Samiel's Thread

Samiel

Samiel

Sea Player
Silver Member
I haven't made it to Kentucky yet, but I thought I'd open up a thread as a placeholder at least. I leave on Wednesday and should get there around 3:00pm CST. I'll report back here and try to post pictures to http://www.virtualpoolhall.com when I can.

I'm really looking forward to seeing some good one-pocket action and meeting people from AZB. Ratchet has been great with his reports and probably knows more pool players than I do, but I'll do my best with his help! I'll finally be able to meet some fellow posters after about five years of sitting here in Texas! :p

Anyhow, look to http://www.virtualpoolhall.com for pictures and more. I'll definitely cross-post to AZB, RSB, and VPH anything I have. Two days to go!
 
Hope you cand devote a key-stroke or more to some 3cushion info. Have fun...I'll heep working for us!!
 
Unfortunately, by the time I get to the DCC, the 3C event will be pretty much over. I discussed this briefly with Bob Jewett in another thread and he said the 3C event would probably wrap up early Wednesday... which will be about the time I get there.

I believe the Straight Pool Challenge/Contest will still be going on by the time I get there though and that Bob Jewett is running that. I'm going to try to meet up with him and I'll see if I can get some 3C information from him. I'll see if I can get who won the qualifiers and if there were any good runs.
 
It was good ...

to see Danny Harriman cash good in the 14.1 competition.
He took down about $7k for his effort.
 
I've added the rest of my pictures... sorry I didn't take more! Many, many, many thanks to Williebetmore for setting all of this up and getting everything worked out.

I'll post a write-up of everything I can remember sometime when I get home. I'll be here until around noon today. IPT qualifiers are still going on and Thomas Engert is looking strong!

It was definitely a pleasure meeting many of the AZ posters!

Pictures are on http://www.virtualpoolhall.com.
 
Samiel said:
I've added the rest of my pictures... sorry I didn't take more! Many, many, many thanks to Williebetmore for setting all of this up and getting everything worked out.

I'll post a write-up of everything I can remember sometime when I get home. I'll be here until around noon today. IPT qualifiers are still going on and Thomas Engert is looking strong!

It was definitely a pleasure meeting many of the AZ posters!

Pictures are on http://www.virtualpoolhall.com.
Click to expand...

Sami-,
No thanks necessary - I just enjoyed the heck out of the whole experience.

I WOULD however, like to thank you for your participation (and the free banks lesson) and help. You were a fixture in the room, always willing to help and participate. I hope to see you next year if we do it again.

Also thanks for the pics, they were great.
 
I actual plan to post a more detailed write-up... hopefully soon so it's fresh in my mind... I just haven't had time yet! I'm just dreading the huge amount of work I have to come back to!
 
Samiel said:
I actual plan to post a more detailed write-up... hopefully soon so it's fresh in my mind... I just haven't had time yet! I'm just dreading the huge amount of work I have to come back to!
Click to expand...

Samiel, if I'm ever in Ft. Worth or you're ever in
Clarksburg, WV, ( ha, ha) we've got to play some
more one hole. This isn't over yet. If you noticed
I was getting better each game.
 
Samiel said:
I know! You won that last game when I did my super offensive break! :p
Click to expand...

In which you put 2 balls in front of my hole which
you called your hole. This isn't over with yet, big guy.
 
From onepocket.org

2.1 All fifteen balls are tightly racked in no particular required order in a standard triangle with the apex ball placed as nearly as possible on the foot spot. In tournament play, players lag for the first break. For games that follow, the break alternates back and forth between the players, regardless of who wins each game. Prior to breaking, the breaking player selects one of the corner pockets at the foot of the table as their own, thus the opponent is assigned the other foot pocket by default. In subsequent games, whoever breaks is free to change their pocket selection on their own break.

In standard practice the breaker does not 'call his pocket'; their pocket selection is considered obvious by virtue of the orientation of their break. Players employing an unusual break are advised to make their pocket selection clear prior to the break, to avoid conflict.

