I was a Boy Scout that helped create a walking path to the grandstands when he gave this dedication.
I was 12 years old.
A pretty big deal for a kid from Douglas City. 
Luck as a skillset.
- Thread starter Mensabum
- Start date
I was 12 years old.
A pretty big deal for a kid from Douglas City.
Okay Sooooo back on topic, kinda
The skill set is to have them believe that it's luck.
I never stalled but had different gears.shrug.
The skill set is to have them believe that it's luck.
I never stalled but had different gears.shrug.
Figrs.Pfft I solved all those things.
I bet!!I was a Boy Scout that helped create a walking path to the grandstands when he gave this dedication.
The security included snipers at the tree lines. Several choppers came in as part of security procedures.
I was 12 years old.
I recall my mother making me go to bed in the middle of the afternoon to much protest from mwah bcuz the train with Eisenhower's body was coming thru town at 11:30 pm that night.
Everybody in town was standing out there at the RR crossing when we walked up.
We paid our respects to a fallen president and national hero.
There were Statesman then.
Not these corrupt cardboard cutouts of today's political landscape.
There are many ways to get there.Okay Sooooo back on topic, kinda
The skill set is to have them believe that it's luck.
I never stalled but had different gears.shrug.
My method is a 3 legged stool.
Study
Practice
Compete
I studied Efren, well I studied all the top players.
I recall a statement by Efren indicating that he watched the weaker players to find fluked shots that he could practice and add to his arsenal.
My Hit 'em hard and wish them well tactic in the weak ring games could show a profit.
Kept me in the games longer too. Wild Flyers shots that included an elementary cueball control was my method. A personal rule of NEVER make more than 3 shots in a row without a ride on the money. When I made a wild flyer my comment could be, "you can't hit the lottery if you don't buy a ticket." Money won is sweet er than money earned.
Ditto my friend!!!My method is a 3 legged stool.
Study
Practice
Compete
I studied Efren, well I studied all the top players.
I recall a statement by Efren indicating that he watched the weaker players to find fluked shots that he could practice and add to his arsenal.
My Hit 'em hard and wish them well tactic in the weak ring games could show a profit.
Money won is sweet er than money earned.
Damn Skippy.
My method is a 3 legged stool.
Study
Practice
Compete
I studied Efren, well I studied all the top players.
I recall a statement by Efren indicating that he watched the weaker players to find fluked shots that he could practice and add to his arsenal.
My Hit 'em hard and wish them well tactic in the weak ring games could show a profit.
Money won is sweet er than money earned.
I have to admit that this is alien to my form of competition. Every shot has a plan even if it acknowledges several possible outcomes. Taking a flyer is totally alien. I strongly believe any plan outruns luck in the long run.
I studied poker for a few years. It is far easier to model poker than pool. If you build ten identical computer players, exact same skill level, after thousands and millions of plays some will do spectacularly well, some will do spectacularly poorly. "Ah hah, a game of luck!" Well no, not exactly. As soon as you slightly unbalance the field giving one or more players a tiny bit more or less skill, the skill factor comes screaming into play with the better players moving far ahead over time, the lesser than average players being destroyed.
No two of us are equal so poker is a game of skill. The catch is that the skill might not show up short term. Famous poker player Doyle Brunson called Chris Moneymaker the most improved poker player he had seen. Chris' early large win(S) were largely luck. Left him a lot of room to improve!
At the end of the day I think skill always outruns luck. I have had a few things happen over the years that put the lie to that. Weird things happen like impossible shots with a gun. I once scored eight shots in a row with a benjamin pump on a moving target floating down a river. The rifle had to be pumped up eight times or more between shots. The V-groove rear sight was on a point about halfway up the barrel for the final shot at a tiny target. The distinct "tink" of a hit came back, scored at hundreds of yards! The odds of that last hit happening are tiny, the odds of it being the eighth hit in a row?? Some of the crazy shots are a matter of the pellet or bullet has to land somewhere!
Conditions were right coupled with a mistake when I scored a hit at over a mile with a .223. The accuracy of the rifle and ammo dictated an area of probability many times the size of the target. The bullet could land anywhere in that area if the shot was perfect. The first shot indicated I was shooting far further than I thought. However, the hit on bare sand indicated my windage call was perfect for that range. I quickly fired a second shot, scoring the hit. I was shooting ammo that was of fantastic quality in some respects. The rifle was an AR-15 with a fairly crappy defective mil-spec barrel. After doing everything right the main reason the bullet hit the target was because it had to land somewhere! It happened to be where I wanted it to.
I can't say I have never "winged" a shot playing pool. It is a very rare occurrence though. I want the circle of probability of the object ball to have a pocket centered in it.
I don't consider myself lucky. When I have to factor in luck I fail far more often than I succeed. However, my skills sometimes put me in a position to get lucky! Having a plan, even a feeble one, engages the unconscious. The unconscious has saved my life a few times so I have a high regard for it.
For a few years I did use the Buddy Hall procedure when nothing else was available. No less a player than Buddy Hall himself when near his peak said that when he doesn't have a shot or a safety he whacks hell out of the balls and hopes for the best! Sounds ever so much more elegant to call it the Buddy Hall procedure or Buddy Hall technique than my usual "poke and pray!" However, it was damned seldom that Buddy didn't have a shot or a safety. I wish I could say the same about my choices!
Hu
Brother Ron
Well-known member
I have a friend I play against quite often and every time we get together to shoot he is always getting upset because I get lucky.
He says I am the luckiest person he knows. 3 weeks ago he got so mad when I missed a shot and left him completely buried that he dropped his old Viking cue from years ago onto the floor and broke the butt cap.
He says I am the luckiest person he knows. 3 weeks ago he got so mad when I missed a shot and left him completely buried that he dropped his old Viking cue from years ago onto the floor and broke the butt cap.
Bad Luck?????
A proper plan considers any element of luck as well.
In playing a safety I plan on leaving a difficult situation. With a little luck it could be an impossible situation.
The numbers don't lie . Through practice I know generally what my chances are of execution on a given attempt. Nothing is 100 percent but if I crunch the numbers briefly before the decision is made, I at least can make the mathematically correct decision.
Back in the days when a spot shot was a common situation I was around 90% to make. With the advent of ball in hand that shot was neglected in my practice routine. Now I might only be 75 or 80%.
The more I practice the luckier I get.
Taking wild fliers was a way to play with my parking brake on. Missing on purpose was never a stall that I employed. Taking on caroms and combinations that gave the money ball a chance at 3 pockets ......well through practice became skills. Some called it luck, I call it skill.
A judge in Washington state decided that playing pool for money was Not gambling. He decided that it's a game of skill with elements of luck.
I rest my case, Your Honor.
My Plan included the illusions of luck.
it keeps the guppies in the game a little longer.
"Back in The Day",
I could make a little money in the little ring games. Playing wild and crazy rides on the money kept the field entertained and on the hook. Break and run a rack and the game was over, with all 4 unscrewing. it's all about the time and place. My method in a 2 day tournament with the Big Guns was totally different. I had success in a couple or few of those as well. In that sorta contest putting racks together can knock the wind out of the opponent, kinda like a gut punch. A friend described it as getting kicked in the gut.
One of my favorite memories of Efren was him scratching his head and saying, "I got lucky ".
Ah Hah!!! Great minds think alike. Well for sure the frequency of that situation arising for him was not nearly as often as it arose for me.
HIT 'EM HARD!!!!! and dont forget the WISH THEM WELL part. Sometimes I take a knee as soon as the shot is away.