O
onepocketchump
Guest
lamar25 said:
As much as I love James I have to take the field against him - good odds for me.
Later,
John
U.S. Open One-Pocket In Progress
- Thread starter JAM
- Start date
As much as I love James I have to take the field against him - good odds for me.
Later,
John
In the fourth round:in winners side:
Rich Grenier over James Walden
Gabe owen over Ronnie wiseman.
In the fifth round on winners side:
Scott Frost over Rich Grenier
Gabe owen over Thomas Wirth
I left when the finals of the winners bracket was going on between Scott Frost and Gabe owen.
On the loosers side the following are remaining:Ike Runnels
James walden VS Don Wirtman
Bob Hercheck VS Ronie wiseman
Wayne Pullen got 8-9th place
Brandon Shuff 8-9 th place. I do not remember exactly.
Rich Grenier over James Walden
Gabe owen over Ronnie wiseman.
In the fifth round on winners side:
Scott Frost over Rich Grenier
Gabe owen over Thomas Wirth
I left when the finals of the winners bracket was going on between Scott Frost and Gabe owen.
On the loosers side the following are remaining:Ike Runnels
James walden VS Don Wirtman
Bob Hercheck VS Ronie wiseman
Wayne Pullen got 8-9th place
Brandon Shuff 8-9 th place. I do not remember exactly.
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It a great event, even though I did pretty much as I expected (won one, lost the next two). Actually, I feel I could have won one of the losses, but just couldn’t seem to slam it in gear.
Mark Griffin & Co. deserve a big kudo for putting together a beautiful event. The tournament room was the nicest setup I’ve ever seen for a tournament -- plenty of room between tables, everything cordoned off, pro-cut Diamonds, Simonis cloth (including a hereto unseen Simonis imprinted spot on each table), and a professional support staff.
I believe, in time, and with better publicity, (a firm date known well advance so that players can plan), and he will grow this tournament into a major event attended by all the heavy weights.
I think they got 52 players, though no Filipinos. Cliff was missing, though according to Mark, he said he was coming. I saw no action going on.
The tables played great, with small pockets, though I thought they were a bit slow for Simonis. Also, you had to adjust to huge amounts of throw on the balls. I haven’t experienced playing on equipment where the balls spun so much off the rails in years. With just a small amount of english, the cue ball would go way wide off the rail. And banks shots, woo wee. I mean, you could really twist them. I noted that in the mornings they were polishing all the balls in a machine with what appeared to one of those automotive polishing compounds (NuFinish 2000?) and that may have had something to do with it…
Personally, here’s the cool thing about a player like me going to a tournament like this: it’s sort of like going to a professional seminar or conference -- you get to see, first hand, what the latest developments in the game are, or at least check for weak spots in your own game against the prevailing standard. I will probably never be competitive with top level players, however, what I saw and learned in terms of shot selection, technique, and strategy will make me considerably more dangerous among my 1pocket peers and at the local level.
Ferinstance, in my case, I found that in preparation for the tournament I had devoted too much time to running balls. IOW, if I got to the first shot, I felt I had a reasonable shot at getting out. But that’s not much good if the other guy is always beating you to the shot. The safety play of some of the players made you feel like you were playing a straight rail expert.
The other thing was the intensity the better players bring to the game -- the heat is always on. There’s absolutely no bunting or passiveness. The better players bring an element of offense to almost every single shot.
I warmed up one morning, playing cheap, with Ike Runnels. Wow. I played (and beat) Ike in a tournament in St. Louis a few years ago, but his game has gone *way* up, IMO. I was amazed at his skill at twisting and spinning banks, where there did not appear to be anything. He told me he had trouble adjusting the first day, but appeared to have figured them out by the time we played on day two. He would constantly, almost magically, make the cue ball and object ball virtually pass through each other. And just in general, he really worked the cue ball.
