It’s been a while, I know, and I’m sorry. The Series took a lot out of me. There’s a lot that’s been happening in the New Mexico pong scene, and a lot on the horizon. I can’t believe how much difference a couple of months can make!
Weekly Tournaments
Weekly tournaments have blown up in New Mexico since the last edition. SWBP finally started weekly events at Coaches every Tuesday. A new pong organization, RioBeerPong, started up out in Rio Rancho with a biweekly tournament. I’ll talk more about them in a bit. Clovis has opened up a second venue, for a total of two tournaments a week. And of course, NMBPL in Las Cruces continues their weekly tournaments (with many Saturday games thrown into the mix). That makes for a total of 5-7 New Mexico tournaments a week!
As a result I expect some major changes in skill level coming out of the land of enchantment. By the time the next WSOBP approaches, we should have some major contenders. I just want to thank all the organizers out there for getting this thing going strong (and yah, I’m thanking myself too). It’s not an easy thing to do, but damn if it isn’t worth it.
RioBeerPong
I met Gabe Montoya, the founder of RioBeerPong, playing poker. What I didn’t know then was just how adamant about beer pong this guy was. It wasn’t until I ran into him at the series that I started to catch wind of his drive. He was pushing and pushing for us to start up weekly tournaments back when we were still getting our footing. After a while he decided, what the hell, and started up his own league out in Rio Rancho.
As a result ABQ players now have two venues to play at, and we have seen an influx of new talent. With two pong organizations in the area, things for the community can only grow and improve. So far RBP has run three tournaments out at Crazy Crox Tavern, and they’ve gone been pretty smoothly in my opinion. While I have failed to make any major mark out there (despite a much-carried second place win), they have always been fun nights. The only drawback is that drive, but any serious player can overlook such trivialities.
Clovis $1k Event
As terrible as that drive is to the Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico, the Clovis $1k event was well worth it. You wouldn’t expect much from the teams in this little town, but they proved that they had what it takes to win money, at least on their home turf.
The venue was a country bar called Clovis City Limits, which housed a huge dance floor. When we walked in we noticed the final table, triumphantly sitting on an elevated stage under the lights, in front of the speakers (more on that later). Off to the side of the bar were the main tournament tables. Elliot Fite, founder of Clovis Beer Pong, was on the mic getting everyone revved up. We played a couple practice games in which we shot horribly, which didn’t do much for our hopes at winning the thing.
As luck would have it, the two ABQ teams Pwn Stars and TKO were paired up against each other in the first round. I expected to lose to the powerhouse team, and so was trying to check out the loser’s bracket scene. But early in the match, when TKO couldn’t hit the 8-rack to save their lives, we took a huge lead. They brought it close in the end, but the Pwn Stars inevitably sent them to the loser’s bracket.
The rest of the tournament seemed to go by pretty quickly. The Pwn Stars got a pretty nice winner’s bracket draw and made short work of the opposition until we faced Clovis’s We Met On eHarmony. Don’t let the name fool you, these guys can hit cups. We had lost our shots, but I don’t think it mattered much as I think they only missed 3 cups in the whole game.
TKO faced a loser’s bracket which was filled with talent. Colorado’s HP Puppetmasters, Clovis’s Come Honor, and El Paso’s The Best Alive were all fighting their way out of the dredges. By the way, the Puppetmasters lost their first round game to a coed team from Clovis. Who saw that coming? TKO fought hard, but eventually said their goodbyes with a 3-2 record.
The Pwn Stars won their next game putting them in the finals against who other than the undefeated eHarmony. Let’s talk a bit about the layout of the final table. I told you earlier about the elevated stage. Now that’s a pretty cool idea, allowing more spectators to watch the action, making it much more exciting. The stage itself, however, was pretty wobbly. Every time someone took a step on it, the table moved. It was also right in front of the bar’s speakers, which were blasting at the time. Now I’m not blaming what happened on these conditions (it probably had more to do with the audience), but I could see someone drunker than I making some bad tumbles as a result.
Anyway, griping done, back to the game. We went into the game making a fundamental error, which was thinking too highly of our opponents. I don’t know if that’s what threw our early game, but it definitely played a part in my misses. We missed our first 5 or so shots, giving them a 4 cup lead right off the bat. We made for an exciting comeback, taking it to 1-on-1 cup. After going double OT (which the crowd loved), we finally bowed to our betters when we couldn’t make our last rebuttal shot. FYI, if you’ve never had an entire town talking shit to you, you don’t know what pressure is. Thanks Kyle for taking on the whole town of Clovis single handedly, you did us proud!
All in all, it was a great time. Thanks go to Andy Mazzolini from eHarmony for letting us party at his house after the tournament. Clovis knows how to show out-of-towners a good time. And thank you Clovis residents for not violating us and stealing our shit in the shady motel we ended up at. No thanks go to your damn trains though.
