Where's the line????

poolbiz420 said:

Just curious if anybody knows where the line is between having "heart" and being plain stupid?? There is a guy in the pool room that has been playing a much better player from the Detroit area and loseing much cash. The spot really does not favor the home town player but he keeps playing him with the same spot. All of us at the pool room know he cannot win, but he keeps playing him. So does the guy have "heart" or is it stupidity? Just lookin' for people's opinion.

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I hope people think I just have heart when I always play the best around and refuse any spot they might offer. It's a learning thing and with a spot I would have no gage for judging improvement.

All in all, I guess I'm stupid. LOL

poolbiz420 said:

Just curious if anybody knows where the line is between having "heart" and being plain stupid?? There is a guy in the pool room that has been playing a much better player from the Detroit area and loseing much cash. The spot really does not favor the home town player but he keeps playing him with the same spot. All of us at the pool room know he cannot win, but he keeps playing him. So does the guy have "heart" or is it stupidity? Just lookin' for people's opinion.

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if he doesn't learn, he's stupid.

poolbiz420 said:

Just curious if anybody knows where the line is between having "heart" and being plain stupid?? There is a guy in the pool room that has been playing a much better player from the Detroit area and loseing much cash. The spot really does not favor the home town player but he keeps playing him with the same spot. All of us at the pool room know he cannot win, but he keeps playing him. So does the guy have "heart" or is it stupidity? Just lookin' for people's opinion.

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There's a difference between stepping up and getting robbed.

Chris

poolbiz420 said:

I can get top players around here to play $10 or $20 a set but this guy is betting $50 - $100 sets and you just can't get it through his head, we all try to look out for each other in the pool room but this guy just won't listen to any of us???? I don't get it. I also think it's called getting robbed!

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I guess I'm not stupid after all. No, when I'm playing someone I know I can't beat, I don't bet big. There isn't anyone around here that is going to give me a big spot anyway. I think they might play a small game with me knowing that, yes they are going to win, but I'm not going to be a complete slouch. I'm going to make them play. I'm a cheap pushover. LOL

That fine line is found right in the wallet..Will this guy play other local guys for the same money??...I think the algerbriac formula looks like this...

fool and his money soon part X 1/2bx2* Oblivious to what going on* No realistic concept of his own game...

I am always on the lookout for this type of person

This goes on in the Macho world of pool all the time..I play pretty solid but I will always work people for a spot..Why would'nt you??? but I will readily give up weight if the guy needs it....And if a guy is hammering me with a certain spot I'll tell him straight out I need more weight

yeah he just sounds self-deulsional and stupid lol

i know a player here....was what i called a good solid player but a lousy gambler......betting was all about testosterone for him, if youre not willing to take a bet you aint got heart, always looking to double up and triple up. One night it got the best of him, when i found myself playing him for the title to his truck against 800 on a race to 5. He kept upping the bet after each loss, and kept letting him in an attempt to get even (i consider him a friend). I was actually glad i lost the last race, the last thing i wanted was this guys truck.
its like that line in color of money.....pools about brains and balls and you got too much of one and not enough of the other.

There are a lot of people that would love to find the answer to this thread's question! A friend of mine and I were walking out of a ph and another friend is walking in. The guy coming in tells us he just joined a 12-step program for gambling anonymous. He was practically in tears telling us how he's lost everything to gambling and the friend I was walking out with asks him, "I'll bet you $20 you don't stop gambling!" All three of us started laughing so hard we almost fell down!

I don't know but I cross it all the time!

John

poolbiz420 said:

Just curious if anybody knows where the line is between having "heart" and being plain stupid?? There is a guy in the pool room that has been playing a much better player from the Detroit area and loseing much cash. The spot really does not favor the home town player but he keeps playing him with the same spot. All of us at the pool room know he cannot win, but he keeps playing him. So does the guy have "heart" or is it stupidity? Just lookin' for people's opinion.