So it was a good trip. Played some 1pocket, sweated some interesting matches, saw some old friends, made some new friends, bought some t-shirts, a very nice polo shirt with the Open logo embroidered on it, and some pool gimcracks, ate well, and played some blackjack. What's not to like?
Lou Figueroa
Mark Griffin & Co. deserve a big kudo for putting together a beautiful event. The tournament room was the nicest setup I’ve ever seen for a tournament -- plenty of room between tables, everything cordoned off, pro-cut Diamonds, Simonis cloth (including a hereto unseen Simonis imprinted spot on each table), and a professional support staff.
I believe, in time, and with better publicity, (a firm date known well advance so that players can plan), and he will grow this tournament into a major event attended by all the heavy weights.
I think they got 52 players, though no Filipinos. Cliff was missing, though according to Mark, he said he was coming. I saw no action going on.
The tables played great, with small pockets, though I thought they were a bit slow for Simonis. Also, you had to adjust to huge amounts of throw on the balls. I haven’t experienced playing on equipment where the balls spun so much off the rails in years. With just a small amount of english, the cue ball would go way wide off the rail. And banks shots, woo wee. I mean, you could really twist them. I noted that in the mornings they were polishing all the balls in a machine with what appeared to one of those automotive polishing compounds (NuFinish 2000?) and that may have had something to do with it…
Personally, here’s the cool thing about a player like me going to a tournament like this: it’s sort of like going to a professional seminar or conference -- you get to see, first hand, what the latest developments in the game are, or at least check for weak spots in your own game against the prevailing standard. I will probably never be competitive with top level players, however, what I saw and learned in terms of shot selection, technique, and strategy will make me considerably more dangerous among my 1pocket peers and at the local level.
Ferinstance, in my case, I found that in preparation for the tournament I had devoted too much time to running balls. IOW, if I got to the first shot, I felt I had a reasonable shot at getting out. But that’s not much good if the other guy is always beating you to the shot. The safety play of some of the players made you feel like you were playing a straight rail expert.
The other thing was the intensity the better players bring to the game -- the heat is always on. There’s absolutely no bunting or passiveness. The better players bring an element of offense to almost every single shot.
I warmed up one morning, playing cheap, with Ike Runnels. Wow. I played (and beat) Ike in a tournament in St. Louis a few years ago, but his game has gone *way* up, IMO. I was amazed at his skill at twisting and spinning banks, where there did not appear to be anything. He told me he had trouble adjusting the first day, but appeared to have figured them out by the time we played on day two. He would constantly, almost magically, make the cue ball and object ball virtually pass through each other. And just in general, he really worked the cue ball.
So it was a good trip. Played some 1pocket, sweated some interesting matches, saw some old friends, made some new friends, bought some t-shirts, a very nice polo shirt with the Open logo embroidered on it, and some pool gimcracks, ate well, and played some blackjack. What's not to like?
Lou Figueroa
vagabond said:
Nice post, Lou! You really hit the nail on the head re: the experience of competing w/ the big boys in a top level event.
Hi,
Today is the last day for one pocket.
Scott Frost is in the hot seat waiting for the winner from loosers bracket.
on the loosers side Ike runnels after eliminating Ronie wisemen from the tournament played Rich grenier to day and beat him.
James walden beat Thomas worth.
At the time I left the place ,Ike Runnels was playing James Walden.The winner will play Gabe Owen and the winner of that match will play scot Frost in the finals.
Today is the last day for one pocket.
Scott Frost is in the hot seat waiting for the winner from loosers bracket.
on the loosers side Ike runnels after eliminating Ronie wisemen from the tournament played Rich grenier to day and beat him.
James walden beat Thomas worth.
At the time I left the place ,Ike Runnels was playing James Walden.The winner will play Gabe Owen and the winner of that match will play scot Frost in the finals.
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How did the 9 ball tourney go... who placed what? How did Shane Van Boening shoot?
