The Hague op.o MOT Tournament Thread

[12squared]

Hi all,

Diane and I are in the Netherlands as of late this morning. We have had virtually no sleep for 36+ hours. We are bushed.

Very lovely city with many street cafes, bicycles, scooters, walkers, etc. near city center where Hague5 is located. The poolroom is located on the 3rd floor(?) with the only access long, steep, shallow stairs. We're more out of shape than we thought . They have no Wifi so I have no way to post while there, Steve may be able to.

Whole room is filled with SAM 9' pool tables with pretty large pockets over 4.5" wide with the one except of the stream table that has 4" pockets . They even have an 8 foot carom table.

I practiced with Alain from near or in Belgium I forget which. Very nice guy who has a nice stroke, but says he has only played one pocket a couple of times. The owner, Steve introduced himself and loaned me one of his Mariposa cues, which hits great, but a little too much deflection for me. Alex Lely showed up and loaned me a cue that is the leader in the clubhouse at the moment, thanks! Can't wait for the Italian dinner he's making Friday night.

Anyway, great group of guys that would fit right in with our current USA group. It should be a blast, hope we can get a good night's sleep tonight. Tournament starts Friday.



Me getting a cue from Alex and returning the cue to Steve. I appreciate both so much.

 

[BRLongArm]

Sounds great! You guys will have a great time and plenty of stories for us!

 

[mr3cushion]

Hi all,

Diane and I are in the Netherlands as of late this morning. We have had virtually no sleep for 36+ hours. We are bushed.

Very lovely city with many street cafes, bicycles, scooters, walkers, etc. near city center where Hague5 is located. The poolroom is located on the 3rd floor(?) with the only access long, steep, shallow stairs. We're more out of shape than we thought . They have no Wifi so I have no way to post while there, Steve may be able to.

Whole room is filled with SAM 9' pool tables with pretty large pockets over 4.5" wide with the one except of the stream table that has 4" pockets . They even have an 8 foot carom table.

I practiced with Alain from near or in Belgium I forget which. Very nice guy who has a nice stroke, but says he has only played one pocket a couple of times. The owner, Steve introduced himself and loaned me one of his Mariposa cues, which hits great, but a little too much deflection for me. Alex Lely showed up and loaned me a cue that is the leader in the clubhouse at the moment, thanks! Can't wait for the Italian dinner he's making Friday night.

Anyway, great group of guys that would fit right in with our current USA group. It should be a blast, hope we can get a good night's sleep tonight. Tournament starts Friday.

View attachment 439047

Me getting a cue from Alex and returning the cue to Steve. I appreciate both so much.
View attachment 439048

Dave, Mariposa cues were made by, Kyle Van den Bosh, Frank Van den Bosh's son from the Chicago Billiard café. Mostly wood joint cues.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[Tobermory]

Have fun and good luck, Dave. Wish I was there! Maybe next year...

 

[jtompilot]

Have fun and good luck, Dave. Wish I was there! Maybe next year...

I'm working on my wife for next year. Hopefully I'll see you there

 

[jrhendy]

Hi all,

Diane and I are in the Netherlands as of late this morning. We have had virtually no sleep for 36+ hours. We are bushed.

Very lovely city with many street cafes, bicycles, scooters, walkers, etc. near city center where Hague5 is located. The poolroom is located on the 3rd floor(?) with the only access long, steep, shallow stairs. We're more out of shape than we thought . They have no Wifi so I have no way to post while there, Steve may be able to.

Whole room is filled with SAM 9' pool tables with pretty large pockets over 4.5" wide with the one except of the stream table that has 4" pockets . They even have an 8 foot carom table.

I practiced with Alain from near or in Belgium I forget which. Very nice guy who has a nice stroke, but says he has only played one pocket a couple of times. The owner, Steve introduced himself and loaned me one of his Mariposa cues, which hits great, but a little too much deflection for me. Alex Lely showed up and loaned me a cue that is the leader in the clubhouse at the moment, thanks! Can't wait for the Italian dinner he's making Friday night.

Anyway, great group of guys that would fit right in with our current USA group. It should be a blast, hope we can get a good night's sleep tonight. Tournament starts Friday.

