Playing on a strange table...how do you adjust to play your best???

K

Ky Boy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So, I went out of town for a couple of days and went to a local room to play some. I gambled with a guy cheap playing 9 ball and banks. I didn't play well and probably only played about half speed. I couldn't get going. The rails played different and the cloth was brand new and the speed was throwing me off.

So, how do you guys make the adjustment when you leave your home turf???



Gary
 
It takes me a week or longer sometimes these days to adjust to a table because I play at home 95% of the time for the past year, so when I go to the Derby or anywhere i'm helpless, I blew $1000 playing 8 ball to a guy who wouldnt lose $200, because I couldnt adjust to the wet tables-I got my nose open and figured I could adjust, I couldnt and he beat me fair and square. He would get robbed at my house in Vegas playing the same game.

I asked JA about this just the other day, maybe it was yesterday, anyways he said it takes him 4-5 hours at the most to be playing full speed on equipment he isnt used too.

When I was traviling around alot(20 years ago) and playing full time out of 4-5 different pool rooms, I could adapt to anything in 2 days or less, probably 8 hours of play, but that was a long time ago.


The reason I mentioned myself and JA is I see a coorlation, the more your used to traveling and differnent equipment the faster you adjust. I bet Chris Bartrum adjusts real fast-you have to at the level he or JA plays. So I think if your used to travelling it is easier to adjust than being a one table player(what I am now). Thats my read on this topic, I have been thinking alot about it this past year, since I picked up alot of speed at home and cant make a ball anywhere else. Hope that helps.:smile:

I'm talking about tables,

as far as cues go I can adjust very fast to a different cue. within 30 minutes I'm 90% good with it, the other 10% takes months.


best,

Fatboy the home boy player :grin-square:
 
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To side w/ eric, everyone adjusts diff. My roommate was speaking about this quite some time ago. I told him that he just needed to go spend some time jumping around on different tables and try to adjust asap. Playing on only one table often can kill your adjusting skills, so at your local place to play go find the tables that play most diff and jump back and forth. You can do the same by going on an adjusting mission around your local aread one night. If there are 5 pool halls then go to all of them and see how long it takes you to get it down.

I mostly think the problem is inconsistent speed control w/ the delivery of the cue. As many players don't complete their stroke and have a tendency to bunt at the ball. It's hard to adj speed incrementally like that, as opposed to adjusting the speed of the delivery of the stroke, they adjust the distance of the stroke for speed, to attain the set value they are looking for.
 
Hit some lag strokes for 5-10 minutes. This should help you get the speed of the table down. You can hit most shots at the same (or close to) speed as the lag and get where you want to go anyways.
 
First think I would do is see if the rails are playing short or long, then like Cameron said hit some lag shots to gauge the speed. Try banking and kicking medium speed shots then up the speed, it should give you a good idea on how the rails are performing.

Hope it helps.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions!!

I went into the pool room (I hadn't been there for over 6 months) and went directly up to a guy and asked him to play with no practice on a newly recovered table. We played about 15 games of 9 ball and then he asked to play banks. We played banks for another 20-25 games and then he asked to play a race in 9 ball. I obliged him all night by agreeing to play whatever he wanted, except 1pocket because I never play that game. Not because I don't want to learn it but mostly because no one around here wants to learn it.

I struggled going back and forth between games and ending up losing a little but he covered my time so it probably wasn't a loss by his good gesture. Anyone else want to chime in??

Chris Bartrum...where you at man...give up some pointers here!!! ;)


Gary
 
Ky Boy said:
Thanks for all the suggestions!!

I went into the pool room (I hadn't been there for over 6 months) and went directly up to a guy and asked him to play with no practice on a newly recovered table. We played about 15 games of 9 ball and then he asked to play banks. We played banks for another 20-25 games and then he asked to play a race in 9 ball. I obliged him all night by agreeing to play whatever he wanted, except 1pocket because I never play that game. Not because I don't want to learn it but mostly because no one around here wants to learn it.

I struggled going back and forth between games and ending up losing a little but he covered my time so it probably wasn't a loss by his good gesture. Anyone else want to chime in??

Chris Bartrum...where you at man...give up some pointers here!!! ;)


Gary
Click to expand...

All good advice so far...

