Donny Lutz Pool

The GAINESVILLE BILLIARD NEWS
January 2006 - Issue No. 7

RUN-OUT TEAM CHAMPS AGAIN

To no one’s great surprise, the RUN-OUT team is once again champions of the Silver Q Tuesday 8-Ball League. Taer Bluitt, Donny Lutz, Shawn Mazzerle, Josh Scott and Nick Scott put nothing but distance between themselves and the second place finishers, THE F-HITS (Art Guy, Steve Vancastren, Benito Aragon, Chris Storter and Brendon C, as their winning margin was a whopping 134 points.

The Run-outs took home the top prize of $1000, while the F-Hits pocketed $500. Donny edged out Taer for high individual average, 9.53 to 9.44. followed by Nicky at 9.11.

CHANG CAPTURES UF TITLE

Congrats to Chung-Yu "Leo" Chang for beating all comers to win the title of UF Pool League Champion for the Fall ’05 semester!

Prizes went to the top four spots including Predator pool cues, equipment and billiards books. The league features handicapped 8- and 9-ball play in a co-ed environment. Students and non-students alike are welcomed to play at UF’s Game Room on Monday nights in a comfortable, nonsmoking environment. The nine foot tables are in good shape and fast tables with Simonis cloth are available for league as well.

A snooker table brings action, too, and two parking lots, videogames, bowling and a convenient fast food court all make the Reitz Union a great stop for each tournament week.

In the top four wheel of play, James Larson was knocked into fourth place by Paul Nelson, who is turn went down to Chang. Leo then squared off against Matt Sherman, running several racks of nine ball from the snap in their match for the win.

Monday nights’ league for Spring 2006 will feature weekly tournaments with a winners’ tournament for prizes at league end. Billiard books, billiard equipment and books including fiction and instructional books await the victors. For more information, please contact Matt Sherman at (352) 372-5094.

PANAMA JOE’S “TOP FUEL” NEW HOGTOWN CHAMPS

The fall season of the Hogtown Pool League completed play on November 21. Panama Joe’s “Top Fuel” team of John Odom, Roger League, Bill Walker, Chad Nelson, Tim Sandler, Fred Gordon, Jim North and Jared North defeated the Top Jewells crew of Rudy Appalsamy, Donny Lutz, Russ Sill, Kevin Sill, Monica Fox, Sonny Thompson, Steve Dia and Mike D for the Hogtown title.

The championship match, played at Panama Joe’s, was a game of elusive momentum, as the lead changed hands four times. The final score was 188-181.

Play-off results:

1 – Panama Joe’s “Top Fuel”, $419

2 – Top Jewells, $251

3 – Panama Joe’s “Ballbusters”, $226

4 – Spindrifter’s “Hustlers”, $193

Regular season cash prizes:

First place team: Spindrifter’s “Hustlers”, $125

High average: Bill Walker, $75

Second place: Panama Joe’s “Top Fuel”, $75

Most improved: Leon Nehring, $75

In a tight race for high individual average, Bill Walker’s 9.13 edged out Vince Walls at 9.00 and Donny Lutz at 8.96. Leon Nehring raised his average from 6.22 to 7.04 for a gain of .82, - enough to out duel
Chris Chronister for “Most Improved Player”. Chris’ average rose by .77 to a respectable 7.23.

The league finished the season with nine teams. The league director expects to add three teams for the next season, and double the length of the season to increase the prize fund. For additional info, check out the website or email.

SIGEL BEST 8-BALL PLAYER IN WORLD? GIMME A BREAK!

Not being a big fan of most pool magazines, I was unaware of the formation of the “International Pool Tour” when I accidentally caught the televised edition of the first “King of the Hill” event on Dec. 11. Creator of the IPT, Kevin Trudeau claimed that the match between Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel was a contest between the two best 8-Ball players in the world.

WHAT? Fifteen years ago, Loree may well have been the best female 8-Ball player on the planet, but she is not even one of the top dozen players today. Likewise, Mr. Mike Sigel is probably one of the greatest ten players of all time, but his day has long since passed. His ten-year absence from the various pro tours was not out of disinterest as much as the fact that he can no longer compete with the new breed of players that have replaced him, Allen Hopkins and other former champions. The fact that he claims a world 8-Ball title from the days when few pros played 8-Ball does not qualify him as the best anything today.

