Ten thoughts from the US Open 10 Ball Tourney (part 1)

[mlalum]

I witnessed the last two days of the US Open 10 Ball Tourney up close and personal. Thoughts:

1. Shane VB has the best 10-ball break. It's dominant. So much better than everyone elses. Busti's and Gomes' are louder but Shane's puts him in position to take candy from a baby on almost every break.

2. The tourneys including the giant BCA tourney next door were as well run as any large tourney i've ever seen. Maybe in any participation sport.

3. The Riviera is a tear down.

4. The pool T-shirt market is over saturated.

5. The tournament directors were very good. They were decisive and didn't take any crap from the players.

6. I saw a pro in the last 16 miss ball in hand in a crucial game. He turned into a statue for at least 60 seconds afterward. So don't feel so bad next time.

7. The biggest difference between them and us is the pinpoint cue control. Saw one guy go behind his back and draw the ball three feet to the precise spot he needed to hit to get on the next ball to win a crucial game.

8. Worse behavior. I knew who it would be going in but i kept an open mind. The winner in a landslide: Dennis Hatch. He chastised a cameraman for causing him to dog an easy shot. He blurted "Nice'' when his opponent scratched. He told the crowd it was a meal's fault then he was playing in an indifferent manner. He repeatedly complained to the arena about his opponent's good rolls and said zero when he got some crucial rolls at the end. The f-bombs flew in the second half of the match if something didn't go his way. He was repeatedly disrespectful to his opponent. And this was in a match he won. If I had a country he couldn't represent it.

9. Roberto Gomes is fun to watch.
9A. The best heckler: Francisco Bustamante. When "Superman'' missed some crucial cue positions in a crucial game Busti laughed and said some things to Gomez in a loud jokey manner from the front row. I couldn't understand what they were saying. It seemed funny to everyone but Gomez after laughing the first time didn't look so happy as it continued. I was shocked. Nobody said anything about it. Gomez finished the game by choking on the ten ball to get knocked out of the winner's bracket. If I was Gomez its 6-5 that i would be wrapping the pool cue around Busti's head.

10. Professional pool players are short. Dang.

 

[JarnoV]

1. Shane VB has the best 10-ball break. It's dominant. So much better than everyone elses. Busti's and Gomes' are louder but Shane's puts him in position to take candy from a baby on almost every break.

What about Lo Li-Wen's break? It was not nearly as hard as Shane's, but he did make balls consistently and controlled both the cue ball and the one ball pretty effectively.

 

[teedotaj]

.
9A. The best heckler: Francisco Bustamante. When "Superman'' missed some crucial cue positions in a crucial game Busti laughed and said some things to Gomez in a loud jokey manner from the front row. It was in Spanish so I couldn't understand. It seemed funny to everyone but Gomez after laughing the first time didn't look so happy as it continued. I was shocked. Nobody said anything about it. Gomez finished the game by choking on the ten ball to get knocked out of the winner's bracket. If I was Gomez its 6-5 that i would be wrapping the pool cue around Busti's head.
.

considering both are from the Philippines....I would imagine it's in Filipino..lol.

 

[Tokyo-dave]

considering both are from the Philippines....I would imagine it's in Filipino..lol.

Tagalog is primarily the national language.
Watching Gomez choke on the hill-hill game ball, pretty straight shot with a good amount of green, was encouraging in the sense that now I know I can play like the pros!!

dave

 

[Terry Ardeno]

I witnessed the last two days of the US Open 10 Ball Tourney up close and personal. Thoughts:

1. Shane VB has the best 10-ball break. It's dominant. So much better than everyone elses. Busti's and Gomes' are louder but Shane's puts him in position to take candy from a baby on almost every break.

2. The tourneys including the giant BCA tourney next door were as well run as any large tourney i've ever seen. Maybe in any participation sport.

3. The Riviera is a tear down.

4. The pool T-shirt market is over saturated.

5. The tournament directors were very good. They were decisive and didn't take any crap from the players.

6. I saw a pro in the last 16 miss ball in hand in a crucial game. He turned into a statue for at least 60 seconds afterward. So don't feel so bad next time.

7. The biggest difference between them and us is the pinpoint cue control. Saw one guy go behind his back and draw the ball three feet to the precise spot he needed to hit to get on the next ball to win a crucial game.

8. Worse behavior. I knew who it would be going in but i kept an open mind. The winner in a landslide: Dennis Hatch. He chastised a cameraman for causing him to dog an easy shot. He blurted "Nice'' when his opponent scratched. He told the crowd it was a meal's fault then he was playing in an indifferent manner. He repeatedly complained to the arena about his opponent's good rolls and said zero when he got some crucial rolls at the end. The f-bombs flew in the second half of the match if something didn't go his way. He was repeatedly disrespectful to his opponent. And this was in a match he won. If I had a country he couldn't represent it.

9. Roberto Gomes is fun to watch.
9A. The best heckler: Francisco Bustamante. When "Superman'' missed some crucial cue positions in a crucial game Busti laughed and said some things to Gomez in a loud jokey manner from the front row. It was in Spanish so I couldn't understand. It seemed funny to everyone but Gomez after laughing the first time didn't look so happy as it continued. I was shocked. Nobody said anything about it. Gomez finished the game by choking on the ten ball to get knocked out of the winner's bracket. If I was Gomez its 6-5 that i would be wrapping the pool cue around Busti's head.

