tateuts
03-21-2004, 12:54 PM
I stopped playing pool for 20 years and took it up again about a year and a half ago. I've been trying to get my game up to competitive level for the big tournaments and it's coming along.
This was my second open tournament - the first was about a month ago at Hard Times where I didn't do too well. I was very nervous and made nervous types of mistakes.
They had an big open 9 Ball at Hollywood Billiards this weekend. The place is huge - absolutely amazing. Nice tournament, great crowd, run by our own Wayne here and Max Eberle.
There were several well known (out here) players expected to win. Among them were Ernesto Dominguez, Lorry DeLeon, Dave Hemmah, Tang Hoa, and a lot of shortstops.
I drew one of the top rated players in my first match, a player who was in the top two or three favorites to win. Races to 8, double elimination. He beat me the last time we played so I was at least a little prepared for his game. We lagged. My ball was 1/4" from the rail, his was 1/8". He broke and ran out. He broke and didn't make a ball next rack and I ran out. Both of us were playing well and We went 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, then he broke and ran two tables on me, making it 7-5. He broke and scratched and I ran out 7-6. He started making small mistakes and hooked himself on a run out, I got out hill-hill.
I broke and didn't make a ball. He was on a run out and he missed the six ball. I got out and won my first big-time player match!
The rest of the tournament I played pretty bad. Now I've got to figure out a way to stay that focused and relaxed but motivated for a whole tournament. The first match I was thinking "one shot at a time" - after that, I lost my focus.
Chris
This was my second open tournament - the first was about a month ago at Hard Times where I didn't do too well. I was very nervous and made nervous types of mistakes.
They had an big open 9 Ball at Hollywood Billiards this weekend. The place is huge - absolutely amazing. Nice tournament, great crowd, run by our own Wayne here and Max Eberle.
There were several well known (out here) players expected to win. Among them were Ernesto Dominguez, Lorry DeLeon, Dave Hemmah, Tang Hoa, and a lot of shortstops.
I drew one of the top rated players in my first match, a player who was in the top two or three favorites to win. Races to 8, double elimination. He beat me the last time we played so I was at least a little prepared for his game. We lagged. My ball was 1/4" from the rail, his was 1/8". He broke and ran out. He broke and didn't make a ball next rack and I ran out. Both of us were playing well and We went 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, then he broke and ran two tables on me, making it 7-5. He broke and scratched and I ran out 7-6. He started making small mistakes and hooked himself on a run out, I got out hill-hill.
I broke and didn't make a ball. He was on a run out and he missed the six ball. I got out and won my first big-time player match!
The rest of the tournament I played pretty bad. Now I've got to figure out a way to stay that focused and relaxed but motivated for a whole tournament. The first match I was thinking "one shot at a time" - after that, I lost my focus.
Chris