U.S. Open Week: Action vs. Tournament

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
One hurdle to overcome when attending the U.S. Open 9-ball Championship is balancing one's time between the tournament play and the action at Q-Master's pool room.

For the spectator, this has always been a tough decisionmaking process. I mean, the tournament itself is a very prestigious championship in pool circles, and the competition is world class. Even though the matches are well spaced apart, the attraction of Q-Master's is strong. :sorry:

For some of the U.S. Open competitors, the action at Q-Masters can be more of a distraction than an attraction. Who can ever forget Scott Frost and Pooky playing a marathon ahead match at Q-Masters one year, with Scott Frost never showing up for his tournament match due to the all-night action with Pooky. :eek:

After Friday night of this week, the action will begin to dry up. Stakehorses will either be pumped or broke, and some pool folk do leave the area early to save on their travel expenditures. So these next four days for the action scene will be the strongest. :cool:

The lure of the action is difficult for some players to overcome. In my own personal experience, it's been a tournament killer. I don't care how old you are and how good you play pool, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- can play their best pool when they're not getting proper rest and nutrition. :smile:

Let's take Jose Parica. He's definitely an action man, one of the best money players in the world. When Jose is at a tournament and is still in the running to win, he retires early for the evening, eats a healthy meal, and watches movies on TV. In other word, Jose Parica conserves his energy for the tournament. You won't see him staying up all night in action. :wink:

In fact, if one were to look at the roster of U.S. Open champions from days gone by, I'll bet each and every one of them wasn't at Q-Masters in action.

I'm not sure who's going to win this year. I have a few favorites; American, of course. Jose Parica has been the bride's maid at the U.S. Open more times than I care to think about, and nothing would please me more than to see him capture this title. I love Jose Parica as a friend. American or Filipino, he's my horse this year to win.

I have a kazillion Jose Parica pictures. He is, in fact, one of the few pool players I have allowed to stay at my home. He has no bad habits, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't use drugs, doesn't curse. Here's a great shot of Jose posing with a California player. I hope Jose does well this year. :smile:

One thing for sure, you won't see him in action all night, as long as he's in the tournament. This is why he's usually cashing in tournaments. I wish other tournament soldiers who like gambling would follow Jose's lead.
 

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I wish Ronato Alcano would focus on winning tournaments only, and not be in action all night.

Before the Galveston 8-ball event, he supposedly played poker until he had to go to the arena. Then he played 2 racks of rotation before he beat Johnny Archer.

Yes, he did win, and can probably go on like this for a long time, but Ronato is so talented I think he can win much more events if he focused only on the tournaments...

I know many of the European players, like for example Mika Immonen, Darren Appleton and Niels Feijen, prefers to stay out of long action sessions when they are still in the tournament. When they lose in the tournament, they don't mind playing money matches.

All Filipinos (except Jose) are in action all night long, and I would think that Marcus Chamat wouldn't mind playing till morning if he had a good game at Q-Masters...
 
Roy Steffensen said:
I wish Ronato Alcano would focus on winning tournaments only, and not be in action all night....
Click to expand...

Ronnie's got a chance for sure to win the U.S. Open. I just don't understand a pool player's logic sometimes.

You don't see Nick Varner, Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, et al., hanging out all night gambling when they are attending high-profile tournaments. That should speak volumes right there.

Gambling versus tournament play, it seems to be an ongoing dilemma for many a pool player.

I'll be the first railbird in the front row to sweat the action games, but when one invests $2,500-plus to attend a week-long pool tournament, it sure would be nice to put all your effort into winning that tournament. Heck, breaking even is winning sometimes when it comes to expenses. Pool ain't cheap, and, in my opinion, it's a rich man's high today, unless you have a stakehorse who's willing to pay your way for the friendship.

I don't care how old you are, sleep deprivation is not a good thing when competing in pool tournaments on a professional level. It takes days to recover, not just one night of good sleep but DAYS.

I understand the psyche of action at pool tournaments, but I do not understand the logic of some players in this regard.. :frown:
 
tournament v.s. action

I guess I was under the impression that a pool player can make more money in "action" than what he can make in a tournament....maybe that idea came from the "Color of Money" movie.....Of course the 1st prize for winning the Open is pretty big, but there's only one of those.... Of course, you are right about how action detracts from one's ability to compete in the tournament, but the lure is definitely strong for gamblers....
 
Action vs tournament

If players caught gambling were disqualified I would think spectators would want their expenses back when only 6-8 players show upto play, lol. But I agree
the action players never give their best effort after staying up all night. A
single hour of partying can deprive an Olympic athlete their chance at winning a gold medal. Unfortunately there is so little money in pool and so few sponsors it is easy to see why players seek to supplement their income.
 
Doug said:
Unfortunately there is so little money in pool and so few sponsors it is easy to see why players seek to supplement their income.
Click to expand...

Gambling is a zero-sum game. The player who loses 2K or whatever the amount is certainly hasn't supplemented his income and now needs to make it up somewhere else.
 
Action vs tournaments

True, but if results of the gamble, in pool or in business were known in advance there would also be zero losses in anything. Before I sold my businesses I had to place orders each year for millions of dollars of inventory at the beginning of each year. I can tell you, every year was not a pretty picture. Having said that, I understand what you're saying. When it comes to gambling at pool I'm a total coward.
 
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