Playing in a tournament you know you can't win

L

lastdimetaker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I will play in any tournament regardless of who is in it. The tournaments give me an opportunity to play higher level players at a fraction of the cost if we were gambling. I do not like handicapped tournaments I will still play. Some of my biggest highlights in my pool career Have been In tournaments I had no chance of winning.
Shannon Dalton Put me on the live stream table. I also played in the second chance tournament and won a match against a player who beat a top pro in the main event. I do not understand why it so hard to get guys to play in pool tournaments.
 
Many pool players, especially those that have been stuck at the same level for many years, posses much pride in their game and fool themselves into believing that they are playing only to make money. Their pride couldn't handle being put down by someone easily above their level.
 
ChopStick said:
You play like who you play with. You should always compete in levels above your own.
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This is one of the worst pool myths out there. If you are playing down to the level of your opposition, then you have some mental holes in your game you really need to improve.

If this saying were true, the top players would start playing worse as most of their competition is at a lower level than themselves.

Lesser skilled opponents don't magically make you play worse, if you are playing at their level it is totally internal through no outside effect at all. Totally a mental issue. The excuse "I played down to their level" is simply that....an ecuse.

To the original poster, some people would rather not spend the money if they know they are going to lose. Just as your personal preferene is to pay to play better players, their personal preference is to not do this
 
vapoolplayer said:
Lesser skilled opponents don't magically make you play worse, if you are playing at their level it is totally internal through no outside effect at all. Totally a mental issue. The excuse "I played down to their level" is simply that....an ecuse.
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VA,

Sometimes this attitude of not playing down creates problems. At least in league play. I learned the hard way to play the balls on the table, not my opponent. Now whether I play an APA SL2, an SL 7 or Dennis Hatch, I play the same way. To win! Some opponents really don't like my style of play. Hate it when I miss or play poorly. My lower skill opponents usually leave me in places on the table I never knew existed! Makes me play harder and think more:eek:.

vapoolplyer said:
To the original poster, some people would rather not spend the money if they know they are going to lose. Just as your personal preferene is to pay to play better players, their personal preference is to not do this
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Used to enjoy playing in as many events as I could. Now, I look at the entry fees, the projected expenses and potential income. If I have to finish in the top six just to break even, I'll pass. Playing a "pro" event gets special scrutiny. Don't need the "glow" of having played a "pro" player. Been there, done that!

Lyn
 
lastdimetaker said:
I will play in any tournament regardless of who is in it. The tournaments give me an opportunity to play higher level players at a fraction of the cost if we were gambling. I do not like handicapped tournaments I will still play. Some of my biggest highlights in my pool career Have been In tournaments I had no chance of winning.
Shannon Dalton Put me on the live stream table. I also played in the second chance tournament and won a match against a player who beat a top pro in the main event. I do not understand why it so hard to get guys to play in pool tournaments.
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It's usually because they don't want to be humiliated by a better player and/or criticized for thinking they can play in a high level tournament.

That, of course, is completely the wrong thinking. Even pros get humiliated by the exceptional play of someone who beats them badly. This happens at virtually every tournament. A hot player and a few rolls and it doesn't matter how good you are.

To get better, you have to learn how to accept defeat. Accepting victory is easy. Accepting defeat, learning about yourself from it, and vowing "I'll be back" is a different pill and ultimately it's the pill that really does make you better.

Most tournaments are the cheapest shot you'll get at competition. If you don't compete, you don't learn how to win.
 
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There are those who don't want themselves to be seen as cannon fodder, so they choose not to enter. Others enjoy the experience, no matter what the outcome. Still other see a tournament as a chance to become a seasoned player. :smile:
 
Playing in a tournament you know you can't win


The above quoted title describes any/every tournament I've ever entered.

Funny thing was, I actually won a few small tournaments and finished high up in some others.

It's a good way to assess where your pool game is.

Winning or going 2-and-out: I still have a blast competing!!!

Maniac (knows where his pool game is (sadly)!!!)
 
TATE said:
To get better, you have to learn how to accept defeat. Accepting victory is easy. Accepting defeat, learning about yourself from it, and vowing "I'll be back" is a different pill and ultimately it's the pill that really does make you better.

