Road Trip Update: Thailand / Straight Pool?

TheOne

TheOne

www.MetroPool.club
Silver Member
As some of you know I quit my job and left Oz before Xmas in search of adventure and to see if I still love billiards enough to practice everyday like I did quite a few years ago. Well after a few weeks R and R in Brune and Malaysia I arrived in Thailand. Lucky for us my wifes family live in the north so we decided to go to Pattaya instead of the south so we avoided to terrible tragedy.

Anyway on the pool front I forst found a small bar that had just imported two brand new 9ft tables from the us (crown and olhousen?) and the played great. Heaven I though, but then I found a brand new club called megabreak (www.megabreakpool.com) tucked away down a side street. I have now died and gone to heaven, 11 super fast crowns with young ladies racking the balls with sardo racks and serving drinks etc. Big TV's and some very good local
players. Right I thought I have no excuse not to start putting some hours in now so I thought I would start with STRAIGHT POOL.

Even though I have played very little on 9ft tables in my time a while ago I said that I thought I could make a 100 ball run within a week. well I have played 3 days upto now by myself and these are my high scores from a couple of hours per day:

DAY 1: 38,43,45
DAY 2: 44,48,65
DAY 3: 81

Right from the start I have been getting 30's and 40's in between the odd miss so I know if I can start stringing them together I could get a big score. Anyway on Day 3 I was struggling to make 30 until I went for a leak and sorted my head out. The ball I missed was a straight black into the corner which was about 5 inches from the pocket as I only had only other ball left on the table and I wanted to make sure I got perfect position (which I did) I just took my eye off the pot and caught the jaw with it and it stayed out. Anyway in disgust I played the next set, ran out another 13 with perfect position on ym nex break ball which what would have been 95 and counting!

I was so disgusted with myself I stopped as i didn't want to know what "I could have won" Anyway to cut a long story short, can anyone offer advise of what sort of totals I need to making before I can compete with the CURRENT best straight pool players? I know some pro's have made several hundreds but if I succeed and make 100 balls within a week of practice does that mean anything? If I make a run of 200 within a month would that be something to be proud of?

Just a thought but what are the best runs of the better players here on AZ?
 
TheOne said:
As some of you know I quit my job and left Oz before Xmas in search of adventure and to see if I still love billiards enough to practice everyday like I did quite a few years ago. Well after a few weeks R and R in Brune and Malaysia I arrived in Thailand. Lucky for us my wifes family live in the north so we decided to go to Pattaya instead of the south so we avoided to terrible tragedy.

Anyway on the pool front I forst found a small bar that had just imported two brand new 9ft tables from the us (crown and olhousen?) and the played great. Heaven I though, but then I found a brand new club called megabreak (www.megabreakpool.com) tucked away down a side street. I have now died and gone to heaven, 11 super fast crowns with young ladies racking the balls with sardo racks and serving drinks etc. Big TV's and some very good local
players. Right I thought I have no excuse not to start putting some hours in now so I thought I would start with STRAIGHT POOL.

Even though I have played very little on 9ft tables in my time a while ago I said that I thought I could make a 100 ball run within a week. well I have played 3 days upto now by myself and these are my high scores from a couple of hours per day:

DAY 1: 38,43,45
DAY 2: 44,48,65
DAY 3: 81

Right from the start I have been getting 30's and 40's in between the odd miss so I know if I can start stringing them together I could get a big score. Anyway on Day 3 I was struggling to make 30 until I went for a leak and sorted my head out. The ball I missed was a straight black into the corner which was about 5 inches from the pocket as I only had only other ball left on the table and I wanted to make sure I got perfect position (which I did) I just took my eye off the pot and caught the jaw with it and it stayed out. Anyway in disgust I played the next set, ran out another 13 with perfect position on ym nex break ball which what would have been 95 and counting!

I was so disgusted with myself I stopped as i didn't want to know what "I could have won" Anyway to cut a long story short, can anyone offer advise of what sort of totals I need to making before I can compete with the CURRENT best straight pool players? I know some pro's have made several hundreds but if I succeed and make 100 balls within a week of practice does that mean anything? If I make a run of 200 within a month would that be something to be proud of?

Just a thought but what are the best runs of the better players here on AZ?
Click to expand...


(not saying i'm one of the best players on here, i'm not) my high run is 47, although i am just learning to play 14:1

but hell yes a run of 200 would be something to be proud of. considering how hard that is. tony robles has run over 200 on 7 different occassions is what i think he told. for anyone to run over 200 just one time is a feet that nowadays seems unheard of.
 