One thing would be: The more often you play pinpoint position, even on familiar equipment, the more in tune with speed control you will be, thus making adjustments easier when you need them. When you are in tune with what you can do to a tee, adapting is just a matter of time as long as you are still going for a small position area and paying attention to your results as you adjust. Large position zones are nice, yet it is powerful to still go for an area the size of a cue ball within that large position zone :)
 
greyghost said:
To side w/ eric, everyone adjusts diff. My roommate was speaking about this quite some time ago. I told him that he just needed to go spend some time jumping around on different tables and try to adjust asap. Playing on only one table often can kill your adjusting skills, so at your local place to play go find the tables that play most diff and jump back and forth. You can do the same by going on an adjusting mission around your local aread one night. If there are 5 pool halls then go to all of them and see how long it takes you to get it down.

I mostly think the problem is inconsistent speed control w/ the delivery of the cue. As many players don't complete their stroke and have a tendency to bunt at the ball. It's hard to adj speed incrementally like that, as opposed to adjusting the speed of the delivery of the stroke, they adjust the distance of the stroke for speed, to attain the set value they are looking for.
Click to expand...

Are you a process controls engineer? I ask because that is my background and a lot of the terms and phrasing you use are phrases I use in relation to process variables, stability, observability, and controller logic. I also do a lot with multivariate statistical analysis.

Just throwing that out there, I could be way off base.
 
Hi there,

I played on the road for years and had to adjust real quick or else I would start out stuck and when they got even they would quit.

I want to share a situation and explain how i adjusted.

I was in Denver about 4 months ago giving lessons and trying to stay in stroke. One of the local players told me there was some real good action in Colorado Springs and if he took me there I would be guaranteed a good game.

I didn't know that the last guy he took there lost a bunch of money and thought he had the nuts.

We walked in and right away there was alot of haggling. The backer for this young guy was really disrespectful to everyone. He was drunk but he was the action, at least the money part of it. The guy that took me there had warned me about this. Plus he said this guy would sometimes walk around the table and talk and try to shark you so you had to have the blinders on.

My friend was trying to get a race to 9 for 1,000 going but the drunk backer was a little cautious. Finally they decided we would play $200.00 per game right out of the gate. And the backer voiced his oppinion that there was no warming up. We flip and start.

The table that they want to play on is a diamond with blue cloth and usually these are pretty consistent. But on each side of the table are bench seats the full length of the table and when the customers there heard there was going to be a match they filled them right up. I found out after we started playing is these people sitting there would not move much. Only shift a little so if you had a shot where the cue ball was on the rail you had to almost sit on their lap. They would just kind of shift their legs over.

Also at the head of this table was the bar station where the waitresses come and fill their orders for the pool hall. So there was always movement there all the time.

I made up my mind that i had to put the blinders on and really focus on blocking everything out.

I forgot to say this. I had quit playing in 1999. I was sick. Started playing serious again in jan 2009. Up until this point since Jan the most I had played for was some races to something for a couple of hundred. $200.00 a rack 9-ball with all these obstacles was a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I was on the road once with Omaha John Shuppit and we used the term TAKE IT DOWN. we would say this back and forth to other to remind each other that we had to get the cash. These words just popped into my head.

Suddenly it was just like someone rang the bell at a prize fight. It was just like I went back in time as though I had never quit playing.

Now I had to use all my knowledge about adjusting as fast as I could to see how the table played. Fortuanately the diamonds aren't real old like alot of the other tables and the rails are pretty consistent. The speed would be the biggest thing.

The balls were on the table and I won the flip for the break. There were 2 balls in the kitchen and I rolled them down to the other end like i was just being careful. I was checking the speed.

I broke the balls and made one and had a shot at the one. I could have just shot the one in and stopped but I played it to roll about a foot forward and only got 6 inches. This was good information. It enabled me to run out the rack. I had a shot on the 7 ball where I needed a foot and it helped make the 8 and 9 real easy shots.

I broke and ran the next 2 racks and used a rail to get shape a few times to get a read on them. I knew it was important when i shot these shots to have my memory banks turned up on high.

The forth rack I broke dry. I looked around and realized I had no place to sit. After looking around i saw that my opponents chair was empty so i quickly sat there.

The next time I got to the table he was still breaking and we were dead even. He ran 3 racks in a row. I knew now I was in a pool game. Now i had to put all the right thoughts in my head if i was going to be successful in this game. This kid could really play.

