. This evening however, they finished by around 3:00am or so, and no additional sets were played. This was in due partly because of accusations of sharking by the NYC locals who favored their champion Chavez. I find this a little funny because I bet most don't even know his name. To them he's just 'The Mexican.'
I don't think there was any deliberate sharking, or at least nothing unexpected when you are playing a local champion and the crowd is on their side. In fact, there was more of it going on the previous night when Orcullo and Hernandez played. All the guys (and most vocally, Joey Korsiak) would yell out after Frankie made a good shot or ran out: 'Atta boy, Frankie!' It was clearly done with intentions to encourage Frankie and to discourage Orcullo. But that's what you get, especially in NYC.
I see why Orcullo is the most feared gambler now. He didnt let anything get to him, and let his cue do the talking. He was even surprisingly aggessive at the table; for example if Frankie broke dry or missed and stood at the table in disbelief, Orcullo wasn't afraid to literally brush Frankie aside -- and mind you, Frankie is three times the size of little Orcullo, and has the attitude to match. But Orcullo was there to destroy Frankie on the green felt and that's exactly what he did. Destroy.
If Kiamco had the same mindset, the set could have gone either way. But it clearly got to him. Toward the end of the set he flubbed one or two crucial shots, at a time when he couldn't afford any mistakes. Meanwhile Chavez has amazing focus and mental stamina. He showed no signs of slowing down or being intimidated as Kiamco started to narrow Chavez's lead.
I overheard Orcullo and Park woofing a little and they may match up in some 10-ball, with a No-Jump-Cue stipulation. This might be of little consideration, as Park plays 3-cushion, and both he and Orcullo have great kicking abilities. Will keep everyone updated if y'all want.
Chavez won pretty easily. The rolls went his way and he followed them up with almost flawless play. His safety game especially got the best of Kiamco.
Chavez jumped to an early lead, and never looked back. He took the 4 opening racks, and after 13 games he found himself comfortably ahead at 10-3. Kiamco started coming back, winning 2 of every 3 games after that, to come within two games of Chavez who looked to demolish Kiamco in the beginning.
Kiamco started coming back; 10-4, 10-5, 11-6, 11-7. Chavez never gave up the lead, which became more dangerous as the set went on in the race to 25. It looked to be anyone's game when Kiamco came within two games of Chavez, the score then being 18-16. If ever there were a time for a comeback, this would have been it. Unfortunately for Kiamco, Chavez reasserted himself on the table and gave a clinic to those watching as to why he was ahead of the Filipino world-beater in the first place. I believe Kiamco only won 1 or 2 more games the rest of the set, as Chavez reached his 25th game without too much trouble.
The bet was $3000, and to my surprise they didn't play a second set despite playing relatively fast and finishing early. Kiamco had spent 16+ hours at Masters the day before, finishing his victories over Shin Park at 930am. This evening however, they finished by around 3:00am or so, and no additional sets were played. This was in due partly because of accusations of sharking by the NYC locals who favored their champion Chavez. I find this a little funny because I bet most don't even know his name. To them he's just 'The Mexican.'
I don't think there was any deliberate sharking, or at least nothing unexpected when you are playing a local champion and the crowd is on their side. In fact, there was more of it going on the previous night when Orcullo and Hernandez played. All the guys (and most vocally, Joey Korsiak) would yell out after Frankie made a good shot or ran out: 'Atta boy, Frankie!' It was clearly done with intentions to encourage Frankie and to discourage Orcullo. But that's what you get, especially in NYC.
I see why Orcullo is the most feared gambler now. He didnt let anything get to him, and let his cue do the talking. He was even surprisingly aggessive at the table; for example if Frankie broke dry or missed and stood at the table in disbelief, Orcullo wasn't afraid to literally brush Frankie aside -- and mind you, Frankie is three times the size of little Orcullo, and has the attitude to match. But Orcullo was there to destroy Frankie on the green felt and that's exactly what he did. Destroy.
If Kiamco had the same mindset, the set could have gone either way. But it clearly got to him. Toward the end of the set he flubbed one or two crucial shots, at a time when he couldn't afford any mistakes. Meanwhile Chavez has amazing focus and mental stamina. He showed no signs of slowing down or being intimidated as Kiamco started to narrow Chavez's lead.
I overheard Orcullo and Park woofing a little and they may match up in some 10-ball, with a No-Jump-Cue stipulation. This might be of little consideration, as Park plays 3-cushion, and both he and Orcullo have great kicking abilities. Will keep everyone updated if y'all want.
