Won Friday night even after the worst sharking EVER!

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
8 ball chip tournament 14 players.

Played against an individual that, after my 5th consecutive shot, started yelling to fictional people across the bar. He was doing it as soon as I was getting down on my shots. He then found someone to talk to and the conversation turned to putting a bullet in someone's mouth. Then he started yawning really loudly. I finally turned to him and told him to stop the "sharking bullshit". He didn't say anything. I didn't get good shape on the 8 and played it out in the middle of the table and placed the cue ball behind it. He did hit his ball but left me with a back cut to the corner. I got down in my shot and he started GROWLING loudly. I stopped and stared at him while down in my shot. He stopped. I stood up and started over. Cut it in the pocket.

I know it is part of the game, but damn! I have been threatened by crack addicts before during money games but that was bizarre.

What sharking have you experienced?

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chefjeff

If not now...
Silver Member
How about a fat drunk guy in baggy shorts showing his ass (literally, along with his other "private" parts) by spreading his legs around the chosen corner pocket and giving us his ugly-azz crotch shot?

It happened at the State tournament to my playing partner. The match was waaay into the tourney, I think for 5th-6th place. The crotch-shower lost as my buddy just laughed right at him as he sank the ball.

And both guys are decent pool players, so ya never know.



Jeff Livingston
 

Dexter36

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Most pathetic sharking I've seen lives in the college union halls, the "oh I lost" at the bar before the game is over has nothing on the 20 year old kid standing behind the pocket swinging his stick around like he is in the drumming section of the marching band.

I played a big intimidating guy named Ace from Cincinnatti once that had a funny gig.. slaps his knuckles on either side of the pocket so I can see all his big rings, puts his face behind the pocket, stares me in the eye and says "boy, i'm gonna beat your a**". Best part was that I was super thankful once I realized all I had to do was make pool shots, haha! I had a good spread, once the first went the rest weren't bad. He flipped his attitude on a dime after getting ran out on... great guy, super nice, made my night.
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How about a fat drunk guy in baggy shorts showing his ass (literally, along with his other "private" parts) by spreading his legs around the chosen corner pocket and giving us his ugly-azz crotch shot?

It happened at the State tournament to my playing partner. The match was waaay into the tourney, I think for 5th-6th place. The crotch-shower lost as my buddy just laughed right at him as he sank the ball.

And both guys are decent pool players, so ya never know.



Jeff Livingston
Uhhh yuck

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john coloccia

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Best defense against sharking is a solid pre-shot routine and focus. I'm not a great shot maker, but I am, more or less, shark proof. When I'm focused, everything else is tuned out. If, by some fluke, something really does bother me I just get up and start over from the beginning. Walk around the table, select my shot, line it up, etc etc. Whatever...I've got all night and I'm not the one with my butt in the chair.

Years and years ago, I did have one guy once stick his fingers in the pocket while I was down on a shot, and say something like, "It's never going in this......." He didn't get anymore out and I fired it in like a rocket. He got them out just in time. "Sorry, I'm focused on the balls, not the pockets...you probably shouldn't put anything fragile in my pockets."

I'm lucky that all the guys I play with now are very similar to me. When it's someone else's shot, I sit quietly in my seat and that's that.
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
Many years ago I was at a place called The Crowbar, in Rock Hill, SC. I had won the 8-ball tournament without showing too much speed. On the way over there my brother told me I'd have to hold back or I'd probably stir up trouble. Anyway, after the tournament a local guy decided to challenge me to $5 a game, 8-ball of course, old-school bar room rules just like the tournament. Each game looked close, like it could go either way. But I'd won 4 straight.

On that 4th game, as I'm getting down to shoot the 8, this guy's wife or girlfriend leans over the corner pocket I'm shooting toward and pulls her blouse down and under her bare breasts. She starts rocking those pretty puppies back and forth over the pocket. I stand up and smile and look over at the guy. He's smiling too, and he just shrugs his shoulders like, what can you do buddy, she's got a mind of her own. So I fire the ball into the pocket just an inch or so below the girl's skin. She jumps back and pulls her shirt up where it belongs. The guy says, "double or nothin'?" And by now my brother is standing next to the guy.

I tell him he's down $20 and if he wants to play for it he needs to square up first. He says it's bullshit, then my brother says he thinks that's the rules. Lol. There are no rules! But the guy fishes a wrinkled twenty from his pocket and tosses it on the table. As i pick it up he asks if I got any more "rules". I say yes, glancing over to his girlfriend..."your girl has to show those pretty things on every shot." The guy looked at me, then at my brother, and he smiled really big. "This is your damned brother, ain't it Wes?" Then Wesley introduced us. He and my brother were good buddies. We played a few more games for the fun of it, no holding back. The guy was glad we weren't gambling anymore. I bought the beers, and we had a great time. I was hoping see more of that sharking, but now that her man wasn't subject to losing cash, I guess the girl decided it wasn't worth a free showing.
 

