March 29, 2010 by admin.

This weekend we kicked off the 2010 Season with the opener at Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, Kelly and I drove up early on Friday to get settled in and check things out. Even though they touted that it was close to a full field they only ended up with 38 players, they said 20 or so players canceled at the last minute.

It was great to be there for Kelly’s first event and we had a great time talking to everyone as I tried to introduce him to all of the cool/top players in the event that he wanted to meet. He played very decently while keeping composure and even though he didn’t win any matches his motivation and focus is high, it was awesome to watch him handle the pressure well.

My tournament went a little better but not much, lost my first match to a kid who was playing in the biggest tournament of his life. Actually, twice during this trip my opponents told me that it was their 1st big tournament so they were very nervous and I’m starting to think it was to shark me. After that loss I played Jason Ritchko on the streaming table and got out to big lead since he was playing like poop, then I started missing and he picked up the pieces to make the race close. In the end I lucked out after hooking myself and kicking in the 10-ball out of turn, I felt bad but those are the rolls you have to take the good and the bad.

For some reason Wade Crane didn’t show up for our match so I won by forfeit which was a first for me, it’s an interesting feeling because while I am happy to win I wanted to play and possibly beat Mr. Crane since he is/was a great player. Well after such an easy match I got matched up with a very difficult one to even things out………had to play Corey Deuel. Lucky for me we played just after he lost a nail biter to Johnny Archer just minutes before so he wasn’t in the best mood, I took advantage of that and won 7-5 after being down 2-5. This match was great to win since it advanced me to the next day and into the money rounds, so of course we celebrated by getting hammered and going singing with friends till the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday we got up in time to pack up and head to the pool hall for the first match of the day where I normally don’t play very well, this time was different though and I actually won the match. My opponent said he got sharked by the tournament director since he was asked to remove his hat while playing, the TD didn’t say anything about his jeans and sneakers though so my opponent should be happy just having the hat mentioned. Before we began the match he said to me “You ever get the feeling like you don’t belong someplace?” and mentioned how nervous he was, judging by the Budweiser he was drinking I believed him to be very nervous being surrounded by top players in a pro event.

After that match was over it was back to the streaming table to face off with Tommy Kennedy once again, it seems that we meet in EVERY tournament we are both playing in. Our record is somewhat even but I think he might be up a set or two, we compete hard against each other but always have fun, respect each other’s game and the matches are always close. This match he played rather well and he won 4-8 missing only one ball I believe, two miscues and two scratches on the break didn’t help either.

Ended up finishing in 9th place which isn’t bad but not great, overall I played okay with flashes of brilliance and decent safety play.  Actually I was happy to finish kind of early since we still had 6.5 hours of driving ahead of us and Kelly has to drive another hour after dropping me off. Not to mention we were still a little fuzzy from the previous night’s festivities where we stayed out till 3am after munching on some Waffle House pork chops.

A decent weekend with old friends, some new friends and a little pool tournament thrown in the mix, if only they were all this much fun!!!

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March 9, 2010 by admin.

Well, lot’s of things ha ha. In follow up to the post on February 12th I will now be bringing the mini-lathe in to Bankshots every Sunday or whenever there is a decent sized tournament. Jeff asked me to do so and it went really well yesterday, did a good amount of work to make a little money and did clean-ups and tip reshaping for free in the hopes of future business.

It caused me to lose my first match I believe though since my mind was all over the place when I tried to play and I subsequently lost 6-7 to William who is a solid player, he played well and deserved the win. That started the long road on the “B” side on which I traveled from coast to coast ending with a break and run out with the score at 8-8 in the finals against David Grossman.  This is only the 3rd time I can remember winning this tournament after losing my 1st match, it’s pretty hard considering there were 51 or so players this week which makes for a long day.

Jeff announced that they are also going to be hosting a Saturday tournament to mirror the Sunday tournament, which bring in players from further away since they can play two added money events staying only overnight. It will bring down the numbers on Sunday but I think the new tournament will do well, I hope they get 40 players in each instead of the 50 like it is now. Lately it seems the room owners are trying to host more weekly events but nobody is adding the money like Jeff is adding money, it’s amazing that room owners can’t see past the “I’ll add money if we get a full field” mentality so it’s no surprise that people don’t show up to their events.

