What is it? A shark, a strategy or something else?

JoeyA

JoeyA

Efren's Mini-Tourn BACKER
Silver Member
Player A is watching his opponent run out playing 9 ball. When the opponent gets to the 9 ball, it is a relatively easy shot and Player A says, "That's good" and gives Player B the game.

This goes on for some time and Player B thinks Player A deserves the same "courtesy" so he concedes a game every now and then when he thinks Player A isn't going to miss the 9 ball.

After two or three concedes, some of them not so easy but easy enough that Player B isn't going to miss one of them except once in a blue moon. The match is getting a little tighter and there's a little pressure between the two players because the match is still close but it's also getting closer to the end of the match. Finally, Player B gets to the 9 ball and the the shot is very similar to an earlier shot that Player A had given him and this time, Player A, kind of squirms in his seat like he is getting ready to get up out of his chair and concede the game, but doesn't. Player B bears down on the shot and hangs the 9 ball.

Was this strategy on Player A's part, sharking at the highest level, just someone's paranoid imagination running wild or something else?

Lucky Joe
 
RunoutJJ

RunoutJJ

Professional Banger
Silver Member
Simple solution or rule that everybody should follow....





















































Shoot every ball (game ball included) everytime....
 
Big Perm

Big Perm

1pkt 14.1 8 Banks 9 10
Silver Member
The squirming in his seat like he's going to get up and give the game is a bit of a shark....now, if you said he just sat there, quiet, and made the guy shoot the 9, then I would say that is just strategy....

Joey, not sure if you are a golfer.....they were talking on TGC the other day, I think they were referring to Jack or Arnie.....they said in matchplay, on the first few holes, they'd make them putt out everything but the shortest of putts, like 6 inches and less.....if the guy was making all the shorties, then they'd start conceding the putts.....then, in the later holes, when a little 2 foot breaker came up in the heat of battle, they'd make them putt the ball.....the theory was, you get them out of habit of making the shorter strokes mid-round, then when the pressure is on, you put the pressure on them at the right moment.....thought it was a good idea....
 
KoolKat9Lives

KoolKat9Lives

Taught 'em all I know
Silver Member
If he squirmed, he sharked. Probably intentionally, but maybe not.

For that reason, I try not to look at my opponent when I'm on the case ball. And like Jim, I wish no one conceded, it's a recipe that sooner or later will generate disagreements and ill will. Same thing in golf.

But hey, it's part of the game.
 
9ball

9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
No 9 ball

JoeyA said:
Player A is watching his opponent run out playing 9 ball. When the opponent gets to the 9 ball, it is a relatively easy shot and Player A says, "That's good" and gives Player B the game.

This goes on for some time and Player B thinks Player A deserves the same "courtesy" so he concedes a game every now and then when he thinks Player A isn't going to miss the 9 ball.

After two or three concedes, some of them not so easy but easy enough that Player B isn't going to miss one of them except once in a blue moon. The match is getting a little tighter and there's a little pressure between the two players because the match is still close but it's also getting closer to the end of the match. Finally, Player B gets to the 9 ball and the the shot is very similar to an earlier shot that Player A had given him and this time, Player A, kind of squirms in his seat like he is getting ready to get up out of his chair and concede the game, but doesn't. Player B bears down on the shot and hangs the 9 ball.

Was this strategy on Player A's part, sharking at the highest level, just someone's paranoid imagination running wild or something else?

Lucky Joe
Click to expand...



I wouldn`t say it was a shark! I just believe that palyer A decided it was end of match and just didn`t want to give up the game ball.

Happens to alot of players who concede the 9 in games, and suddenly find themselves down and about to lose, They realize this is their last chance to get back in the game or win so they don`t want to concede.

That is why I don`t concede any game ball no matter who you are! I don`t want to find myself in that position at the end of a match.

You could find yourself labeled as sharking in that situation and I don`t want that.

Somtimes I think players concede the 9 as they see so many good players do it,that they feel peer pressure to do the same, Especially if they are playing a better player.


I play here at shooters in olathe ks and Somtimes in our weekly tourneys I get matched up with players like Daid Matlock and I won`t give him a straight in 9ball out of respect to him and myself.

H.P.
 
uwate

uwate

daydreaming about pool
Silver Member
i was playing a guy ive known for 25 years in miami at a weekly 9ball tourny. Me and this guy play even. The match went with each of us giving each other the easy concession 9s. Then near the end of the match he is running out and I just said to myself, I should make him make every ball. So I didnt concede. So he is down on the ball and I see him looking out of the corner of the his eye, kinda wondering why I am not conceding the ball. Just for an instant..then he fires the ball and it rattles. He gets up off the ball and is HOT. Really HOT. Starts woofing at me about how that was a low move and how I sharked him.

In retrospect, yeah I can see how it was a shark move but at the time I didnt intend for it to be, I just wanted him to make every ball. I dunno JoeyA, it might be an unintentional move or not.

