playing in the master league

lorider...I'm certain that Randyg told you that you'd play worse initially (and specifically that if you had to play league, you should just play your "old" game, and not try to employ the things you just learned, because you have to practice what he taught you. The main point is that you cannot play and learn and the same time. The reason you're 'dogging' shots (the 8 or whatever) is because you don't have a consistent process. Randy showed you how to figure out what your process is...and how to practice it most efficiently, until it can become an ingrained habit. That said, two days after your lesson, is not enough time to change years-long bad habits.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

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scott i hope that you dont think i was implying that my wins were due to one day with randy , i guess after reading what i wrote it could be construed that was my intent. it certaintly wasnt. i really didnt go into detail about my 2 matches so far because i didnt want to turn my post into a long rant.

as a matter of fact randy did tell me what you stated. i agreed with him and told him it was like learning all over again. for the most part i played like i always do . the one piece of advice that randy gave me i tried to follow throughout my match was this ( if the shot does not feel good dont take it ) . example : if you are down in your stance and become uncertain if you using the correct english, proper speed , or angle , etc etc dont make it. stand up refocus and visualize what you are attempting to do. once you are certain get down in your stance and take it home.

the biggest reason for my 5 wins in my 2nd match was the caliber of player i faced. my 1st match i played what i would consider an A player. he does not play league except master. he plays one pocket 4-5 times a week and plays in some added money tournaments like the annual july tournament at the rack that draws a lot of high level players from several states around. i heard he came in the top 10 last time with john pinnegar winning.

my 2nd match was against an apa 6. quite a bit of difference.
 
Sure, but in golf the pro can't force you to bank at the pocket... You get to play your game and watch him play his game, and compare. Find a good enough pool pro and you'll never even get to the table for the comparison.

sure you can get to the table; play him 1P....and what's wrong with banking anyways? I hope he leaves me a bank in 1P ;)
 
i know i started this thread about i joined the master division but i wanted to let you know i picked up 2 new games.

i played 14.1 for the 1st time last night. its a very interesting game. of course i got my a$$ kicked lol but im going to continue learning it when time permits.

tonight i played 1 pocket for the 1st time. i gotta say i really like this game. my opponent was a fellow league player who plays 1 pocket quite often. he explained the rules before we started playing and while he was shooting he explained why he chose the shots he played.

he took the time while shooting to explain the strategy of moving balls and cue ball positioning. i think i am really gonna love this game.

i always enjoyed playing pool off and on in my younger years but in the last year i have joined 3 apa teams, 1 money league team and now adding 14.1 and 1 pocket to my repetoir(spelling). i think i am getting addicted to pool lol.
 
14.1 will turn you into a recluse....not coming out of the pool room until you run 100.

Tell everyone you know that it was nice knowing them and if they need anything, they can find you at (table number) in (pool room) from (open to close)
:)
 
its tough enough being a 4 playing in the master league, its even tougher when you beat yourself. tonight my opponent won the lag and opted to break, so i chose 8 ball to start. he won the 1st game, i won the 2nd then he won the 3rd.

4 th game i am on the 8 and he has 2 balls left. if i miss he has got an easy run out, my safety play sucks so i go for a hard cut in the corner and cue ball caroms off his ball hanging in by the side pocket,cue ball falls in side pocket, sh*t.

5th game is basicaly a repeat of 4th game except i scratch in the corner when i pocket the 8. im down 4-1.

i cant tell you when the last time i scratched on the 8 let alone 2 times in one night. in my handicap leagues i usualy play a lil safer cuz i know most lower level players wont run out on me if i miss the 8 so i dont go for hard shots like i did tonight.

in 9 ball he broke and ran the 1 game. 2nd game he made the 1 but couldnt get on the 2 giving me bih. i made a 2-9 combo. he runs out the next game after i break and run 4 balls before missing. he breaks and runs the next game winning 7-2.

other than the 2 scratches on the 8 i am satisfied with how i played. the captain on the other team said i made some impressive shots for being a s/l4. still need to improve on safeties and better cue ball positioning.

thanks for reading and comments or opinions are welcome, good or bad. :wink:
 
Good stuff, lorider. Sounds like you're doing fine.

Something just occurred to me, reading that post. APA 9-ball in the Masters league, it ain't counting balls... get the 9 in, you win. Of course. I know it's obvious, but having just started the handicapped 9-ball league, I had already conditioned myself to that way of keeping score... what a hoot.

Keep on keepin' on. Good luck!
 
its tough enough being a 4 playing in the master league, its even tougher when you beat yourself. tonight my opponent won the lag and opted to break, so i chose 8 ball to start. he won the 1st game, i won the 2nd then he won the 3rd.

