The WORST Mistake You've Ever Made

L

LowEnglish

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Under a high pressure situation I mean. This could be gambling or in a tournament. For me it was a few months ago I was playing the match for the hot-seat in a tournament that payed $450 for 1st place, $200 for 2nd, $110 for 3rd/4th, and it payed a few more places IIRC.

It was double-hill and I had been shooting pretty good the whole tournament, and I am staying in line perfectly in the last rack after a successful break. My adrenaline was flowing, my mind was racing, it was SUCH an easy out! Here is the layout:

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)END

I'm so pumped full of adrenaline all I am thinking is make the 7, the 8's in the hole there is no way you can not have a shot, just shoot!!! So I get down on the shot, arm is shaking, the whole crowd is watching. I decide to draw just a little bit to give myself a good angle, and low and behold with the softest touch I somehow miss my position badly and wind up at position 'B' when my goal was to stop at 'A'. I just used what I thought was a little nip draw and even with a soft stroke I spun the hell out of whitey and got way too close for comfort on the 8.

So now my only choice is to use the rake, since I can't stretch that far, even left handed. Luckily I am pretty good with drawing or following the ball using the rake. This is what I do:

START(
%G\8A0%HF1Z0%Ir5U6%PJ1X3%Ws2C7%XJ7X1%[F5Z0%\J0X3%eB0b4

)END

I draw the cueball all the way into the corner pocket. I wasn't even trying to come that far, but I was so nervous and shaky I couldn't control the speed well.

Man I was so embarassed after losing the match like that, I didn't want to talk to anyone for the rest of the night! What a nightmare.
 
I ran out a rack of 8 ball in the BCA a couple of years ago on a $10 table and then realised I had one ball left lol - the guy didnt tell me when I was shooting the 8 ball of course!
 
Sad to say that this happened at double hill in a Tri state tour event in New York City.

I left my opponent safe on the seven but the object ball was very near the pocket. My opponent missed the kick and I picked up the cue ball with every intention and expectation of running the last three balls to win the match.

Unfortunately, my opponent then informed me that he'd made a good hit, and when I inspected the position, I realized that the seven had moved a fraction of an inch because I had remembered its exact original position.

So it was my opponent that ball in hand, because I fouled by picking up the cue ball. A painful and embarrassing loss.
 
Ready to snap my cue

Mine was to qualify for the APA US Am. Which would have been my first time. After running through the winners side of my board I need to win one more match to qualify. On a race to seven the guy runs the first five racks of 8 ball on me. Then wins the first rack of nine & is on the hill.
I come back and take the next six racks of 9 ball. So it's hill - hill. We trade off a couple of safes he miss's on one of his & leaves me a three ball out. I play the seven,eight perfect get just about dead straight on the nine. Down on the shot I see some people walking towards the corner of the table I'm shooting at... I tell myself just shoot it, it's dead. I couldn't block them out jumped up on the shot.Well, I'm sure you can figuire out the rest.
 
One of them ...

At a big tournament here in Wichita at SidePockets, the nicest billiard room here, I got into a money game with a player from Kansas City. He was a
long time friend of a very good player here locally. We were shooting
$400 sets, 9 ball, race to 10.

He won the first set, and I won the second, although it was clear to me
that I had a Tiger by the tail, he was a much better player than I first
thought.

We were going to play 1 more set for $400, and wham .... he broke and ran
everything in sight. He had me 7-0, and then 9-1 before I could hardly
catch my breath, making several excellent outs along the way. I was feeling the pressure, had a talk with myself, and summoned up every ounce of strength and expertise that I possessed, determined to at least not be humilated in the set. I fought as hard as I could, every game, every shot, every leave being critical because I knew 1 mistake and it was over.

Gradually, I started to get some games under my belt, still knowing though
that every single move I made had to be absolutely correct. Dang, it was now 9-6, getting closer, at least respectable now, defense was working for me. 9-7, man I got a shot at this. 9-8, I did it barely. 9-9, I really have a chance now, and I am breaking hill-to-hill. What a bummer, no balls went on the break, but the table is not too pretty, 3 balls have problems. He played safe, but left me daylight. Messed up shot, look at that combo sliding off
the rail and kissing the underside of the six ball, don't see a safety, what the hell, all I can do is lose, right, go for it. Oh my god, it went, and another one.
Just the 6, 8, 9 left, cueball by the corner pocket, 9 blocking a right handed cut to the corner for the 6 ball with the 6 close to side pocket about 8" off
the long rail. I have to cut into the corner where the 8 ball is, to the left, possible scratch in side with too much draw, if I let the cue go right, it could slide down off the rail into the right handed corner. If I make this, and get
shape, I am out. Better use medium draw with a lot of right spin, cue is close to rail, hard to cue right, dangerous shot, God I hate these shots, not one of my better shots. Feeling all the pressure now, shoot it, don't overcue the cueball, get set, check english, stroke smooth, concentrate, shoot, God, I made it, I did it, as the cueball held with medium draw and lots of right spin, but instead of the cueball coming out below the 9 ball, the spin killed the cue
off the rail, and it came back in a straight line off the rail, and nuzzled right
behind the 9 ball, hooking me from the 8 ball. Wait a minute, there is no way that cueball should have reacted like that, that wasn't normal, it hit the rail at a 60 degree angle and comes back off it at a 90 degree angle, spinning right up behind the 9, no way, no way.

Well, it so unnerved me that I missed hitting the 8 ball when I kicked for it, and he had ball in hand to run the 8 and 9. About 12-15 people had been watching us play, more gathered when I started struggling back from a 9-1 deficit, and almost everyone was pulling for me to win the set because I fought so hard. I fought as hard as I possibly could have, every decision had been a major one to make, I should have won the set, I played good enough, but I overcompensated on that 1 out shot, and it was freaky how the cueball reacted on that 6 ball shot, a don't believe your eyes shot, still haunts me today.
 
Boy, this just happened to me.

I was up 5-4 on a race to 7 on a tournament last Saturday. The next two racks was a dream, a really bad dream. On rack 10, I was on the 6 going to 7, then 8 and finally straight-in long shot on the 9 and I missed it. Next rack 11, was on the 7, then 8 and a straight-in 1.5 footer on the 9 and I blow it again. In the last rack, my opponent cleared and he won 7-5.

Gotta go and practice those straight-in shots again.
 
The worst mistakes I've made are...

-Having a perfectly lined up runout and missing on the first ball which is an easy shot (all balls left on table easy shots - easy to get position on) - I kick myself!

-Hitting the wrong ball (wrong number in 9-ball or wrong group in 8-ball).

-Think all my balls are pocketed and pocket 8-ball when I still have one ball left on the table.
 
USPPA in Reno and I am in the final 4, I go hill-hill and run out to the 9 ball and I am left with a makeable but not easy cut on the 9. I miss it and my opponent banks it to win. The miss cost me about $1500 the difference between 3rd and 4th and maybe a lot more if I had won it all.
Fast forward one year and I am in the final and I am on the hill and running out and I end up getting the same angle on the 9 ball, fortunately, I had practiced the shot a lot and put it in the center of the pocket to win $10,000.

Wayne
 
I once played a guy a race to 6- I won it 6-0 and then he started saying it was a race to 7 not 6 (it wasn't). Anyway i said allright you jerk-go to 7- Final score him 7 me 6.
 
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