Rate this sharking

I think that it's easy to overthink this situation in the heat of the moment. I used to try ignoring it, but that never worked. Eventually I got all pent up and missed a ball. Then I started confronting or engaging with the shark, and the first times I'd be pretty angry and tell'em what I thought about them sharking me. I suppose that after a while I had gotten all that fear and frustration from getting sharked out of my system. Now it's fun when a guy comes woofin at me...it's a game. You know, you dont HAVE TO gamble with the guy. Maybe, as BlackBalled likes to say, the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

Yeah, i think i played into his bs too much, wasn't ready for it at the moment. Unfortunately, the advise i got was a day after the sharking, as i wanted to focus on that weakness in my mental game after losing a straight race to a person i would probably give a 2-3 game spot to. I was going back and fourth with him and playing into it without knowing it. He wasn't flustered cause he was deliberately messing with me and not getting insulted but it felt like i was being bullied in high school, as i wasn't doing anything while he was shooting and was just trying to defend myself while it was my turn, which i realize now probably got me even more flustered and is exactly what he wanted. Lesson learned, going to try and be a rock next time. This guy is in town for another two months and i challenged him to a straight race. Not sure if he will even accept, cause everyone in the pool hall fortunately defended me to him, saying i would wreck him in a fair match. We will see though, will post the updates to the shark off conclusion if he has the stones to play me again.
 
I think you're definitely right. Do you think its possible to overcome it in a different day with the same person? I want to say i can put it aside and play my game, but its hard to say knowing that i already fell for his shenanigans.

Why bother? That's what I don't get, this guy is a *****, why give him any of your time.

If you want to play him, do so on your terms. Tell him straight up, no weight given and no acting like an ass like you did in that tournament. See how he reacts to you calling out his behavior at the tourney. If he defends, talks crap, anything, tell him not to talk to you about pool anymore and just walk away.

He wants your game w a spot and he's gotten to you and you want to beat him because of it. Let it go. Go find action in the same room frequently w other players when he's there. It will eat him up.
 
I think that it's easy to overthink this situation in the heat of the moment. I used to try ignoring it, but that never worked. Eventually I got all pent up and missed a ball. Then I started confronting or engaging with the shark, and the first times I'd be pretty angry and tell'em what I thought about them sharking me. I suppose that after a while I had gotten all that fear and frustration from getting sharked out of my system. Now it's fun when a guy comes woofin at me...it's a game. You know, you dont HAVE TO gamble with the guy. Maybe, as BlackBalled likes to say, the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

Good point. It may not really be worth it, but is there another way to get used to it? If i can deal with this guy who really gets under my skin, i should be able to deal with randoms, right? As painful as it may be, i understand that the mental game is a big part of pool and want to be well rounded in every way that i can. Who know's when you're going to get sharked again, you know?
 
Why bother? That's what I don't get, this guy is a *****, why give him any of your time.

If you want to play him, do so on your terms. Tell him straight up, no weight given and no acting like an ass like you did in that tournament. See how he reacts to you calling out his behavior at the tourney. If he defends, talks crap, anything, tell him not to talk to you about pool anymore and just walk away.

He wants your game w a spot and he's gotten to you and you want to beat him because of it. Let it go. Go find action in the same room frequently w other players when he's there. It will eat him up.

Eh you're probably right...
 
My suggestion is to explore it for yourself by engaging/confronting it, and then see what happens. You're asking for some theory that'll solve this problem, but you gotta get in there and find out for yourself. Can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs, baby :)

Good point. It may not really be worth it, but is there another way to get used to it? If i can deal with this guy who really gets under my skin, i should be able to deal with randoms, right? As painful as it may be, i understand that the mental game is a big part of pool and want to be well rounded in every way that i can. Who know's when you're going to get sharked again, you know?
 
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This is all very silly. It's like some hokey bonus scene from Poolhall Junkies...

You catch more flies with honey and a little civility goes a long way.
 
This is all very silly. It's like some hokey bonus scene from Poolhall Junkies...

You catch more flies with honey and a little civility goes a long way.

What do you suggest? I didn't bring on this hostile, uncivil environment and i never once encouraged it. I am good with everyone in my pool room besides this guy, who i've found most people i know also don't like him for similar reasons. I didn't stir the pot with this guy, i just feel i'm being disrespected by this guy for no reason other than envy or him just enjoying being a *****.
 
What do you suggest? I didn't bring on this hostile, uncivil environment and i never once encouraged it. I am good with everyone in my pool room besides this guy, who i've found most people i know also don't like him for similar reasons. I didn't stir the pot with this guy, i just feel i'm being disrespected by this guy for no reason other than envy or him just enjoying being a *****.

Next time you see him, pay for his table time and and buy pizza for everyone.

Be the bigger man... Then get him in a game :)
 
I was playing a guy last Tuesday and I noticed that in all his matches, he would stand in front of the called pocket and twirl his stick or make some other movements.

Once I knew I was going to play him, I made a bet with a few guys that I could get this guy to walk all the around the table changing his position 6 times in a single shot.

Not a money bet...just a challenge.