TheOne said:
...Anyway, on the pool front I, first found a small bar that had just imported two brand-new 9-foot tables from the U.S. (Crown and Olhausen?), and they played great. Heaven I thought, but then I found a brand-new club called Megabreak (www.megabreakpool.com) tucked away down a side street. I have now died and gone to heaven....
Click to expand...

A trip to the Orient, what a dream! I read with interest that the pool room in Thailand is using Sardo racks and American playing equipment. Do most players there use custom-made cues, or do they prefer the inexpensive production cues?

What is the most popular game played there? Is it a variation of 9-ball, or three-cushion billiards?

I think anybody who can run 200 balls is playing pretty sporty. The proof is in the pudding, though, if you can do so when competing. Once you acquire the mechanical skills, the rest is upstairs, i.e. self-confidence and focus. Being able to get in the zone takes a lot of mental strength.

Definitely, you should get yourself in the pit and put your skills to the test. If and when you do come to the States, I'd suggest trying out a few of the local tournaments and regional tours, depending on what area you land. In my neck of the woods, check out Planet Pool 9-Ball Tour and Joss Northeast 9-Ball, Viking, Hampton Ridge, and Fury Tours. Further info can be obtained on AzBilliards Home Page under Tournaments.

I really enjoyed reading about your pool journey in Thailand. Can you attach a couple of pictures, so we can get a flavor of the scene over there?

BTW, Virginian Young Gun "Pookie" is from Thailand, and he reads this forum on a regular basis (Hi, Pookie :D). I read on AzBilliards Home Page that he played in a ring game at the JOB's Music City Open, $500 entry fee, won by Shannon "The Cannon" Daulton! He's probably en route right now to Louisville for the Derby City Classic!

JAM
 
Thanks guys, funny I have just started reading the book "plaing off the rail" and after posting last night I read the chapter about Amsterdamn billiards in NYC where they mention straight pool. I couldn't beleive it when I read that Tony A made a run of 126 and that was his highest, I guess that puts my small runs in perspetive but gives me something to aim for. From what I can tell anything over 100 is very good and 200 plus would be something special. I will keep you posted :-))

Yes Jam I was suprised to to find such amazing equipment in Thailand as I have been here many times but only ever found snooker clubs (due to the succes of many Thai players such as James Wattana). However an Aussie guy is determined to change that and has opened several top class 9 ball clubs with more on the way, they all seem to be doing a roaring trade. But even though there are a few good 9 ball players now it is still in its infancy from what I have seen but I don't think it will be long before a Thai player starts to break through like the other great asian players given there snooker success. I haven't seen many cue suppliers yet but I will in bangkok nexk week for a weekly comp (about 200 us to the winner which goes a long way in thailand :-). I am told that there are now several good clubs in Bangkok now too (along soi 4 off suhkumvit road if anyone is interested).

Some nice pictures of the pool halls, tables and even girls racking here...

http://www.megabreakpool.com/lounge.html
 
TheOne said:
DAY 1: 38,43,45
DAY 2: 44,48,65
DAY 3: 81

Right from the start I have been getting 30's and 40's in between the odd miss so I know if I can start stringing them together I could get a big score. Anyway on Day 3 I was struggling to make 30 until I went for a leak and sorted my head out. The ball I missed was a straight black into the corner which was about 5 inches from the pocket as I only had only other ball left on the table and I wanted to make sure I got perfect position (which I did) I just took my eye off the pot and caught the jaw with it and it stayed out. Anyway in disgust I played the next set, ran out another 13 with perfect position on ym nex break ball which what would have been 95 and counting!

Just a thought but what are the best runs of the better players here on AZ?
Click to expand...

I realize it's probably not much coming from me but I would be proud of all those runs. Obviously you are progressing in the right direction and hopefully soon enough you break that 100 barrier. I started practicing straight pool about a month ago and never realized how hard that game really is. I was able to clear 2 racks once but usually end up with runs in the 10 to 15 range. Anyone who is consistently running over 30 balls is pretty good in my book and if you are hovering around the 100 mark, well let's just say, my wallet ain't coming out :-) .

Best of luck,
Dave
 
Thanks for the update from your big adventure Craig, that club your playing in actually looks pretty sporty. Keep us updated and let us know how that tourny in Bangkok goes.
 
No worries Dave, your not doing to bad yourself though - its just stringing those 30's together. If you can get 30 miss a ball and then get another 30 your 1 ball away frm 60, its finding that zone IMO, which is not always easy in a busy pool club.

No worries sniper, I will let you know. I won my first comp in pattaya a couple of weeeks ago, 4:0,4:0,5:0 and 6:0 but I just lost in the final tonight. Nothing to big though but some good players(one has a 147 in snooker)

I think the Bangkok one will be much tougher, more runners and more money - we shall see :-)
 
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