Samiel did call his pocket prior to breaking;)
 
It was good break in that everything ended up on my side, but super clustered... kind of like my Q-Skill break! :p
 
Thanks, Breakup. I've been playing 1 hole since 1968
and never knew you could do that. Well, I won that game
anyway so it didn't really matter. It was just friendly
competition.


QUOTE=breakup]From onepocket.org

2.1 All fifteen balls are tightly racked in no particular required order in a standard triangle with the apex ball placed as nearly as possible on the foot spot. In tournament play, players lag for the first break. For games that follow, the break alternates back and forth between the players, regardless of who wins each game. Prior to breaking, the breaking player selects one of the corner pockets at the foot of the table as their own, thus the opponent is assigned the other foot pocket by default. In subsequent games, whoever breaks is free to change their pocket selection on their own break.

In standard practice the breaker does not 'call his pocket'; their pocket selection is considered obvious by virtue of the orientation of their break. Players employing an unusual break are advised to make their pocket selection clear prior to the break, to avoid conflict.

Samiel did call his pocket prior to breaking;)[/QUOTE]
 
Here's my initial write-up of my DCC experience... there's more to come, but I haven't had a lot of time! Enjoy part 1/?...

After reading Ratchet’s great reports of the AZ/1P room, I was quite restless in the days leading up to my trip to the 2006 Derby City Classic. I wasn’t sure if I was more excited to see professional players or more excited to meet some fellow posters from AZ/1P. Of course, some of those posters were also from the old school RSB, and I was also excited to see some of the people I’ve posted with for the last seven years or so.

The 2006 DCC started on Friday, January 6, 2006, but I wouldn’t make my pool trek until Wednesday, January 11, 2006. The first weekend of the DCC, I eagerly awaited news of the AZ/1P room and asked around my local pool hall to see if anyone else would be attending this pool Mecca. A gentleman I knew named Earl said he’d be attending and there were several rumors of other people going as well.

I knew I’d be there for five days, so I made a list of all the things I’d need. It turns out that I over packed… like I always do! Among the things I never used were a tripod, my digital video camcorder and deodorant… okay, just kidding about that last one. I also packed for cold weather… but unlike the previous DCC (or so I’ve been told), it wasn’t that chilly and I wore mainly short-sleeved shirts. For playing, I packed my Layani cue, which I had to wedge in sideways in order for it to fit into my luggage. No matter what my girlfriend says, a thirty-inch shaft is not small! :p

Flying out of Dallas/Fort Worth wasn’t too bad. People told me to get there an hour and a half early in order to go through security. I got there an hour and a half early… and it took nearly ten minutes to go through security… so I ended up waiting a good hour and twenty minutes or so. To top it off, my flight was delayed on the runway for about forty minutes. My flight had one stop at Chicago, but the layover was an hour and a half, so I still had about forty minutes to spare once I got to Chicago. I hadn’t flown in quite some time, so it was nice to take to the friendly skies once again. I must say that the Chicago airport didn’t seem to have the best layout. It must have taken me a good twenty minutes to walk from my arrival gate to my departure gate. The Louisville airport seemed to have an odd layout as well, but perhaps I was just not used to them.

Once I collected my luggage I went to the information desk in the airport and had them ask the Executive West to send me a shuttle. I stood outside for about ten minutes before the shuttle arrived. I was finally on my way to the DCC! The driver told me the hotel was filled to capacity and that all the parking was taken. People were parked all over the place once we arrived at the hotel. From the outside, the hotel didn’t seem very imposing, only consisting of eight stories, but once I got inside, I realized that the depth of the hotel more than made up for the height of it. I think the driver mentioned that this hotel was the second largest in Kentucky! Certainly it was a large hotel since when I came in, four people were working the front desk! Usually I only see one or two people working a hotel front desk.