I do know that whenever I play this guy now, if I decide to concede balls, I concede with him all the way to the end. Me and him are friends and I dont want him mad at me and at the end of the day its not like me and him play $1k sets or nothing. This is for like 150 dollar first prize weekly events and its rare for me to even play nowadays.
 
dabarbr

dabarbr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When I'm playing a match with a friend I will concede some shots but I never expect them to concede to me. That way I'm always ready to shoot the last ball.

If I'm playing with someone that I'm not familiar with I will let them shoot everything but only so they will not not give me anything.

When I was out there gambling I would tell my opponent that we will shoot everything. But if they want to concede to me sometimes I didn't mind but I never conceded anything to them.

The best way to get back into a match where your opponent has you buried is for them to miss an unmissable shot. This will hang with them for a good while especially if you punish them for that miss.

P.S. Joey, it looks like it was a move on his part and it seems like it worked. But to give him the benefit of the doubt it might just have been the pressure of the situation. I believe in your heart you know what the answer is.
 
TheMadScientist

TheMadScientist

Justin Richardson
Silver Member
It's just a move and sometimes it works because it gets the shooters mind off of the shot. Instead he is wondering why the opponent is not giving up this 9-ball like he did earlier.

I don't like it when people give me 9-balls for this reason, but occasionally they do give up one that I feel is only a 95% shot.
 
D Player

D Player

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
To answer Joey's question, IMO it sounds like the guy squirming in his chair as if he's about to conceed and when in the shooter's line of sight is guilty of sharking -- whether intentional or not. This seems to be a visual distration to me -- similar to shifting a cue or some other type of movement while an opponent is shooting.

In general, I don't think a concession should ever be expected.

If the shooter misses because they are expecting a concession, but one is not offered -- then the shooter has essentially sharked themself...and they have no one to blame but themselves.
 
Cuebuddy

Cuebuddy

Mini cues
Silver Member
JoeyA said:
Player A is watching his opponent run out playing 9 ball. When the opponent gets to the 9 ball, it is a relatively easy shot and Player A says, "That's good" and gives Player B the game.

This goes on for some time and Player B thinks Player A deserves the same "courtesy" so he concedes a game every now and then when he thinks Player A isn't going to miss the 9 ball.

After two or three concedes, some of them not so easy but easy enough that Player B isn't going to miss one of them except once in a blue moon. The match is getting a little tighter and there's a little pressure between the two players because the match is still close but it's also getting closer to the end of the match. Finally, Player B gets to the 9 ball and the the shot is very similar to an earlier shot that Player A had given him and this time, Player A, kind of squirms in his seat like he is getting ready to get up out of his chair and concede the game, but doesn't. Player B bears down on the shot and hangs the 9 ball.

Was this strategy on Player A's part, sharking at the highest level, just someone's paranoid imagination running wild or something else?

Lucky Joe
Click to expand...

I think this scenario could work as a sharking technique every once in awhile but if you really want to get in their heads do what I do.... concede the game much earlier, lets say when they are about to take aim on the 3:eek::eek:.
 
markpatrick

markpatrick

Cardinals
Silver Member
Totally AGREE

RunoutJJ said:
Simple solution or rule that everybody should follow....






Shoot every ball (game ball included) everytime....
Click to expand...

You never know, no matter how good the player is? When they might dog a straight in ball.
Either early or late in the game.
 
S

Steve - Detroit

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Like Big Perm said, one of the oldest moves in match play golf. Have used it myself and had it used against me many times. Just a little gamesmanship in my opinion, helps steel the nerves.
 
akaTrigger

akaTrigger

Hi!
Silver Member
I don't consider it a shark at all. Seems to me the player let the squirm get to him and he should have been focusing on the 9 ball a little better. I don't think the squirm was intentional.

He may have thought about conceding, then changed his mind and that caused the squirm - whichto me is not an intentional shark.

Did the player down on the shot have a chance to get back up by chance? If so, they should have got back up and then approached the shot again.
 
CreeDo

CreeDo

Fargo Rating 597
Silver Member
I've had arguments about this before. My feeling is it can shark a player (whether that's the intent or not) and the best policy: Be consistent in what you do. Either give most of the ones that are very makeable or don't give them. Just don't switch back and forth because of [whatever]. If you're suddenly making a guy shoot balls you normally give to him it's almost like saying "I think you're gonna dog this ball".
 
A

accustatsfan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
He or She is definitely sharking. The match play in golf analogy is perfect.

I don't like the whole conceding custom. They never give you the hard ones just balls you're going to make anyway. I would rather shoot and be in stroke.

As far as sharking/gamesmanship it can work both ways. I don't do any of this except to those "nicer" people you run into sometimes.

1. Sometimes if you stall just a little they will give you a 9 ball you didn't feel comfortable shooting. Let their impatience work to your advantage especially against faster players.

2. If you're going to shark by giving him the game ball in a set concede half difficult (not easy ones) shots early ones he'll probably make anyway. When its on the line act like you're not paying attention and watch the pressure mount.
 
alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hard to say because you can't read the guy's mind but my guess would it's a simple case of the guy changing his mind when the match got near the end and the possibility of losing entered the equation.

I don't like condeding balls in a serious game. I've seen the top players in the world rattle easy shots.
 
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