He broke dry. I line up a shot and sure enough he goes and stands in front of that pocket. #1

I check the angle and decide to aim at another ball and he moves again #2

I come up from the shot and check to see if 2 balls were frozen and begin to look at another shot and he moves again in front of the pocket #3

At this point, other people are looking at me like WTF.

I change again and this dope moves again #4

I'm almost laughing at this point and the guy finally says "dude, are you going to shoot or what"

Everyone in the huddle starts laughing and telling me that I only made him move 4 times instead of 6. I go on and shoot while someone else explains to this guy that he was just made to look like a fool following me around the table trying to shark like that.

He would go on to lose and he didn't shake my hand.

I will see him again tonight and let y'all know if he does it again.

To be honest, I didn't really care about him doing that and nothing really bothers me...it's a game where I make a few bucks a week. I did what I did just to see if I could.
 
I was playing a guy last Tuesday and I noticed that in all his matches, he would stand in front of the called pocket and twirl his stick or make some other movements.

Once I knew I was going to play him, I made a bet with a few guys that I could get this guy to walk all the around the table changing his position 6 times in a single shot.

Not a money bet...just a challenge.

He broke dry. I line up a shot and sure enough he goes and stands in front of that pocket. #1

I check the angle and decide to aim at another ball and he moves again #2

I come up from the shot and check to see if 2 balls were frozen and begin to look at another shot and he moves again in front of the pocket #3

At this point, other people are looking at me like WTF.

I change again and this dope moves again #4

I'm almost laughing at this point and the guy finally says "dude, are you going to shoot or what"

Everyone in the huddle starts laughing and telling me that I only made him move 4 times instead of 6. I go on and shoot while someone else explains to this guy that he was just made to look like a fool following me around the table trying to shark like that.

He would go on to lose and he didn't shake my hand.

I will see him again tonight and let y'all know if he does it again.

To be honest, I didn't really care about him doing that and nothing really bothers me...it's a game where I make a few bucks a week. I did what I did just to see if I could.

That is the most blatant sharking I've heard of in a long time. Makes me wonder if he knew what he was doing.
 
Or how'bout the guy who when he is finally misses picks up the chalk like he's getting ready to shoot again while you're waiting for the chalk so you can shoot. And here's the kicker he takes the chalk with him...lol. So for the longest time now I bring my own and if some idiot tries that crap again I say..."hey that's my chalk; you got the house chalk in your pocket".

They're usually embarrassed and slink away to their hole.
 
True, but remember, this match was against another fellow, not the guy sharking me. That was in the match with the guy who opened up our match by saying, "If you win, don't expect me to shake your hand." The friend of the guy who sharked me. My friend later told me that the guy i beat was told by the guy who sharked me that i was talking sh*t and that made him come into my match already disliking me and waiting to mess with me.

Also, this tournament is very informal. Its an old guy with a piece of paper, handicaps pulled out of his butt and matches based on who he wants to see play for a grand prize of maybe double-triple your money back - 20-30 dollars. There isn't exactly a briefing like a normal tournament, ie: call shot, married to the break, scratch on the 8 is a loss etc. If genuinely inquiring about a rule that makes or breaks a game is sharking, then what would you call what they did to me?

I see - in that case since you are essentially playing just for fun I'd assume the guy is just giving you crap for entertainment. I'd laugh it off and give it back.

Dr Phil isn't going to show up in a pool hall. If you don't have a sense of humor then pool halls might not be your thing.
 
Anyway, how do you deal with sharking?

I put an audio 30 second clock at the end of the table.
Every time he opens his mouth, the clock resets itself to 30 seconds.
He can shark for 30 straight minutes, and all he ends up doing is wasting his own time.

Other than that, and ignoring him, and never playing him again, what can anyone do?
 
Or how'bout the guy who when he is finally misses picks up the chalk like he's getting ready to shoot again while you're waiting for the chalk so you can shoot. And here's the kicker he takes the chalk with him...lol. So for the longest time now I bring my own and if some idiot tries that crap again I say..."hey that's my chalk; you got the house chalk in your pocket".

They're usually embarrassed and slink away to their hole.

Ha! I’m definitely guilty of doing this. I would never do it
to shark my opponent and I don’t put it in my pocket.
Just an idiot from time to time.
 
I put an audio 30 second clock at the end of the table.
Every time he opens his mouth, the clock resets itself to 30 seconds.
He can shark for 30 straight minutes, and all he ends up doing is wasting his own time.

Other than that, and ignoring him, and never playing him again, what can anyone do?

I have a friend who would shark me by saying something when I was down on the shot. He knew he was sharking and I did too. Finally I got tired of it and if I were down on the shot I would stand up, grab the chalk, walk around the table, go back through my routine and set up for the shot again. Shark me again, get up and do it all over. He stopped sharking me soon after I implemented that strategy.
 
In short, it sounds like BS to me and I dont care how easy he is to beat or how much he will lose....no way, life's to short!!!!!!

I'd much rather, as a matter of fact, I do play strong players from mid-level shortstops to well known pros way more often than weaker A55hats.

Then again, I'm use to either playing my a55 off and still losing or playing bad and losing even worse.

YMMV......greatly.

Rake
 
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