As I entered the lobby there were people milling around. I wondered whom I would see first that I would recognize. It turns out that one of the AZ posters who designed the BreakRAK lived right near me and I never noticed. ceebee was the first person I recognized. He was there with his wife I believe and he’s quite a sporty shooter from what I remembered. I went to the front desk a little early… about 2:45pm, so about fifteen minutes before the official check-in time of 3:00pm. Well, they said it’d be about fifteen minutes so I took a seat. I then tried calling Earl to see where he was… it turned out that he had gone home the night before! I tried back at the front desk about 3:00pm and was told they were cleaning rooms. No problem, I thought, I’ll just hang around for a bit longer. It was about then that I met ceebee. While talking to ceebee, Jeanette Lee came around. She was in much better shape (skinnier) than I’d thought she’d be. It wasn’t the last time I’d see her though.

After waiting the designated twenty minutes or so, I checked back with the front desk… but no dice… they were still cleaning rooms apparently. So, I gave them my cell phone number and asked them to call me when my room was ready. I then carted my luggage around with me and started my search for the AZ/1P room. The Executive West is large and I got a little lost looking for the AZ/1P room. I did, however, find the Inside Pool booth… Timberly was nowhere to be found though. I passed Corey Duel and Joe Salazar walking through the immense crowd and finally spotted signage pointing to the AZ/1P room. Finally, I thought!

The first person I spotted walking into the AZ/1P room was Grady Matthews! Him and his wife were guarding the room were Willie Joplin was playing some Irish Billiards. I collected my nametag and sat and watched. Willie was taking on all challengers. I tried my hand, but Willie was too good for me. That wouldn’t be the last time I’d get handily beaten at the DCC! :p

I know I’m going to leave out some names if I try to list everyone I met in the AZ/1P room. I’m not even sure of everyone’s screen names, but I do remember meeting Williebetmore pretty early on. No one seemed to be wearing their name badges and no one really introduced themselves to me. It was little disconcerting at first, I must say. However, Grady and Randi Matthews were incredibly nice when I first arrived in the room. Williebetmore had just arrived as well and had the same problems getting a room.

It had been around three hours now since I’d first arrived. I hadn’t gotten a call from the front desk yet so I decided to check back with them. They gave me the same story about rooms being cleaned so I went back to the AZ/1P room and watched a bit more. Finally, after about another hour, I went back to the front desk to see what was going on. Well, it looks like they had given my room away, but they worked out another room for me. By this time it had been about four hours or so since I’d first arrived, but I was glade I’d finally gotten a room.

So, I hauled all of my stuff out of the AZ/1P room to my room on the seventh floor. It was no easy task given the number of vendors and people in the hallway. I got to my room and unpacked some of my items… the first things being my laptop and my digital camera. Ratchet’s password worked and I was able to access the Internet. Unfortunately AZ Billiards was down so I ended up posting on OnePocket.org and VirtualPoolHall.com.

After getting settled, I went back down to the AZ/1P room. I passed Efren Reyes in near the tournament room. Timberly was still not at the Inside Pool booth! I spent the rest of the evening playing in the AZ/1P room… mostly with goingpro07. The table in the AZ/1P room was the tightest table I’ve ever played on! After playing on that table, I have more respect for the professionals. Two balls would definitely not fit through one pocket. I found myself missing easy shots when I didn’t focus. I found that down-the-rail shots and steep cuts into the corner gave me the most problems on this table. Greg Sullivan later confirmed that the table was the same as those that were being used in the tournament room and throughout the rest of the DCC.

We played until about 6:00am Thursday morning. At that point, all I had eaten were a few sandwiches from the hotel’s aptly named Corner Pocket concession stand. Bottled water and even a Mellow Yellow were imbibed in that time as well. I headed back to my room and posted a few pictures on VirtualPoolHall.com. I took a shower and slept for a good four hours or so. Around 11:00am I woke up and headed back down to the AZ/1P room… I couldn’t get enough of it!

Thursday morning I met Freddy The Beard. We played a game of short rack banks and he obviously got the better of me! He told me he thought my bank game was stronger than my straight game! He also told me not to fall in love with the long rail banks. Short rail banks are the better bet I suppose. Freddy was as nice as could be and made many great bank shots I wouldn’t attempt! Many more things would happen that day…

More to come! :eek:
 
Samiel said:
Here's my initial write-up of my DCC experience... there's more to come, but I haven't had a lot of time! Enjoy part 1/?...