10. Professional pool players are short. Dang.

mlalum,
That was an interesting post! Good job!

Question on the identity of #6??? I watched probably 75% of what was broadcasted on T.A.R. but somehow managed to miss what you described in point #6. Who was that and who was he playing?

Thanks!

 

[teedotaj]

Tagalog is primarily the national language.
Watching Gomez choke on the hill-hill game ball, pretty straight shot with a good amount of green, was encouraging in the sense that now I know I can play like the pros!!

dave

Filipino is the national language. it is based on Tagalog

 

[dabarbr]

mlalum,
That was an interesting post! Good job!

Question on the identity of #6??? I watched probably 75% of what was broadcasted on T.A.R. but somehow managed to miss what you described in point #6. Who was that and who was he playing?

Thanks!

Terry, I'm sure he was referring to the match with Gomez and Mika. Near the end of the match Gomez had ball in hand on the one ball and the position for the two ball was a bit tricky. He missed the one ball but what was amazing was that the one ball was just about a foot from the pocket.

 

[CreeDo]

I like this style of review/recap.

Terry: I believe that was Roberto Gomez who missed his BIH on the 1 trying to get on a tricky 2 ball.

I felt for him, I've done it the exact same way... you're staring at the rail, checking the spot where you want to hit... you have the 2 ball in your peripheral or you're glancing at it every so often... you double check the exact point on the CB you're hitting... at no point are you double checking the 1 ball or the pocket cuz it's 12 inches away and who misses that? And then you do.

I think gomez and busty must be pretty good buddies for the heckling to be okay. If he'd done it against hatch, I bet the outcome would have made a good story for the grandkids.

 

[DogsPlayingPool]

The event seemed well run and I was glad to see that it was fairly well attended (at least there were more people than at the Predator last year).

One suggestion I would have is to change the way the room was configured. The layout of the tables at the Predator last year was better. Essentially all the tables were in the middle and the stands went around the outside on 2 sides, with the stream table about where it was this year. You could see every match that was going on that way. The way it was configured this year you could not see all the matches and it caused some scramblimg for seats near tables that had a particularly interesting match that a lot of people wanted to watch.

All in all a great event that seems destined to become a major championship.

 

[Terry Ardeno]

Terry, I'm sure he was referring to the match with Gomez and Mika. Near the end of the match Gomez had ball in hand on the one ball and the position for the two ball was a bit tricky. He missed the one ball but what was amazing was that the one ball was just about a foot from the pocket.

Thanks dabarbr! I watched most of that match but was in and out for a few racks. (I was rooting for Gomez over Immonen)

 

[Terry Ardeno]

I like this style of review/recap.

Terry: I believe that was Roberto Gomez who missed his BIH on the 1 trying to get on a tricky 2 ball.

I felt for him, I've done it the exact same way... you're staring at the rail, checking the spot where you want to hit... you have the 2 ball in your peripheral or you're glancing at it every so often... you double check the exact point on the CB you're hitting... at no point are you double checking the 1 ball or the pocket cuz it's 12 inches away and who misses that? And then you do.

I think gomez and busty must be pretty good buddies for the heckling to be okay. If he'd done it against hatch, I bet the outcome would have made a good story for the grandkids.

Thanks Cree.

I also like this style of re-cap. Makes for a good read.

On the topic of Hatch's antics.....How come when Hatch or Immonen are acting up, they get a free pass from most of the fans? If Earl acted like that, there would be 3 pages of complaints here. Hatch has not made this a habit, at least as far as I'm aware of. Immonen, on the other hand, does get kind of prissy if things don't go his way.

Hatch posted here in a big spurt when he wanted on the Mosconi Cup team. I don't see much of him here anymore now. Be nice if he hung out here more often.

Lastly, I think that Francisco has enough fans that even if he did mouth off at the Hatchet-man, Dennis wouldn't have done anything but maybe jaw back a little. I met Hatch a couple of times in person and he seemed to be somebody who would be easy to get along with. I do know that I would root for him all day over Immonen.

 

[onepocketron]

The event seemed well run and I was glad to see that it was fairly well attended (at least there were more people than at the Predator last year).

One suggestion I would have is to change the way the room was configured. The layout of the tables at the Predator last year was better. Essentially all the tables were in the middle and the stands went around the outside on 2 sides, with the stream table about where it was this year. You could see every match that was going on that way. The way it was configured this year you could not see all the matches and it caused some scramblimg for seats near tables that had a particularly interesting match that a lot of people wanted to watch.

All in all a great event that seems destined to become a major championship.

I agree 100% as the lay out of the room was stange. Last year they had it arranged better. The "L" shape arrangement of the tables was not to my liking.

 

[jay helfert]

I witnessed the last two days of the US Open 10 Ball Tourney up close and personal. Thoughts:

1. Shane VB has the best 10-ball break. It's dominant. So much better than everyone elses. Busti's and Gomes' are louder but Shane's puts him in position to take candy from a baby on almost every break.