Clawless Strategy: Defense
When it comes to defense the worldwide acceptance of WSOBP rules as standard has removed much of the game. Most of us started out in house games with such basics as finger and blows, and getting as strange as slaps, catches, and even behind-the-back throws. With the lack of physical defense as established by the BPong guys, a new sort of defensive game has emerged.
There are basically now two types of defensive plays left in the game. One is stopping rimmed balls from landing in a random cup. Different teams have different ways of coping with these randoms. Some teams swipe their hand over the cups after every throw just in case. Some refuse to intervene, as they are afraid of knocking over cups and taking penalties. In my opinion, rimmed shots happen often enough that letting them fall is just not allowable. If an opponent’s missed shot is more valuable than your make, as we established in the last issue, then cups cannot be simply given away.
The other form of defense is much more important, and much more widely implemented. It is also one of the oldest parts of the game itself. Distraction. The distraction takes many, many different forms. We all know the Ron Hamilton method, screaming and yelling like a crazy man during every opponent’s shot. It has been my experience that the “madman” method only works on amateurs. These players are new to the game and probably wouldn’t win anyway. Though largely ineffective, it is wildly entertaining to watch.
Another method is the trash talk. There are players who talk trash just for the fun of it, and there are players who make it a part of their winning strategy. Winning trash talkers are able to find weaknesses in their opponents’ psyche, and exploit them. If you can get the crowd involved, all the better. Being able to wave off and ignore trash talk is a necessary ability in order to win in the long run.
Some trash talkers also implement a less tasteful method of defense, one which bends and breaks certain rules and regulations in order to be effective. The players that use this method find ways to get around the rules to get in their opponents’ heads. Examples are walking past the edge of the table up to an opponent to trash talk, slapping away thrown balls, nudging the table, and moving cups when they shouldn’t be moved. Most of this method involves willingly breaking rules and hoping not to get called on it. It works by getting your opponent so angry that they are not thinking clearly when they make their shots. It is an extremely effective method, though of very questionable morality.
The last method of defense I want to talk about is probably my favorite. It has to do with subtly getting your opponent to question his technique. It doesn’t work on every player, and actually tends to be most effective against the better shooters. An example would be noticing a minute detail about a person’s shot, like where they place their fingers on the ball. All you have to do is comment on it. If successful, the player will now think about this small detail while throwing. Many times, if a shooter is thinking too much about getting their shot exactly right at every level, they will overthink it and miss the shot. It’s also effective because it will basically throw their shot for the duration of the game, as they try to correct that small error.
While the most important part of any players game is his ability to hit cups, defensive measures are an extremely valuable addition to your skill set. Always remember, your opponents’ missed cups are more valuable than your made cups.
Team Review: 10 Inches Soft
The under-agers have been hard at work making their mark on the 505 pong scene. When they first showed up to SWBP II, 10 Inches Soft didn’t look like much competition. Young kids, taking their shot with the big boys, it was almost enough to make you smile. Undaunted, they went undefeated to the finals, taking 2nd place against Clovis’s Come Honor. Since then they have quietly been proving themselves as one of Albuquerque’s teams to look out for, with David Glaser even taking the title in SWBP’s first singles tournament.
Players:
David Glaser
Age: 21
Occupation: Certified Pharmacy Tech
Santiago Amparan
Age:21
Occupation:
When did you guys first start playing together?
Last summer, July of ‘09.
What’s the best part about your team?
Definitely our teamwork... and our name (10 in soft)
What’s the worst?
Our tendency to anger our opponents.
Any pregame rituals?
Nope.
Who do you most fear or hate playing against? Why?
Tall people. They cut the distance between the ball and the cups in half.
Who is your biggest beer pong influence?
Kids who think they're good but actually aren't. Beating supposed "beer pong pro's" is incentive to just keep getting better, and eventually head to Vegas for the top prize.
What has been your best beer pong experience?
Placing 1st and 2nd in SWBP's monthly tournaments.
What do you think about people saying you are too young to be doing so well in the sport?
8===D~~~`0:
Well that’s it for this one. Wow, I had a lot to say this time. Those of you wondering about the big tournament coming this summer, keep July 31st open. It looks like it’s gonna be big, so make sure you are here for it. Check back for more details coming soon!
Keep those balls in the air!
-Clawless
Weekly Tournaments
Weekly tournaments have blown up in New Mexico since the last edition. SWBP finally started weekly events at Coaches every Tuesday. A new pong organization, RioBeerPong, started up out in Rio Rancho with a biweekly tournament. I’ll talk more about them in a bit. Clovis has opened up a second venue, for a total of two tournaments a week. And of course, NMBPL in Las Cruces continues their weekly tournaments (with many Saturday games thrown into the mix). That makes for a total of 5-7 New Mexico tournaments a week!
