Free - Live Steaming of Super Billiards Expo

Got this in the email today:

Our friends at Inside Pool Magazine are streaming live from Diamond Open 10-Ball Championship at the Super Billiards Expo starting today. Stream is available for free on the IPT home page for your convenience. Here is their press release:

Live Steaming of Super Billiards ExpoTAP League and Hybrid Bring Live Streaming with SpheragonTap, LLC (TAP League) and Cue and Case Inc. that they have partnered with Inside POOL Magazine and Spheragon to produce the live streaming video of the Diamond Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship at the Super Billiards Expo in Valley Forge, PA March 19-22, 2009. The live streaming of the event will be produced by Spheragon, a leading video production company in the sport of billiards and will be streamed online for free.

Live streaming of the Players Championship from the Super Billiards Expo will start at approximately 10:45 am EST on Thursday, March 19, 2009.Spheragon will be conducting encore performances of the previous day throughout the event, so the streaming will be operational 24/7. The live streaming will be continuous for 24 hours per day from start until 10:00 am Monday, March 23, 2009.

The Diamond Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship is a $25,000 added event with a guaranteed first place prize of $20,000. The 64 player field will be using a race to 10, rotate breaks, double elimination format with an entry fee of $1000. Live streaming will begin with the first round, which starts at 11am on March 19, 2009.

Enjoy!
Glenn

Team Slump

Well, eight weeks through the session and we're still in first, but we may not be alone anymore. Two weeks ago we played Balls-in-hand; a team that, while good, I would have thought we could have taken four of the five matches if not three. Instead we took only two. One of our S/L 5s matched up against a 3 and he threw the match - that is the only way I can call it.

I did not fair much better, but I was matched up against a fairly respectable 5. I promptly lost the first three games, playing some of the worst pool ever. Every shot I took, and there were plenty of opportunities for me in those three games, I slammed the cue ball. The only thing I can think of is that my match started around 11 PM and I was exhausted after a long day at work. I managed to play better and win the next two games to go hill-hill. While I played well the last game, it was not enough to win. Now I have two new goals: Build my stamina and get plenty of sleep on Monday nights.

Monday I flew back to Kansas City around 11 PM from a long weekend on Boston's North Shore visiting family, and the second Tuesday is 4H with my daughter, so I missed last night's match. I got all of the gory details when I got to work since four team mates work for the same company. Another 2-3 night - yuck!

Last night's opponents match up well against us on paper, but for some reason we under-perform when visiting them. Our 5 who had an off-night against a 3 last week continued his less-than-stellar performance again last night, only this time against another 5. He managed to lose four straight games to lose the match. In the third game he managed to sink the 8 out-of-turn with a very hard shot; I'm thinking at this point that a hockey fan would admire the guy's slap shot, but most hockey players and pool players need to have a wide-ranging selection of shot speeds in order to put the "puck in the net" or pocket an object ball. Again in the fourth game he slammed the cue into a cluster that contained two of his balls and four of his opponents. According to one eye-witness there was no possibility of making a ball on the shot and it left the opponent an opportunity to run the table. These were not "Slappy's" last two balls on the table so he would have had other chances to break out his balls.

Well, here's hoping next week we come prepared to win. I am thinking that "Slappy" will be benched for the match.

I managed to get in six or so practice games while in Gloucester over the weekend - most of them playing scotch doubles. The table, probably one of only a half-dozen or so spread across a town of 30,000 that once claimed 3 pool halls, had an oversized eight ball! It looked like the Goodyear blimp sticking up out of the other balls.

Adios, hope your pool playing brings you happiness this week!

Reflection on Play and How to Improve

[I had actually posted this as part of a longer post last month and decided it should stand on its own.]

I have been contemplating my inconsistent match play and am beginning to think that I play to the S/L of my opponent. Then again I can make some difficult shots and then turn around and miss a straight in shot. Maybe that is a let down after reaching up to play near or above my abilities on the previous shot.
Now comes the time to evaluate my play and make improvements by trying to get more practice time in.

Improvements needed:
1. Don't get lazy: take time to look at the shot before getting down.
2. Practice shots that I have difficulty with. Side pocket shots are high on the list, as well as shots where the cue is against an end rail and the object ball is at the other end of the table.
3. Learn the diamond system for bank and kick shots. I usually do quite well by eye-balling the object ball and target pocket, but would like to raise the percentage on these shots to 90-95 percent success rate. (I'm talking one rail, nothing fancy.)
4. Think defensively. I always go up to the table trying to make every shot, and that is not the best strategy - especially if you are playing a high-caliber player who can either run the table or plunk in one or two at a time, while leaving you snookered and ready to give up ball-in-hand.

If anyone has any practical tips for working through the above issues I would like to hear them!

Tools of the Trade - What I Play With

When I started playing APA league last January I was shooting with house cues. That was just fine playing at Side Pockets in North Kansas City (our home location at the time) because there were probably a hundred cues available to select from.

Then, during the second or third week of that session, we played at a small bar in Kansas City that had two tables and maybe twelve cues - half of which looked like they were used to participate in, or break up, bar fights! I found one with a decent tip, the only issue was that the weight in the butt was loose so that every time I shot the weight shifted. At that point in my young league playing career I decided I needed my own stick.

With the $50 my wife graciously said I could spend, which just happened to match the amount I received in the form of a Lands End gift card for Christmas, I visited the local Sears store. With the sale taking place I purchased what I thought was the stick I would play with for years. My satisfaction with the cue ended up lasting around six months, but it was not the cue's fault.

At the beginning of the 2008 Summer session a newer player on the team purchased a $200+ Mali cue through Side Pockets (at the time they offered a 20% discount to APA players) and picked it up before our match at Moxies on North Oak Trafficway. Now Moxies has a nice setup, the three pool tables and assorted games are in a separate room - and the tables are Diamond 7-footers with tight pockets. After the match we practiced some, and Jason let me try his new Mali for a game. From that point onwards I had it in mind to get a better hitting, solid cue.

I ended up purchasing a new McDermott Tucson cue pictured here:
This cue has a solid hit with a sweet sound as the cue hits the ball. About the only complaint I have with it is that the tip is harder than I am used to so I have to concentrate more on getting the draw I desire.

I purchased this cue on eBay, I basically bid to bump up the highest bid by $1 for a maximum of $20. For roughly 40% of the MSRP I purchased a McDermott!

Well, this cue was too nice to carry around and store in the soft case I had my Sears Mizerak cue in, so I went to Side Pockets and purchased an Action 1x1 case for more than I might have paid on-line.

Next, since the tip is harder than I wanted, I got a Shadow Tip-Pik with Chalker. This Tip-Pik has a black body with recessed pins and the chalker is attached with a small chain.

To shape the tip I purchased a Willards dime shaper, which I placed on the Tip-Pik's chain. For the shaft I carry an Action shaft slicker. And lastly I carry my quarters in a plastic Skoal container that I also use for marking the pocket when shooting the 8 ball!

I am interested to learn what other players carry, and also what recommendations folks might have for a new tip!