Sky vs Dennis Barbox match was the best match I saw

iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sky vs Dennis Barbox match was the best match I saw. As a fan, this match had it all. Underdog vs Favorite. Underdog has early lead. Favorite comes back. Then they battle back and forth. MULTIPLE packages were run. If either player were down 10 racks, one miss could get them back to even. It happened several times in both directions. What this did was create tension in the fan the whole time. The fan was never able to "relax" that their horse was going to win. The entire match came down to one inning at the table.

Lots of interest in side betting on both sides.

The commentary was really good. These guys were just regular pool guys, not pro commentators, but I found them more interesting to listen to.

The racks were FAST. I liked this a lot.

Courtesy was given on most 10 balls. I also liked this a LOT. It sped up the match considerablly.

There was some drama, but nothing Earl crazy that makes the fan shake his head and say wtf.

If we could bottle up all aspects of this match, pool might be viable as a viewer sport.
 
This back and forth was exciting. It was completely different compared to a back and forth of 1 or 2 games. The back and forth of 10 games was way more interesting. As a fan, when one player missed, I was thinking how many games the other would win from there. I never get that feeling watching traditional 9 or 10 ball matches that go back and forth. Those back and forth by 1 or 2 games are boring. You look at the score, come back 20 minutes later, and its only incremented by one game each.
 
Credit to Sky. I definitely didn’t think he’d win that match before it started and also once he lost the lead.

hopefully they have a re-match of some type soon. If not the bar table, then maybe a 9 footer
 
iusedtoberich said:
Sky vs Dennis Barbox match was the best match I saw. As a fan, this match had it all. Underdog vs Favorite. Underdog has early lead. Favorite comes back. Then they battle back and forth. MULTIPLE packages were run. If either player were down 10 racks, one miss could get them back to even. It happened several times in both directions. What this did was create tension in the fan the whole time. The fan was never able to "relax" that their horse was going to win. The entire match came down to one inning at the table.

Lots of interest in side betting on both sides.

The commentary was really good. These guys were just regular pool guys, not pro commentators, but I found them more interesting to listen to.

The racks were FAST. I liked this a lot.

Courtesy was given on most 10 balls. I also liked this a LOT. It sped up the match considerablly.

There was some drama, but nothing Earl crazy that makes the fan shake his head and say wtf.

If we could bottle up all aspects of this match, pool might be viable as a viewer sport.
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iusedtoberich said:
This back and forth was exciting. It was completely different compared to a back and forth of 1 or 2 games. The back and forth of 10 games was way more interesting. As a fan, when one player missed, I was thinking how many games the other would win from there. I never get that feeling watching traditional 9 or 10 ball matches that go back and forth. Those back and forth by 1 or 2 games are boring. You look at the score, come back 20 minutes later, and its only incremented by one game each.
Click to expand...
I've mentioned this to a couple others. I agree with all of your points. This is one of the few real long races where a 10 game lead didn't feel insurmountable at all. Like you said, when someone missed or scratched on the break, it nearly always cost the other guy multiple racks and the momentum swings and packages were great. For watching top level players, I generally prefer watching them play various games on the big table. But...I think there are some bar table match ups with the right games that not only make sense, but can be really exciting like this one was. For example, I think Shane vs Sky will be great. Also, I would love to see a couple super long race match ups with 2 top guys playing bar box 8ball. Guys like Shane, Sky, Dennis, Bergman, Corey, and whomever else, whether it be open after the break or take what you make. Either way, for 8ball, generally, they have to hit them fairly hard and it's a random layout. Non-stop do or die runnouts, big packages, etc. and I think it could be even better than bar box 10ball. Just my two cents and no, I'm not saying all match ups should switch to the bar box, but it's fun to watch on occasion. Ultimately, it really comes down to the players and their backers and I think generally, both parties feel they can make a better game on the big table. So I don't think this is really going to become a trend.
 
I never got to watch this match cos I got tricked twice.
First day I saw someone post Day 1 score 50- something , I tot it was race to 50 and Sky won.
Next day, someone posted Day 2 score, 100- something, I tot match was race to 100 and it was over as race to 150 is unheard of. :ROFLMAO:
I don't watch many such longggg races to 1xxxxxx but I must say that hill hill SVB v Dennis was arguably the best long race to 1xxxxxx. Why ? cos I am guessing no such streamed long races in history ever went hill hill :D
 
iusedtoberich said:
Sky vs Dennis Barbox match was the best match I saw. As a fan, this match had it all. Underdog vs Favorite. Underdog has early lead. Favorite comes back. Then they battle back and forth. MULTIPLE packages were run. If either player were down 10 racks, one miss could get them back to even. It happened several times in both directions. What this did was create tension in the fan the whole time. The fan was never able to "relax" that their horse was going to win. The entire match came down to one inning at the table.

Lots of interest in side betting on both sides.

The commentary was really good. These guys were just regular pool guys, not pro commentators, but I found them more interesting to listen to.

The racks were FAST. I liked this a lot.

Courtesy was given on most 10 balls. I also liked this a LOT. It sped up the match considerablly.

There was some drama, but nothing Earl crazy that makes the fan shake his head and say wtf.

If we could bottle up all aspects of this match, pool might be viable as a viewer sport.
Click to expand...
You're dead on! Anytime I thought the momentum had changed, and we thought it was over, the other player would come back and grabbed the lead. And it went back and forth like that many times. It's like a boxing match where both fighters each got knocked down multiple times, but they got back up and continue.

When the score was really close in the early 130's a piece, and everyone realized that the match could potentially be another hill-hill or close to it, 3 of the 4 biggest backers present (250K+ between them 3, Carl wasn't there) asked what happened if the score was tied at 148's or 149's. They agreed to let the players decide to either play for it all, or they can extend the race to 200 the next day (we would stop for the night at the tied score to allow smaller side bettors a good 24 hours to contact each other and make decisions). The score was never tied, so the conversation with the players didn't happen. It would have been really interesting if the score was tied. The tension in the room was so thick you could literally cut it with a knife.

Yes, Pool can be excitingly viewable sport.
 
What's odd is that if they were playing 15 ahead it would've been over on day 1, and if they were playing 20 ahead it would've never finished...

(Roughly. I don't actually recall the biggest lead. It was just a strange thought I wanted to share without hunting down the exacts.)
 
Tin Man said:
What's odd is that if they were playing 15 ahead it would've been over on day 1, and if they were playing 20 ahead it would've never finished...

(Roughly. I don't actually recall the biggest lead. It was just a strange thought I wanted to share without hunting down the exacts.)
Click to expand...
The biggest lead was 19 games, 3 times, with Woodward leading at 56-37, 57-38, and 75-56.
 
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