Sigel at a Disadvantage?

LastTwo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Although he is guaranteed at least 2nd place which is a ton of money, I personally think that his chances to win the tournament are pretty slim. He's not used to the pressure, he doesn't get to play the whole tournament until the finals, and his opponent is going to be someone who is thoroughly used to the equipment and in dead punch. Lets say Mike faces a red-hot Efren or Marlon, who here thinks Sigel can still win?
 
LastTwo said:
Although he is guaranteed at least 2nd place which is a ton of money, I personally think that his chances to win the tournament are pretty slim. He's not used to the pressure, he doesn't get to play the whole tournament until the finals, and his opponent is going to be someone who is thoroughly used to the equipment and in dead punch. Lets say Mike faces a red-hot Efren or Marlon, who here thinks Sigel can still win?

He's not use to the pressure, why wouldn't he be use to the pressure? I do agree with you LastTwo on the part where his opponent is going to be used to the equipment and in dead punch. Like they say the first one who settles down and get comfortable first is more likey to win the match. Cole.
 
LastTwo said:
He's not used to the pressure, ... Lets say Mike faces a red-hot Efren or Marlon, who here thinks Sigel can still win?

Last Two,
I think you may be correct; but on the other hand he's won a hundred tournaments so it's possible that competition at that level is like riding a bicycle for him (considering he has reportedly been practicing).

The last time he wasn't a favorite to at least scare any opponent was probably when he was 18 playing Irving Crane - since then any opponent had better take him damn seriously.

P.S. - I think he CAN still win against anyone on the planet at any game.
 
sigel is a hall of famer and one of the greatest. he stands to make a lot of money and doesn't have to wade through bunch of great players to do it. for an old fart. it's more important to conserve energy than spend it focused all day. THAT,,,,,would wear him out!

and he is not wasting his time twiddling his thumbs. he is practicing. he is practicing on the tables and conserving his energy.

this is not 9ball, so he won't have to come up with 9ball shots. this is more like 14.1, and he will be making half table shots at best. the favored player, hohmann, who has said this is his best game, is eliminated, and didn't he get beat by a female also?

so anything can happen, and sigel will do just fine.
 
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LastTwo said:
Although he is guaranteed at least 2nd place which is a ton of money, I personally think that his chances to win the tournament are pretty slim. He's not used to the pressure, he doesn't get to play the whole tournament until the finals, and his opponent is going to be someone who is thoroughly used to the equipment and in dead punch. Lets say Mike faces a red-hot Efren or Marlon, who here thinks Sigel can still win?

Sigel has ALWAYS played his best under pressure. I would never discount him.

Why don't you ask Efren who "his" favorite player is...
 
Personally I think all the HOF'ers are at a disadvantage to those having to qualify through the first 2 rounds. Unless of course they are practicing 6 hours a day on the equipment. But even then the competitive match mentality is different than a practice one, so I think the 6 non-HOF'ers will excel since they're hitting the 3rd round running.

Time will tell though...
 
How about Mike?

Mike has been a true Champion at this game for many years and has done quite well at any task he has taken on.
The worst pressure of all, is the pressure we inflict on ourselves and make no mistake. the man has incredible pride and wants to do well, but knows, he is not the player he once was. Still, he is going to do everything in his power not to embarass himself.
Mike though, oddly, has been pretty quiet through this so far which makes me wonder, what is next for Mike? He is not a lazy man without ambitions!
I personally think that this is Mike's Swan Song as he prepares to move on to bigger things. It will be intresting as he will remain in the scheme of things for the lifetime of the IPT. But, where?
 
Efren and all the other HoF'rs have the same disadvantage IMO. They are coming into the tournament cold and in the 3rd round and going up against players who have already survived the first 2 elimination rounds and are clearly shooting well and now have many matches under their belt.
 
Mike is quite possibly the greatest money player to ever play the game. Will he be at a disadvantage...probably for the first rack or so, just like with LJJ, but I think he will handle himself very well. Although he has not been on the tour for quite a while, you can bet that with this amount of money on the line he has been preparing himself both mentally and physically. Will it be tough for him to beat one of the current top players? Absolutely, but as others have posted, he has done ot over 100 times in the past. At any rate, I am personally glad to see him and some of the other HOFers back in the hunt.
 
Ok let's look at this.

Ok if you really think about this, what is the biggest difference in any given tournament between players at this level? Mental position. or State of mind.

These players have systems that will give them correct alignment on almost every shot, or experience it doesn't matter the question is what makes someone perform or dog on any given day?

In a standard tournament format, players are under tremendous pressure, if they lose a single match, they then can only lose one other match if they want to advance any further, not so in this format. Also, whatever level in the tournament they are when they lose that first match determines how much money they are going to get. Again not so, so that means there wasn't as high a per match level of pressure here as there is in most tournaments.

Second for the HOF'ers, sure there is some pressure to make sure that they don't look like has beens out there, but they're probably not focused on that so much as they're comfortable that they are about to have one of the biggest single paydays many of them have seen in their careers. 30,000 minimum is nothing to shake a stick at for losing. So they are likely more in a mindset of being well into the money than being a mindset of the start of a tournament, and since mindset is the biggest difference in the way a tournament turns out at this level of play, I'm not sure that the HOF'ers aren't at an advantage instead of a disadvantage.

Some of them have been out of major level play for a little while and I don't expect them to necesarily win but I wouldn't count them out quite yet either.
 
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