So far I didn't have to play any safes but I knew that this would be a big part of the game. This kid shoots real straight so if I have a chance to play a dead nuts safe versus a maybe risky out it would be better to play safe. I needed to slow him down and frustrate him a little by having him kick at some balls.

I got my chance in that next game. I played a safe where he had to kick at 2 rails. He did hit the ball but left me a good shot and I got out.

Now all this time his backer is talking and actually cussing and calling me names sometimes even when I'm shooting. The young man I'm playing is just a total gentleman though.

I won $800.00 and they quit. With everything that was going on i was never so happy to see a pool match end. After it was over my friend pointed out that I had missed only 2 balls. One of them the backer was flying around and the other one was just real tough. The matchup lasted about 2 hours.

The biggest key to the whole thing though was being able to adjust to the table quicky and dig into my past experiences on the road from years back to get the cash.

After that my friend that brought me there got the 5 ball from the guy I was playing for $500.00 a rack. They played until 7 in the morning and started at midnight. That was 7 hours and my friend lost $2500.00. He had alot of heart but he just missed too many shots. I guess that's why he was getting the 5 ball. These 2 had played before so they have a pretty good line on each others ability so they match up pretty even. they had played like this before.

On the ride back to Denver I told him i should have given him this aiming lesson that I teach. I had already given about 30 of these in Denver but he never asked and I never offered or vice versa. I told him the wouldn't know what hit'em after he learned this.

I told him I would work with him in a couple of days because he was supposed to play the same game the next Friday. I told him that the game would only last 2 hours once he learned this.

I wanted to stay in town and get part of the action but I had to get to Iowa. I had a commitment there already to give some lessons. I called my friend to see how he did on Saturday.

He told me you were wrong man. I beat them out of $5,000.00. The game didn't last 2 hours because they quit after an hour and a half as he laughed.

Anyway, I know the last part with my friends $500.00 action was a little off track about what the thread is about but it was a pretty neat deal. $500.00 a rack is some pretty good action.

My advice is:

Just roll the balls when you get on any table. You will get used to gaging how fast they roll. The more you practice this the better you will get at it. Also you will see if they are straight. Bounce a ball off the rail to see how springy they are. this will give you alot of info about how tight they bank also.

If the balls are dirty get ready for a tough break. Dirty balls don't usually break well.

And be familiar with all the different types of cue balls. Blue dot. Red dot. Red circle. Vally bar ball. this is huge also.

Be aware of the lighting. Bad lighting you might have to play more safes in situations where normally you would try to run out.

And if you don't think you can concentrate very well with all the distractions don't play. You need to be able to think about all the variables of the strange table and to do this you need to block everything out.

Have a great day. Great thread. You should get some more advice from some other old road players as well. And maybe a few war stories.

Geno.......................
 
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That might be the perfect road guide in 1 page or less.

genomachino said:
Hi there,

I played on the road for years and had to adjust real quick or else I would start out stuck and when they got even they would quit.

I want to share a situation and explain how i adjusted.

I was in Denver about 4 months ago giving lessons and trying to stay in stroke. One of the local players told me there was some real good action in Colorado Springs and if he took me there I would be guaranteed a good game.

I didn't know that the last guy he took there lost a bunch of money and thought he had the nuts.

We walked in and right away there was alot of haggling. The backer for this young guy was really disrespectful to everyone. He was drunk but he was the action, at least the money part of it. The guy that took me there had warned me about this. Plus he said this guy would sometimes walk around the table and talk and try to shark you so you had to have the blinders on.

My friend was trying to get a race to 9 for 1,000 going but the drunk backer was a little cautious. Finally they decided we would play $200.00 per game right out of the gate. And the backer voiced his oppinion that there was no warming up. We flip and start.

The table that they want to play on is a diamond with blue cloth and usually these are pretty consistent. But on each side of the table are bench seats the full length of the table and when the customers there heard there was going to be a match they filled them right up. I found out after we started playing is these people sitting there would not move much. Only shift a little so if you had a shot where the cue ball was on the rail you had to almost sit on their lap. They would just kind of shift their legs over.

Also at the head of this table was the bar station where the waitresses come and fill their orders for the pool hall. So there was always movement there all the time.

I made up my mind that i had to put the blinders on and really focus on blocking everything out.