Kevin Trudaeu, best known for his best-selling book, “Natural Cures” (which has received very mixed reviews) and a felony conviction for fraud, put up a ton of money to create the IPT (Details can be found at his pool tour website. Visit the site and form your own opinions. It looks as if the primary accomplishment was a virtual gift of $250,000 to his admitted “close friend”, Sigel: Sigel won $150,000 for beating Loree 9-2,9-2, (Loree “won” $75,00 for showing up), and $100,000 for losing 8-0, 8-5 to Efren Reyes a week later in the second event. Anyone who knows anything about pool could have predicted the result of the second match: Sigel can’t hold a candle to Efren or any number of other players on tour today.

The first event had no qualifying or elimination format, - Trudeau simply picked two players to share the $225,000. The second tournament included 43 players arbitrarily picked by Trudeau. Of course, those players loved it; they each got a check for $30,000 just for showing up. The audience was filled with celebrities who could easily afford the $199 spectator fee (payable only in advance; don’t you just love it when such events are virtually closed to average folks?).

I must admit to a bit of bias in my writing of this report. Sigel did an exhibition/”clinic” at a pool hall where I was working in ’92, and I found him rather obnoxious and condescending toward those in attendance. A year later he stopped into Champion Billiards in Laurel, MD, where I was league/tournament director and asked the manager if I would play him for money. I was torn between donating $50 to say I had played him and not wanting to give any money to someone who I found not very likeable.

So I declined to play “The Mouth”, as he has been called for years. Apparently, he has not changed. He spoke of Loree in rather demeaning terms before and during their match, and spewed paltry excuses for getting whipped so badly by Efren, who by the way, is known as one of the nicest guys on tour. - Donny Lutz

FINALLY……………SOMETHING FOR THE LADIES!!

Happy Hour Billiards (111 South Main Street, Gainesville, FL)
& The Gainesville Billiard News present the first annual

ALACHUA COUNTY WOMENS’ 8-BALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday, February 25, 2006 - Starting at 3:00 PM

Double Elimination, 2 out of 3 game matches,
alternate break, BCA rules*

Entry fee: $15 before 2/25, $20 day of event

First Place: $100
2nd Place: $70
3rd Place: $40
4th Place: $30
(based on a minimum of 16 entries at $15 per person)

ALL PLAYERS NOT FINISHING IN THE CASH WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A DRAWING FOR $100 IN MERCHANDISE PRIZES!

*Copies of the BCA rules will be available prior to event; Rules will be discussed and amended if necessary at a players meeting at 2:00 PM prior to the start of the event.

A tournament director and a referee will be on hand to insure a quality event! For additional information contact the GBN at 336-9461 or email us.

GREAT PLAYERS I’VE HAD THE PLEASURE (?)
OF PLAYING #2 and #3

Tommy Sneath was well on his way to becoming a “professional” gambler when I met him in 1955. He had a great scam. Being small in stature, he passed for my age (12) when he was 15, and used it to hustle the neighborhood kids in pool and other sports. I lost my weekly allowance of 75 cents to him for several months until I wised up and began to learn the game myself. Tommy used many of the hustler tricks that you only expect to see in older players, - a dozen different ways to shark you, out-bet you, and use illegal shots before the rest of us learned the rules. In subsequent years, he became a great player as well as a hustler, learning most of his stuff while living in Milwaukee for a while in the ‘60s. I got a little revenge by knocking him out of the La Crosse (Wisconsin) City Singles Tourney in ’71, but respect his skills to this day.

Tommy Cremer (I hope I have the name spelling correct) was perhaps the best player to ever come out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, a town OF 50,000 that has produced MANY great shooters. He joined the Merchant Marines about the time I started playing, and spent half the year at sea, and half the year playing pool on the road. Apparently he had some drug problems, and lost most of the money he made on the tables. But the story goes that virtually no one would play him when he was even half sober. Some friends of mine told the story of a one-pocket game they saw him play against a world-beater in Milwaukee in the ‘70s.

Playing for $500 a rack (a fortune back then), he was down 7-0 and faced with the situation of seeing his opponent’s match point ball sitting in the jaws, waiting to be pocketed. To the shock of the crowd, Tommy offered to double the bet before he attempted what certainly appeared to be an impossible shot. But he amazed all present by jacking up slightly and driving his opponents winning ball into the back of the pocket with such force that it jumped back OVER the cue ball, which he had stopped dead on the lip! As the story goes, he eventually lost the game 8-7, but still came out well ahead for the night. Onlookers still say that it was the greatest shot they ever saw!

