Pool – Walt in PA

On Tuesday I received a message from Tim over at Sir Stogies. The message was letting me know that the last preliminary matchup of the Sir Stogies Pool Tournament was complete and the winner of that matchup would play my partner and I in the finals. We arranged a time to meet on Wednesday to play the final and initially I was a little worried. We would be facing the team I considered to be the favorite to win it all. Not only did they win their last matchup, they have been playing consistently and would be a difficult team to beat. I was the last player to arrive and when I walked though the door, the pool table was still covered up. We would be playing cold, which was fine by me since I don't like taking more than a couple of shots before a game. Things did not start out well for my team. We lost the coin toss and gave up the break. In short order many of our opponents balls were off the table and we had some serious catching up to do. I played well, sinking many of our balls, but my partner was struggling. When it came down to us shooting the eight-ball, my partner scratched and the game was over. Game two was off to a slow start and my partner was left in a poor position. With virtually no shot, we decided it best to simply push one of our object balls and try to leave the cue in a poor position for the opposing team. In an incredible feat, my partner struck the object ball, left the cue to a poor position for the opposing team, but wound up pocketing the eight. No one saw it coming but we were now down two games to zero. Game three worked out better for us. I cleared most of our balls from the table and my partner cleaned up, pocking the eight as planned. On the break of game four my partner scratched (not a loss in our cigar shop rules) and had a look of defeat on his face. At some point my partner cracked open a beer and everything changed. Suddenly the balls were sinking more easily and we rallied back two games to two. With momentum on our side, we continued sinking balls and winning games. The tournament came to a close with us winning five games to two. For a trial tournament with blind teams (determined by picking names out of a hat) it was loads of fun. No team carried a heavy advantage and everyone playing seemed to enjoy themselves. The $5 buy-in per person meant that my partner and I walked away with bragging rights and $35 each. I'm already thinking of ideas for a follow up tournament and it sounds like we will wind up with even more teams. It looks like cigar sales were up (everyone playing bought one or two to enjoy while playing) and the buy-in will lead to even more sales. In my opinion it was a win-win for the players and the shop.