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Many years ago I was at a place called The Crowbar, in Rock Hill, SC. I had won the 8-ball tournament without showing too much speed. On the way over there my brother told me I'd have to hold back or I'd probably stir up trouble. Anyway, after the tournament a local guy decided to challenge me to $5 a game, 8-ball of course, old-school bar room rules just like the tournament. Each game looked close, like it could go either way. But I'd won 4 straight.



On that 4th game, as I'm getting down to shoot the 8, this guy's wife or girlfriend leans over the corner pocket I'm shooting toward and pulls her blouse down and under her bare breasts. She starts rocking those pretty puppies back and forth over the pocket. I stand up and smile and look over at the guy. He's smiling too, and he just shrugs his shoulders like, what can you do buddy, she's got a mind of her own. So I fire the ball into the pocket just an inch or so below the girl's skin. She jumps back and pulls her shirt up where it belongs. The guy says, "double or nothin'?" And by now my brother is standing next to the guy.



I tell him he's down $20 and if he wants to play for it he needs to square up first. He says it's bullshit, then my brother says he thinks that's the rules. Lol. There are no rules! But the guy fishes a wrinkled twenty from his pocket and tosses it on the table. As i pick it up he asks if I got any more "rules". I say yes, glancing over to his girlfriend..."your girl has to show those pretty things on every shot." The guy looked at me, then at my brother, and he smiled really big. "This is your damned brother, ain't it Wes?" Then Wesley introduced us. He and my brother were good buddies. We played a few more games for the fun of it, no holding back. The guy was glad we weren't gambling anymore. I bought the beers, and we had a great time. I was hoping see more of that sharking, but now that her man wasn't subject to losing cash, I guess the girl decided it wasn't worth a free showing.



Great story thx


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Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Best defense against sharking is a solid pre-shot routine and focus. I'm not a great shot maker, but I am, more or less, shark proof. When I'm focused, everything else is tuned out. If, by some fluke, something really does bother me I just get up and start over from the beginning. Walk around the table, select my shot, line it up, etc etc. Whatever...I've got all night and I'm not the one with my butt in the chair.

Years and years ago, I did have one guy once stick his fingers in the pocket while I was down on a shot, and say something like, "It's never going in this......." He didn't get anymore out and I fired it in like a rocket. He got them out just in time. "Sorry, I'm focused on the balls, not the pockets...you probably shouldn't put anything fragile in my pockets."

I'm lucky that all the guys I play with now are very similar to me. When it's someone else's shot, I sit quietly in my seat and that's that.
Not sure what it is but when I am genuinely pissed I play like Efren. The only time I have strung 4 racks together is when a guy made a comment I didn't like. We were playing a race to 10 and I was down 5 to 7. After he said what he did we threw some verbals back and forth. I almost jumped across the table at him... opted to play instead (didn't need to end up in jail). Broke and ran 4 racks missed a 7 in the 5th rack. When he missed I knocked in the 8 and 9. Took his money and left. He tried apologizing but I have not forgiven him.

I have tried to fake it... biting my tongue or thinking of things that piss me off but it doesn't work. I have the feeling that what happened Friday with what he pulled helped me win the tournament.

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markjames

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Trash talk

After some long sets at the pool hall my friend invites me to a bar. I say ok. We put our names up and the guys shooting look good. Our turn. He starts saying really disgusting things to us. Insults. Ridicule. Etc. i miss a shot and he says, "Oh you missed, just like i missed coming in your wife's eye last night." While taken aback, i realized i was up against a monster and there was only one thing to do. Next chance i ran four balls, lined up the eight and sliced it in. Shook his hand and said, "Nice playing, have a good night."
 

PoolBum

Ace in the side.
Silver Member
After some long sets at the pool hall my friend invites me to a bar. I say ok. We put our names up and the guys shooting look good. Our turn. He starts saying really disgusting things to us. Insults. Ridicule. Etc. i miss a shot and he says, "Oh you missed, just like i missed coming in your wife's eye last night." While taken aback, i realized i was up against a monster and there was only one thing to do. Next chance i ran four balls, lined up the eight and sliced it in. Shook his hand and said, "Nice playing, have a good night."

In a bar that's not called sharking, it's called being in a bar.
 
Many years ago I was at a place called The Crowbar, in Rock Hill, SC. I had won the 8-ball tournament without showing too much speed. On the way over there my brother told me I'd have to hold back or I'd probably stir up trouble. Anyway, after the tournament a local guy decided to challenge me to $5 a game, 8-ball of course, old-school bar room rules just like the tournament. Each game looked close, like it could go either way. But I'd won 4 straight.