I got to play Tommy (who was known on the road as “Tom the Sailor”) a few games for $2 in 1971. He let me play even for a while before getting bored and making an exquisite one-handed, jacked up 4-rail bank that put me on a bar stool for the rest of the night. I was told that he had run as many as 10 straight racks of 9-ball, ONE HANDED JACKED UP! I also heard that even drunk, he busted Minnesota Fats once in the early ‘60s. Tom the Sailor is said to have died of a drug overdose in the ‘70s, a sad lesson for other players.

“THE GRUMPY OLD PRO”

Q: Why do local pool leagues have such poor cash payouts?

A: Did you never take ARITHMETIC in grade school? If you don’t put money in, you can’t get money out! Also, the league sessions tend to be shorter in Florida, which is not such a bad thing, as more sessions mean more possible winners. Up north, pool is much more popular than down here because of the long winters, and the top leagues usually charge a bit more per player per night. In addition, the leagues up north often have team sponsors, who kick in a fee to build up the prize fund. I played for a great team sponsor (Dick Skaff) from ’68 to ‘72 up in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In the ’71-’72 season, he sponsored ten pool teams, a bowling team and a softball team. ALL his teams wore “Dick & Ann’s” shirts and his business did very well.

My next team sponsor (Grumpy’s Bar), bought its players shirts AND winter coats! Other generous sponsors were Steve Schwert (Don’s Seldom Inn) and Brian Harris (Alumni Inn). But the best team sponsor (among some 20 or more I’ve played for) was Jim Fox at Red Sails Resort. “Foxy” sponsored as many as eight teams per season throughout the ‘80s, and not only furnished all with classy shirts, but was even there with cash for his players when emergencies arose. He traveled with his teams and even did free cue repair for his players on the lathe in the basement at Red Sails, and his players rewarded him with three State and one National championships!

If you ever get to one of the big national team events, you’ll see that most of the teams are wearing shirts furnished by sponsors – taverns, restaurants, clothing retailers, night clubs, cue makers, etc. Many have complete uniforms, - indeed, some of these events actually offer awards for the best-dressed teams! Part of the secret is that sponsors up north realize that team play is like guaranteed money for your business, just as it has been for years in the bowling business. The old (and successful) idea was that league play pays the bills, DEPENDABLY, while food, drink and equipment sales supply the profit. League players are REGULAR CUSTOMERS, and if they’re taken care of, are faithful to their sponsors and proprietors.

JUMP, MASSE OR KICK?

One of the critical decisions often facing serious players is the decision whether to jump, masse or kick for a ball when you have no open shot that affords any reward. Sometimes we’re faced with situations where you must MAKE a jump, masse or kick shot to win a game, but more often, we just need to get a legal hit to stay in the game. Factors in your decision: (1) What is the easiest way to make a legal hit, (2) Which method allows the best chance to make a called shot, and (3) Which choice offers the best chance for a safety. Keep in mind that (1) Jumping over the edge of a blocking ball is MUCH easier than jumping over a full ball, (2) the slight masse (with cue only slightly elevated) is much easier than a full masse, and (3) short distance kicks are much easier than long distance kicks.

Other considerations: (1) “Good” cue balls (red dot, for example) are much easier to both jump and masse than over-size or weighted cue balls (such as you find on many bar tables), (2) when warming up, take note of any possible “bad” rails that could make banks and kicks very difficult, (3) try a couple of masses and jumps when warming up to see if the cloth (brand, weave, age) is conducive to jumps and masses, and (4) double check the condition of your tip before attempting masses or jumps, even when using a jump cue.

EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

Some of my teammates (and others) complain when I play a safety in practice. They are usually folks who don’t have the patience for safety shots, or have little concept of safety play. You must practice safety shots just as any other shot. And we all need practice on playing from safety positions, whether we try a long shot, a bank, a jump, a masse or a kick – especially a kick shot. The main reason why Filipino players have done so well on the pro tour in recent years is that they are the masters of kick shots.

