Goodbye Las Vegas - Hello Los Angeles

The days after my out in the US Open 10-Ball I checked out the Las Vegas nightlife again... and I didn't get disappointed! The clubs are just nice and the people celebrate themselves different than back home. The club "XS" at the Wynn was the place to be yesterday - at least for me. Second time visiting this club I could see the real size of it with all the outdoor terrace they have -just stylish and off the hook!

But what else to say about Las Vegas?
I played two tournaments in the same hotel. In fact I failed qualifying for the first, but the difference between
Matchroom Sports and the BCA as a promoter of pro events is significant. The whole TV arena setup was different. The press releases as well as small features were just handeled unlike. Another point that decreased the level of the US Open was the equipment. The Diamond tables are just not ment to be a part of pro events. To quote Raj Hundal: "this was the first time ever that I have seen Efren looking irritated". And that really does mean a lot! The rails are bouncey unlike the Brunswick tables and, more important, don't bounce the same every time. This just took a lot of self-confidence of a lot of players in this tournament and limited the level of the event itself.


Matchroom Sport, in my point of view, did a great job again. The only thing I didn't like was the chosen pool hall for the qualifier. We played on four different kinds of tables with two different sets of balls (even mixed up and not having all the same size sometimes). That is not really the right way to do a qualifier for a championship like the World Pool Masters.
Off the pool halls and tournaments, on the one hand, I liked Vegas. Not only because of the strip, the good food, the clubs, but also because the people I met there. All together just one hell of a trip! On the other hand I was kind of disappointed of "Sin City". Some hotels didn't finish the buildings because the money ran out. This leaves a strange and inglorious touch. Also the old-fashioned lighting doesn't exist anymore. The new hotels are more stylish and keep the colours simple but still have a pompous interior design. It's a very nice place to go but not the Vegas you might remember from the movies.

Today I had to catch my flight to Los Angeles. Everything worked out good. In fact I can call myself lucky this time because I didn't have any trouble with flights, hotels or other arrangements. Also "Enterprise's" car is working fine - for an American car - and I could find Hollywood Billiards straight away! Even the motel "The Hollywood Downtowner" had a room left for me to stay. Good rolls I guess...

LAS VEGAS - rien ne va plus!

Took a time-out yesterday and didn't go to the "Riv" to watch any match. Instead Jonny and me went to see Cirque du Soleil. What a show! Nice! I am sure that I will see another CdS-show in the future. Everytime I go to see a show like this - just like "The Blue Man Group" - I am very impressed by these overwhelming performances. After the show, on the way back to the hotel, we also attended the Pirates-Show at the Treasure Island which was nice to see but not compareable with CdS at all!

Today I actually felt pretty good and self-confident going to the table just after lunch. Nobody else than another legend of the sport, Mr. Target-Pool himself, Kim Davenport. Sometimes you miss the start, sometimes you just play bad. This time I really tried to play the right patterns but just didn't get any payday in the first couple of games. After a while I was down 1:5. I could catch up to go 4:5 but scratched on the 7 - just a stupid shot I made! The funny thing was that he took a time-out only a few minutes later, at the score of 4:6, after I had to play a safty due to the layout after the break. He came back and didn't do good on that kick-shot. This was the last time the spectators have seen him at the table while I was running a 4-pack to win the set 9:6!

With this game in the back and more and more confidence I went to the table for the 6pm-round against former European #1 Mark Gray. I had to play him only once before in the IPT qualifier in at Rileys Victoria in London. Back then I beat him with a solid stroke 10-3 to finish him in that qualifier. But today the cards played different. I just didn't get in stroke and missed some very easy and important shots in a row. My defense was better than his but still I couldn't get that damn table cleared up. After only 60 minutes I had to say good-bye with a 3:9 loss. The rolls in Las Vegas haven't been on my side this time - should rather play the cards I guess...

Tonight the BCA is having a cocktail-kinda-party at the Blush. I might gonna check this one out and see what the late hours gonna give me...
Stay tuned for next week's tourney at Hollywood Billiards in Los Angeles. The Seminole Pro Tour stops by and I am sure to see some of the world's best players again!

LAS VEGAS - U.S. Open

The reason why I didn't write for two days is that I tried to be just focused and not talking about my game too much anymore. And, in fact, it helped a lot! Yesterday I won my first round match against Keith Bennett from the US 9:4 after trailing 2:4. Played solid and added some good shots to the game.

Today Mike Dechaine, a well known pool player from the east coast, was waiting for me. I played okay in the beginning of the match but somehow could not get the games home. Being down 1:4 I pushed another gear and game back strong, leading 5:4 now. But as it is sometimes, the gas only takes you a couple of miles but then runs out for some reason. That is exactly what happend today - fuel was empty and after a bad 2nd period of the game I had to face the loser's round, getting beat 6:9!

Next game is on Thursday, 1pm local time. I will definately be hard to battle now because I feel much stronger than the days before although I lost today. Having a time-out tomorrow I will go and watch one of the nice shows at the strip - maybe some "cirque du soleil"
... edit: "Cirque du Soleil" ce soir! Just booked the best seats...

LAS VEGAS - Sunday

Today at 5pm local time the 1st 10-Ball US Open is underway and therefore it was just perfect to have a relaxing Sunday at Mark's place. We enjoyed a nice lunch, the sun and of course his pool in the backyard which was just the place to be on that sunny, hot day!