I forgot to say this. I had quit playing in 1999. I was sick. Started playing serious again in jan 2009. Up until this point since Jan the most I had played for was some races to something for a couple of hundred. $200.00 a rack 9-ball with all these obstacles was a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I was on the road once with Omaha John Shuppit and we used the term TAKE IT DOWN. we would say this back and forth to other to remind each other that we had to get the cash. These words just popped into my head.

Suddenly it was just like someone rang the bell at a prize fight. It was just like I went back in time as though I had never quit playing.

Now I had to use all my knowledge about adjusting as fast as I could to see how the table played. Fortuanately the diamonds aren't real old like alot of the other tables and the rails are pretty consistent. The speed would be the biggest thing.

The balls were on the table and I won the flip for the break. There were 2 balls in the kitchen and I rolled them down to the other end like i was just being careful. I was checking the speed.

I broke the balls and made one and had a shot at the one. I could have just shot the one in and stopped but I played it to roll about a foot forward and only got 6 inches. This was good information. It enabled me to run out the rack. I had a shot on the 7 ball where I needed a foot and it helped make the 8 and 9 real easy shots.

I broke and ran the next 2 racks and used a rail to get shape a few times to get a read on them. I knew it was important when i shot these shots to have my memory banks turned up on high.

The forth rack I broke dry. I looked around and realized I had no place to sit. After looking around i saw that my opponents chair was empty so i quickly sat there.

The next time I got to the table he was still breaking and we were dead even. He ran 3 racks in a row. I knew now I was in a pool game. Now i had to put all the right thoughts in my head if i was going to be successful in this game. This kid could really play.

So far I didn't have to play any safes but I knew that this would be a big part of the game. This kid shoots real straight so if I have a chance to play a dead nuts safe versus a maybe risky out it would be better to play safe. I needed to slow him down and frustrate him a little by having him kick at some balls.

I got my chance in that next game. I played a safe where he had to kick at 2 rails. He did hit the ball but left me a good shot and I got out.

Now all this time his backer is talking and actually cussing and calling me names sometimes even when I'm shooting. The young man I'm playing is just a total gentleman though.

I won $800.00 and they quit. With everything that was going on i was never so happy to see a pool match end. After it was over my friend pointed out that I had missed only 2 balls. One of them the backer was flying around and the other one was just real tough. The matchup lasted about 2 hours.

The biggest key to the whole thing though was being able to adjust to the table quicky and dig into my past experiences on the road from years back to get the cash.

After that my friend that brought me there got the 5 ball from the guy I was playing for $500.00 a rack. They played until 7 in the morning and started at midnight. That was 7 hours and my friend lost $2500.00. He had alot of heart but he just missed too many shots. I guess that's why he was getting the 5 ball. These 2 had played before so they have a pretty good line on each others ability so they match up pretty even. they had played like this before.

On the ride back to Denver I told him i should have given him this aiming lesson that I teach. I had already given about 30 of these in Denver but he never asked and I never offered or vice versa. I told him the wouldn't know what hit'em after he learned this.

I told him I would work with him in a couple of days because he was supposed to play the same game the next Friday. I told him that the game would only last 2 hours once he learned this.

I wanted to stay in town and get part of the action but I had to get to Iowa. I had a commitment there already to give some lessons. I called my friend to see how he did on Saturday.

He told me you were wrong man. I beat them out of $5,000.00. The game didn't last 2 hours because they quit after an hour and a half as he laughed.

Anyway, I know the last part with my friends $500.00 action was a little off track about what the thread is about but it was a pretty neat deal. $500.00 a rack is some pretty good action.

My advice is:

Just roll the balls when you get on any table. You will get used to gaging how fast they roll. The more you practice this the better you will get at it. Also you will see if they are straight. Bounce a ball off the rail to see how springy they are. this will give you alot of info about how tight they bank also.

If the balls are dirty get ready for a tough break. Dirty balls don't usually break well.

And be familiar with all the different types of cue balls. Blue dot. Red dot. Red circle. Vally bar ball. this is huge also.

Be aware of the lighting. Bad lighting you might have to play more safes in situations where normally you would try to run out.

And if you don't think you can concentrate very well with all the distractions don't play. You need to be able to think about all the variables of the strange table and to do this you need to block everything out.

Have a great day. Great thread. You should get some more advice from some other old road players as well. And maybe a few war stories.

