Late Night Pool Party...

So, I attended my third pool tournament at The Pocket Wednesday/Thursday... The two best players who usually run the tournament were still at the BCA Nationals in Las Vegas, so the tournament was run by some other folks. It started right on time at 7pm and had a lot of players in it.

Anyway, I started playing early, and lost my first match. I choked big time, missing two easy but crucial shots. I was really mad at myself, I haven't done that for a long time. I just didn't take the proper care in shooting them and missed - just like the old days when I use to play Lyle. From then on, I didn't do that again...

From there, I played the next 7 matches mostly with much lower handicap players and had to spot them 3-5 balls a game. After loosing my first match, I was focused and won them all, running 4 full games and doing very well. It was about midnight by then. Pam called me on the cell to see how things were going and I told her I was still playing. She said to be safe and play good. Love her...

Then, I had to wait for the other matches to complete before I played again. The last two matches I was waiting for was this tall cowboy (hat and all) that was the slowest and most talkative player I had seen in a long time. By the time he won the two matches, I was ready to scream. It was about 1:30 am by that time. All the matches were being played on the main view table by then and there were probably 20 people watching the proceedings. I was sitting at the floor level by the table and meditated from time to time to keep my focus and calm down. I think some people thought I had passed out or went to sleep from their comments.

The way the handicap system works is that each match is played to 30 balls. The player with the lower handicap is given 3 times the handicap difference up front and then each ball made counts as one and wins count as ten. So, if one player is a 6 handicap and the other is a 10, the lower handicap player starts with 12 balls (3 x 4) to begin the match. Anyway, I digress...

Then, it was my turn to play him. We were even handicaps so I didn't have to spot him any balls. He plays lots of safe shots and just takes forever to shoot. He will look at the whole thing from all angles and then get down to shoot and after all that, gets back up and does the whole thing again... Anyway, I had had enough of him and ended up beating him 30 to 8. Everybody had also had enough of him and was very happy he was done.

I then played another even handicap player who is very good. I had watched him before and was impressed. I beat him 30 to 17 and the crowd was impressed. It was about 2:30 by then and they were mostly all still there.

I was then the winner of the loosers bracket and had the play the unbeaten player in the winners bracket. She is one of the bartenders there at The Pocket and I had never seen her play before. She also has one of the greatest memories I have seen. She remembered our names early on for months between short visits. She was very good and since this was her first tournament, she was only a 6 handicap. So, I had to spot her 12 balls. I played very good and the score was 26 to her 27. Then, I lost control of the cue ball and scratched. She ran three balls and won.

So, I ended up in 2nd at about 3am Thursday morning. Luckly, Pam had falled asleep at home or she would have been frantic by that time. I was beat, and beaten, but happy. I played well and now they all know me here in DaHo...