Most tournaments are the cheapest shot you'll get at competition. If you don't compete, you don't learn how to win.
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Tate,

As true a comment as I've read on any AZ thread. Keep telling my "students" you have to learn to lose before you can win. My guess is the best player on the planet right now wins less than 10% of the tournaments he enters. Actually a pretty scary thought. He may win a higher percentage of matches but I'm talking full tournaments. Who cares if I win one game or one match. It's the total tournament that the real players count. Who finished second at the US Open 9 ball? Did anyone care? That's a rhetorical question incidentally.

Lyn
 
I play in any tournaments that are in the area, if I have the time and extra cash. As we don't have any bigger tournaments near here, I will be playing the same people that I play league with, for the most part, so it's no big deal. (I still don't have a big chance at winning.) I want and need to play under tourney conditions as much as I can.

There is a Joss Tour stop just over an hour away from here every October. I cannot imagine me entering that. The dollars are more than I'm used to, and any tournament that can have Mike Dechaine in it doesn't need me in it. :p

Seriously, I would like to think that I will enter that tourney someday, for the experience, but I'm am SO far below the level of the people playing in it that it would be beyond silly. Paying $10 or 420 for the experience is one thing, but more than that isn't something that I can afford right now.

I would just like to be able to arrange to go watch it one of these years. See, my league will have either a Tri-Cup team tourney that weekend, or a Best of The Best tourney, and I've been qualified each of the last 2 years. Perhaps this year will be different.
 
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Most people eventually get tired of losing. Only way to stop is to either start winning or quit. Which one do you think the champs start doing?
 
I am really guilty of playing down to the level of my opponent. I started playing about 1 1/2 years ago and have gotten much better than the people on my league team but when I play against one of them its usually close because I always think I will get another turn and I will try stuff against them I normally would not do. I played in one tournament so far and enjoyed it and I plan on doing some nine ball stuff soon even though I know I am probably not ready but the worst thing that can happen is that I lose, on the other hand I am hoping maybe I can pick something up too.
 
Every shot you make under pressure is a stepping stone to becoming a better pressure player. i enter as many tournaments as circumstances allow, its my favorite parts of the week. i Just lost my last one though and there were only 16 players, i will get it next time i hope. as far as entry fees, ipay my friends fees and still come out ahead over all. competition either makes you play better or worse than you actually are.
 
justadub said:
There is a Joss Tour stop just over an hour away from here every October. I cannot imagine me entering that. The dollars are more than I'm used to, and any tournament that can have Mike Dechaine in it doesn't need me in it. :p
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Dub,

If it weren't for players like you and me, no "pro" event would ever be held. Think that's why one of my nicknames is "dead money". The Joss 9 Ball Tour (and others) requires our entry to be successful.

Lyn
 
Masayoshi said:
Many pool players, especially those that have been stuck at the same level for many years, posses much pride in their game and fool themselves into believing that they are playing only to make money. Their pride couldn't handle being put down by someone easily above their level.
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If they play pool to make money there nuts!!!
 
I took time for me, but I shifted my focus from thinking about winning to just playing by best with what the table gives me.

I now use tourneys to see what I need to practice on. I will play in the local handicap tourney's until I see a pattern as to why I lose. The reason I don't play on a consistent basis is multi-fold.

The point is that competition is where you test how well you practice and to see what patterns, ie one form of weakness, there maybe to your losing that you need to work on.

I've always come back stronger after working on the weakness that I identified during the last tourney cycle.

Its not about winning anymore, but playing my best and the thing is, by doing this, the winning takes care of its self.
 
WhO DA FLlCK IS DIS GUY?!!?

vapoolplayer said:
This is one of the worst pool myths out there. If you are playing down to the level of your opposition, then you have some mental holes in your game you really need to improve.

If this saying were true, the top players would start playing worse as most of their competition is at a lower level than themselves.

Lesser skilled opponents don't magically make you play worse, if you are playing at their level it is totally internal through no outside effect at all. Totally a mental issue. The excuse "I played down to their level" is simply that....an ecuse.

To the original poster, some people would rather not spend the money if they know they are going to lose. Just as your personal preferene is to pay to play better players, their personal preference is to not do this
Click to expand...
 
cardiac kid said:
Dub,

If it weren't for players like you and me, no "pro" event would ever be held. Think that's why one of my nicknames is "dead money". The Joss 9 Ball Tour (and others) requires our entry to be successful.

Lyn
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At what point, would you say, should someone enter something like a Joss event? I don't mind donating an entry fee, but right now I feel like I'm bringing a butter knife to a gun fight.
 
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