Quality wins

Thunderball

Thunderball

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I'm curious about some of the quality wins or proud accomplishments as it were....or just proud memories you'll likely never forget.

I'll share one of mine.

A couple of years ago my team made the "cities" with the apa 8 ball.For us this meant playing in Charllote NC.Now I'm just a banger at skill level 5 (sometimes 6) but I play ok at times and usually play a little better under some pressure.

The other team put up their captian (SL4) to get us started.Its never a good sign when the captian is handicapped lower then most of the team ime and I assumed he was probably a pretty strong shot regardless.

I'm always itching to play in these situations and I got the nod,even though I was giving up a game.Fwiw we were on a bar box,although our team always plays on a 9 at home.I lost the lag and he was on the break.
He played a ball or two and left me hooked.I took a swipe and made a good hit (about all I could do) and out he ran.

The next game he broke and ran.

Now after shooting just once I was down two nothing and this "4" was on the hill.I joked with my team that it was going to be tough for me to make it interesting if I never get to shoot.At this point I fully expected to lose since I needed 4 games and really had no pressure.

And then it happened...he missed.I made a few balls,saw a lock safe and shot it.Got ball in hand and ran out.

An odd thing began to happen to my opponent,but not so odd I didn't think it might.He felt that top gear slipping.I could see it in his eyes.The longer this went on the worse he played.He was in such a high gear at the start that now every miss was a major dissappointment.He was getting into his own head.

I won the set 4/2.In the last two games I crushed him....wrapping the the match up with a break and run of my own.

Now none of this espn material I know,but it was a sweet ass win considering.One I was proud to get.I attribute that one mostly to attitude and some experience.I was as cool as the other side of the pillow lol.Not because I knew I would win,but because I was sure I wouldn't.I guess my opponenet couldn't tell the difference lol.

Tell of your quality wins...thats always good stuff.
 
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One bump...everyone one from a reasonably new banger,to the southdakotakid has a sweet story to tell.A break though game,tourny...heck even that one shot you finally nutted for the first time when it mattered most ect...

Nothin?
 
For me, it was after going to a tournament and realizing I hit a new gear. I played a guy I normally got the 7 from and told him I only wanted the 8 but he had to triple our usual bet. After 2 games, I told him we could drop any spot at all and play even. We only played 3 games that day. The next day, we started again and I ended 30 game winner - even.

I never felt so in control on the table before. When we finished the second day, he said man did you play good. I told him be glad we didn't keep playing the first day, "I would have shot your eyes out and skull$#%*ed you." (please pardon the vulgarity, but he was slaughtered)
 
this is my favorite "story"...

i was in an ahead set, 5 ahead for 200, with another local here in town, and he is on the hill, he's been playing really good and he's on the hill, breaks and runs out to the 7, and gets out of line, so he tries to play a safe and lag the cue ball to the end rail and hide the 7 behind the 8, well he leaves me this shot (keep in mind this is on a diamond table, with procut/tight pockets)

CueTable Help



i jacked up and fired in the 7, drew back perfectly for the 8, and got out, letting him know that i wasnt going down without a fight...

i ended up winning the set in about an hour an a half.
 
Thats the spirit of what I was looking for guys.I probably should have worded it better.

Its the things you may never forget,for all the right reasons that I'd like to read.Hell, I'm outta fingers if I had to count mine.
 
The first time (and only time because I'm really not a gambler) I simultaneously got paid, got my hand shaken, and heard the words "I can't beat you," by a guy who could really play a little, man that was sweet. I smiled for the next 24 hours just thinking about how that sounded. We were on a shimmed (under 4.5" pockets) 9' table, playing short 9-ball sets with no spot, and I beat him 3 sets in a row, and my last out included some really tough table-length shots, and I proved to him I was the better player. That's what competition is really about, for me.

The other one was the week I went up to a 7 in apa 8ball, I played a long-established 7, and beat him 5-0 (and this is already the 4th or 5th time I've bragged about it on AZ :D). Afterwards I overheard him talking to a guy who hadn't seen the match, who asked how it went, and the guy I beat said "man, he took me to school." I wouldn't say it was the best pool I've ever played in my life, but it wasn't far off of it (one break-and-run out of 5 games, 11 total innings), and I did a really good job of not allowing him any easy opportunities to get into a rhythm (playing safes or two-way shots to leave him either hooked or tough, as opposed to my usual terrible habit of missing routine shots and leaving him easy ones to get started). It was pretty nice to hear a long-established 7 who's been playing 8-ball longer than I've even been alive say I took him to school.

-Andrew
 
Not my own

I play APA and recently picked up a solid player on my team. He is there for timeouts and play suggestions (a nice addition to the team - he showed me a thrown bank shot to get out the other day, phenomenal)

His second APA match was against a good 6 (2nd highest rank). The race was 5-4 playing 8 ball.

Our player broke and ran the first 2. Was running out the 3rd when the rail gave about 1" too much bounce. He was hooked and attempted to kick safe. The other player ran out. Next rack, opponent broke and made nothing our player ran out. Then 2 more break and runs.

Final game score 5-1. # of shots by opponent, 1. Had it not been for the rebound off the rail, I believe he would have ran the set out.
 
Down something like 23 games at $20 a game. I got pissed off, raised the bet to $100 a game, and won a smidgeon over $500. I've won more, but that was pretty sweet. By the way, it was in the guys own bar.
 
Two that stand out in my mind..

1. I was playing a good player from Chicago, the game was Last Pocket 8 Ball. He made this the game because I was a young pup straight shooter, and I wouldn't play One Pocket, as I did not know the game yet. He thought he'd have an advantage if the game got down to the last few balls, and I didn't know what to do. I was running out from absolutely everywhere. We'd seesaw, then I'd go up a few games. Every time I got a few games up, he'd raise the bet. The higher the bet, the better I played.

At $100.00 a game, he started breaking "safe" on me. I.e., he was basically making the lightest hit on the 1 ball. He left ONE ball off the rack, almost dead straight in the corner, no angle to hit it hard and get into the stack to break out balls.

I was feeling froggy, so I tried a jump shot (on the ball I could see straight in) to get the CB to "bounce" into the stack. I ran out from there by picking apart the stack. He had seen enough, and broke his stick down, and paid me.

2. Around the same time, I was getting plenty of practice, and playing 8 tournaments a week. I was playing a race to 3 8-ball tourney on fairly tight 9 footers in Tacoma, WA. A new player had come to the tourney, and gotten lippy during a match win against one of the other room regulars. That regular asked me to "kick the guy's arse". In my usual humble manner at that time, I said "I'll do my best, bro.." (Seems the better I shot, the humbler I was back then.)

We lagged for the break, and he lost. I broke and ran three racks of 8-ball and out on him. The only mistake he made was a bad lag. He smiled, congratulated me, and told me I was a very good player.

I never got to see him shoot. I don't know who he was, or how well he played. :D

And this marked jump in my game was only after one dedicated month of practice. Mark my words.. I'll be dangerous when I get about 4-5 months of solid practice.

Russ
 
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