"Dennis/Barbara/Ra/Rebecca" - July 14
Hello everybody! Are you
ready to have your balls broken? That happens all the
time...on a pool table! (Get your minds out of the
gutter now, you pervs!). This is Gordon Pepper with
the first recap of GSN's new series Ballbreakers.
Here's Sal Masekela as your host. He gives Barbara
Lee (Software Company Programmer Owner from CA),
Ra Hanna (Music Producer from NY), Rebecca
Porter (Ex Hooters-Girl Turned Loan Processor from
MN), and Dennis Gerbetz (Furniture mover from
CA) each $5,000. Isn't that nice of him? It won't be
too nice for long, as the objective is for one player
to take all of the money from the other players. When
that happens, the winner will be walking out with 20
large.
Sal has company at the tables. Joining him is pro pool
hall-of-famer Ewa Mataya Laurance as commentator. We
also get Adrienne Curry, who was the winner of the
first edition of America's Next Top Model. Way to see
where that contract has gotten you, Adrienne. She's
here to...look pretty.
The game is called 9 ball. You have to shoot the balls
in order from 1 to 9, but if you hit the lowest ball,
then you can combo it off any other ball. Whoever gets
the 9 ball in the hole either by a combo or by
knocking off all of the balls from 1 to 8 first wins.
Dennis starts with the first challenge. He challenges
Rebecca to a match worth $1,500. On the meantime, the
people who aren't playing can make sidebets. Barbara
challenges Ra that he will make a ball on the break
for $500. Ra raises it to $1,000. Barbara gladly
accepts - and picks up $1,000 when Dennis does indeed
do that.
As for the match between Dennis and Rebecca, Dennis
shoots the first 4 balls. Rebecca challenges $500 that
he won't run out. Barbara says $500 that he will,
while Ra says $500 that he won't. That bet from Ra
cancels out Rebecca, so she doesn't have the bet
there. It's a good thing for her, too - Dennis hits
the next 5 and runs the board out. Rebecca forks over
$1,500, but she's tied with Ra, who also loses $1,500
due to his bad sidebets.
Dennis - $6,500
Barbara - $6,500
Rebecca - $3,500
Ra - $3,500
Dennis wants to support his daughter if he wins the
$20,000 - and maybe a pool stick for him. His next
challenge - he goes another $1,500, but this time on
Barbara. She accepts it, as the woman, who is also a
Professional Tap Dancer, is the 'Bitchacuda'. She may
not even get to the pool table as Dennis hits the
first 2 balls. He finally makes an error and misses
the 3 ball. Barbara's first shot - she hits the 3 but
misses the 4 ball completely. That's a foul and Dennis
gets control. Ra gets mouthy and bets $500 that Dennis
can't run the table again. Dennis accepts and promptly
screws up. Barbara doesn't like the shot, so in
Ballbreaker rules, she gives the shot back to Dennis.
He actually makes the 4, but he misses the 5 and
control goes back to Barbara. Ra bets $500 that she
won't run out. Dennis makes the same $500 bet with
Rebecca. Both ladies accept it and, just like Dennis,
Barbara promptly screws up. Ra now has $500 from both
Barbara and Dennis, while Dennis collects $500 from
Rebecca.
Dennis - $6,500
Barbara - $6,000
Ra - $4,500
Rebecca - $3,000
Back to the game. Dennis and Barbara both exchange
misses, but Dennis hits some balls in. He leaves the 8
and 9 - right against opposite corner. Barbara easily
sinks the 8. She struggles with the 9, but she makes
it, and the only person who's in the black is Barbara.
Barbara - $7,500
Dennis - $5,000
Ra - $4,500
Rebecca - $3,000
Game 3 in Round 1 - Since Ra hasn't played yet,
Rebecca has to play him. The wager is $1,500. Dennis
makes a $500 bet with Barbara that Ra will beat her.
Barbara takes control early and makes some nice cuts.
She misses the 5, and Ra takes over. He has the 8 and
9 left. It's an easy corner shot - and he chokes on
it. Barbara's lay out is even easier than her game
with Dennis. She makes the 8, the 9 quickly goes
after. She makes $1,500 from Ra and $500 from Dennis
to boot.
Barbara - $9,500
Dennis - $4,500
Ra - $3,000
Rebecca - $3,000
As everyone has played once, the two bottom people
play the elimination match. At stake is the combined
money of the two players. In this case, it's $6,000.
