Which Would You Choose?

C

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This hypothetical question dawned on me last night. One of our tournament regulars here who plays the same speed as I do has been coming in on Monday nights for the last month or so for us to play, as we have discontinued our Monday night 9-ball tournaments due to Covid, and we both are in need of some decent competition.

Both of us could be described as very conservative $ players and we are good friends, so we play $20 sets, races to five 9-ball, just enough $ to make it a little more interesting. It has gone back-and-forth and overall we are probably very close in total sets won. We generally get in 5-6 sets total. Last night we both played like crap, and I ended up prevailing in a couple of the hill-hill sets, so I ended up winner by a few sets.

The question dawned on me - For this relatively small amount of $, if I had a choice between us both playing poorly but me playing just slightly better in the key games and coming out a $40-$60 winner versus both of us playing quite well but my opponent prevailing in the key games to where I come up a $40-$60 loser, which would I choose?

As much as I hate losing, for that amount of $ (and that is the key here) as long as I didn’t choke in those pivotal games that I lost, I believe I would prefer to play well and lose as opposed to playing poorly and winning, only due to my opponent playing even worse.

As I’ve been struggling with my game of recent, I believe I would just feel a whole lot better about my game knowing that I had played well, regardless of the win/lose. Just curious as to what others would choose and why?
 
ChrisinNC said:
This hypothetical question dawned on me last night. One of our tournament regulars here who plays the same speed as I do has been coming in on Monday nights for the last month or so for us to play, as we have discontinued our Monday night 9-ball tournaments due to Covid, and we both are in need of some decent competition.

Both of us could be described as very conservative $ players and we are good friends, so we play $20 sets, races to five 9-ball, just enough $ to make it a little more interesting. It has gone back-and-forth and overall we are probably very close in total sets won. We generally get in 5-6 sets total. Last night we both played like crap, and I ended up prevailing in a couple of the hill-hill sets, so I ended up winner by a few sets.

The question dawned on me - For this relatively small amount of $, if I had a choice between us both playing poorly but me playing just slightly better in the key games and coming out a $40-$60 winner versus both of us playing quite well but my opponent prevailing in the key games to where I come up a $40-$60 loser, which would I choose?

As much as I hate losing, for that amount of $ (and that is the key here) as long as I didn’t choke in those pivotal games that I lost, I believe I would prefer to play well and lose as opposed to playing poorly and winning, only due to my opponent playing even worse.

As I’ve been struggling with my game of recent, I believe I would just feel a whole lot better about my game knowing that I had played well, regardless of the win/lose. Just curious as to what others would choose and why?
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A win's a win. Sometimes winning ugly is only way. Playing better and losing is still losing. It sucks. My $.02.
 
So your picks are play bad but win or play good but lose. For actual tournament/gambling I would pick play bad and win. For practice (which is what playing with friends is) I would pick play good but lose. In reality, I don't even play $20 sets often and for a $20 tournament entry fee I feel fine if I lose but know I played well. As long as I'm not mad at myself for blowing easy wins, I'm OK winning or losing. I was never one to gloat over a crappy win.
 
hang-the-9 said:
So your picks are play bad but win or play good but lose. For actual tournament/gambling I would pick play bad and win. For practice (which is what playing with friends is) I would pick play good but lose. In reality, I don't even play $20 sets often and for a $20 tournament entry fee I feel fine if I lose but know I played well. As long as I'm not mad at myself for blowing easy wins, I'm OK winning or losing. I was never one to gloat over a crappy win.
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Yes, we both do mainly consider this as practice and yes we are friends, but the fact that it is $20 sets is the caveat in this scanario. That makes it a little more conflicting to decide which outcome you would prefer between those two options.
 
ChrisinNC said:
Yes, we both do mainly consider this as practice and yes we are friends, but the fact that it is $20 sets is the caveat in this scanario. That makes it a little more conflicting to decide which outcome you would prefer between those two options.
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What's wrong with beating the crap out of your friends?? Playing for grins is one thing. Cash is another. Trying to win and practice are distant cousins in my book.
 
Mark me down for playing badly and win.... Even if your opponent didn't play well either, that generally means you found another way to cross the finish line first.

I find that the people I want to win over (those with stronger reputations) I can't out shoot, but instead I out play them. There's more to this game than making the most balls. I notched a win over a sponsored 700 player in the last tournament I played. Truth be told, he took me for granted early on, and we ended up in a safety battle in the later games. I couldn't out shoot him, and played sub par in that catagory anyways. I did however control the games and squeaked the win. It's a feather in my cap...