More to come! :eek:
Click to expand...

Sami-,
I enjoyed it, and hope there is more to come. I also was impressed with your banks game - you hit them good. I hope to see you enter the banks competition next year; and the DMHT as well.
 
2/2

Wow, it’s been about a month now since the DCC and I’ve yet to finish writing about my experience! Sorry guys, I’ll try to see if I can cram stuff in without going into the boring details!

I left off last at Thursday, but I forgot to mention an important thing that happened Wednesday and that was the match-up between Squirrel and Harry Platis. They played a good part of their match in the AZ/1P room Wednesday night. First off, along with the both of them came a few other great players. I saw Ronnie Allen and Truman Hogue among them sitting there to watch. Squirrel and Harry started off playing One Pocket for $500 a game I believe. As I was watching them, it seemed that Harry was the better shot-maker, but Squirrel played a better defensive and strategic game it seemed. In the end, Squirrel got the best of Harry in One Pocket. Squirrel kept saying how bad his bank game was and that if he could bank better he’d be playing better. Harry was also giving Squirrel a 8-7 spot. After Harry decided he couldn’t beat Squirrel at One Pocket, he wanted to play even, but Squirrel didn’t want to play Harry that way, saying that the adjustment was too big.

They then decided on a game neither one really knew the rules to, One Ball One Pocket. In this game, it’s treated like there’s just one ball left in a game of One Pocket. The One Ball was frozen to the end rail and the shooter was given ball-in-hand in the kitchen. Squirrel’s bank game now seemed a bit stronger. At least three times I saw Squirrel four-rail the ball into his pocket. Several other times he was quite close. Harry tried to do the same, but many times messed up so bad he left Squirrel a relatively easy shot at his pocket. They played for $200 a game and Squirrel ended up again if I recall. Harry did manage to make quite a few convincing three-rail shots though. They both played fairly well and neither one complained about the tightness of the table.

Anyhow, on Thursday I got to meet Freddy The Beard and later on, we enjoyed a jump clinic by Master BCA Instructor Tom Simpson. Grady also did a One Pocket clinic we all enjoyed. I believe Grady mentioned that his exhibition rate was $700 and that he’d pay his own expenses. Now that’s hard to beat!

Later that Thursday, we had a Q-Skill Challenge. Initially the plan was to draw four people out of a hat and have them compete for some of the leftover room money. I believe JoeyA had already snagged the first win in the prior 9-ball test of skill.

It turned out that we only had about eight people in the room so we decided to go ahead and give everyone a try and that the top four would get the prize money. Let me just preface by saying I’ve never tried the Q-Skill Challenge before, so I was a bit nervous when my name was pulled first. My goodness did I have a pathetic first inning. I broke the balls like a sissy and almost all the balls were on the rails and clustered like hell. For some reason all the other guys were grinning. :)

Anyhow, I ran three balls, which was then my high run in the Q-Skill Challenge. Man that table was tight and I think the sun was reflecting somehow through the hotel and into the AZ/1P room because I wouldn’t normally shoot that badly!

As it turns out, I didn’t get the lowest inning! WBM showed his skills as he ran 20 points in his first inning. I think his seeing how badly we all sucked made him more relaxed. The next inning I was able to run 14 points for a respectable 17 point total. As it turns out, that was good enough for fourth place!

The Dean of BCA Instructors Jerry Briesath was helping people out on Thursday as well. I believe JoeyA got a one hour lesson in. Jerry was very helpful and is a very nice guy. I suppose if I’m ever in Arizona or Wisconsin I’ll have to look him up for a few lessons. He was very patient with everyone and could spot your problems from a mile away. It was very nice to meet him and I’m already a fan!

Well, I stayed up pretty late again Thursday night into Friday day. I crashed and woke up Friday and tried to watch a few matches but it was mostly 9-ball at that point. The real fun came that night and I’m not talking about the free pizza.