Rebecca scratches on the break. Oops. Ewa thinks that
Ra has the potential to run the table, and she seems
to be a sooth seer. He gets control and doesn't let
up, and as the 9 ball goes in, Ra takes the game and
the $6,000. Rebecca is eliminated after touching the
table...once. That's sort of a waste of time. I hope she enjoyed her 15 seconds of pool playing fame. She makes $1,500 from Ra and $500 from Dennis
to boot.
Barbara - $9,500
Ra - $6,000
Dennis - $4,500
Rebecca - OUT
It's time for a shotgun challenge. Barbara and Dennis
(the people who were not in the elimination challenge)
will make as many of 15 balls as they can in 60
seconds. Barbara makes 5 balls, but loses 1 balls for
each scratch - which would be 2 of them. She only has
3, so Dennis needs 4. He gets it with plenty of time
to spare, so he gets table control. The minimum bet is
$2,000.
Dennis, who lost to Barbara, wants her again for
$2,500. He lets Barbara break, knowing that if she
can't sink a shot on the break, Dennis gets ball in
hand. Sure enough, Barbara scratches on the break, so
Dennis gets control...which he promptly loses on the
first shot. She gives control right back to Dennis,
who starts to roll. The problem for Dennis - after
making the first 4 shots, he lines up the 5 with the
9. Barbara can now combo the 5 off the 9 to the side
pocket to win the game. She does just that and Barbara
has a huge financial edge.
Barbara - $12,000
Ra - $6,000
Dennis - $2,000
Rebecca - OUT
Barbara has to play Ra, as he is the last person to
play in the round. If Barbara is smart here, she
should only challenge Ra for $2,000, thus guaranteeing
her a spot in the finals. She does that - but Ra
raises it to all-in, which has to be accepted. Ra
makes an error in shooting, and Barbara gives him the
ball right back, as he makes an unplayable ball. By
the time she does decide to take the ball back, the
table is wide open and she sinks 3 in a row. She picks
up another 1 before giving Ra the table back. Ra makes
the 6 and 7, but misses the 8 on the side. Barbara is
looking for an 8 ball bank - and the banks are open.
Ra's financial account is about to be closed, but she
misses. Ra, inexplicably gives her the ball back and
lets her shoot again. Wha? Maybe he wanted to set
himself up with a better shot, but Barbara doesn't
miss a second time. The banks stay open as the 9 goes
into the corner pocket. Ra, who went all-in, is now
all out.
Barbara - $18,000
Dennis - $2,000
Rebecca - OUT
Ra - OUT
Dennis has a huge mountain to climb, as Barbara has 6
times the amount of cash that he does. We're looking
for control in the final round, which is the person
who shoots 3 balls in the least number of strokes.
Barbara goes first and gets it in 6 shots, which means
that Dennis has to do it in 5. He does it in 4. This gives Dennis some hope - he gets to decide who breaks forst in the all-in rounds.
We now play the final round, which is 3 rounds of
action. The person with the small stack has to go
all-in. It will end, of course, when someone has all
of the money. If no one has all of the money after 3
rounds, then there will be a sudden death match for
everything.
Round 1 - The slake is for all of Dennis's money, so
Barbara can end this very early with a win. It doesn't
happen, as he combos the 9 ball in there.
Round 2 - Dennis goes all-in again. Dennis saves
himself again. Barbara looks flustered, but is still
in great shape.
Round 3 - Barbara is not in great shape anymore.
Barbara gets at least a shot at the table, but she
gives it up in the middle. Dennis takes control and
wins the last All-in match. He's up to $16,000 and
Barbara has $4,000, but the money doesn't matter
anymore because...
SUDDEN DEATH - Whoever wins this gets the money.
Dennis takes the early control again, but this time,
he stalls on the 5 ball - and it's in a position to
combo the nine into the side. Barbara says no guts no
glory. She shoots...and gets no glory. Dennis gets
control and he wants to combo it up. That also fails
and Barbara decides to work on single shots. 5 ball
gone. 6 ball....didn't make the corner. That leaves
the table wide open for Dennis who makes that, the 7,
the 8 and the 9 to win 4 straight matches and grab
$20,000. Dennis gets a hug from Barbara, and then a
hug from Adrienne Curry as she dumps the money on the
pool table. Ok, we finally see what Adrienne's use is
on the show.
My take? This is surprisingly a fun show. There's no
real equalizer for talent and the best player will
win, but then again, in these sorts of shows, you do
want the best player to win.
This should be a fun show to cover. Join us in 7 days
as someone covers up $20,000. |