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He has TOO MUCH heart. In the old days - at least so I hear - players used to play more than once, they would try several times to beat someone before adjusting. Nowadays, it seems as though almost no one will even TRY a set even when matching up. It's pathetic.

So your friend is either completely stupid or he is trying to get better so he can BUST you all. I will almost always try someone even unless I am SURE that they are out of my league and then I don't want to get a spot because I want to win even. I would prefer to play for low stakes even and get drilled than win for bigger stakes with a spot. But I ain't completely stupid either. I have taken spots and won with no remorse.

So, sometimes it's heart and sometimes it's stupidity and sometimes it's the same thing.

John

Stupid is as Stupid does- Forrest Gump!

I was playing one of the top players in Calgary $20 races to 9 straight up for the heck of it. Abit of trash talking got started and I got into a match for $50 with him but I got a 2 game spot because once the money leaves the realm of "cheap and friendly" sets the pro level player is going to elevate his game way up and I am not a 50/50 bet with this guy playing even races to 9.

There is definately a line between heart and plain stupidity. I played another guy in my home town a couple sets and beat him for $50 and got the usual line "well the money was not enough to interest me, lets play for $200 if you want my REAL game". Now this is a guy that is NOT rich, $50 means something to him and the $200 he asked to play for was all the cash he had on him in the bank and his pockets combined so that fact that he couold sluff off $50 sets I offered to him all night long (since I had only $170 at the time on me and as a 60/40 favorite to beat the guy in sets IMO I did not want to take only one shot at the cash incase he has one hot set and breaks me, the guy can put a 5 pack out there on a good day. in multiple sets I am a huge favorite, in one set it gets alot closer to a 50/50 bet though and I like to have the edge when I gamble). This is a guy though that will go into a poker club on pay day and lose every penny in his pocket and have to scrimp and save the rest of the week, so heart or stupidity? You tell me. I dont think I lack heart for not flipping a coin with this guy for our bankrolls although if he were on this thread he sure would see it differently.

poolbiz420 said:

Just curious if anybody knows where the line is between having "heart" and being plain stupid?? There is a guy in the pool room that has been playing a much better player from the Detroit area and loseing much cash. The spot really does not favor the home town player but he keeps playing him with the same spot. All of us at the pool room know he cannot win, but he keeps playing him. So does the guy have "heart" or is it stupidity? Just lookin' for people's opinion.

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It’s the polar opposite of the line between being a nit and being smart

Celtic said:

I played another guy in my home town a couple sets and beat him for $50 and got the usual line "well the money was not enough to interest me, lets play for $200 if you want my REAL game".

I dont think I lack heart for not flipping a coin with this guy for our bankrolls although if he were on this thread he sure would see it differently.

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Celtic,
I know this guy - he turns up in every poolroom, everywhere. You OBVIOUSLY have the edge because you realize his line is just an excuse for losing. All the great players I know play great ALL the time, every stroke, every time, no matter the stakes.

I don't think you lack heart for not jumping on him. Nine-ball is a stupid game, and you definitely show intelligence in realizing the real possibility of a loss. I will contrast your decision with a friend who is an accomplished road player. This friend was matched up with another travelling player, and my friend was definitely the favorite. Instead of trying for 7 ahead or 10 ahead sets (in which there was very little chance for him to lose), he just wanted races to 5 or 7. I asked him why he passed on the certain victory for the short sets, and he replied "the money changes hands quicker in the short race - I know I'm going to play my best, we'll see if my opponent can." My general policy is to jump immediately on anyone offering excuses like your opponent - it just adds to the pressure already on them. Good luck.

Your questions begs for more info...The player must have some reason for doing this and apparently only he knows what it is.

If he's fulfilling his reason(s) for playing like this, then he has both head and heart. If someone else's motivations don't match his, so what?...it's his money/time/head/heart.

I'd be curious to see the ultimate outcome of his choices...will he improve, learn to play under pressure, not choke the big shot?...etc.

Jeff Livingston

There is no such thing as a stupid sucker. Every sucker out there has tremendous heart.