Baltimore Pool Scene

I work in the medical device industry and recently had the opportunity to travel to the Washington D.C. area to speak to the FDA.  Being the pool nut that I am, of course I carried a pool cue with me.  After my flight landed at BWI, I got a rental car and traveled a few miles east to the city of Glen Burnie, Maryland.  I figured most billiard establishments in the area would not have a full kitchen, so my first objective was to score a fast dinner before hitting the pool halls.  When I got to Glen Burnie, I eventually found a Checkers Burger joint and quickly dove into a couple greasy burgers and an order of fries.  Nom nom nom! 

After satisfying my fat and carb crave, I headed over to Big Daddy’s Billiards.  My pre-trip Google search had revealed that Big Daddy’s is the annual home of the Maryland State 14.1 Championships, so I figured this place probably had some pretty decent equipment and some good local players.  I figured Monday night would be a relatively slow night and I was thinking I could get in a little practice time and then possibly lock horns with some of the local talent.  I got to Big Daddy’s just as the sun was setting and a heavy rain set in.  Darn East Coast weather!  I sat out in the car staring at the Big Daddy’s neon sign for a few minutes, then decided I probably wouldn’t melt, so I went inside.  Talk about a shock…the place was absolutely packed!  Monday night must be a big APA league night as every table in the joint was taken and several people were standing around waiting for tables.  I went to the front desk and asked about getting a table, and I’m not exactly sure how I managed it, but I somehow got a table immediately.  Beginner’s luck?

I ended up shooting solo for about three hours.  I was on a nine-footer with somewhat generous pockets (between 4.5 or 4.75 inches I think).  All the tables around me were taken with APA league matches.  I got into my mental trance mode and was shooting pretty darn good.  I occasionally paused to drink coffee and scan the room looking for anyone who was non-APA and who might be looking for a game, but no such luck.  The place was packed with leagues and I didn’t see anyone that I thought would be interested in a game.  After checking my watch and realizing it was a little after 10pm, I finally decided it was time to head over to Silver Spring, Maryland to check into my hotel.  On the way out, I flashed my APA membership card, got a 15% discount (Bazinga!), and headed out the door.

So there I was, 10:30 at night, driving in heavy rain in an unfamiliar area, headed to an unfamiliar city, with no map and no directions.  But hey, fear not, I have my trusty iPhone right?  I looked up the hotel address and Google mapped it.  The hotel was only about 30 minutes away, but then I noticed my iPhone battery indicator was at 8% battery life!  Crap!  I reached into my travel bag for my car charger…WHERE’S MY CHARGER?  Evidently, it was still plugged into my car in California.  DOUBLE CRAP!!!  Time to implement a battery preservation strategy: (step 1) Glance at map, (step 2) memorize the next 3 turns, (step 3) turn off phone, (step 4) fear getting lost, (step 5) turn phone back on, (step 6) go to step 1.  After several iterations, I finally got to the hotel with 1% power remaining.  WHEW!

I checked into my room, unpacked, got my stuff ready for a meeting with FDA in the morning, and then realized I was hungry again.  (After all, I hadn’t eaten in over two hours!)  Time to search for food!  It was after 11pm, so I was guessing most restaurants were closed.  I sought guidance at the front desk and they told me there’s a McDonald’s relatively close by, so I headed out searching for grub.  Now, the funniest thing happened to me on the way to MickeyD’s.  I was in downtown Silver Spring at 11:30pm and was about to cross the street when guess what I saw?  On the other side of the road I saw four guys walking together as a group and they were headed away from me…and all of them had nice leather cue cases on their backs!  WHAT?!  Had I made it to the Promised Land?!  The light was red and I couldn’t cross, so I yelled at them, “Hey Poolplayers!  Where’s the pool hall at?!!”  The last one turned, and yelled back, “Galaxy Café, right over there!”  He pointed to my left, so I turned in that direction and realized I was standing about a hundred feet from the Galaxy Billiards Café…sweet serendipity!!!  I thought I heard angels in heaven singing and strumming harps…or maybe that was just my imagination.  Regardless, it was too dark to take a picture of the exterior of the building (I got the picture the next morning) so I went inside to check it out.  The place was filled with players…serious players…like manna from heaven, my hunger went away!  I hung around for about 30 minutes, watched a few matches, but I didn’t have time to play.  I needed to get up very early in the morning so I had to pass on this one.  The next time I’m in the area, though, I’ll definitely hit Galaxy and find a game or two.

