Despite my last response on this thread yesterday, I guess I have pretty much made my decision to just let it go and say nothing. Both players were in here yesterday, playing on adjacent tables. I did not see them socialize at all, which is sad.
We don't need ground rules, as we don't play for anything and never have. As a the room owner, I just feel it's a good policy not to gamble with our regulars. Occasionally I may play scotch doubles sets with 3 other regulars of similar skill level as myself, but for nominal amounts - $10 or $20 sets.
But then Geese was a true original.
Obviously an outsider should stay out of it, but equally obviously Player A was a dick.
So many ways of addressing this....
If Player A only wanted to win $80, then BEFORE THE MATCH BEGAN he should've either told Player B that up front, or---now here's an original idea that nobody in the history of pool has ever thought of before----suggest an $80 FREEZEOUT, or a 4 sets ahead freezeout if they want to play for $20 a set.
Or just say you want to set a time limit, which is fine, but say it in advance, not when you're already 3 sets ahead. That's just creepy.
But if you want to be a dick and quit while you're ahead just because there's no law against it, at the very least you should come up with an excuse that's a bit more creative.
Like the late Michael Gerace (AKA Geese) once did, when he got 8 games ahead of a hustler from New Jersey, let him win back one game, and then said "I've got a doctor's appointment" and packed up his cue.
Funny, but none of of in that Randolph Hills pool room had ever heard of many "doctor's appointments" at 8:00 on a Saturday night.
And then there was the one and only Murphy, a sidekick of the late H Street Fats, a local DC scuffler. His excuse for quitting after some poor fish had finally won a game after 14 straight losses was one that deserves a place in the Pool Hall of Fame: "TOO MUCH SEE-SAW".
Murphy was so famous for this exit move that every time I've told this story to someone who knew him, the person I was telling it to would always just laugh and beat me to the punch line.
His rather obvious reason for quitting, although he didn't state it, is that he'd managed to win back the $80 he'd just lost in the tournament and calcutta. If he'd packed up and left, it wouldn't have been near as bad, but his sticking around, and then asking the guy he'd just quit on if he wanted to keep playing some for fun, was just over the top!Obviously an outsider should stay out of it, but equally obviously Player A was a dick.
So many ways of addressing this....
If Player A only wanted to win $80, then BEFORE THE MATCH BEGAN he should've either told Player B that up front, or---now here's an original idea that nobody in the history of pool has ever thought of before----suggest an $80 FREEZEOUT, or a 4 sets ahead freezeout if they want to play for $20 a set.
Or just say you want to set a time limit, which is fine, but say it in advance, not when you're already 3 sets ahead. That's just creepy.
But if you want to be a dick and quit while you're ahead just because there's no law against it, at the very least you should come up with an excuse that's a bit more creative.
Like the late Michael Gerace (AKA Geese) once did, when he got 8 games ahead of a hustler from New Jersey, let him win back one game, and then said "I've got a doctor's appointment" and packed up his cue.
Funny, but none of of in that Randolph Hills pool room had ever heard of many "doctor's appointments" at 8:00 on a Saturday night.
And then there was the one and only Murphy, a sidekick of the late H Street Fats, a local DC scuffler. His excuse for quitting after some poor fish had finally won a game after 14 straight losses was one that deserves a place in the Pool Hall of Fame: "TOO MUCH SEE-SAW".
Murphy was so famous for this exit move that every time I've told this story to someone who knew him, the person I was telling it to would always just laugh and beat me to the punch line.