The bet is relative to your comfort level, so it's moot imo.
 
garczar said:
What's wrong with beating the crap out of your friends?? Playing for grins is one thing. Cash is another. Trying to win and practice are distant cousins in my book.
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I’ve always said that I would rather win five dollars from one of my rat-bastard pool or golf buddies, than find a $100 bill on the street!
 
If you learn to play at a high level you would probably win more - if you can find people willing to play you. The fact you play poorly could be why you are able to find bangers willing to play.

For me - I'd rather play at a high level if I could.
 
garczar said:
What's wrong with beating the crap out of your friends?? Playing for grins is one thing. Cash is another. Trying to win and practice are distant cousins in my book.
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I don’t get your point? We are both trying to play our hardest and we don’t have any issue beating the crap out of each other, if we play well enough to do that, which is always our goal. For myself, anytime I play, regardless of whether it’s solo practice, a $ session for any $ amount or a tournament, I always try to play the best I can.
 
ChrisinNC said:
For myself, anytime I play, regardless of whether it’s solo practice, a $ session for any $ amount or a tournament, I always try to play the best I can.
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That's really tough to sustain. I wish I could say the same. I mean, I'm not trying to miss a shot or anything, but I rarely do I go topgear these days.
 
The_JV said:
That's really tough to sustain. I wish I could say the same. I mean, I'm not trying to miss a shot or anything, but I rarely do I go topgear these days.
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I don’t even know what it would feel like to play at top gear anymore, it’s been so long since I’ve played at that level for more than 2-3 game spurts. Whenever it does happen though, of course it’s most likely when I’m practicing by myself as opposed to a tournament finals match.
 
I would choose the play well and lose every day. I hate losing, but being satisfied with my own performance is far more important. Look at it this way, performance only involves me -- how well did I play against the table. Win/lose brings another variable into play -- the quality of my opponent's play -- over which I have no control whatsoever. (Rolls and luck, and we all know such things exist, also come into play in the w/l analysis.)

As far as the money goes, if you continually play and bet, I assume that at some point y'all will adjust if the money gets lopsided? Under this scenario it should be difficult to ever consider the money as "won" or "lost" or "yours" or "his" -- its a pool. I had a friend who was a golf fanatic. He and his friends had a regular weekly game with a complex betting structure, but the money lost went into a kitty to finance two or three elaborate parties a year (golfers out there may know what I am talking around). The goal being that while there were "losers" there were no real "winners" as everyone shared equally in the proceeds.
 
Biloxi Boy said:
I would choose the play well and lose every day. I hate losing, but being satisfied with my own performance is far more important. Look at it this way, performance only involves me -- how well did I play against the table. Win/lose brings another variable into play -- the quality of my opponent's play -- over which I have no control whatsoever. (Rolls and luck, and we all know such things exist, also come into play in the w/l analysis.)

As far as the money goes, if you continually play and bet, I assume that at some point y'all will adjust if the money gets lopsided? Under this scenario it should be difficult to ever consider the money as "won" or "lost" or "yours" or "his" -- its a pool. I had a friend who was a golf fanatic. He and his friends had a regular weekly game with a complex betting structure, but the money lost went into a kitty to finance two or three elaborate parties a year (golfers out there may know what I am talking around). The goal being that while there were "losers" there were no real "winners" as everyone shared equally in the proceeds.
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Glad to hear there is someone out there that might consider the value of playing well regardless of the outcome even if it is losing, as opposed to playing poorly and winning, particularly when the $ stakes are minimal.

In saying this, I fully realize that chances are, when you play well against a virtually evenly matched skill level opponent you will almost always win anyway except in the rare case that your opponent just happens to play even better. It can occasionally happen, and I can live with that.
 
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When I play, I expect the best game you have got. In return I too want you to have my best game. Seems to me you both let each other down. My bestie plays real good, and over the years he has tied it to the playing the best on a new moon, and the worst on a full...just something to think about. When we both hitting them good, it is a new moon....I do not believe this, but it is remarkable true. Full moon tonight. J/S.
 
ChrisinNC said:
The question dawned on me - For this relatively small amount of $, if I had a choice between us both playing poorly but me playing just slightly better in the key games and coming out a $40-$60 winner versus both of us playing quite well but my opponent prevailing in the key games to where I come up a $40-$60 loser, which would I choose?
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I, personally, would rather loose playing well than win playing poorly.
 
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