4 th game i am on the 8 and he has 2 balls left. if i miss he has got an easy run out, my safety play sucks so i go for a hard cut in the corner and cue ball caroms off his ball hanging in by the side pocket,cue ball falls in side pocket, sh*t.

5th game is basicaly a repeat of 4th game except i scratch in the corner when i pocket the 8. im down 4-1.

i cant tell you when the last time i scratched on the 8 let alone 2 times in one night. in my handicap leagues i usualy play a lil safer cuz i know most lower level players wont run out on me if i miss the 8 so i dont go for hard shots like i did tonight.

in 9 ball he broke and ran the 1 game. 2nd game he made the 1 but couldnt get on the 2 giving me bih. i made a 2-9 combo. he runs out the next game after i break and run 4 balls before missing. he breaks and runs the next game winning 7-2.

other than the 2 scratches on the 8 i am satisfied with how i played. the captain on the other team said i made some impressive shots for being a s/l4. still need to improve on safeties and better cue ball positioning.

thanks for reading and comments or opinions are welcome, good or bad. :wink:

When playing 8 ball there comes a point with 2-4 of your balls left that you have to be sure that you will runout somewhere more than 80% of the time. If not, it is self-detrimental to clear your balls further becuase, as you state above, you will then have limited safety play opportunities. You can either play safe then, create an advantageous tie up or move one of your balls to cover a pocket. There is always a CB position that you can leave your opponent that will either be safe or leave a very low percentage shot.

A book I would urge you to get goes into 8 ball strategy in great depth is Phil Cappelle's Play Your Best 8 Ball.

Even by reading and understanding what is written there, it will change the way you analyze racks and thereby improve your game. Only with practice will the other parts come, like CB control and an ever increasing ability to pocket balls.

8 ball challenges players in ways a rotation game can't. Check out Cappelles book and you will see many ideas there that you've never considered before.
 
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8 ball challenges players in ways a rotation game can't. Check out Cappelles book and you will see many ideas there that you've never considered before.

I hear that. I recently started playing with someone who shoots 8-ball in a league. Now I'm starting to see where it's smarter to play safe in certain situations or which balls to pocket first and why. He started explaining to me why he would take a particular shot, etc, etc. Though I get beaten by better players, I think I can only improve by playing against those who are better than me. I just wonder if they bored after beating me 5 times in a row.
 
i have not played in the master league the last 2 weeks due to being out of town but i am back now and wanted to post my results in my double jeapordy league tonight.

in my 1st match i was put up against the room owner. 1st let me say he and i are pretty evenly matched with the last time we faced each other i won both 8 and 9 ball. in both matches then it was so close just 1 more missed ball by me in either match and he could possibly have won them.

well tonight he shut me out 4-0 in 8 ball. when he shook my hand he said darn buddy are you sleeping at the table , you always play me pretty close. i said no, you are just on fire tonight. each game was close but he just got the 8 before i did.

afterward i told my captain to make sure he put me up against him in 9 ball also. my captain said, are you sure, he just blew you away. i said yea, you know i been playing pretty good 9 ball. well we wind up facing each other again and tracy said, you back for more, jokingly. i said yea i think its going to be a lil different this time. he had to go to 48 vs my 31. i beat him 31-33. for the session i am now 4-5 in 8 ball and 7-1 in 9 ball. 2 weeks ago my captain played me in 8 ball but not 9 ball i dont know why cuz i have the best record on the team in 9 ball. no one else on the team has more than 3 wins in 9 ball and we are tied for 5th.

in 8 ball we are in 1st place .
 
i have not played in the master league the last 2 weeks due to being out of town but i am back now and wanted to post my results in my double jeapordy league tonight.

in my 1st match i was put up against the room owner. 1st let me say he and i are pretty evenly matched with the last time we faced each other i won both 8 and 9 ball. in both matches then it was so close just 1 more missed ball by me in either match and he could possibly have won them.

well tonight he shut me out 4-0 in 8 ball. when he shook my hand he said darn buddy are you sleeping at the table , you always play me pretty close. i said no, you are just on fire tonight. each game was close but he just got the 8 before i did.

afterward i told my captain to make sure he put me up against him in 9 ball also. my captain said, are you sure, he just blew you away. i said yea, you know i been playing pretty good 9 ball. well we wind up facing each other again and tracy said, you back for more, jokingly. i said yea i think its going to be a lil different this time. he had to go to 48 vs my 31. i beat him 31-33. for the session i am now 4-5 in 8 ball and 7-1 in 9 ball. 2 weeks ago my captain played me in 8 ball but not 9 ball i dont know why cuz i have the best record on the team in 9 ball. no one else on the team has more than 3 wins in 9 ball and we are tied for 5th.

in 8 ball we are in 1st place .