Just playing games – 8-Ball, 9-Ball or whatever is good, but it is not sufficient practice. When you miss a shot in a practice game, you don’t get to shoot the shot over, and you are left with an error in your memory bank the next time that shot appears. When practicing alone, you can shoot missed shots again until you achieve some measure of confidence in the shot. When the pros miss a shot in practice, they will repeat the shot as many as fifty times, until the memory of the miss is virtually forgotten. We all need to practice easy shots to maintain focus and concentration, and we need to practice our “trouble” shots or we will never improve. Serious players practice safety shots, lags, kicks, jumps, banks, masses, breaks, long shots, thin cuts, combos, caroms, “throw” shots and even intentional fouls (!), as well as stop, draw, follow and the limitless variety of spins that can be applied to the cue ball and object balls. You may not have the time or desire to practice the many hours required to become a top player, but if you want to improve at all, you must spend some time practicing seriously. It is not easy to become a professional player, but it is actually quite easy to become a pretty good league player with a lesson or two and some effective practice.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

After a lull in tournament activity, it’s good to see that a few establishments are once again trying to host local amateur events.
Recent winners of the Monday night tourneys at JP GATORS; 12/26: Steve Gordon over Leroy Cromwell; 1/2: Ron Richardson over Mike Burris; 1/9: Doug Arcadia over Bo.

Recent winners of the Sunday 9-Ball at JEWELLS: 1/8: First – Mike Burris; Second – Donny Lutz

Recent winners at SILVER Q (Usually Thursday nights): 12/29: Nick Scott over J. Scott; 1/2: Matty Hampson over Adam D’Amico; 1/4: Chris Storter over Taer Bluitt; 1/5: Nick Scott over Benito Aragon

NEW LEAGUE, NEW FORMAT?

There has been some talk of late about forming a new league in town. Some of the better players are looking for opportunities to field strong teams and possibly compete in national events. One possibility is a sanctioned BCA league, for which a number of formats are possible. This writer experimented with a draft system for both bowling and pool leagues back in the ‘60s, with much success. The approach was this: Encourage a number of players to sign up for a draft lottery with the agreement that they will play with whoever drafts them.

If enough sign up for an 8-team league for example, the top eight players (based on previous league averages) would be the team captains. They would then draw numbers and choose players from the draft list. This makes for a league of very evenly matched teams, and therefore a competitive and exciting season. With the new BCA format, such a league could field any number of teams to compete in the BCA National Open Team Event in Las Vegas, or an “all-star” team to compete in the Masters Division. The league could be made up of 3, 4 or 5-person teams. Talk to your friends about this idea and watch for further developments. Please email us with any thoughts and suggestions.

PLAYING ON TOUGH TABLES

Tables can be “tough” or challenging to play on for a variety of reasons. Obviously, a table that is not level can be very frustrating. Rails that are loose or not set at the proper angle make bank shots and kicks a nightmare. Tight pockets demand accuracy, but are legal only up to a point. They should be consistent, - not some tight and some “loose” on the same table, a condition that is very common around town, especially on some of the bar tables. Billiard balls that are not clean make many shots quite difficult and some near impossible. At a place where I worked back in the ‘90s, we cleaned all thirty-four sets of balls every day. Pool balls with chips and cavernous gouges have no place on a pool table, either.

Dirty and/or damaged cloth is a real problem in a number of local establishments. Tables set too close to obstacles such as walls, pillars or bar stools are something that can usually be easily rectified if the owner or manager cares. So are bad lighting and no decent chalk for those players smart enough to actually use it. Did you know that there is a right and a wrong way to brush and/or vacuum tables?

Some would say that such complaints mean that the complainer is just not a good player. I disagree. The pros play on very good tables at almost all tournaments. It’s more fun and perhaps more fair.

Does it hurt one’s game to play on “bad” conditions? I would say yes and no. For more advanced players, tough conditions simply demand more strategy and focus. They will test the roll and the rails on strange tables before competition. They’ll examine the balls, the cloth and the pockets so that any potential problems can be avoided when planning shots. They usually don’t complain unless conditions are especially bad.

But it’s a different story for the intermediate or novice player. It’s really rather difficult to learn the basics of the game under bad conditions. To learn how to make the simplest shots is not easy when you don’t know if you actually missed, or if the conditions caused the miss. It’s much easier to learn the game on decent tables with good lighting, etc.

So, what is the state of affairs in Gainesville? Tables simply do not stay level, - people sit on rails and throw them off, and balls bounced off walls and the floor get nicks and chips. So, the conditions are sort of cyclical. They deteriorate until enough players complain, and those in charge (hopefully) respond. I don’t get to play at all the venues in town, but from what I hear from other players is that the best conditions are currently at JP Gators and Jewells. Rumor has it that Silver Q has promised to level their tables and fix a number of bad rails early in January. Maintaining good playing conditions is good business; proprietors should not be surprised if they lose customers for lack of attention to the above. - Donny Lutz

GBN Archived Issues