On that 4th game, as I'm getting down to shoot the 8, this guy's wife or girlfriend leans over the corner pocket I'm shooting toward and pulls her blouse down and under her bare breasts. She starts rocking those pretty puppies back and forth over the pocket. I stand up and smile and look over at the guy. He's smiling too, and he just shrugs his shoulders like, what can you do buddy, she's got a mind of her own. So I fire the ball into the pocket just an inch or so below the girl's skin. She jumps back and pulls her shirt up where it belongs. The guy says, "double or nothin'?" And by now my brother is standing next to the guy.



I tell him he's down $20 and if he wants to play for it he needs to square up first. He says it's bullshit, then my brother says he thinks that's the rules. Lol. There are no rules! But the guy fishes a wrinkled twenty from his pocket and tosses it on the table. As i pick it up he asks if I got any more "rules". I say yes, glancing over to his girlfriend..."your girl has to show those pretty things on every shot." The guy looked at me, then at my brother, and he smiled really big. "This is your damned brother, ain't it Wes?" Then Wesley introduced us. He and my brother were good buddies. We played a few more games for the fun of it, no holding back. The guy was glad we weren't gambling anymore. I bought the beers, and we had a great time. I was hoping see more of that sharking, but now that her man wasn't subject to losing cash, I guess the girl decided it wasn't worth a free showing.



I don't know about anyone else but, that doesn't sound like sharking to me. Almost like a reward for good play? I might have missed the shot as to continue to get that level of "sharking". Seems to me it would be worth $5 if you lost. Just my take but, hey it's a weird world. Wonder what you would have seen if you were playing $10 a game.


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jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
Many years ago I was at a place called The Crowbar, in Rock Hill, SC. I had won the 8-ball tournament without showing too much speed. On the way over there my brother told me I'd have to hold back or I'd probably stir up trouble. Anyway, after the tournament a local guy decided to challenge me to $5 a game, 8-ball of course, old-school bar room rules just like the tournament. Each game looked close, like it could go either way. But I'd won 4 straight.

On that 4th game, as I'm getting down to shoot the 8, this guy's wife or girlfriend leans over the corner pocket I'm shooting toward and pulls her blouse down and under her bare breasts. She starts rocking those pretty puppies back and forth over the pocket. I stand up and smile and look over at the guy. He's smiling too, and he just shrugs his shoulders like, what can you do buddy, she's got a mind of her own. So I fire the ball into the pocket just an inch or so below the girl's skin. She jumps back and pulls her shirt up where it belongs. The guy says, "double or nothin'?" And by now my brother is standing next to the guy.

I tell him he's down $20 and if he wants to play for it he needs to square up first. He says it's bullshit, then my brother says he thinks that's the rules. Lol. There are no rules! But the guy fishes a wrinkled twenty from his pocket and tosses it on the table. As i pick it up he asks if I got any more "rules". I say yes, glancing over to his girlfriend..."your girl has to show those pretty things on every shot." The guy looked at me, then at my brother, and he smiled really big. "This is your damned brother, ain't it Wes?" Then Wesley introduced us. He and my brother were good buddies. We played a few more games for the fun of it, no holding back. The guy was glad we weren't gambling anymore. I bought the beers, and we had a great time. I was hoping see more of that sharking, but now that her man wasn't subject to losing cash, I guess the girl decided it wasn't worth a free showing.

Played in there a few times myself, never had any issue getting the cash or some of the guys GF's. Lol. True story. Not the nicest place I've ever been in for sure, also played at a biker clubhouse there, won 4-$500 and no issues.
Jason
 

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
After some long sets at the pool hall my friend invites me to a bar. I say ok. We put our names up and the guys shooting look good. Our turn. He starts saying really disgusting things to us. Insults. Ridicule. Etc. i miss a shot and he says, "Oh you missed, just like i missed coming in your wife's eye last night." While taken aback, i realized i was up against a monster and there was only one thing to do. Next chance i ran four balls, lined up the eight and sliced it in. Shook his hand and said, "Nice playing, have a good night."

Sadly, I woulda went to jail if he made that comment about my wife/gf/mom, etc.
Jason
 

strmanglr scott

All about Focus
Silver Member
8 ball chip tournament 14 players.

Played against an individual that, after my 5th consecutive shot, started yelling to fictional people across the bar. He was doing it as soon as I was getting down on my shots. He then found someone to talk to and the conversation turned to putting a bullet in someone's mouth. Then he started yawning really loudly. I finally turned to him and told him to stop the "sharking bullshit". He didn't say anything. I didn't get good shape on the 8 and played it out in the middle of the table and placed the cue ball behind it. He did hit his ball but left me with a back cut to the corner. I got down in my shot and he started GROWLING loudly. I stopped and stared at him while down in my shot. He stopped. I stood up and started over. Cut it in the pocket.