WBM had worked out a raffle where the two winners would get to play Jeanette Lee and George Breedlove. As it turned out, George was unable to make it due to some early morning commitments trying out for the IPT. So, Jeanette volunteered to find someone who wouldn’t be playing in the IPT qualifier. If you’ve been reading the forums on AZBilliards you already know that she found Efren Reyes!

Through some wild luck of the draw, WBM and Mthorto won the raffle. WBM was thinking about selling his tickets but Steve Lemenko threatened him with bodily harm if he did. WBM partnered with Efren Reyes and Mthorto partnered with Jeanette Lee. It was a match-up I’d not soon forget.

Efren and Jeanette were already playing some 8-ball when the raffle winners arrived. I snapped a few photos and then my camera batteries promptly died on me giving me no way to document this landmark event. I believe 1pocket and Timberly were able to get some pictures in however. The pizza arrived around this point, but no one really cared I think because we were going to be getting some prime action!

There’s hardly any doubt that Efren Reyes is the best One Pocket player in the world. In fact, he had just won the 2006 DCC One Pocket title. Efren is also the reigning IPT 8-ball king and the combination of Efren Reyes and WBM would prove fatal to the team of Jeanette Lee and Mthorto. The game was 8-ball, the race was to 3, Jeanette had the break and God help them all.

The first game started very well for Jeanette and Mthorto. They missed nothing until Jeanette’s shape on the 8-ball proved to give Mthorto a very tough shot. No pocket was really open and Mthorto asked Jeanette if he should try to play safe. Jeanette replied something like, You can’t play safe against Efren Reyes! Ultimately, they asked Efren Reyes what he’d do. Efren said he’d play the 8-ball off the rail to carom off the 12-ball into the corner pocket. Mthorto gave it a try but wasn’t successful. From there Efren and WBM ran out with ease.

The second game started out well for Jeanette and Mthorto as well, but an early miss by Mthorto on the 4-ball proved to be fatal. Efren and WBM ran up to the 6-ball and Efren shot the 6-ball in and bumped out the 8-ball for a game-winning shot by WBM. All the while Jeanette and Mthorto were doing their best to shark Efren and WBM. Jeanette even went so far as to move the scoring beads in the hope that they wouldn’t notice! It was quite a sight and absolutely hilarious to watch. Unfortunately, it didn’t phase either Efren nor WBM.

The third game was also dominated by Efren and WBM. Efren had his final shot at the 8-ball, which he caromed off another ball into the side pocket. I think he was having fun as well! WBM then played Efren a race to 3 in 9-ball. Efren won that one too and retired for the night afterwards.

I stayed up again from Friday to Saturday. Not much of note happened on Saturday. I watched some of the Efren and Archer 9-ball match and watched some of the IPT 8-ball qualifiers. I have to mention that Sweet Marissa came in Friday and was the only person I immediately recognized from AZBilliards. I was able to get a picture with her and Dianne Hoppe. I’ve tucked it away where my girlfriend can’t find it!

Deno Andrews was pleasant to meet and along with JoeyA was the only other RSB member I got to talk to in length. I did get to briefly introduce myself to Bob Jewett while he was running the Straight Pool Shootout, but he was busy working. I got to witness both Jose Parica and Johnny Archer playing in the Straight Pool Shootout at the same time. Congratulations to Danny Harriman on his high run!

Anyhow, Deno was doing his thing on Saturday and Sweet Marissa was helping out there as well. I watched Thomas Engert play a very strong game of 8-ball and I was surprised that he didn’t ultimately end up with an IPT Tour Card. I also watched Sylver Ochoa play Jeanette Lee. Sylver broke with a soft break each time. He ultimately won the match against Jeanette Lee.

By Sunday morning it was pretty bare. Almost everyone had left. I did see Freddy The Beard around for a bit, but not too many other people were around. I also saw Freddy on Saturday hitting a few balls around. Some guy asked to hit a few around and Freddy let him use his cue. However, this guy kept smacking balls around with Freddy’s shaft and I’m sure Freddy didn’t like it.

