Tournaments or Matchin' Up ?

[Island Drive]

Here in CO with rooms closing, many room owners have found that adding money has become a losing proposition for the business, it comes right off the top every week, I'd much rather have one every 3 months and have new cloth twice a year.
I wonder in the Phillipines if they have weekly added tournaments and if this increases play, in CO doesn't seem to work that way.
Hopefully what may happen is players will now start matching up, which is the foundation of play and from there giving out spots or whatever is needed to get in action.
One will find out that if you have to give a player a little weight it will only raise your game quicker.
Think of how much effort you put into a match to beat a player that you have never beat and you drove hundreds of miles and maybe a hotel room food etc, and what did you get out of it? You probably learned a few things, handled pressure a little more and in a few cases your game improved/matching up with a tough game does the same, every miss/mistake is magnified.
Why not keep your dollars in your area, match up close and you'll find giving a player just under your speed a little weight and trying to beat him is just as difficult as playing Medina in his prime on a bar box race to 9 even at ANY tournament.
With todays current gambling situation at a less active level, allot of players are only concerned about the win, if this the case, improving will go allot slower. Get in Action, if you don't like the spot but still want to play lower the bet, if your opponent is unwilling to lower the bet your most likely doing business with a broke dick, bad action or a lock artist.

 

[book collector]

Tournaments or matchin up

Here in CO with rooms closing, many room owners have found that adding money has become a losing proposition for the business, it comes right off the top every week, I'd much rather have one every 3 months and have new cloth twice a year.
I wonder in the Phillipines if they have weekly added tournaments and if this increases play, in CO doesn't seem to work that way.
Hopefully what may happen is players will now start matching up, which is the foundation of play and from there giving out spots or whatever is needed to get in action.
One will find out that if you have to give a player a little weight it will only raise your game quicker.
Think of how much effort you put into a match to beat a player that you have never beat and you drove hundreds of miles and maybe a hotel room food etc, and what did you get out of it? You probably learned a few things, handled pressure a little more and in a few cases your game improved/matching up with a tough game does the same, every miss/mistake is magnified.
Why not keep your dollars in your area, match up close and you'll find giving a player just under your speed a little weight and trying to beat him is just as difficult as playing Medina in his prime on a bar box race to 9 even at ANY tournament.
With todays current gambling situation at a less active level, allot of players are only concerned about the win, if this the case, improving will go allot slower. Get in Action, if you don't like the spot but still want to play lower the bet, if your opponent is unwilling to lower the bet your most likely doing business with a broke dick, bad action or a lock artist.

Theoretically, a great idea, realistically, almost impossible.
I have come to think that it isn't even about the money any more .
I think the reason a lot of players won't match up is that if they lose they drop in the pool hall pecking order or in their own idea of where they fit in .
I have seen players who even, playing for fun , if they lose a game or two they quit, citing multiple reasons, but if they are winning they make sure the whole pool room is involved and sees their prowess.
The really strange thing is that I have played some of these people many times and when they win the first game for fun , they mark a bead up and start keeping score, if they lose the first game .......no bead.
people are funny.
Also never underestimate what some people will do for a couple of dollars, I mentioned in another post that there was a 3 dollar a game quarter a scratch golf game in our city for 60 years and some people started teaming up {undercover} to take it off.
I still can't fathom that and I am positive it happened, lol.

 

[Island Drive]

Theoretically, a great idea, realistically, almost impossible.
I have come to think that it isn't even about the money any more .
I think the reason a lot of players won't match up is that if they lose they drop in the pool hall pecking order or in their own idea of where they fit in .
I have seen players who even, playing for fun , if they lose a game or two they quit, citing multiple reasons, but if they are winning they make sure the whole pool room is involved and sees their prowess.
The really strange thing is that I have played some of these people many times and when they win the first game for fun , they mark a bead up and start keeping score, if they lose the first game .......no bead.
people are funny.
Also never underestimate what some people will do for a couple of dollars, I mentioned in another post that there was a 3 dollar a game quarter a scratch golf game in our city for 60 years and some people started teaming up {undercover} to take it off.
I still can't fathom that and I am positive it happened, lol.

The irony of constantly matching up, your game is improving at a faster rate, you opponents don't know this (you do) and in the long run you actually make more money.
Hawaiin Brian was similar in thinking when he used to play out of the House of Billiards in (Santa Monica? I think). When his game went up a notch or where he played bad the last time, he would fly to where he had matched up and lost and would take it off. I remember when I was on the west coast in the mid 70's I worked this kind of rotation for over two years, beating most guys three times time till they wanted weight, in the mean time I was matchin up in other rooms and constantly improving so when I visited the next time the weight didn't matter and I could usually get the bet higher. Kieth McCready during his prime cut his teeth on playing (I played him with a spot, why not?), not tournaments, none of the great players cut their teeth always stealing and on tournaments, they matched up which pushed em to improve, and the more you do the better you also become at this skill, and Fats won more matches before they were played because he knew how to match up better than most.