Match Strategy

Yesterday was a match
(with MR)
which gave me an opportunity
to experiment with strategy.

El Maestro has warned many times
that a match against a lesser-skilled opponent
is very dangerous.
Do not be over confident.
Stay in your game, fully.

He gave me choice of game,
so I chose straight pool (14.1 continuous)
knowing that he had less experience.
I expected to win easily,
and then, when his spirit would be down,
we would play a game of choice.

Straight pool went according to plan (50-18).
Then we went to 9-ball.
Anything can happen in 9-ball,
and it can happen FAST. (no pun)
The other guy can get lucky,
I can get a bad roll.
Very short game,
no time to recover
if he can run a couple of balls,
he gets the point.
For this segment I played very tight.
Choosing safety when it was possible,
until I had an easy out.

The strategy worked.
The score was 4-0
until he announced "last game"
because his time was up.
My focus failed on that last game,
as I realized I had achieved my goal,
so the final score was 4-1.

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Winning Ugly

Last night was the APA team 8 ball match.
It was a struggle.

My mojo was late at the gate, again.
It was a full moon, and cold outside.
Our table was by the door,
so I got lots of chilly drafts
while I was waiting for my match.
When I get cold, it's tough to shoot.
I'm tense, nervous, shaking.
And it's tough to warm up again.

Finally, I'm playing #3 match,
with Ripley,
who has tested me before, maybe twice.
Although I have won, it was a struggle,
so I was expecting more of the same.
And I got it.

He won the first game. I got the second.
He won the third game. I got the fourth.

My break was ineffective
yielding multi-cluster racks, no runouts,
and lots of safeties.

The tables had brand new Simonis 860 cloth,
so they were extra fast,
and the balls tend to skid.

I was having trouble with my right eye.
Burning and itching,
possibly from the cigarette smoke
of the addicts just outside the door,
who seem to need to blow out
the last lungfull of smoke
as they re-enter the bar
right by our table.

I didn't say anything about it,
because I have learned to only speak positive,
to never give voice to a possible excuse.

I did make a couple of nice shots,
but on the whole I was working hard.
There was no flow.

El Maestro's advice:
Trust your stroke.
Shoot soft.
Let the other guy make the mistakes.

My thinking was clouded, it seems,
because El Maestro used a few timeouts
to coach me on strategy.

It helped a lot.
I won, 5-3.

Gracias, El Maestro.

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