I finally got out of there around noon on Sunday and headed back to the airport. The flight was nothing special. My last leg was from Chicago to Dallas/Fort Worth on a 777, which was pretty cool. I was glad to get home but enjoyed my first DCC experience. That’s about all I can recall at the moment, but feel free to ask any questions! :p

p.s. I'm sorry if I've spelled anyone's name or handle incorrectly!
 
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Samiel said:
They then decided on a game neither one really knew the rules to, One Ball One Pocket.

Later that Thursday, we had a Q-Skill Challenge. It turned out that we only had about eight people in the room so we decided to go ahead and give everyone a try and that the top four would get the prize money. ... My goodness did I have a pathetic first inning. I broke the balls like a sissy and almost all the balls were on the rails and clustered like hell. For some reason all the other guys were grinning. :)

Anyhow, I ran three balls, which was then my high run in the Q-Skill Challenge.

As it turns out, I didn’t get the lowest inning! WBM showed his skills as he ran 20 points in his first inning. I think his seeing how badly we all sucked made him more relaxed. The next inning I was able to run 14 points for a respectable 17 point total. As it turns out, that was good enough for fourth place!


WBM had worked out a raffle where the two winners would get to play Jeanette Lee and George Breedlove. As it turned out, George was unable to make it due to some early morning commitments trying out for the IPT. So, Jeanette volunteered to find someone who wouldn’t be playing in the IPT qualifier. If you’ve been reading the forums on AZBilliards you already know that she found Efren Reyes!

Through some wild luck of the draw, WBM and Mthorto won the raffle.

There’s hardly any doubt that Efren Reyes is the best One Pocket player in the world. In fact, he had just won the 2006 DCC One Pocket title. Efren is also the reigning IPT 8-ball king and the combination of Efren Reyes and WBM would prove fatal to the team of Jeanette Lee and Mthorto. The game was 8-ball, the race was to 3, Jeanette had the break and God help them all.


All the while Jeanette and Mthorto were doing their best to shark Efren and WBM. Jeanette even went so far as to move the scoring beads in the hope that they wouldn’t notice! It was quite a sight and absolutely hilarious to watch. Unfortunately, it didn’t phase either Efren nor WBM.
Click to expand...

Sam,
I REALLY enjoyed your summary. It brought back some fabulous memories for me.

Just a couple of points on which I would elaborate:

The Q-Skill Challenge Giveaway was COOL, I only wish more people could have been there. You have never seen so many good pool players just freaking sweating bullets waiting for their turn. That table was TIGHT, and that makes a huge difference. All of those high scores we saw in the Drivermaker Mem. Holiday Tourney would never have happened in the AZB room.

You mention your low score, but I think the first 7 players scored between 1 and 7 (maybe sodapopd got a 10, I can't remember) - AND THESE ARE ALL GOOD PLAYERS!!!! I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, because most of these guys play better than me. Since I was last in the order I can tell you I was REALLY nervous (just knowing that all of this was likely to show up on the forum in full view of our sometimes judgmental brethren). Since I was one of the DHHT organizers I knew the pressure was on. I would have been less nervous with a $1000 on the line against Efren. I was prouder of my 20 in the first round (though I caught a good layout) than I was of not missing a ball playing with Efren - more pressure. It was fortunate I only needed 3 balls in the second round to win, I'm not sure how many more I could have made before cracking completely.

I also wanted to mention your Scotch Doubles description. I notice you were searching for a description of the enormity of the event - you could have just said we got to play with "Pool Royalty" and left it at that. You could also have said that Jeanette Lee is WITHOUT DOUBT the most accomplished SHARK in the history of the game, man it was INTENSE SHARKING of the highest order (at least it seemed that way). When I mentioned in the pre-match meeting that woofing, barking, and sharking were permitted if not encouraged, she said, "you want it, you got it" (I think it was then I started to get a little queasy). Several times Efren had to stop what he was doing because he was laughing so hard. Twice he choked on his beverage watching JL hassle me (for some reason she left him alone). I would have appreciated more support from my partner, but, hey, what can you expect from a last minute substitute?
 
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