Later on we went to the "Riv" to see some of the the last action in this year's World Pool Masters watching Ortmann vs. Kuribayashi in the semis and the final between Orcullo and the Japanese. Any of these players deserved it! Finally it was Orcullo and one of all the titels Europe is holding slipped away. But just this week there is a new one to get and I am sure the European players will perform strong - hope to do so as well although I wasn't happy with my game in the last 3 weeks.

STORY of last night

When you go to the USA for a couple of weeks to play some tourneys you should know that there's gonna be some action around to see. Every day in Las Vegas we could see some nice money games or were even involved ourselves in one. But last night is one of tthese stories that you might wanna tell for the next couple of months or even years.

When we entered Pool Sharks last night around 10pm it was Shane talking to that strange guy that already lost somewhere between 40-60000$ the nights before. So finally, after maybe one hour of discussion about which table etc. they finally started to play. Shane won 20000$ from that guy the night before and now they were also playing for about 10-15000$ in a race to 13 9-Ball. Of course Shane had to give some weight:

- five on the wire (five ahead for the other guy)
- all the breaks for that guy
- ball in hand after each break
- the 4-Ball and the last four

After two to three racks the discussion came up to rack with the magic rack and Shane somehow agreed after ca. 20 minutes, so they continued. With a really solid game and lots of missed chances from that guy - let's call him Dizzy - Shane won the game 13:9 (13:4) and collected the cash. Now the whole thing started over and they tried to figure a new deal. At one point Shane suddenly was supposed to play Cory Deuel in one pocket but denied. After probably 30 more minutes of bullshit talking the new deal should be Dizzy playing Busti - of course all the "high-rollers" came down to Pool Sharks to get their own piece of the cake - with the same weight like in the match against Shane before but this time in a race to 38 with 18 an the wire!! It took another hour and nobody really knew if the action is on or not but finally they started - what a match.

Busti played strong from the beginning but still tied up at seven games a piece so it was a race to 31 with still 18 on the wire! Now Busti started to play perfect and took down the next few games to have a seven games lead after the next nine racks - 15:8. What happend now was strange! The guy that made the rack changed from the 10-Ball Magic Rack to the 9-Ball Magic Rack and suddenly the 9-Ball went straight to the side pocket four out of four on the next breaks. One guy even told me that the rakcer put some money AGAINST Busti himself. Dizzy now had a high and put a "7 pack" together to tie up at 15 each. Some lucky shots, some actually good shots as well made the air getting thinner for Busti every minute. But he still stood tall and tried to fight going to 23:18 after the next dozen of racks. But everybody in the room knew that the weight now is just too much to win with because Dizzy always has the break and of course the chance to pocket the 9-Ball or 4-Ball on the break or playing a combo after that.

After a couple of more minutes it fionally came down to the 4-Ball on the table, a thin cut to the middle pocket - and it was IN! The game goes to Dizzy as well as most of the involved money. They game itself was for 25000$ with again 46000$ in side bets which made that 4-Ball a 71000$-Ball. Definately one of the most expensive shots I have ever seen so far. Crazy night that was, just crazy!
For me one thing is getting clearer and clearer: Busti is THE player. They way he plays, the touch he has, the mental strength and his personality itself is just great. After watching him in action in Manila before for a few times and now here in Vegas he is definately becoming my favorite player in world, that's for sure! The shots he makes as well as the kicks... unbelievable! Just a MUST to see!

Read more about last night on AZBilliards' forum

Las Vegas - qualifiers

Today it was the last chance to get a spot for Matchroom Sport's World Pool Masters which kicks off tomorrow at noon with 64 of the world's best players. Couple of high performance players put their names on the list for the two qualifiers today at Pool Sharks, just 3 miles off the strip. Luke Riches from Matchroom Sport already wrote a report - check it out HERE.

So there is still a little tiny hope left to get a spot. But the past taught me that I qualify straight away or not at all. Let's see what's in the box this time...

Besides the game itself I met two guys over here in Sin City. On the one hand it's "Swissman" Markus Gfeller who lives in the US for over 30 years. It's nice to speak Swiss German, especially when your conversation partner is a hell of a guy. Secondly I met one of my first teachers in the game - living legend Rafael Martinez! I visited him in Hannover/Germany about 11 years ago and haven't seen him since then. Was great to see him again!

Anyway I will be playing the BCA US Open 10 Ball next week also at the Riviera here in Vegas. Till then I got to do lots of drills to get my game together again. Maybe I will also get into some action in one of the pool rooms here and sight seeing is a must!

That's it for tonight. Hope to get back with better tomorrow...

Edit: went up and down the strip tonight to get a little bit of air in my head and to make some pics and also vids. Here is the one I did at the show of the Bellagio. Nice!

Las Vegas - arrival

Yesterday I had to leave Aruba - but from "one happy island" I went on to "one lucky place"! Las Vegas or "Sin City" was calling. And even the departure was nice because they did all the border stuff and customs right there in Aruba so I didn't have to pick up my belongings in Chicago (pit stop), drop them of again and hurry. Perfect! After 2 long flights without any food I arrived at the McCarren International in the evening. It was planned that my friend Jonny Stojanovic would pick me up there but somehow we just missed each other for almost an hour as I decided to leave to the hotel by myself.










The Wynn! - just one nice place. The entrance, the casino itself, the reception and the room - wow! Just over whelming! But nothing is as good as nice food in an empty stomach. I was lucky that Jonny thought the same and also came back to the hotel just a couple of minutes later than me: let's go eat!















Today and the tomorrow I will have days off. The qualifier at Pool Sharks will start Tuesday night. Let's see what happens till then...