wagering formats in pool

evergruven said:

I'm not hip, but wonder-

when folks wager, is it usually game to game, or short races, or long ones?

I can see if you weren't aware of a player's speed, you'd just start with a few games.

what else might it depend on?

I'm interested in what happens when pros match up over a few days.
a long race should be the truest gauge of a player's skill, but where wagers are concerned,
how often do long races actually occur?

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I know JL Chang recently beat SVB in a race to 50, but long races are few and far between. On the other hand, the best of three races to 25 is starting to come into vogue. I think it's a lot better than a really long race, as a long race can be become so lopsided as to be unwatchable.

Kevin Cheng just played a best of three races to 25 match against James Aranas and it was a doozy. Aranas won the first set, but Cheng won sets two and three to win the bet. This kind of match can keep everyone's attention, and I think we'll see more matches like it. Kaci also gambled recently against Pagulayan best three out of five races to 25 and the fans enjoyed it.

my 2 cents (you get what you pay for...:grin: )
an ahead set (the more games ahead the better)
is the truest way to say who is better
for the 2 out of 3 the longer the sets for each set thats a closer second
your thoughts??

bbb said:

my 2 cents (you get what you pay for...:grin: )
an ahead set (the more games ahead the better)
is the truest way to say who is better
for the 2 out of 3 the longer the sets for each set thats a closer second
your thoughts??

Click to expand...

Ahead sets and longer sets in general favor the better player in rotation games. Short sets of 9ball is like throwin' dice imo.

evergruven said:

I'm not hip, but wonder-

when folks wager, is it usually game to game, or short races, or long ones?

I can see if you weren't aware of a player's speed, you'd just start with a few games.

what else might it depend on?

I'm interested in what happens when pros match up over a few days.
a long race should be the truest gauge of a player's skill, but where wagers are concerned,
how often do long races actually occur?

Click to expand...

Ahead sets are very popular when good players match up - a session in which they play until one player gets a stipulated number of games up on the other player - such as 9 ahead, 11 ahead or whatever. Ahead sets can potentially take a very long time if they are between two evenly matched players.

Control

Pro's when both are known have one way of doing things, as you thought possible, gamblers can have other ways.

It was almost funny when a road player came into a bar long ago. Both parties knew they planned to play for pretty serious money but the beginning bet was going to be three or five dollars and be by the game. It gave both players time to loosen up a little and get a feel for the other player.

I was willing to play for twenty or fifty a game, more on the rare occasion the other player was inclined. I still rarely played sets, a matter of control and keeping fish on the line. If fifteen games is fifteen bets I can lose a few early and late and take some chances. The other player is happy. If those fifteen games represent two short races with the bet not totaling any more than what was bet on the fifteen games then the player may have lost two good sized bets for them and they won't play anymore or they want a huge adjustment.

Somebody that has never played a $200 set in their life will bet ten or twenty a game for hours. They can feel like they have a chance to turn things around at any time or that they are turning things around if they win a game or two.

People were wanting to play sets more and more as the years went by but they were chasing my money so if they wanted to play me they had to play my way. Somebody that played their cards right could win five hundred playing five games with me. How often do you see amateurs willing to play a race to three to five for five hundred?

Hu