Geno.......................
Click to expand...
 
genomachino said:
Hi there,

I played on the road for years and had to adjust real quick or else I would start out stuck and when they got even they would quit.

I want to share a situation and explain how i adjusted.

I was in Denver about 4 months ago giving lessons and trying to stay in stroke. One of the local players told me there was some real good action in Colorado Springs and if he took me there I would be guaranteed a good game.

I didn't know that the last guy he took there lost a bunch of money and thought he had the nuts.

We walked in and right away there was alot of haggling. The backer for this young guy was really disrespectful to everyone. He was drunk but he was the action, at least the money part of it. The guy that took me there had warned me about this. Plus he said this guy would sometimes walk around the table and talk and try to shark you so you had to have the blinders on.

My friend was trying to get a race to 9 for 1,000 going but the drunk backer was a little cautious. Finally they decided we would play $200.00 per game right out of the gate. And the backer voiced his oppinion that there was no warming up. We flip and start.

The table that they want to play on is a diamond with blue cloth and usually these are pretty consistent. But on each side of the table are bench seats the full length of the table and when the customers there heard there was going to be a match they filled them right up. I found out after we started playing is these people sitting there would not move much. Only shift a little so if you had a shot where the cue ball was on the rail you had to almost sit on their lap. They would just kind of shift their legs over.

Also at the head of this table was the bar station where the waitresses come and fill their orders for the pool hall. So there was always movement there all the time.

I made up my mind that i had to put the blinders on and really focus on blocking everything out.

I forgot to say this. I had quit playing in 1999. I was sick. Started playing serious again in jan 2009. Up until this point since Jan the most I had played for was some races to something for a couple of hundred. $200.00 a rack 9-ball with all these obstacles was a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I was on the road once with Omaha John Shuppit and we used the term TAKE IT DOWN. we would say this back and forth to other to remind each other that we had to get the cash. These words just popped into my head.

Suddenly it was just like someone rang the bell at a prize fight. It was just like I went back in time as though I had never quit playing.

Now I had to use all my knowledge about adjusting as fast as I could to see how the table played. Fortuanately the diamonds aren't real old like alot of the other tables and the rails are pretty consistent. The speed would be the biggest thing.

The balls were on the table and I won the flip for the break. There were 2 balls in the kitchen and I rolled them down to the other end like i was just being careful. I was checking the speed.

I broke the balls and made one and had a shot at the one. I could have just shot the one in and stopped but I played it to roll about a foot forward and only got 6 inches. This was good information. It enabled me to run out the rack. I had a shot on the 7 ball where I needed a foot and it helped make the 8 and 9 real easy shots.

I broke and ran the next 2 racks and used a rail to get shape a few times to get a read on them. I knew it was important when i shot these shots to have my memory banks turned up on high.

The forth rack I broke dry. I looked around and realized I had no place to sit. After looking around i saw that my opponents chair was empty so i quickly sat there.

The next time I got to the table he was still breaking and we were dead even. He ran 3 racks in a row. I knew now I was in a pool game. Now i had to put all the right thoughts in my head if i was going to be successful in this game. This kid could really play.

So far I didn't have to play any safes but I knew that this would be a big part of the game. This kid shoots real straight so if I have a chance to play a dead nuts safe versus a maybe risky out it would be better to play safe. I needed to slow him down and frustrate him a little by having him kick at some balls.

I got my chance in that next game. I played a safe where he had to kick at 2 rails. He did hit the ball but left me a good shot and I got out.

Now all this time his backer is talking and actually cussing and calling me names sometimes even when I'm shooting. The young man I'm playing is just a total gentleman though.

I won $800.00 and they quit. With everything that was going on i was never so happy to see a pool match end. After it was over my friend pointed out that I had missed only 2 balls. One of them the backer was flying around and the other one was just real tough. The matchup lasted about 2 hours.

The biggest key to the whole thing though was being able to adjust to the table quicky and dig into my past experiences on the road from years back to get the cash.

After that my friend that brought me there got the 5 ball from the guy I was playing for $500.00 a rack. They played until 7 in the morning and started at midnight. That was 7 hours and my friend lost $2500.00. He had alot of heart but he just missed too many shots. I guess that's why he was getting the 5 ball. These 2 had played before so they have a pretty good line on each others ability so they match up pretty even. they had played like this before.