Here is the official placings in one pocket that was posted when I left: 1 to 7 were not posted on the official bulletin board
8.Wortaman
9.Branden Shuff
10.Jerry Gruber
11.wayne Pullen
12.Bob Herscheck
13.Gabe Gerardi
14.Tang Hoa
15.John Plunkett
Finals is scheduled at 8:30PM las Vegas time
8.Wortaman
9.Branden Shuff
10.Jerry Gruber
11.wayne Pullen
12.Bob Herscheck
13.Gabe Gerardi
14.Tang Hoa
15.John Plunkett
Finals is scheduled at 8:30PM las Vegas time
Thanks for the updates.
Hey "vagabond",
Please verify finish positions vs. payout....in a Double Elimination Tourament the norm finish positions would be:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th/6th=tie, 7th/8th=tie, 9th-12th=tie & 13th-16th=tie.
"Have a nice day"
Lamar
vagabond said:
Hey "vagabond",
Please verify finish positions vs. payout....in a Double Elimination Tourament the norm finish positions would be:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th/6th=tie, 7th/8th=tie, 9th-12th=tie & 13th-16th=tie.
"Have a nice day"
Lamar
I thought this was funny.Some of u might know a veteran Road player Chuey Riviera from colorado.He is NOT in one pocket tournament.He came to play other events on Bar Box.In the one pocket arena only two matches were going this afternoon and they were on tables 1 & 3.table 2 was open and the balls were available on the table.Chuey starts practicing on table 2.He does not belong in that area.Upon being notified about this by some spectators,the tournament director came and escorted him out.
What was Chuey thinking?
Does he think that he could get away with the same old excuse of not able to comprehend ...?
Players (including me)who know chuey are very familiar with his moves.
Folks I am going back to the site.Final match may conclude by 10:30 or 11PM Las vegas time and after that I will post the result.
What was Chuey thinking?
Does he think that he could get away with the same old excuse of not able to comprehend ...?
Players (including me)who know chuey are very familiar with his moves.
Folks I am going back to the site.Final match may conclude by 10:30 or 11PM Las vegas time and after that I will post the result.
I just got back to L.A. from Vegas. I had a very good time playing in the one-pocket tournament. I lost my first round match to Bob Kerchik from Las Vegas 4 games to 3 (he finished 3rd in Derby City) and had to fight my way throught the losers side. I ended up in 9th place which was a little higher than I expected after the early loss. I thought I was going to be playing Shannon Daulton after I beat Vince Tedesco but I was suprised to see that Tres from Phoeniz had defeated him. Tres made 21 balls before I got to shoot at my pocket, he was ahead 2 games to 0 and had 5 balls in the third game before I got a shot, he was making everything he shot at and running out. I turned the tables and won 4 straight against him. I played a tough match against James Waldon but after tying it up 2-2 he managed to win the last 2 games on the last ball and that was the end for me. It was my 4th match of the day and that was a lot of one-pocket for one day.
I got to meet Vagabond, officially, we talked a few times and then he fessed up to who he was. The funny thing was I had beaten him in the 1st round of the one-pocket tournament a year earlier and I would have never guessed that he was Vagabond if he hadn't told me.
I decided before this trip if I did well I would go to Derby City once again and I was satisfied enough with my results to give Kentucky another go. So next major stop is Derby City or I may do Reno first then Derby City.
I see Lou Figueroa posted (Hi Lou), I played him on the loser side and he gave me a tough battle but I managed to pull it out.
Wayne
I got to meet Vagabond, officially, we talked a few times and then he fessed up to who he was. The funny thing was I had beaten him in the 1st round of the one-pocket tournament a year earlier and I would have never guessed that he was Vagabond if he hadn't told me.
I decided before this trip if I did well I would go to Derby City once again and I was satisfied enough with my results to give Kentucky another go. So next major stop is Derby City or I may do Reno first then Derby City.
I see Lou Figueroa posted (Hi Lou), I played him on the loser side and he gave me a tough battle but I managed to pull it out.
Wayne