As a result I expect some major changes in skill level coming out of the land of enchantment. By the time the next WSOBP approaches, we should have some major contenders. I just want to thank all the organizers out there for getting this thing going strong (and yah, I’m thanking myself too). It’s not an easy thing to do, but damn if it isn’t worth it.
RioBeerPong
I met Gabe Montoya, the founder of RioBeerPong, playing poker. What I didn’t know then was just how adamant about beer pong this guy was. It wasn’t until I ran into him at the series that I started to catch wind of his drive. He was pushing and pushing for us to start up weekly tournaments back when we were still getting our footing. After a while he decided, what the hell, and started up his own league out in Rio Rancho.
As a result ABQ players now have two venues to play at, and we have seen an influx of new talent. With two pong organizations in the area, things for the community can only grow and improve. So far RBP has run three tournaments out at Crazy Crox Tavern, and they’ve gone been pretty smoothly in my opinion. While I have failed to make any major mark out there (despite a much-carried second place win), they have always been fun nights. The only drawback is that drive, but any serious player can overlook such trivialities.
Clovis $1k Event
As terrible as that drive is to the Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico, the Clovis $1k event was well worth it. You wouldn’t expect much from the teams in this little town, but they proved that they had what it takes to win money, at least on their home turf.
The venue was a country bar called Clovis City Limits, which housed a huge dance floor. When we walked in we noticed the final table, triumphantly sitting on an elevated stage under the lights, in front of the speakers (more on that later). Off to the side of the bar were the main tournament tables. Elliot Fite, founder of Clovis Beer Pong, was on the mic getting everyone revved up. We played a couple practice games in which we shot horribly, which didn’t do much for our hopes at winning the thing.
As luck would have it, the two ABQ teams Pwn Stars and TKO were paired up against each other in the first round. I expected to lose to the powerhouse team, and so was trying to check out the loser’s bracket scene. But early in the match, when TKO couldn’t hit the 8-rack to save their lives, we took a huge lead. They brought it close in the end, but the Pwn Stars inevitably sent them to the loser’s bracket.
The rest of the tournament seemed to go by pretty quickly. The Pwn Stars got a pretty nice winner’s bracket draw and made short work of the opposition until we faced Clovis’s We Met On eHarmony. Don’t let the name fool you, these guys can hit cups. We had lost our shots, but I don’t think it mattered much as I think they only missed 3 cups in the whole game.
TKO faced a loser’s bracket which was filled with talent. Colorado’s HP Puppetmasters, Clovis’s Come Honor, and El Paso’s The Best Alive were all fighting their way out of the dredges. By the way, the Puppetmasters lost their first round game to a coed team from Clovis. Who saw that coming? TKO fought hard, but eventually said their goodbyes with a 3-2 record.
The Pwn Stars won their next game putting them in the finals against who other than the undefeated eHarmony. Let’s talk a bit about the layout of the final table. I told you earlier about the elevated stage. Now that’s a pretty cool idea, allowing more spectators to watch the action, making it much more exciting. The stage itself, however, was pretty wobbly. Every time someone took a step on it, the table moved. It was also right in front of the bar’s speakers, which were blasting at the time. Now I’m not blaming what happened on these conditions (it probably had more to do with the audience), but I could see someone drunker than I making some bad tumbles as a result.
Anyway, griping done, back to the game. We went into the game making a fundamental error, which was thinking too highly of our opponents. I don’t know if that’s what threw our early game, but it definitely played a part in my misses. We missed our first 5 or so shots, giving them a 4 cup lead right off the bat. We made for an exciting comeback, taking it to 1-on-1 cup. After going double OT (which the crowd loved), we finally bowed to our betters when we couldn’t make our last rebuttal shot. FYI, if you’ve never had an entire town talking shit to you, you don’t know what pressure is. Thanks Kyle for taking on the whole town of Clovis single handedly, you did us proud!
All in all, it was a great time. Thanks go to Andy Mazzolini from eHarmony for letting us party at his house after the tournament. Clovis knows how to show out-of-towners a good time. And thank you Clovis residents for not violating us and stealing our shit in the shady motel we ended up at. No thanks go to your damn trains though.
Clawless Strategy: Defense
When it comes to defense the worldwide acceptance of WSOBP rules as standard has removed much of the game. Most of us started out in house games with such basics as finger and blows, and getting as strange as slaps, catches, and even behind-the-back throws. With the lack of physical defense as established by the BPong guys, a new sort of defensive game has emerged.