Had another lesson with Neil Rashba of Rashba Photography (www.rashba.com) today which went well and also have 3 other students this week. Two of them are new students and over the weekend I spent time talking to even more potential students which is GREAT, I never would have thought that lessons would be going so well and that this many people would want to be taught by me. It’s really the most rewarding thing ever   and it’s helping my game incredibly, I also just finished reading “The Mental Edge” by Kenneth Baum which came recommended by some great players. Since I’ve finished reading it I have won basically every tournament entered so I guess it works, if anything I feel very good about the process and confident in my pre-shot routine.

Can’t wait to hit the Seminole Tour in Atlanta later this month and kick off what hopes to be my best year yet, going with Kelly is going to be a great experience for both of us and I hope it brings his game to the next level!!

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January 10, 2010 by admin.

Hopefully will receive a call from a possible great job in the industry, a friend can’t accept the position but referred them to me with his recommendation which is hugely appreciated. I contacted 3 friends in Japan to see what the job market is like over there and started practicing/learning Japanese again, I have always wanted to visit but if they have jobs there I would be more than willing to move there. Also forwarded my resume to a possible part-time job in a doctor’s office with a referral from another friend, I have never worked either part-time nor in a physician’s office so the experience would be neat. So far this week has been exciting job-wise.

Also giving a lesson tomorrow before the tournament at Bankshots and having lunch with an old student next week, he said he has a project in mind in the Billiard industry and wants my expertise and to bounce some ideas off me. Normally he designs and builds malls but that has slowed down quite a bit with construction in Florida coming almost to a halt overall. He is a great guy and it’s nice to hear from him again, I’m really curious to see what his devious brain has been planning lately.

Been doing decently in the small local tournaments and hope to win tomorrow at Bankshots, am pretty focused and have been reading some books on playing pool and strategy. Have also been stretching every morning and exercising more with some good results, I would have to say that the last two mornings I woke up with only a little pain and haven’t been hurting later in the day like normal.

Even though nothing is solid  there are several things working toward a better direction than it has been in the recent past, I have been trying hard and it’s nice to see it paying off even if it’s just a little. Am smiling and motivated………can’t remember the last time I was able to say that!!   =)

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October 26, 2009 by admin.

Let’s see let’s see, Friday I went to practice at Bankshots after picking John Ring up from work since he didn’t have his truck handy. Ran into a casual friend that initially wanted me to gamble with his boss since his boss loves to play pool, doesn’t play very well and has more money than he knows what to do with. As if that wasn’t enough good news he also introduced me to his immediate boss and we played a few games together while drinking some beer.

It seems that not only do they work in a group but they hang out and do many things socially together and they want to bring me into that group. They make a VERY good living selling Solar power equipment and service which my friend said he would recomment to his boss about hiring me onto the sales force. So what started as just running into a friend by coincidence ended up being a lead on a good score gambling and a potential position making fantastic money.  Sweet!!

Saturday I headed to the Top Hat’s tournament and I won that event undefeated, it was a small turnout but every little bit helps. Was supposed to go to the stip club for a friend’s bachelor party but didn’t want to spend any money so I ended up going to Butch and Sarah Croft’s house and jumping into the hot tub after eating a very juicy steak. They cook out quite a bit and I don’t know how I didn’t gain any weight this weekend, the food was so delicious and very plentiful!!

Sunday we began the early morning trek to Gainesville , okay it was like 10am but that’s pretty early for some of us,  to play the KF Cue Tour event at the Art of Billiards. It’s a very nice and clean little pool hall, Diamond tables with a full bar and focused on making players welcome. Art and Dana run it well and are very gracious hosts, it gets a little pricey there but it’s well worth it since they give back to people by hosting a variety of events for any level of player.

They got 33 players for the Open division and the day before they got 42 players in the Amateur event, when we walked in Mike Delawder and Matt B. from Daytona where playing the finals from the day before. Mike won the event and ended up being my first round matchup, we made a mistake though and played the whole match winner breaks instead of alternating the break like we were supposed to. He didn’t play that well in our match as I am sure he was tired and happy from winning the Amateur event, it’s his biggest win to date and it’s a nice payoff for the hard work he has been putting in for the last few months.

The next match my opponent played well and I lost 5-7, alternating breaks in this match proved to be a huge factor and it seems to level out the playing field pretty well. It puts  a lot of pressure on you to “hold” your break by not losing that game, it brings a certain taste of Tennis to the game which is interesting and some people don’t like this format. Anyways, I won the next 3 matches easily barely losing a game till I ran into Richie Richeson and our match went the full distance. He really did get some lucky rolls at the end but ultimately it was my fault I lost in the final game, I got out of shape as the rack progressed and scratched after making a nice jump shot leaving only 3 balls on the table.

To say he got lucky is the truth and that got me thinking, some people will find it funny and that it’s what everyone who loses says. But in all honesty a person who wins an event or even some matches will definitely have some good luck along the way, how much you attribute your winning or losing is what people have an issue with. We will all get good rolls and some bad ones too, timing plays a huge factor but you can’t deny that we will receive both positive and negative factors outside of our direct control. Love it or hate it, it’s part of the game so don’t act like it’s something new and that you didn’t see it coming. People laugh at me when I say “I got lucky” when reporting a win and I truly believe it, you can’t win a match without having some sort of good luck and I choose to recognize it.

Ended up finishing in 8th place I believe and was disappointed for sure, but I accepted my fate and opened my eyes to what I can improve on which is what is fueling my practice session for today. Am playing really well but of course it can be better, lately I have been working on something specific during my preshot routine and it’s paying off but like anything else worth doing it takes time to burn it into my brain to make it second nature. It’s nice to see progress with my game and teaching others really helps out a lot, tomorrow I have a new student and can’t wait to do what I can to help develop his game further.

On another positive note I received the sponsorship needed to attend the Seminole Tour finale at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Last year I made it to the final 4 on the winner’s side but lost the next two matches to finish in 5th place, if I could do that again I would be very happy since I know I am playing better and could possibly do better from that point. Either way I am thankful to have such great people supporting and believing in my game, without them I wouldn’t get very far in events or in life.

Off to Bankshots to get some practice in, need to iron out some issues on my break that the alternate breaking format this weekend revealed.

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October 12, 2009 by admin.

Just really getting up and back to the swing of things, for some reason the trip last night wore me out even though I’ve traversed it many times with no issues. Maybe it was all of the talking and playing that I did which is new for me, normally I don’t play mini tournaments nor talk to friends and hang out. It was a great time and need to do it more often when I can afford it, having fun gets expensive!!

Friday: I rolled in and got changed at the hotel before cruising to Stroker’s to see what was up, ended up playing a mini tournament since they didn’t get many players (37 to be exact) and I ended up winning that which was really cool. I wasn’t even going to play but Butch put me in an fed me mucho beer so we had a blast and even split the finals so it worked out perfectly…….thank you Butch!!

Saturday: Play started nice and early after I received a bye in the 1st round, beat John DiToro 7-2 then Trebor Braymore 7-0, played well and got decently lucky against Trevor since we normally have a battle on our hands. Went to the room and came back at 7pm to lose my match to Justin Hall, I didn’t play great and lost 6-8 which made me kind of angry since I didn’t make many errors but of course could have avoided those errors. Oh well, that’s what competing is for right?

Sunday: Played Jerry Calderon and lost 6-8 which again I played decently but not great, we always have a close match and this was no exception. There were very few mistakes made but of course indicated by the score I made just one more mistake than I should have. Bleh!! Hung around for a bit talking to Turk and ended up having a great conversation about reading material, ego, personalities, people and future plans. It’s always nice to find someone you genuinely enjoy sharing a conversation with and we found out we even read some of the same books. That reminds me, need to do some research and send some info to him.

Even though there were only 37 players the field was stacked, Marlon won the event but there were 12-15 real threats to win. I was very surprised to see the lack of players considering it’s right before the US Open but then again that may be the exact reason there weren’t many entries this weekend. Who knows, I was hoping for a jam packed tournament full of talent with great matches and I wasn’t disappointed but there were definitely not as many players as expected.

Even got to do some commentary with Matt Highsmith from www.cuesportsvideo.com which was very enjoyable, need to send him some stuff too man I need to write this down!! Went to eat with James Roberts, Donnie Mills and their girls as I sat there like a 5th wheel Saturday night, we had a great time and shared many laughs which is always good for the soul. Need to get some practice in this week and see if I can drum up some sponsorship for the US Open, haven’t been successful so far but you never know!!

Clicky for link to article on www.azbilliards.com for the event:

http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=7033

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September 28, 2009 by admin.

Ahhhh, full and happy. Just got done eating some ramen with green onions and spam thrown in along with a tuna salad sandwich and some chips. Sure it’s a lot of food for so late at night but I didn’t eat much all day since I wanted to come home to make what I just listed and it was all that I wanted it to be!!!

Played the Bankshots tournament today and even though it was a small tournament it still felt really good to win it. Beat Bobby Hicks in the finals and I felt that I played strongly throughout the day, there were a couple of matches where I only missed a ball or two in a race to 7.

Yesterday there was an even smaller tournament at Park Ave. with a $25 entry, normally it’s only $10 so the added expense chased a lot of players out so only 11 played. Finished 2nd to Grossman after losing 5-7 in the finals, at 5-5 he slopped in the 1-ball, 5-ball and after a couple of safeties the 6-ball………..that’s right 3 slop shots in one game to get to the hill. At first I wasn’t even going to play since they only had 10 players but the manager said the owner would pitch in $100 to the pot if I stayed to play, so for the benefit of everyone playing I stayed so that they would add the extra cash.

Between matches I saw that they were making flyers for their once a month tournament and made a suggestion, they listed the added money as “$300 with 32 players” which to me was not good. Since I knew they would add some money if they got more than 16 I told them to list it as “$150 added GUARANTEED!!”, to me it would attract more players and if they got 32 they could add even more money to the delight of the players. I hope it works out as they need the business and obviously want tournament players to show up, they even made the investment of getting all “measle” cueballs for the tables and got rid of the very light and sometimes smaller “red circle” cueballs.

All in all it was a good weekend and even got a couple of lessons scheduled for this week, it’s nice to be back that week in Galveston was as tiring as it was fruitful. Next weekend at Bankshots they are going to have Tony Crosby and the KF Cue Tour event and the weekend after that I am going to Spring Hill for the last stop of the Seminole Pro Tour at Capone’s. Would be nice to win either event and I feel like I have a legitimate chance at both but only time will tell, having the home court advantage has proven itself in the past and I am hungry to win another decent event.

Wish me luck, I am trying as hard as I can to play well and help Jacksonville play better pool one player at a time!!

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September 7, 2009 by admin.

Just got home after being at the pool hall for about 16 hours, went early to give Jin two hours worth of lessons before the tournament started. Went undefeated and won the whole thing, we finished just after 3am and we were all beat. There were more than a few people watching as the 64 player field got whittled down to the end, I was actually surprised to see how many people were there to watch the finals at such a late hour.

Played more than a couple of hill-hill matches where I ran out the last rack, overall I played well but seriously didn’t play to my full potential 80% of the time. There were many examples when I could have either played a safety or tried harder to plan and didn’t, it’s because I get away with it that I don’t try harder but I know I have to push more and more.

It was a great event and everyone was happy that Jeff put the tournament together, there were many players from the surrounding area and it was a tough field for a $10 entry event. Feels great to win, so so great……so so tired too!!

Good night all!!

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August 31, 2009 by admin.

Won the tournament yesterday at Top Hats, started out rocky but locked it down to win. Today I started out like crazy but faded a little toward the end but won the finals 9-7 after being down a couple of games. It feels good to win this tournament since there were 54 players and they are having a $1k added event next weekend for Labor Day.

People were remarking on how my focus was better and therefore my play was better also, I am making progress and honestly I feel like such a fool for not trying harder sooner than this. We all say we are working on our game but do we all try as hard as we think we can? I think not.

At home watching the amazing Elizabeth Hurley in “Bedazzled” which is a pretty funny movie, she is so hot and the accent makes her exponentially hotter. Back to pool, not only did I do well this weekend in the tournaments but I also scheduled more hours of lessons with some new people. This week I will get word on whether or not the Wisconsin trip will happen, it would be great to visit another state for the express reason of giving a group lesson.

Knees are killing me right now, don’t know if it’s the shoes or if it’s because the tournament took 11 hours today. It feels good to be sitting on my big green bouncy ball here at the computer desk, pretty soon I will be off to bed and reading more of “Precision Pool” or some other book on trying to improve either my pool game or life.

Tomorrow I might go Golfing with Jeff Scott the owner of Bankshots, we are pretty good friends and he absolutely loves going Golfing with me since I am so bad at it but have a blast while stinking up the course. On a sad note his sister-in-law was diagnosed recently with Alzheimer’s, she is only 52 and it hit me like a brick wall learning about her condition. She is always in a good mood and laughing or smiling, it will be painful to see her otherwise and hope to see Chuck (her husband) soon so I can offer my help in any way he sees fit.

Anyways, off to bed shortly I need to get up early to either to go Golfing or work out and go for a bike ride. Need to get some sun I am embarassed to say that I am from Hawaii being as pale as I am now.

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August 29, 2009 by admin.

Last night I tried my hand at a little poker with Joey at the local dog track, it was a little intimidating and waited a few hands so I could understand the rhythm and pattern of play. You see, I have only watched it on TV and the last time I played for real is in the late 70’s playing 5-card draw with my grandfather. So there I was as naive and shaky as Bambi at a table of what I figured were professionals.

Actually it was pretty easy to see what kind of person was at the table, judging by chip stacks, demeanor, spoken words and darted looks. The dealer had to help me out a bit since I didn’t do a couple of things right at the beginning but after 10 minutes I understood enough to lose all of the money I brought. Since you can only buy in or have $100 in front of you (unless you win more) it’s easy to see who was winning at the table, strange law and it might be overturned early next month they say.

Anyways, I lost what I brought which was no big deal but it made me realize how much fun it was, I foresee playing small tournaments in my near future. This will never replace playing pool don’t worry, I like the social part of poker playing but can only take it in small doses. And of course since I am as green as can be I want to maximize the money I put up so tournaments are perfect……..cheap and relatively quick.

Oh, the thought about pool, lately it seems that how a table plays has been affecting me more and more. Since I am trying to focus my game I am rolling the ball more and going for pinpoint position, this means I watch the cueball a lot more and expect a certain outcome 100% of the time. This also means I notice every slight roll off or dead rail on eveyr single table that I play on, and let me tell you there are no perfect tables out there.

A while ago I had an idea for a  Stimpmeter-like device for pool tables, even though it won’t tell you how to play on a table it will give you an idea on what to expect with a given set of circumstances. Will be going to Home Depot later to try and buy parts for what I think I need for my device, I’ve never built anything so wish me luck.

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August 24, 2009 by admin.

Received sponsorship money on Friday so that I can send it of this week, going to be playing the 8 and 10-ball events in Galveston which runs $900 total. It’s expensive yes but total to be won is $75k so it’s worth  it, also booked the room and flight so all that I need now is to find a decently cheap car to rent and it’s all set!!

Saturday went and played the Top Hat tournament, lost the second round but came back to the finals and split it with Ramsey. They had 27 players this week which is great since they haven’t ever really gotten much participation, for some odd reason they got 33 last week so I made sure to show up this week since I was in town.

Sunday played Bankshots like usual, had 45 players and for some reason I allowed the table rolls to affect my play a little more than usual. Since I have been focusing more I roll the ball a little more and am trying to be WAY more precise in position, so every little table roll will affect the outcome so that’s something else I need to try and accomodate with.

Didn’t finish very well at all and was mad for a bit, then went to practice which I enjoyed, even though I could have used the cash from the tournament I got some good practice in. Also I realized why I put so much emphasis and pressure on myself on how I do in tournament…….to a certain degree that’s how I measure my happiness.  It sounds silly but it’s true, the first thing people ask me is about what events I have been playing and how I have been doing in them, answering those questions alters my mood either positively or negatively to a certain degree. Sooooooooo, I put a lot of pressure (or at least used to) on myself to do well because I know the questions are coming and I will have to answer them.

Lately it seems I have been learning quite a bit about tournaments and dealing with the challenges around them, it’s very interesting and rewarding to say the least. It’s like every event is a huge learning experience and there are always people around to share things wit. Thought about practicing tonight but decided to stay home and clean up a little, also starting to plan out clothes for the Galveston trip. Can’t wait can’t wait!!!

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