Gotta love the poor sportsmanship in pool sometimes

P

PaulAlex7000

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ya gotta love sore losers. I was playing in the finals for a 9 Ball APA qualifier. I was on the game-winning last ball, and as I was about to shoot it, the opponent took his cue and stalked off without a word. Didn't talk to me for the rest of the nite... Like it was my fault that he kept rattling the 9 ball in the jaws of the pocket several times.

Or maybe he thought I was toying with him? In the last game, instead of sinking the 3 ball and going for a 4-to-9 combo, I played shape on the 4. And instead of shooting the 4 and drawing back into the 9, I drew back slightly to get shape on the 5.

For those unfamiliar with APA 9 Ball, it's not about making the 9, it's about making points (1 point per ball, 2 points for the 9 ball). Sure, I could have gone for the 4-to-9, but I still needed the points and why make another game when it could be finished in that game?

I can understand being frustrated/mad at rattling several 9 balls. But be mad at yourself, not at the winner.

Note that the diagram below may not have the exact angles, but it was very much like this:

CueTable Help

 
losing in all things, not just pool

Some people need a little time to recover after a loss, especially if they thought they could have won. Pool, any other form of competition, doesn't really matter.

I don't get too upset about losing but if I performed poorly I am absolutely seething on the inside. I will go over and make the proper noises and shake hands, even be social to the other player, not their fault I dogged things. It will still take me awhile to cool off.

Other people show more on the outside. Poor form(I think the British word is perfect here) to behave poorly towards the other player or in public but it should sting any serious competitor to lose, sting even more if you lose due to your own poor play. I feel better if I played very well and the other person had to play even better to beat me.

Hu
 
if u re not able to loose- you ll never really learn to win!
I always recommend/teach guys if they start to play tournaments or even in league. If you re sitting: Try to enjoy what your opponent does!! No matter just enjoying his good pool, or just watchin his mistakes- YOU always learn. Thats all!

lg
Ingo
 
don't worry about it. if he doesn't like it it shouldn't bother you at all. you're not there to make friends
 
LWW said:
Look at it this way ... today you get to wake up and be you while they have to wake up and still be them.

LWW
Click to expand...

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

LWW posting in the MAIN FORUM???

What's up LWW? That was a surprise to see you in here :D

How are you hitting them?

R:cool:Y
 
PaulAlex7000 said:
Ya gotta love sore losers. I was playing in the finals for a 9 Ball APA qualifier. I was on the game-winning last ball, and as I was about to shoot it, the opponent took his cue and stalked off without a word. Didn't talk to me for the rest of the nite... Like it was my fault that he kept rattling the 9 ball in the jaws of the pocket several times.

Or maybe he thought I was toying with him? In the last game, instead of sinking the 3 ball and going for a 4-to-9 combo, I played shape on the 4. And instead of shooting the 4 and drawing back into the 9, I drew back slightly to get shape on the 5.

For those unfamiliar with APA 9 Ball, it's not about making the 9, it's about making points (1 point per ball, 2 points for the 9 ball). Sure, I could have gone for the 4-to-9, but I still needed the points and why make another game when it could be finished in that game?

I can understand being frustrated/mad at rattling several 9 balls. But be mad at yourself, not at the winner.

Note that the diagram below may not have the exact angles, but it was very much like this:

CueTable Help

Click to expand...

My rule of thumb has always been- If I can make 2 or more balls why cheese the 9? Especially if the table is not breaking well. I don't want to risk breaking dry and giving up points to my opponent in the next rack!
 
SpinDoctor said:
Posts like this are exactly why I would rather iron the wrinkles out of my nut sack than every play another week of league.
Click to expand...

Just curious, what setting do you use? Cotton? Do you use steam?

I've never thought of ironing out my wrinkles, I thought they gave me character
 
I found out long ago that there are two kinds of billiard players: those who play to win, and those who play for the joy of playing well.

The former tend to become bitter and turn nasty as soon as they loose one game or two. Those are the ones that go tell their friends how lucky you were, or how unlucky they were, during the match.