I know it is part of the game, but damn! I have been threatened by crack addicts before during money games but that was bizarre.

What sharking have you experienced?

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Got a friend who would try and shark me when I got down on the shot.

Everytime he did, I got up from the shot and methodically and slowly, went through my pre-shot routine.

As I got down, if he sharked me again, I got up and went through the whole thing again.

This imo is the best way to handle that.
 

john coloccia

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not sure what it is but when I am genuinely pissed I play like Efren. The only time I have strung 4 racks together is when a guy made a comment I didn't like. We were playing a race to 10 and I was down 5 to 7. After he said what he did we threw some verbals back and forth. I almost jumped across the table at him... opted to play instead (didn't need to end up in jail). Broke and ran 4 racks missed a 7 in the 5th rack. When he missed I knocked in the 8 and 9. Took his money and left. He tried apologizing but I have not forgiven him.

I have tried to fake it... biting my tongue or thinking of things that piss me off but it doesn't work. I have the feeling that what happened Friday with what he pulled helped me win the tournament.

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I'm pretty much the exact opposite. When I'm upset, I play like garbage. The thing is that I tend to be pretty emotional about things, but I don't really show it, so it can seem like I'm really cold and calculating...business like... but I'm actually screaming on the inside. Occasionally, when I'm really pissed at myself, I might finally let out a "Shoot!" or a "Damn it!", but not much more than that.

Anyhow, I've kind of found a rhythm and a pace that lets me drive that stuff out of my head and gets me focused. Happy coincidence that it also filters out sharking.
 

Low500

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not sure what it is but when I am genuinely pissed I play like Efren. The only time I have strung 4 racks together is when a guy made a comment I didn't like. We were playing a race to 10 and I was down 5 to 7. After he said what he did we threw some verbals back and forth. I almost jumped across the table at him... opted to play instead (didn't need to end up in jail). Broke and ran 4 racks missed a 7 in the 5th rack. When he missed I knocked in the 8 and 9. Took his money and left. He tried apologizing but I have not forgiven him.
I have tried to fake it... biting my tongue or thinking of things that piss me off but it doesn't work. I have the feeling that what happened Friday with what he pulled helped me win the tournament.
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Why in the world would you allow yourself to possibly get into that kind of mess by going into a dump like that in the first place?
Is shooting competitive pool that important to you? So much so, that you have to defile yourself by associating with trashy people?
There's just got to be better places to compete in the game without being around low class riff-raff like what you've mentioned here.
If not, (speaking for myself), then I'd just quit the game entirely or buy a home pool table and enjoy watching the balls go into the pockets all by myself.
Keep on truckin'
:thumbup:
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Why in the world would you allow yourself to possibly get into that kind of mess by going into a dump like that in the first place?
Is shooting competitive pool that important to you? So much so, that you have to defile yourself by associating with trashy people?
There's just got to be better places to compete in the game without being around low class riff-raff like what you've mentioned here.
If not, (speaking for myself), then I'd just quit the game entirely or buy a home pool table and enjoy watching the balls go into the pockets all by myself.
Keep on truckin'
Believe it or not... He was a friend of mine.

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Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm pretty much the exact opposite. When I'm upset, I play like garbage. The thing is that I tend to be pretty emotional about things, but I don't really show it, so it can seem like I'm really cold and calculating...business like... but I'm actually screaming on the inside. Occasionally, when I'm really pissed at myself, I might finally let out a "Shoot!" or a "Damn it!", but not much more than that.

Anyhow, I've kind of found a rhythm and a pace that lets me drive that stuff out of my head and gets me focused. Happy coincidence that it also filters out sharking.
Pissed at myself is different than being pissed at someone else for me. If I am playing bad then that voice in my head starts chirping... If someone sends me off all goes quiet. Strange I know...

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Celophanewrap

Call me Grace
Silver Member
Sharking is one of those things I've never understood. Pool is a social game, everyone
wants to win. If you've ever played football or basketball, baseball, soccer, etc... at a
high level or even a sort of high level you've experienced and likely taken part in some
sharking. When I started to play pool I guess I just expected it, it never bothered me.
I don't do it, I consider it impolite, but I don't mind much when it's done to me, I expect a
little and it's always funny to me to lengths people will go to try and beat you.
In most pool halls or bars there's usually plenty of noise and on some nights there's
any number of pretty "people" around or other noise to distract you from what you might
be doing learn to play through it and it don't bother you. I guess I sorta figured that out
playing other sports. The real talent is being able to give it back better than they are dishing
it out while your shooting (or playing). It's the art of conversation. Then right after you
sink the 8 or 9 ball you have to be able to say, "rack 'em, or did you just want to quit
now" with a smile.
 
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