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In November of 2007, the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Louisville, Kentucky played host
to the $20,000 added CSI Qlympics. A star studded field gathered to compete in the BCA, U.S. Open
Bank Pool Championship, U.S. Open One-Pocket Championship, U.S. Open 14.1 Championship, and
the ever prestigious U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship. Early on Saturday morning I decided to drive
north to Louisville and watch some of the world’s greatest players. My intention was to watch the
featured Action Report match pitting Earl Strickland against Shane Van Boening. However, when I
arrived on the scene, my good friend Samantha Patton and convinced me to enter both the 8-Ball and
9-Ball mini-tournaments. She said it would be a great way to test my skills against some of the world’s
greatest players.

The 9-Ball mini was single elimination, race to 5. I started out strong winning several matches by
significant margins. After winning the final match of the 9-Ball tournament against “Detroit Tom” by
a score of 5-2, I found myself in the semi-finals of the 8-Ball event pitted against top ranked touring
professional, Louis Ulrich. Louis had just won the BCAPL Men’s Master Big Table Singles Division
and had just finished 2nd in the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship.

The match was close and it was only a race to 3. I was on the hill by a score of 2-1 and Louis had just
missed an opportunity at a difficult run out. I came to the table with a crucial decision to make. As you
can see below, I had the solids and Louis had only the 8-ball left. It was clear that I had to play safe.
The problem was how do you defend against the firepower of a world-class player?

As I studied the layout my first instinct was to do something simple. I wanted to graze the 6-ball
rolling up behind it and the 5, leaving the cue ball at position “A”. However, as I continued to study
the layout of balls, I came to the realization that it was the incorrect shot. I kept telling myself, “You
can’t let him have a clear kick shot to pocket the 8.” So I surveyed the table for other options.

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