Galaxy Billiards Cafe – Inside

Reality Check

Do you know how many balls you can run on average without missing?  Most people overestimate their playing ability.  The discrepancy between a person’s actual playing ability and their perceived ability is a key factor in determining who wins or loses a match.  When you compete, you don’t have to be the better player to win.  All you need is a more realistic view of your true capabilities so that you can make better decisions and alter your game strategy accordingly. 

If you play eight ball, think about this scenario.  Suppose your opponent breaks and makes all seven of his balls, but he misses the shot on the eight ball.  Now it’s your turn and all you need to do is make eight shots in a row to win the game.  Can you do it?  If you have a realistic view of your abilities and you know you can’t make eight shots in a row, you could make a conscious decision right now to take a few easy shots and then play a safety to tilt the odds of winning in your favor.

In order for you to make this decision appropriately, you will need to know how many balls you can make on average without missing.  Here’s an easy way to get an estimate of your balls per inning (BPI) average:

BPI Assessment

Toss eight balls on the table.  Make sure that no ball is within six inches of a rail and no ball is within six inches of another ball.  (This eliminates the need for you to break clusters or attempt any tough rail shots.)  Start with ball in hand, and see how many balls you can pocket without missing a shot.  When you miss a shot, count the number of balls you were able to pocket and record that number.  Do this 10 times in a row and calculate the average number of balls per inning you were able to pocket.  This will give you a quick estimate of your BPI.  Repeat this assessment several times to get a more accurate estimate.

Armed with a realistic estimate of your BPI, you can now change your game strategy to accommodate your actual playing ability.  A key factor in winning games is your ability to assess and manage risk, and in order for you to adequately manage risk, you must have a realistic view of your true capabilities.

The Best T-Shirt Ever

I’m always looking for cool and interesting T-shirts to wear to pool tournaments, and last week I saw what I believe to be the best tournament shirt ever.  EVER!  Here’s the picture…I’ve gotta get one!

Rodney’s Classy Move

I pulled a quick two and out at the West Coast 10 Ball Challenge this April and had the opportunity to watch a Rodney Morris match that I’ll never forget.  Rodney was playing against a pretty decent shooter (I didn’t catch his name) on table 12.  The match was a race to 8 and Rodney was up 7-3.  Rodney made the one ball on the break but left an open shot on the 2 ball for his opponent.  It was a pretty tough layout, so his opponent looked the table over for what seemed like three or four minutes, then began pocketing balls.  2, 3, 4…he was methodically dropping balls and it soon became apparent that he had a chance to run the rack out.  Near the end of his very difficult run, he played the 7 ball and got perfect position on the 9.  He was hyper focused and started stroking for the next shot, not realizing the 8 ball was still on the table. I was sitting directly in his line of sight and noticed the error, but I was torn…do I say anything before he shoots…or not?  I decided not to say anything because it wouldn’t be fair to Rodney.  The rules are the rules and a foul would give Rodney ball in hand and almost certainly the game and match.  A few seconds later the player fired the 9 into the corner pocket and got perfect (and pretty difficult) position on the 8 ball.  I glanced over at Rodney waiting for the foul to be called, but Rodney just raised his eyebrows, leaned forward a bit in his chair, looked the table over, then sat back to watch the next shot.  The shooter had been so focused on making the 9 ball and getting proper position on the 8 that he never realized he was shooting out of order.  He subsequently made the 8, got perfect on the 10, then drilled the 10 home for the game.  When he walked to the back of the table to set up the next rack, Rodney leaned forward and told him that he had pocketed the balls out of sequence.  The guy looked a little shocked and unsure of Rodney’s intent, but Rodney waved off his concerns and gave him the game to the amusement of the spectators.  I nodded to Rodney and said, “You have to admit though, it was one HELL of a run!”  He laughed and said, “Yes, it sure was!”

Pool Drills for Straight Pool

On a recent trip to El Paso, TX, I met with David Sapolis and we discussed Straight Pool (14.1) for an hour or so.  One if the most difficult parts of straight pool, at least for me and I suspect for many others, is the rack to rack transition phase.  Without a properly planned and executed break shot, your runs will be severely limited.  David suggested a couple interesting and fun games to help me practice this specific skill, and I present both of them below.

