TRIP REPORT: TUNICA, MS- jay helfert & joeya
Jay and I decided to end our woofing at one another by playing the fabled one pocket match, racing to four for 500 clams. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad we had a chance to play it before we get too old to swing it.
For me, the match started off great, although the first game took a very long time. I think both Jay and I knew how important that first game can be. The first game may have taken well over an hour as I recall but I managed to eke out a win on the first game. The other games didn't go much faster either. I was up 3 to 1 in the race to four when I had to leave to go see if I was scheduled to play in the big one pocket event. Jay and I had talked about this and he agreed that it would be no problem for me to take a break to go play in the main event if it was scheduled during our "grudge match".
It turned out that they had scheduled me for a far later time than was orignally estimated. This allowed for Jay and I to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to the Convention Center (where we were playing our match). The CC was for "action" and there seemed to be more and more as the week wore on. Anyway, with me leading the match 3-1, I was licking my chops, happy to have just a strong lead. That happiness changed when we returned to the table, with Jay running out his eight balls like a pro. I may have made a ball but I can't even remember making a ball in the fifth game, but Jay managed to make the score 3-2 without me really having much of a chance to make any balls. The sixth game went pretty much the same way with Jay up 7-1. He says it was 7-2 but I remember three balls in the middle of the table, the 8 & 9 on the back rail and the six on the left long rail with the 10 ball in the kitchen near the head rail.
I knew Jay could play well and all that talk about him not practicing much and how he "used to could play" was just a ruse to get me to let down my guard. I've been around far too long to listen to that song and dance and I beared down the whole time but Jay had me against the ropes with the score in the sixth game favoring him 7-1. The 8 ball was about 10" from Jay's pocket and the nine ball was about the same distance from my pocket with both of those balls sitting on the foot rail. The cue ball was down near the 8 ball but all Jay had was a nice kick at the 8 ball. Since the other balls looked difficult to run out on, I was sweating whether Jay would shoot the kick on the 8 ball or not. He kept looking at it over and over and finally shot the kick. Unfortunately, not only did he not make the 8 ball but he didn't hang the 8 ball up in his hole either. He barely clipped the edge of the 8 ball and knocked it about 8" away from the foot rail. The cue ball stayed down in a similar area and allowed me to make a run at Jay, first shooting the 9 ball, then the 6 and then banking the 8 ball one rail into my pocket, barely missing shape to break up the cluster of three balls near the spot. I got straight in on a stripe and could do anything to break up the other two balls which didn't go in my hole even if your name was Mosconi. I shot the straight in ball and drew the cue ball so that I could bank the first cluster ball TWO RAILS and just stuck the cue ball and if I made it, I would have the 12 ball for a straight in shot. Well, don't you know, I hit the two railer on the 11 ball, perfectly splitting the pocket and getting shape on the remaining ball left near the spot. Now the only thing left on the table was that ten ball near the same side of the table as my corner pocket but the opposite end of the table. It looked like a pretty easy long bank but I was so pumped I didn't come close to making it. Now the score was 7-7 with only one ball left on the table. Jay and I play a couple of safeties and the ten ball wound up near Jay's side of the table near the side pocket. The cue ball was near the head spot and Jay chose to knock the 10 ball away from his side of the table, probably fearing that I would either shoot an easy two railer or that he would leave me an easy one railer. Jay decided to bank the 10 ball toward the head rail near my side of the table. I was standing in line with the path of the hit 10 ball and I'm not sure if I used telekinesis on the ten ball or not, but it sure looked like it was "curving" into the corner pocket. If the ten ball goes in the corner pocket it would have to be spot up on the head spot and with the cue ball staying near the side pocket, that was actually what had happened. The ten ball fell and when Jay spotted it, the ten and the cue ball were practically straight in for an easy shot and I made it to win the match.
I feared Jay winning that 6th game greatly even though I would have the last break. I knew a 6th game win by Jay would put an incredible amount of pressure on me and I knew I didn't have to win the last final game and only hoped that I could end this battle during the 6th game which I was fortunate enough to do wo.
Jay put up a fantastic battle the entire match and in spit of being down 3-1, he managed to get back EXTREMELY close to even. You had to be there to witness how fortunate I was to win this match. If Jay hadn't shot at that kick on the 8 ball, I would have had very little chance of winning that game. I feared Jay kicking at that 8 ball because I was thinking that I would have shot the kick at the 8 ball as it had an excellent chance of being pocketed. Jay discussed the kick with some of the champions at the event and each told him that they would have shot the 8 ball IF they didn't have to put side spin on the cue ball to make the 8. Unfortunately the 9 ball was a tiny bit in the way and Jay had to use some side spin and it didn't take enough to hit the 8 ball well enough.
I am a believer in Jay's many stories about matches that he has played during his lifetime. My belief in his stories of his book, "POOL WARS", come not only from Jay's "tell it like it is" ability and incredible memory (although I still think I had one ball ) but from his ferocious competitive spirit. He never once thought he was out of the match until that ten ball fell. It was an incredible match and if Jay hadn't shot that kick on the 8 ball, he would most surely have tied up the score 3-3 with who knows what the outcome might have been there.
Jay, thanks for confirming for me what I already knew about you. You are a gentleman at the table, with great talent, and a ferocious competitive spirit.
The Ginger Bread Man is one tough cookie.
P.S. If I ever learn what the problem is with the Wei table I will add the table diagrams for you to see the layouts.
