Who Won Hardtimes 10 Ball?
- Thread starter Johnnyt
- Start date
What was final score? I went to bed it was 9-8 Bautista.
Thank you. Johnnyt
LOL. I know you know that even back in the days before the Internet, cells, and camera phones no road players/monsters snuck up on top players like Dennis O and the 10 others like him at Hardtimes. Just like they never snuck up on Wimpy, Earl or players like them. They snuck up on shortstops or below. 90% of the good road players never played in tournaments except Johnson City. Johnnyt
HI Dennis won 11 games to 9 games it was a good match i thought that batista would take it
11 - 9 Dennis
I tried to stay awake for te whole thig but fell asleep at 9-8 Reuben. He was up 6-3 at one point. It will be a very good match to watch again, some awesome firepower. No cute safety battles, no looking over every shot for 2 minutes, just good unadulterated pool. Lots of dry breaks, so no packages, but some VERY straight shooting from both parties. It's amazing how easy Dennis makes the game look at times. Good weekend of streaming from povpool. Cool to see efren have such a good tourney too.
I feel terrible. I made that last post before seeing another thread about the awful misfortunes of these two unknown, monster players.
RIP dear 'Arizona'. You may (or may not) have been one of the true greats of our game! And you died far too young. You will always be remembered by Built_To_Last, longhauldriver, and that guy who has security camera footage of you and your amazing 12 pack but somehow can't seem to find a way to get said footage onto YouTube.
RIP.
It was a fantastic final match! Back and forth throughout. Bautista finally tightened up just a little bit at around 9-9 and Dennis stayed, well, Dennis...steady to the finish. Bautista still played great to the end, he just missed shape off of a 5 ball on a very critical shot that he simply hit too 'fat' and it cost him.
I stayed up till 0300 (I'm East Coast) to see this through to the end. Phenomenal play. Truly sweet strokes by both players, great shotmaking, and real meat/potatoes play for shape. IMHO, Reuben played better overall, just made a couple of key mistakes at the end that let Dennis' as usual solid play pull him out. Some of the three rail kicks Reuben shot were just sick...Dennis defiinitely knew he was in a war. The only better 10 ball I've seen is SVB's lesson to Economopoulos in Greece a couple months back. 3 1/2 hours of absolute perfection, well worth the watch (go to YouTube). Hopefully they will post this final on YouTube too for those that couldn't fade the late hour, it was really great play I'd like to see over and over again.
A few numbers for the Orcollo vs. Bautista finals match at the 2014 Hard Times 10-Ball Open (won by Orcollo 11-9):
• Made at least 1 ball on the break and didn't foul -- 6 of 11 Orcollo, 2 of 9 Bautista
• Breaker won game -- 6 of 11 Orcollo, 4 of 9 Bautista
• Break-and-run games -- 1 of 11 Orcollo, 0 of 9 Bautista
• Balls pocketed -- 107 Orcollo, 89 Bautista
• Open shots missed -- 3 Orcollo, 5 Bautista
• Fouls -- 7 Orcollo (including 2 intentional), 3 Bautista (all on the break)
• Made at least 1 ball on the break and didn't foul -- 6 of 11 Orcollo, 2 of 9 Bautista
• Breaker won game -- 6 of 11 Orcollo, 4 of 9 Bautista
• Break-and-run games -- 1 of 11 Orcollo, 0 of 9 Bautista
• Balls pocketed -- 107 Orcollo, 89 Bautista
• Open shots missed -- 3 Orcollo, 5 Bautista
• Fouls -- 7 Orcollo (including 2 intentional), 3 Bautista (all on the break)
I hate the idea of a single match finals in what is otherwise a double elimination tournament. Especially when all they did was add 2 more games on to the race. It makes no sense for someone to win the hot seat, but then not get the same second chance in the finals that his opponent already had. I realize time is a factor. Maybe make it two shorter races?
Ouch, 3 scratches on the break in a set to 11 is tuff to fade. Playing orcullo, perhaps not possible to overcome.
They both played good in the finals, and I thought Reuben could win. He definitely was trying to win and he was not intimidated in the least. It looked like it was going hill-hill when Reuben messed up on the five. It was his most glaring error of the final and it couldn't come at a worse time. The pressure had finally got to him. He was unflappable until then.
I heard talk of him playing a money game with Oscar after the tournament. I don't if it went off or not. This guy Reuben is a serious player. He was mentored by Ignazio Chavez in New York for several years. So if there really was an "unknown" player from New York, it was him. But he was intent on winning the tournament, not gambling with the powerhouses who were here. He could have got all the action he wanted from Dennis or Ko Pin-Yi. For money I still like Dennis. Like Shane, that's where he shines! He grew up gambling at pool.
I made an open offer to play Dennis for the first place money (3K) but there were no takers. So there's your answer. Bottom line, Reuben is a helluva player, but he's used to beating up on shortstops and low level A players. Guys like Dennis and Francisco and the Taiwan crew are another level entirely. I don't think Reuben is totally prepared for them. These top players have a polish to their game that he lacks. The only way he can acquire it is by getting in the box with them. I think his process is to get comfortable by playing them in tournaments first. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him gambling with strong players soon. But Shane is out of his league right now and so are a few others. He must pick his spots for now, as all good players do.
The tournament was most exciting when the Taiwan crew was in action. It's a delight to see such talented cue men coming to our shores. Ko Pin-Yi and Kevin Cheng are awesome players! I particularly liked watching Cheng play. He makes everything look so easy. And it is - FOR HIM! It was only by the grace of God and jet lag that one of them was not in the finals. They all cashed high though.
I heard talk of him playing a money game with Oscar after the tournament. I don't if it went off or not. This guy Reuben is a serious player. He was mentored by Ignazio Chavez in New York for several years. So if there really was an "unknown" player from New York, it was him. But he was intent on winning the tournament, not gambling with the powerhouses who were here. He could have got all the action he wanted from Dennis or Ko Pin-Yi. For money I still like Dennis. Like Shane, that's where he shines! He grew up gambling at pool.
I made an open offer to play Dennis for the first place money (3K) but there were no takers. So there's your answer. Bottom line, Reuben is a helluva player, but he's used to beating up on shortstops and low level A players. Guys like Dennis and Francisco and the Taiwan crew are another level entirely. I don't think Reuben is totally prepared for them. These top players have a polish to their game that he lacks. The only way he can acquire it is by getting in the box with them. I think his process is to get comfortable by playing them in tournaments first. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him gambling with strong players soon. But Shane is out of his league right now and so are a few others. He must pick his spots for now, as all good players do.
The tournament was most exciting when the Taiwan crew was in action. It's a delight to see such talented cue men coming to our shores. Ko Pin-Yi and Kevin Cheng are awesome players! I particularly liked watching Cheng play. He makes everything look so easy. And it is - FOR HIM! It was only by the grace of God and jet lag that one of them was not in the finals. They all cashed high though.
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