Practice Game:  5.1

Start with a short rack of only five balls.  Using a standard 8 ball type break, break the balls and immediately start your route planning.  Identify your primary and secondary break shots, your primary and secondary key balls, and any problem balls the need to be attacked early.  Once you’ve mapped out your entire shot sequence, start pocketing balls.  If you successfully run the rack, you can rerack all balls and start again with an 8 ball type break.  The primary objective here is to work on your route planning skills, not to work on running lots of balls or to work on break shots.  Here’s a helpful hint: use a soft break so that you leave one or two balls in good position to serve as a break ball.

Practice Game:  9.1

This is basically the same game as 5.1, except you start with a slightly larger rack of nine balls instead of five.  After the break, identify your primary and secondary break shots, your primary and secondary key balls, and any problem balls the need to be attacked early.  You don’t necessarily need to know the exact sequence for the entire rack, but you do need to deal with problem balls early.  If you successfully run the rack, you can rerack all balls and start again with an 8 ball type break.  Again, the primary objective here is to work on your route planning skills, not to work on running lots of balls or break shots.

The real game:  14.1

Now that you’ve gotten lots of practice planning for the transitional break shot, you can go back to 14.1 and see how much you’ve improved your game.  Good luck, and may the high runs be with you!

Visiting David Sapolis

I recently had to travel to El Paso, TX on an overnight business trip, so I packed up my cue and was able to get in a few hours practice while there.  Before leaving California I was able to get in touch with David Sapolis, a professional pool player better known to many as “Blackjack,” and set up some time for a lesson.  David is the founder of Dead Stroke University and he lives in the El Paso area, so we met up at Clicks Billiards in El Paso for a couple of hours.  I really enjoyed the time we were able to spend shooting 14.1 and talking about pool games in general.  I definitely took away some good knowledge.  One of David’s greatest areas of expertise is the mind game of pool… understanding how some players can seem to get the edge and win while others who are just as physically gifted can’t.  I learned a great deal from David, and will share some of the drills we discussed in a future post.  If you live near El Paso or are just passing through, I highly recommend trying to hook up with David, take a lesson, and pick his brain.  It is definitely worth the money.

Kamui Chalk – My Thoughts

I recently bought a piece of Kamui chalk for about $30.  WHAT?!  $30 for a single piece of pool chalk…have I lost my marbles?  Why in the world would I pay $30 for something that I can get for free by just asking for it at the front desk?  It had better deliver some pretty damn impressive performance to justify that price!

And it does.

I’ve been playing with it consistently for a few weeks now and I’m exceedingly happy with it.  Of course, there are pros and cons with Kamui chalk as there are with any product:  Pros: I only chalk about once a rack.  I do not miscue anymore.  I don’t even worry about miscues any more…it’s just one less variable to think about.  For some reason, using Kamui chalk has made me think more about the condition of my cue tip, and so I’m taking better care of my tip and doing some light maintenance before each of my playing sessions.  Cons: The $30 price tag.  The chalk is very soft, so it tends to crumble more than standard free chalk.  The cube itself is rather small: a little thinner and shorter than the standard chalk cube.  Nothing that a little scotch tape and washers can’t handle if you are using a chalk holder.  It also has a tendency to leave chalk marks on the cue ball if you apply too much chalk to your tip.

Here’s my philosophy: If I have the opportunity to reduce variation and eliminate or dramatically reduce an area of concern, why would I not make that investment?  When I’m playing serious pool, I want to take advantage of every option available to me.  Yeah, $30 is a steep price to pay for chalk, but how much is your game worth?  How do you put a price on your confidence?  Besides, how fast can you really go through that piece of chalk if you are only chalking once or twice a rack?  I’m very happy with the performance of the chalk.  I just wish it was closer in size to the standard chalk cube.

HD Video on the Way!

I’ve been debating for some time whether or not I wanted to incorporate pool practice videos or pool drill videos into my website.  A couple years ago I bought a camcorder to record some of my training sessions so that I could get feedback on my mechanics, and I really enjoyed the opportunity it provided for me to improve my fundamentals.  I never did put any of my videos on my website because frankly, I couldn’t figure out how to transfer the video from a tape format to a digital format.  Obviously, I’m not the most tech savvy person in the world.  I’ve always wanted to shoot some videos and load them up, but I was a little lazy and didn’t want to spend money buying a new digital camera.  Finally, thanks to some prodding from Johnny 101, I’ve decided it is time.  Yesterday, I purchased a new digital HD video camera.  I plan to start filming some of my practice sessions and if anything interesting comes up, I’ll be able to share.  Thanks Johnny for the prodding!