Jay and I decided to end our woofing at one another by playing the fabled one pocket match, racing to four for 500 clams. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad we had a chance to play it before we get too old to swing it.
For me, the match started off great, although the first game took a very long time. I think both Jay and I knew how important that first game can be. The first game may have taken well over an hour as I recall but I managed to eke out a win on the first game. The other games didn't go much faster either. I was up 3 to 1 in the race to four when I had to leave to go see if I was scheduled to play in the big one pocket event. Jay and I had talked about this and he agreed that it would be no problem for me to take a break to go play in the main event if it was scheduled during our "grudge match".
It turned out that they had scheduled me for a far later time than was orignally estimated. This allowed for Jay and I to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to the Convention Center (where we were playing our match). The CC was for "action" and there seemed to be more and more as the week wore on. Anyway, with me leading the match 3-1, I was licking my chops, happy to have just a strong lead. That happiness changed when we returned to the table, with Jay running out his eight balls like a pro. I may have made a ball but I can't even remember making a ball in the fifth game, but Jay managed to make the score 3-2 without me really having much of a chance to make any balls. The sixth game went pretty much the same way with Jay up 7-1. He says it was 7-2 but I remember three balls in the middle of the table, the 8 & 9 on the back rail and the six on the left long rail with the 10 ball in the kitchen near the head rail.
I knew Jay could play well and all that talk about him not practicing much and how he "used to could play" was just a ruse to get me to let down my guard. I've been around far too long to listen to that song and dance and I beared down the whole time but Jay had me against the ropes with the score in the sixth game favoring him 7-1. The 8 ball was about 10" from Jay's pocket and the nine ball was about the same distance from my pocket with both of those balls sitting on the foot rail. The cue ball was down near the 8 ball but all Jay had was a nice kick at the 8 ball. Since the other balls looked difficult to run out on, I was sweating whether Jay would shoot the kick on the 8 ball or not. He kept looking at it over and over and finally shot the kick. Unfortunately, not only did he not make the 8 ball but he didn't hang the 8 ball up in his hole either. He barely clipped the edge of the 8 ball and knocked it about 8" away from the foot rail. The cue ball stayed down in a similar area and allowed me to make a run at Jay, first shooting the 9 ball, then the 6 and then banking the 8 ball one rail into my pocket, barely missing shape to break up the cluster of three balls near the spot. I got straight in on a stripe and could do anything to break up the other two balls which didn't go in my hole even if your name was Mosconi. I shot the straight in ball and drew the cue ball so that I could bank the first cluster ball TWO RAILS and just stuck the cue ball and if I made it, I would have the 12 ball for a straight in shot. Well, don't you know, I hit the two railer on the 11 ball, perfectly splitting the pocket and getting shape on the remaining ball left near the spot. Now the only thing left on the table was that ten ball near the same side of the table as my corner pocket but the opposite end of the table. It looked like a pretty easy long bank but I was so pumped I didn't come close to making it. Now the score was 7-7 with only one ball left on the table. Jay and I play a couple of safeties and the ten ball wound up near Jay's side of the table near the side pocket. The cue ball was near the head spot and Jay chose to knock the 10 ball away from his side of the table, probably fearing that I would either shoot an easy two railer or that he would leave me an easy one railer. Jay decided to bank the 10 ball toward the head rail near my side of the table. I was standing in line with the path of the hit 10 ball and I'm not sure if I used telekinesis on the ten ball or not, but it sure looked like it was "curving" into the corner pocket. If the ten ball goes in the corner pocket it would have to be spot up on the head spot and with the cue ball staying near the side pocket, that was actually what had happened. The ten ball fell and when Jay spotted it, the ten and the cue ball were practically straight in for an easy shot and I made it to win the match.
I feared Jay winning that 6th game greatly even though I would have the last break. I knew a 6th game win by Jay would put an incredible amount of pressure on me and I knew I didn't have to win the last final game and only hoped that I could end this battle during the 6th game which I was fortunate enough to do wo.
Jay put up a fantastic battle the entire match and in spit of being down 3-1, he managed to get back EXTREMELY close to even. You had to be there to witness how fortunate I was to win this match. If Jay hadn't shot at that kick on the 8 ball, I would have had very little chance of winning that game. I feared Jay kicking at that 8 ball because I was thinking that I would have shot the kick at the 8 ball as it had an excellent chance of being pocketed. Jay discussed the kick with some of the champions at the event and each told him that they would have shot the 8 ball IF they didn't have to put side spin on the cue ball to make the 8. Unfortunately the 9 ball was a tiny bit in the way and Jay had to use some side spin and it didn't take enough to hit the 8 ball well enough.
I am a believer in Jay's many stories about matches that he has played during his lifetime. My belief in his stories of his book, "POOL WARS", come not only from Jay's "tell it like it is" ability and incredible memory (although I still think I had one ball ) but from his ferocious competitive spirit. He never once thought he was out of the match until that ten ball fell. It was an incredible match and if Jay hadn't shot that kick on the 8 ball, he would most surely have tied up the score 3-3 with who knows what the outcome might have been there.
Jay, thanks for confirming for me what I already knew about you. You are a gentleman at the table, with great talent, and a ferocious competitive spirit.
The Ginger Bread Man is one tough cookie.
P.S. If I ever learn what the problem is with the Wei table I will add the table diagrams for you to see the layouts.
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don't tell him I said that)