View attachment 439047

Me getting a cue from Alex and returning the cue to Steve. I appreciate both so much.
View attachment 439048

 

[jrhendy]

So happy for you guys. If anyone deserves a trip like this, you do. Have fun and stay safe.

 

[12squared]

Dave, Mariposa cues were made by, Kyle Van den Bosh, Frank Van den Bosh's son from the Chicago Billiard café. Mostly wood joint cues.

Have fun and good luck!

Yes, Kyle will be playing. I'm excited to meet him.

 

[12squared]

Sounds great! You guys will have a great time and plenty of stories for us!

I was hoping to meet you at this event, next time I guess. Thanks for helping sponsor the tourney

 

[12squared]

So happy for you guys. If anyone deserves a trip like this, you do. Have fun and stay safe.

Thanks John. This is the 4th attempt at a trip to Europe in the last 2.5 years. Covid cancelled the other 3, but we got here this attempt. So happy we were able to add this tourney to our trip.

 

[BRLongArm]

Thanks John. This is the 4th attempt at a trip to Europe in the last 2.5 years. Covid cancelled the other 3, but we got here this attempt. So happy we were able to add this tourney to our trip.

Greg and I are trying to get to Sacramento for the Diamond Open. Hope to see you there. If you play the Senior Open, good luck.

 

[BRLongArm]

Dave, come to Buffalos next year. You won't be disappointed.

 

[12squared]

Greg and I are trying to get to Sacramento for the Diamond Open. Hope to see you there. If you play the Senior Open, good luck.

Sounds like a blast, although neither tourney for me this year. We are going to Ann Arbor the weekend before to catch a little football in the Big House.

 

[crabbcatjohn]

Have fun!

 

[Eengat]

Ok Dave you got me
I'll cook something tomorrow or saturday
I said I would right at the beginning
Then I thought 'nah'
But you didnt forget

 

[12squared]

Ok Dave you got me
I'll cook something tomorrow or saturday
I said I would right at the beginning
Then I thought 'nah'
But you didnt forget

No pressure, but we are so looking forward to it. Thanks.

And, I played with the cue you loaned me for a few hours. Love the "feel" and weight just have to get used to how reacts with a lot of spin. Thank you again, I will use it the whole tournament....both games . I have a special gift for you for loaning me your cue.

 

[Pascal de Smit]

I’m counting on the pasta as well Alex 🥹

 

[12squared]

Met Steve's wife today, the lovely Sue. Another member that out kicked their coverage when it comes to a spouse, she's very nice. (I'm another).

I played a great guy from Germany tonight who shoots straight so I tried to keep him tied up. After the match he said not many people play one pocket in Germany so he's used to getting easy banks after the break. Then he said I didn't leave him any of those . I guess it's a nice compliment lol.

Tomorrow the tourney starts at 11:30 Hague time. Steve said he will start contributing to this thread so stay tuned.

 

[lll]

good luck to all the players

 

[NH Steve]

Nice, Dave — you’re doing such a great job I was ok with just going with the flow!

My wife and I flew in to Amsterdam arriving Monday afternoon. We bought train tickets for central Amsterdam from the airport ( which is out of town a ways), but it turns out the rail workers are doing rolling strikes, and our arrival day it was Amsterdams turn lol. The ticket machine was happy to sell us tickets but when we looked for our platform we discovered all runs were canceled! Oh well, if that’s the worst of it no worries!

My wife booked our stays and she did a fantastic job — we were right over a canal in old Amsterdam for 3 nights, and now I’m not even exaggerating, we are in a beautiful little “boutique” hotel just down the street from the damn king of the Netherlands!! I’m not even exaggerating — it’s unreal — the Royal guard or something was actually rehearsing a bit tonight so my wife got to watch them as they mostly seemed to giving their horses practice with the maneuvers.

All the great poolrooms of history it seems are either up or down a long flight of stairs, therefore Hague 5 is VERY special because it is up TWO flights lol. I only noticed because we are walking like everywhere here — these are such beautiful places to walk!

I played a few games with Sebastian from Switzerland, who turned out to be as precise as a Swiss watch, so he hardly missed — I was quite impressed! Very nice gentleman — as everyone has been here!

I did not bring my cue so I have to borrow and there is so much generosity I can choose from about six or more. None of them seem to work well for my though — it must be the cues lol, or maybe the tips. It can’t be me, can it!?

I’ll post pics in time…