There are basically now two types of defensive plays left in the game. One is stopping rimmed balls from landing in a random cup. Different teams have different ways of coping with these randoms. Some teams swipe their hand over the cups after every throw just in case. Some refuse to intervene, as they are afraid of knocking over cups and taking penalties. In my opinion, rimmed shots happen often enough that letting them fall is just not allowable. If an opponent’s missed shot is more valuable than your make, as we established in the last issue, then cups cannot be simply given away.
The other form of defense is much more important, and much more widely implemented. It is also one of the oldest parts of the game itself. Distraction. The distraction takes many, many different forms. We all know the Ron Hamilton method, screaming and yelling like a crazy man during every opponent’s shot. It has been my experience that the “madman” method only works on amateurs. These players are new to the game and probably wouldn’t win anyway. Though largely ineffective, it is wildly entertaining to watch.
Another method is the trash talk. There are players who talk trash just for the fun of it, and there are players who make it a part of their winning strategy. Winning trash talkers are able to find weaknesses in their opponents’ psyche, and exploit them. If you can get the crowd involved, all the better. Being able to wave off and ignore trash talk is a necessary ability in order to win in the long run.
Some trash talkers also implement a less tasteful method of defense, one which bends and breaks certain rules and regulations in order to be effective. The players that use this method find ways to get around the rules to get in their opponents’ heads. Examples are walking past the edge of the table up to an opponent to trash talk, slapping away thrown balls, nudging the table, and moving cups when they shouldn’t be moved. Most of this method involves willingly breaking rules and hoping not to get called on it. It works by getting your opponent so angry that they are not thinking clearly when they make their shots. It is an extremely effective method, though of very questionable morality.
The last method of defense I want to talk about is probably my favorite. It has to do with subtly getting your opponent to question his technique. It doesn’t work on every player, and actually tends to be most effective against the better shooters. An example would be noticing a minute detail about a person’s shot, like where they place their fingers on the ball. All you have to do is comment on it. If successful, the player will now think about this small detail while throwing. Many times, if a shooter is thinking too much about getting their shot exactly right at every level, they will overthink it and miss the shot. It’s also effective because it will basically throw their shot for the duration of the game, as they try to correct that small error.
While the most important part of any players game is his ability to hit cups, defensive measures are an extremely valuable addition to your skill set. Always remember, your opponents’ missed cups are more valuable than your made cups.
Team Review: 10 Inches Soft
The under-agers have been hard at work making their mark on the 505 pong scene. When they first showed up to SWBP II, 10 Inches Soft didn’t look like much competition. Young kids, taking their shot with the big boys, it was almost enough to make you smile. Undaunted, they went undefeated to the finals, taking 2nd place against Clovis’s Come Honor. Since then they have quietly been proving themselves as one of Albuquerque’s teams to look out for, with David Glaser even taking the title in SWBP’s first singles tournament.
Players:
David Glaser
Age: 21
Occupation: Certified Pharmacy Tech
Santiago Amparan
Age:21
Occupation:
When did you guys first start playing together?
Last summer, July of ‘09.
What’s the best part about your team?
Definitely our teamwork... and our name (10 in soft)
What’s the worst?
Our tendency to anger our opponents.
Any pregame rituals?
Nope.
Who do you most fear or hate playing against? Why?
Tall people. They cut the distance between the ball and the cups in half.
Who is your biggest beer pong influence?
Kids who think they're good but actually aren't. Beating supposed "beer pong pro's" is incentive to just keep getting better, and eventually head to Vegas for the top prize.
What has been your best beer pong experience?
Placing 1st and 2nd in SWBP's monthly tournaments.
What do you think about people saying you are too young to be doing so well in the sport?
8===D~~~`0:
Well that’s it for this one. Wow, I had a lot to say this time. Those of you wondering about the big tournament coming this summer, keep July 31st open. It looks like it’s gonna be big, so make sure you are here for it. Check back for more details coming soon!
Keep those balls in the air!
-Clawless
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Upcoming Events
WSOBP 8 Satellite Tournament
February 4th, 2012
Southwest Beer Pong
Spectators Sports Bar
Guy/Guy Teams: $50
Guy/Girl Teams: $40
Girl/Girl Teams: $30
Preregistration Discount Here
Albuquerque, NM
February 4th, 2012
Southwest Beer Pong
Spectators Sports Bar
Guy/Guy Teams: $50
Guy/Girl Teams: $40
Girl/Girl Teams: $30
Preregistration Discount Here
Albuquerque, NM
2012 Southwest Beer Pong Championships
August 3rd-5th, 2012
Southwest Beer Pong
Spectators Sports Bar
Friday: WSOBP 8 Satellite
Saturday: $5k Doubles Main Event
Sunday: Singles Championships
Albuquerque, NM
August 3rd-5th, 2012
Southwest Beer Pong
Spectators Sports Bar
Friday: WSOBP 8 Satellite
Saturday: $5k Doubles Main Event
Sunday: Singles Championships
Albuquerque, NM