The Upside of Losing

$2 beers
Penny slots
Good friends

The Pool Bug

Sometimes, I can't believe how much I still love pool after all these years. This morning, I am just so excited to get my enormous cappuccino and got hit balls while most of my compatriots are still dreaming (or having nightmares, depending on yesterday's matches.) I think I've officially got the pool bug for life.

Tough Day at the Office

This is the view from outside of my hotel window. Glorious Michiana.

I had a tough day at the office, today. I lost to Miyuki Sakai 9-7. I played well through out the match as we see-sawed back and forth. I got up 6-5 before the shot clock came out. I have played many, many matches on the shot clock and the majority of the time everything is fine. Today, I just couldn't seem to put it out of my mind. I felt panicky and rushed and got down over the balls too quickly. When I'm talking too quickly, I probably mean on the order of milliseconds. Just enough to throw things off.

Oh well. I'm giving myself a few minutes to grieve and then I'm going to head downstairs and sweat my friends' matches.

Tomorrow, I play the loser of the Sarahs (Ellerby and Rousey.)

Great Lakes Classic

I just woke up here in Michigan City, Indiana, and I'm ready to play!

My first match is at 11am against Miyuki Sakai.

Goals:
- Put a good stroke on every shot
- Be happy

Thank You, Sponsors!

I would like to thank my sponsors for bringing me to the 2009 WPBA Midwest Classic!

Dr. Gary C. Borge DDS practices dentistry in California. If there are any Sacramento-area readers out there, visit Dr. Borge and talk pool while receiving his excellent dental care:

Gary C. Borge, DDS
4660 Natomas Boulevard, #120-207
Sacramento, CA 95835
(916) 769-5955

When in New York City, a visit to the Skyline Billiard Club is a must. Skyline is quickly making a name for itself as one of the top "players' rooms" in the country. Check out the live tournament feed at www.ustream.tv/channel/action:

Skyline Billiard Club
2515 McDonald Ave.
Brooklyn, New York 11223
(718) 627-3407


Thank you all again for your support!

- Liz Ford

BCAPL 2009: Special Victims Unit

I'm back from the 2009 BCAPL National 8-Ball Championships at the Riviera in Las Vegas.

This was my 12th trip to Vegas and it marked the first time that I didn't stay at the Riviera. Vegas is hurting and prices are very, very cheap, so there are great deals to be had at really nice casinos. I thought it was time to upgrade - then I came back down to earth and remembered that I'm a broke @#$ pool-player and booked a room at Circus Circus (Tower, not Manor, thank you very much.)

I never thought I would miss the Riv quite so much, but I guess a hypodermic needle is still a hypodermic needle, it doesn't matter which pool it is floating in.

The good news? Marc "Spain" Vidal and I tore through the Masters Scotch Doubles' field to win the title. Our match scores are posted here. Let's just say it was fun.




I had a completely unspectacular go of things in the Grand Master singles after my 4th place finish last year. I'm a little riled up by my brain-dead performance and it makes me want to seek out some barbox 8-ball tournaments to prove to myself that I can still play the game.

One of the nicest parts of my trip was that I got a chance to connect with some people...

like my sponsor, Gary Borge DDS...


and fellow blogger Melinda Bailey (aka Trigger) ...


before being abducted by some random lunatic vagabonds (love ya, babies!)


Will I be back for a 13th installment? Right now, I'm saying "maybe/maybe not." Who am I kidding? I think my track record speaks for itself :)

-LF

April Happenings

I'm back to work on my game after a week of recuperating from the San Diego Classic.

Congrats to Monica Webb for her second straight win! Her steady improvement and will to win have always inspired me, and I am glad to see that those things pay off in the end.

On Monday, I started preparing for the 2009 BCAPL National 8-Ball Championships (May 8th-16th at the Riviera in Las Vegas.) When I lived in Oregon, I spent most of my time playing in bar table 8-Ball tournaments. I have always loved the game, but unfortunately I haven't played it much since I moved to New York. My game as a whole has improved substantially since 2001 so naturally my run-out power has increased, but last year in Vegas I had a little trouble balancing offense and defense to create my best chance at winning. Luckily, Skyline Billiards has a Diamond Smart Table, so I am going to make sure that I am super sharp come May.

I still have some 9-Ball events to prepare for before I head to Vegas. I will be playing this weekend in the JPNEWT tournament at Prime Time Billiards in Sayreville, NJ and next weekend in the Joss tournament at Comet Billiards is Parsippany, NJ.

Lots of work and fun ahead of me...

LIZ