The latter tend to become annoyed *at themselves* when they miss shots. They are the ones who'll tell you how sloppily they played, or if you tell them that it happens, answer that no, it was entirely their fault.

I tend to use the former's quick temper and nasty personalities against them: I slow down my game, concentrate on all my shots from the get go, play safeties, act like all balls were really easy, and quip lightly in between games, as if the match was a walk in the park. It really gets them excited, which in turn makes it even easier to win. Often enough, when the match draws to a close and there's one or two games left, they'll unscrew their cues angrily and forfeit, which means less work for me to win.

As for the latter, I feel sorry for them (I'm one of them), especially when they really do have bad luck. But if I have a match to win, I'll try to say things like "really, bad luck man..." or "sorry I counted a point at that moment, I was so sure it would go in!" in between matches, to increase their sense of despair and prevent them from getting ahold of themselves and start playing well again. That type of player rarely forfeits though, and usually endures the self-inflicted mental torture to the very end.
 
PaulAlex7000, what is your APA skill level in 9-ball? The reason I ask is because I see people get upset a lot, but not because they are losing, but because they see someone of a certain skill level making shots that they think only somone of a higher skill level should be making.

I am going to guess that you are at least a SL6+ if you ran that out without dropping the 9 early?
 
I NEVER leave the table without congratulating my opponent, or giving him the opportunity to congratulate me.

It IS a game, and when it becomes more than that, you need to do some serious self evaluation.
 
That's a good draw shot to draw a ball frozen to the rail back outside of the cue ball.
 
Yeah... In a match, regardless of how poorly I may play, I'll go over and shake the opponent's hand, even though inside I may be very angry at myself. It is certainly not anyone else's fault that my playing performance was not up to par.

It is easy (for me, at least) when not playing well or encountering bad rolls/luck, to start descending the steps of despair into that bleak dungeon of mental torture.

Regardless, and as everyone else has pointed out, winning isn't everything and you can watch and learn from the opponent -- while you're keeping your chair warm.

Being mad at your opponent is not cool, nor fair to him, and you are being dishonest to yourself.

Alstl: Sorry, I didn't diagram that very well (I haven't used the WEI table that much). I didn't draw it very well. The 3 was about half an inch off the rail, and I thinned it enough so the CB would come back downtable.

JCurry: I'm a SL7 in 9 Ball and my opponent I played is a SL6. I won 55 points to something like 25 to 30. This opponent knows my game very well since we both have been playing in the same in-house league for several years. But this was the first time I played pretty well against him. In fact, earlier that day, he put me in the loser's bracket, beating me 46 points to my 30-something points, and then we met again in the finals. I usually don't do well when I play against him.

But I approached the finals with a can-do, kick-ass attitude. And when he started making mistakes and/or fouling, it bolstered my confidence and it got to the point where I was freestroking for the last 2 games. On that diagram/rack, when I shot the 3 to play shape for the 4, I didn't think twice about it, stress or worry or take more than 5 seconds to think about it. My mindset was I either get the shape I want on the 4, or if I don't, then I do some other shot or duck.

On that particular rack, I ran out to the 7. Then had to play a 7-to-9 combo because the 7 wouldn't go anywhere else. Something like this (again, the angles are not exact but along these lines): CB hits the 6 in, breaks open the 7 and 8, 7 goes towards the foot rail and CB ends up in B position.

Dangerous, I know, because if things went wrong I could have ended up hooked behind the 8 or something. But I was getting in the zone and things were rolling my way.

CueTable Help

 
Last edited:
ball-banger said:
Just couldn't resist:grin:
Click to expand...

ball-banger

Sorry if I stole your screen name, I did not know it was taken and the Registration didn't catch the minor differences.


I actually like to play Poor Sports who are hyper every so often. Not that I care if I win or lose but only if I can piss them off by leaving them safe etc. I won't woof at them, but try more suttill actions to get them pissed off. Slow play or even going to the men's room in the middle of the game with all the apologies included. If I break, I make sure it is a Cluster so no one can run out. All while trying to come off as a nice guy. If I woof at all it is "I got Lucky" or "You got robbed" Of course I know these player ahead of time because they have reputations for being poor sports. I guess that is my way of Hustling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top