2. The tourneys including the giant BCA tourney next door were as well run as any large tourney i've ever seen. Maybe in any participation sport.

3. The Riviera is a tear down.

4. The pool T-shirt market is over saturated.

5. The tournament directors were very good. They were decisive and didn't take any crap from the players.

6. I saw a pro in the last 16 miss ball in hand in a crucial game. He turned into a statue for at least 60 seconds afterward. So don't feel so bad next time.

7. The biggest difference between them and us is the pinpoint cue control. Saw one guy go behind his back and draw the ball three feet to the precise spot he needed to hit to get on the next ball to win a crucial game.

8. Worse behavior. I knew who it would be going in but i kept an open mind. The winner in a landslide: Dennis Hatch. He chastised a cameraman for causing him to dog an easy shot. He blurted "Nice'' when his opponent scratched. He told the crowd it was a meal's fault then he was playing in an indifferent manner. He repeatedly complained to the arena about his opponent's good rolls and said zero when he got some crucial rolls at the end. The f-bombs flew in the second half of the match if something didn't go his way. He was repeatedly disrespectful to his opponent. And this was in a match he won. If I had a country he couldn't represent it.

9. Roberto Gomes is fun to watch.
9A. The best heckler: Francisco Bustamante. When "Superman'' missed some crucial cue positions in a crucial game Busti laughed and said some things to Gomez in a loud jokey manner from the front row. It was in Spanish so I couldn't understand. It seemed funny to everyone but Gomez after laughing the first time didn't look so happy as it continued. I was shocked. Nobody said anything about it. Gomez finished the game by choking on the ten ball to get knocked out of the winner's bracket. If I was Gomez its 6-5 that i would be wrapping the pool cue around Busti's head.

10. Professional pool players are short. Dang.

#5. The tournament directors didn't take any crap from anyone.
BUT!!!
#8. Dennis was tossing F-Bombs around while playing on the TV table, and no one stopped him.

 

[Terry Ardeno]

#5. The tournament directors didn't take any crap from anyone.
BUT!!!
#8. Dennis was tossing F-Bombs around while playing on the TV table, and no one stopped him.

Jay,
Speaking of tournament directors, I have not seen nor heard anything about Scott the Shot officiating for some time now. What's he been doing?
PS-Ken S does a great, great job. Very professional.

 

[mlalum]

considering both are from the Philippines....I would imagine it's in Filipino..lol.

Apologies. edited original post. No excuses.

 

[mlalum]

Thanks Cree.

I also like this style of re-cap. Makes for a good read.

On the topic of Hatch's antics.....How come when Hatch or Immonen are acting up, they get a free pass from most of the fans? If Earl acted like that, there would be 3 pages of complaints here. Hatch has not made this a habit, at least as far as I'm aware of. Immonen, on the other hand, does get kind of prissy if things don't go his way.

Hatch posted here in a big spurt when he wanted on the Mosconi Cup team. I don't see much of him here anymore now. Be nice if he hung out here more often.

Lastly, I think that Francisco has enough fans that even if he did mouth off at the Hatchet-man, Dennis wouldn't have done anything but maybe jaw back a little. I met Hatch a couple of times in person and he seemed to be somebody who would be easy to get along with. I do know that I would root for him all day over Immonen.

Uh don't know that i've heard Mr. Hatch described as being easy to get along with.

 

[jay helfert]

Jay,
Speaking of tournament directors, I have not seen nor heard anything about Scott the Shot officiating for some time now. What's he been doing?
PS-Ken S does a great, great job. Very professional.

I think he's on vacation.
Ken is one of the best.

 

[mlalum]

#5. The tournament directors didn't take any crap from anyone.
BUT!!!
#8. Dennis was tossing F-Bombs around while playing on the TV table, and no one stopped him.

Fair point Jay.

However it was in the gray area because i could hear him but i was in the front row. I'm a tough grader but I probably wouldn't have called him on it unless it had gotten a little worse. this wasn't a goof by the refs in my opinion. he knew what he could get away with. it wasn't at the decibel level of a Strickland rant.

 

[Thecoats]

Uh don't know that i've heard Mr. Hatch described as being easy to get along with.

I agree, We were sweathing Efren and Amarillo Slim at CJs for about two hours and Dennis comes up and stands directly in front of us. My friend who is about Dennis' size says "I don't know what they say in NY but in Texas we just say GET The F@#K out of way"

Dennis turned around real fast and I thought here we go, but he just gave us a go to hell look and moved out of the way

-don

 

[Terry Ardeno]

Uh don't know that i've heard Mr. Hatch described as being easy to get along with.

He was with me, but maybe it's because I was also (like Hatch) an amateur boxer who had 39 fights! Actually, Danny DilIberto was great friends with Dennis and his deceased father Greg. When I met Hatch, the first thing we talked about was Danny D, then boxing. We hit it off pretty good, to tell the truth. Granted, it was only two 10 minute conversations, but I had no complaints. From the wee little I saw, he's good in my book.

The ONLY pro player that I don't care for one bit lives in NY but plays for another country whenever the Mosconi Cup is being contested.