Hey lorider.... 'splain something for me, would ya?

I thought there weren't any handicaps in Master League? Why are you guys counting balls in 9-ball?

I realize that I'm easily confused...
 
Hey lorider.... 'splain something for me, would ya?

I thought there weren't any handicaps in Master League? Why are you guys counting balls in 9-ball?

I realize that I'm easily confused...

hey dub. i guess you missed reading the 1st sentence.this was from last nights double jeapordy league.

just got back in town saturday,dont play master league til thursday.
 
didnt play in master league last thursday, was called in to work.

as before i would like to share my experiences in my other leagues also.

i played in our top gun tourn. sat, wich i won last year. i was hyped up for it. as i stated before im back down to a 4 now. my 1st match was against a 5. i won the lag and broke running all 7 of my balls . however ... i was trying to break the 8 out of a cluster at the same time and the cue caromed off the 8 and scratched. my opponent takes bih and runs out. 2nd game my opponent breaks and runs 5 balls , i run my 7 and attempt a bank in the side pocket. the 8 hits the far point of side pocket and goes across table caroms off opponents ball and wobbles towards the other side pocket hanging for about 2or 3 seconds before falling in. i play a lil more conservative the rest of the match but lose 4-2.

next match i beat another 4 going 3-1.

3rd match im up against another 5 and lose 4-2 also. poolgods were not with me saturday lol.

sunday in my sd league i beat a 3 going 3-0 in singles and we also won our doubles. in a makeup game i faced a 5 in singles and beat him 3-2, we lost our doubles.

in my sunday night dj league i faced a 6 in 8 ball and won 3-2. i faced a 4 in 9 ball winning 31 -19. for some reason i just didnt have it when i needed it saturday but sunday i seemed too play a lil above my usual level.

going to play in the 9 ball top gun next saturday. i have been a lil better at 9 lately than 8. my record in 8 ball in dj is 5-5. my record in 9 ball is 8-1
 
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It sounds like you're playing higher level opponents when the opportunity presents itself; that's good. My experience has been that you make more appropriate decisions as to when a shot should be attempted vs. playing a safety.
It's already been stated that the strategy in 8 ball is different from rotation games, and I agree that reading up on some of the subtleties will help with patterns / decision making. My experience has been that rotation games helped with learning position play because there is no choice (for the most part) in how to run out. With 8 ball, I still find myself shooting the wrong pattern more often than not because I haven't practiced analyzing the layout of the table and making good decisions. As you learn (and observe) good pattern play and position play, you'll incorporate those skills into your game. Good luck with your leagues!
 
just saw your post, i havent been on here in a few days.

i honestly dont know what the weekly fee is. i am on a bye fill team and our dues are free this session. i will find out next week and let you know.

i havent played in the master league the last 3 weeks, been having to work nights lately but i should be off next thursday night. if i see my lo this sunday night when i play in my dj league i will ask him then.
 
like i said in my above post i have been working nights lately and havent played masters but i want to let you know how i have been doing in my other divisions.

i played in our 9 ball top gun tournament last weekend and came in 2nd. i lost my 1st match and came up through the losers bracket to the finals. i won the 1st game by 7 points and lost the 2nd game by 2 points. i am not happy about losing but i think i played pretty good in the tournament.

in my 9 ball double jeapordy league i played a 6 and won. i have 8 wins and 1 loss so far this session.

now here comes the puzzling part. in my 8 ball dj i played a 2 and lost ! i have 5 wins and 6 losses so far this session.

i have always played 8 ball better than 9 since i joined the apa last year until this session. i have thought about it a lot and all i can come up with is i seem to be picking wrong patterns or going for hard shots instead of playing safe. here lately i have been making 6 or 7 ball runs and failing to get the 8 before my opponent where before i could never make better than a 4 or 5 ball run but i would play a safe or leave my opponent hooked and still get the 8 before them.

i seem to be making longer runs than before but failing to put it away.

my lifetime 9 ball winning % has went up to 59% so far this season where it was 51 % last season.
my lifetime 8 ball winning % is down to 49 % where it was 54% last season.


any one got any suggestions how to get out of this slump in 8 ball i seem to be in ?
 
Once you clear the table, your opponent has an easier time of it. An old hustler trick was to break, let the opponent remove 4 balls, then run the table. Less congestion, less difficulty. May need to look at it the way the old school 9 ball was played. If I can't run out, where should I stop? If you are looking to win, safety play is much more important. Good Luck, John
 
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