On the ride back to Denver I told him i should have given him this aiming lesson that I teach. I had already given about 30 of these in Denver but he never asked and I never offered or vice versa. I told him the wouldn't know what hit'em after he learned this.

I told him I would work with him in a couple of days because he was supposed to play the same game the next Friday. I told him that the game would only last 2 hours once he learned this.

I wanted to stay in town and get part of the action but I had to get to Iowa. I had a commitment there already to give some lessons. I called my friend to see how he did on Saturday.

He told me you were wrong man. I beat them out of $5,000.00. The game didn't last 2 hours because they quit after an hour and a half as he laughed.

Anyway, I know the last part with my friends $500.00 action was a little off track about what the thread is about but it was a pretty neat deal. $500.00 a rack is some pretty good action.

My advice is:

Just roll the balls when you get on any table. You will get used to gaging how fast they roll. The more you practice this the better you will get at it. Also you will see if they are straight. Bounce a ball off the rail to see how springy they are. this will give you alot of info about how tight they bank also.

If the balls are dirty get ready for a tough break. Dirty balls don't usually break well.

And be familiar with all the different types of cue balls. Blue dot. Red dot. Red circle. Vally bar ball. this is huge also.

Be aware of the lighting. Bad lighting you might have to play more safes in situations where normally you would try to run out.

And if you don't think you can concentrate very well with all the distractions don't play. You need to be able to think about all the variables of the strange table and to do this you need to block everything out.

Have a great day. Great thread. You should get some more advice from some other old road players as well. And maybe a few war stories.

Geno.......................
Click to expand...

Pretty cool story
 
Thanks!!!! Alot of great information here sir.

And thanks to you too Max for your information. I think I can take this and improve on the road. I can usually adjust to a table after about 8-10 hours of constant play but the game change up threw me off.


Gary

genomachino said:
Hi there,

I played on the road for years and had to adjust real quick or else I would start out stuck and when they got even they would quit.

I want to share a situation and explain how i adjusted.

I was in Denver about 4 months ago giving lessons and trying to stay in stroke. One of the local players told me there was some real good action in Colorado Springs and if he took me there I would be guaranteed a good game.

I didn't know that the last guy he took there lost a bunch of money and thought he had the nuts.

We walked in and right away there was alot of haggling. The backer for this young guy was really disrespectful to everyone. He was drunk but he was the action, at least the money part of it. The guy that took me there had warned me about this. Plus he said this guy would sometimes walk around the table and talk and try to shark you so you had to have the blinders on.

My friend was trying to get a race to 9 for 1,000 going but the drunk backer was a little cautious. Finally they decided we would play $200.00 per game right out of the gate. And the backer voiced his oppinion that there was no warming up. We flip and start.

The table that they want to play on is a diamond with blue cloth and usually these are pretty consistent. But on each side of the table are bench seats the full length of the table and when the customers there heard there was going to be a match they filled them right up. I found out after we started playing is these people sitting there would not move much. Only shift a little so if you had a shot where the cue ball was on the rail you had to almost sit on their lap. They would just kind of shift their legs over.

Also at the head of this table was the bar station where the waitresses come and fill their orders for the pool hall. So there was always movement there all the time.

I made up my mind that i had to put the blinders on and really focus on blocking everything out.

I forgot to say this. I had quit playing in 1999. I was sick. Started playing serious again in jan 2009. Up until this point since Jan the most I had played for was some races to something for a couple of hundred. $200.00 a rack 9-ball with all these obstacles was a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I was on the road once with Omaha John Shuppit and we used the term TAKE IT DOWN. we would say this back and forth to other to remind each other that we had to get the cash. These words just popped into my head.

Suddenly it was just like someone rang the bell at a prize fight. It was just like I went back in time as though I had never quit playing.

Now I had to use all my knowledge about adjusting as fast as I could to see how the table played. Fortuanately the diamonds aren't real old like alot of the other tables and the rails are pretty consistent. The speed would be the biggest thing.

The balls were on the table and I won the flip for the break. There were 2 balls in the kitchen and I rolled them down to the other end like i was just being careful. I was checking the speed.

I broke the balls and made one and had a shot at the one. I could have just shot the one in and stopped but I played it to roll about a foot forward and only got 6 inches. This was good information. It enabled me to run out the rack. I had a shot on the 7 ball where I needed a foot and it helped make the 8 and 9 real easy shots.

