Ok, all you road Dogs and gamblers always put up your big time gambling stories so i may as well post about my tiny miniscule gambling match, that was one of the FUNNEST matches i have ever played in my life.
Before i start i would like to say I do gamble a little, but the most is usually around $20 a rack 9-ball on a 7-footer which is pretty big for me. I mention 7-footer because to me, that is a way bigger gamble than $20 a rack on a 9-footer, which i also play.
Anyways, my girlfriend was heading out of town overnight so me and a buddy decided to hang out at my place drink beer and play pool, since the girlfriend usually doesnt let me. Anyways, we run off the the store and pick up a 6 pack to get the night going. When we get home, I offered him a race to 5 ahead giving him the 8 ball, for nothing. I being a B+ player am quite a bit better than him, but i have never spotted anyone before so i figured starting by giving him the 8 i would likely have the best of it. Anyways he whooped me racing to 5 before i could even get a game. So then i said, wanna do a race to 10 ahead for a 6 pack, same way as we were running out of beer. It went back and forth a bit, we ran to the liquor store just before closing when i was 6 up, then i finished it off and got to 10 after a few more games, not too much back and forth action. So since we are both wanting to play a little more, since we are both broke, and since we both want something riding on it i offer him a race to 10 ahead again for $5, same way. And i beat him pretty quickly again, in about an hour and a half maybe. So then i decided to spot him the 7,8,9 race to 10 ahead for $5. I was actually trying to give him his $5 back so i gave him these rules, 7, 8, 9 all count on the break. Fluke 9 counts anytime. 7 and 8 have to be called after the break. So we started this set, and I'll say, this was one of the most competitive funnest matches I've ever played. We could played for $1000 and it wouldn't have mattered more than the PRIDE that we had on the game. He refused to lose with the 7,8,9 and i refused to let him win. He got 2 up to start, then i got to 4 up, then he'd make a few on the break, or make some nice outs and would get me back down to won. He usually doesn't shoot that well, but we both were shooting about as best we could. He was getting out from lower numbered balls, (3,4) and i was having to almost break and run or miss the 1 then get out on his next mistake. It was some of the best pool either of us had played. He got me back down to 1 up then i got to 6 up, then to the hill, then back down to 6, and i floated between 4 and 6 for about 3 solid hours. Then my girlfriend came home at about 5 in the morning and i was foced to go to bed, 6 up. At this point the set had lasted about 4-5 hours and i had been on the hill 2 times. I woke up at the Crack of noon, went upstairs to find my buddy doing dishes (he doesnt live here, what i nice guy, he didn't even use my dishes) and we continued our set for 3 more hours until he had to go to work. I got near the hill a few more times, but i couldn't finish it, we finished at 6 ahead again!! So that night, he got off work and met me down at a bar, and we played 3 more games with me going one up before we decided we shouldn't finish it on a different table. We went home and it took another hour, but i finished it. I have never played a 7-9 hour set in my life, but this one was awesome. It was great to see my friend pick up his game to such a high level.
Anyways, sorry for carrying on so long, but i just wanted to show, you don't have to be gambling big to have the competetive DRIVE to have a highly entertaining and competitve match.
1 major thing i learned:
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RACKING THE 7,8 WHEN SPOTTING THEM. I taught him some stuff i learned from the break book about reading racks and gaps, and damnit if he didn't make sure to pop in the 7 or 8 every time i was stupid enough to leave it on the wing.
Before i start i would like to say I do gamble a little, but the most is usually around $20 a rack 9-ball on a 7-footer which is pretty big for me. I mention 7-footer because to me, that is a way bigger gamble than $20 a rack on a 9-footer, which i also play.
Anyways, my girlfriend was heading out of town overnight so me and a buddy decided to hang out at my place drink beer and play pool, since the girlfriend usually doesnt let me. Anyways, we run off the the store and pick up a 6 pack to get the night going. When we get home, I offered him a race to 5 ahead giving him the 8 ball, for nothing. I being a B+ player am quite a bit better than him, but i have never spotted anyone before so i figured starting by giving him the 8 i would likely have the best of it. Anyways he whooped me racing to 5 before i could even get a game. So then i said, wanna do a race to 10 ahead for a 6 pack, same way as we were running out of beer. It went back and forth a bit, we ran to the liquor store just before closing when i was 6 up, then i finished it off and got to 10 after a few more games, not too much back and forth action. So since we are both wanting to play a little more, since we are both broke, and since we both want something riding on it i offer him a race to 10 ahead again for $5, same way. And i beat him pretty quickly again, in about an hour and a half maybe. So then i decided to spot him the 7,8,9 race to 10 ahead for $5. I was actually trying to give him his $5 back so i gave him these rules, 7, 8, 9 all count on the break. Fluke 9 counts anytime. 7 and 8 have to be called after the break. So we started this set, and I'll say, this was one of the most competitive funnest matches I've ever played. We could played for $1000 and it wouldn't have mattered more than the PRIDE that we had on the game. He refused to lose with the 7,8,9 and i refused to let him win. He got 2 up to start, then i got to 4 up, then he'd make a few on the break, or make some nice outs and would get me back down to won. He usually doesn't shoot that well, but we both were shooting about as best we could. He was getting out from lower numbered balls, (3,4) and i was having to almost break and run or miss the 1 then get out on his next mistake. It was some of the best pool either of us had played. He got me back down to 1 up then i got to 6 up, then to the hill, then back down to 6, and i floated between 4 and 6 for about 3 solid hours. Then my girlfriend came home at about 5 in the morning and i was foced to go to bed, 6 up. At this point the set had lasted about 4-5 hours and i had been on the hill 2 times. I woke up at the Crack of noon, went upstairs to find my buddy doing dishes (he doesnt live here, what i nice guy, he didn't even use my dishes) and we continued our set for 3 more hours until he had to go to work. I got near the hill a few more times, but i couldn't finish it, we finished at 6 ahead again!! So that night, he got off work and met me down at a bar, and we played 3 more games with me going one up before we decided we shouldn't finish it on a different table. We went home and it took another hour, but i finished it. I have never played a 7-9 hour set in my life, but this one was awesome. It was great to see my friend pick up his game to such a high level.
Anyways, sorry for carrying on so long, but i just wanted to show, you don't have to be gambling big to have the competetive DRIVE to have a highly entertaining and competitve match.
1 major thing i learned:
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RACKING THE 7,8 WHEN SPOTTING THEM. I taught him some stuff i learned from the break book about reading racks and gaps, and damnit if he didn't make sure to pop in the 7 or 8 every time i was stupid enough to leave it on the wing.
Last edited:
