Gold Crown IV

Gold Crown IV
FastMikie's Fun House, Del Mar, California

Monday, February 20, 2006

Roll-a-Rack

Roll-a-Rack

Racking made easy.
A first class product
with a high end price.

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Quick-Clean Table Cloth Cleaner

David Hodges' Pool Table Cleaner

Quick-Clean

I use it.
It does a good job.

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The Perfector - review



I have been using The Perfector
for a couple of months
and find it to be effective,
but improvements are possible.

Click here for my original blog on this item
Click here for product website

Suggestions for Improvement:
I would like the sleeve to be half as long.
The plastic is ok,
but I'd like to see leather, or silk,
or even cotton...
some natural material.


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Sunday, February 19, 2006

Suggestions for the IPT

The online reporting of the
tournament in progress
for the LosAngeles IPT Tour Qualifier
has been very well done.

Here's a few improvements
to look forward to:
Audible announcement of Updates
as well as easy to see, changeable banner,
so pool hall players can easily see
on the wide computer screen
from across the room that
the latest news is in.

This is only a substitute until we have
online video for all the matches.
It's coming,
faster than we might think!

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When did we start spelling it like "Q-ball"?


This Professional on-the-scene reporting
of the IPT tournament at Hard Times in LA
spells it "Q-ball" for the white ball.
When did
that start?
Who says?
Hasn't it been "cue ball" for 400 years?

The author is an Editor at Inside Pool Magazine
and www.InsidePool.com
If you do a search on "Q-ball" there
only 2 results come up,
both for a website by that name,
but when searching for "cue ball"
there are 25 results.
So that tells me it should be
"cue ball" and not "Q-ball".

I don't get it...

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Saturday, February 18, 2006

IPT Tour Qualifier at Hard Times



Sensory Overload!
75 hotshots paid $2,000 each
for a chance at only 2 IPT Tour cards.

I was there!
Got up at 5:30 AM
to drive thru rush hour traffic in LA
and be there early for the 9:30 AM
players' meeting
conducted by Kevin Trudeau himself
(IPT Tour founder).

I tried to imagine what it would be like
to compete at this gathering of eagles.
All I could see is me as a bag of meat
for these carnivores.
Good God! Even Wu was there!
(16 year old Tokyo world champion)
And Oliver Ortman (Mosconi Cup captain)
and CJ Riley, and Dominguez (father & son)
and Moro, and Sambajon
and Mike Sigel...
and of course, some unknown
hopeful but hopeless bags of meat.

Refereed by "Sensei" Roy Yamane
and Ken J.

Some new prizes were announced:
bank the 8 ball and win $1,000
break and run 6 games wins $5,000...
the meat-eaters were foaming at the mouth.

I grabbed a seat in the bleachers
to sweat the first round action:
Dave Hemmah, house pro at Hard Times
is matched against CJ Riley
on the table right in front of me.
And on a table just beyond,
Sambajon is up against some guy Runco.

CJ Riley misses ball in hand...
Sambajon banks the 8 for a grand.
CJ Riley table scratches on straight in...
Sambajon banks another 8 for another grand...
Oscar Dominguez folds in first match.
CJ Riley implodes, and loses.
Sambajon wins easily.

The slow cloth is pilling like a cheap sweater.

I'm on the road back to Del Mar
to beat the rush hour traffic,
contemplating what skill is required
to face such awesome competition...

I need a lot more work!

(for online real-time results, click here)

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

And now for a bit of humility...

On the great rollercoaster of Life,
it is good to remember
that downs invariably follow ups.

In a tournament last night,
humility came quickly
in a 0-2 barbecue.

There's a much higher caliber of player
in this tournament
than at the one I won last week.
I guess I'll just have to keep improving!

;o)

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Friday, February 10, 2006

Big Win



I had a big win this past Wednesday night.
It was a 9-ball tournament.
Although the prize money was only 100 bucks,
(which goes to charity of course)
what happened during the match
was extraordinary.
(for me)

The whole story can be read
at this link.

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