I broke and ran the next 2 racks and used a rail to get shape a few times to get a read on them. I knew it was important when i shot these shots to have my memory banks turned up on high.

The forth rack I broke dry. I looked around and realized I had no place to sit. After looking around i saw that my opponents chair was empty so i quickly sat there.

The next time I got to the table he was still breaking and we were dead even. He ran 3 racks in a row. I knew now I was in a pool game. Now i had to put all the right thoughts in my head if i was going to be successful in this game. This kid could really play.

So far I didn't have to play any safes but I knew that this would be a big part of the game. This kid shoots real straight so if I have a chance to play a dead nuts safe versus a maybe risky out it would be better to play safe. I needed to slow him down and frustrate him a little by having him kick at some balls.

I got my chance in that next game. I played a safe where he had to kick at 2 rails. He did hit the ball but left me a good shot and I got out.

Now all this time his backer is talking and actually cussing and calling me names sometimes even when I'm shooting. The young man I'm playing is just a total gentleman though.

I won $800.00 and they quit. With everything that was going on i was never so happy to see a pool match end. After it was over my friend pointed out that I had missed only 2 balls. One of them the backer was flying around and the other one was just real tough. The matchup lasted about 2 hours.

The biggest key to the whole thing though was being able to adjust to the table quicky and dig into my past experiences on the road from years back to get the cash.

After that my friend that brought me there got the 5 ball from the guy I was playing for $500.00 a rack. They played until 7 in the morning and started at midnight. That was 7 hours and my friend lost $2500.00. He had alot of heart but he just missed too many shots. I guess that's why he was getting the 5 ball. These 2 had played before so they have a pretty good line on each others ability so they match up pretty even. they had played like this before.

On the ride back to Denver I told him i should have given him this aiming lesson that I teach. I had already given about 30 of these in Denver but he never asked and I never offered or vice versa. I told him the wouldn't know what hit'em after he learned this.

I told him I would work with him in a couple of days because he was supposed to play the same game the next Friday. I told him that the game would only last 2 hours once he learned this.

I wanted to stay in town and get part of the action but I had to get to Iowa. I had a commitment there already to give some lessons. I called my friend to see how he did on Saturday.

He told me you were wrong man. I beat them out of $5,000.00. The game didn't last 2 hours because they quit after an hour and a half as he laughed.

Anyway, I know the last part with my friends $500.00 action was a little off track about what the thread is about but it was a pretty neat deal. $500.00 a rack is some pretty good action.

My advice is:

Just roll the balls when you get on any table. You will get used to gaging how fast they roll. The more you practice this the better you will get at it. Also you will see if they are straight. Bounce a ball off the rail to see how springy they are. this will give you alot of info about how tight they bank also.

If the balls are dirty get ready for a tough break. Dirty balls don't usually break well.

And be familiar with all the different types of cue balls. Blue dot. Red dot. Red circle. Vally bar ball. this is huge also.

Be aware of the lighting. Bad lighting you might have to play more safes in situations where normally you would try to run out.

And if you don't think you can concentrate very well with all the distractions don't play. You need to be able to think about all the variables of the strange table and to do this you need to block everything out.

Have a great day. Great thread. You should get some more advice from some other old road players as well. And maybe a few war stories.

Geno.......................
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maxeberle said:
All good advice so far...

One thing would be: The more often you play pinpoint position, even on familiar equipment, the more in tune with speed control you will be, thus making adjustments easier when you need them. When you are in tune with what you can do to a tee, adapting is just a matter of time as long as you are still going for a small position area and paying attention to your results as you adjust. Large position zones are nice, yet it is powerful to still go for an area the size of a cue ball within that large position zone :)
Click to expand...

Max

Why are you giving away advice that is in your DVD's? :bash:

Great to have you participating on the forum. Hopefully you will keep posting.
 
maxeberle said:
All good advice so far...

One thing would be: The more often you play pinpoint position, even on familiar equipment, the more in tune with speed control you will be, thus making adjustments easier when you need them. When you are in tune with what you can do to a tee, adapting is just a matter of time as long as you are still going for a small position area and paying attention to your results as you adjust. Large position zones are nice, yet it is powerful to still go for an area the size of a cue ball within that large position zone :)
Click to expand...

I'm quoting this post just to make sure it doesn't disappear. This just changed the way I practice.

-Andrew
 
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