Accidentally fired an air bullet?

Hafta agree with the big dog

Hafta agree with the big dog. You could have explained when you were one game up and quit and nobody would have thought much of it. Had you waited until you lost the set and then admitted you had fired an air barrel you would have lost a lot of respect.

You ask if anyone has been there, yeah most that gamble seriously have. The only time for me was over forty years ago though, before I was even of legal age to be in a bar. Two guys on a challenge table were playing a hundred a game at 6AM in the morning and neither could make a ball. I had been drinking all night but I have never been so drunk I couldn't outshoot either of these guys. A quick check with my two friends and we only had two twenties and a few singles between us. I challenged anyway. Stupid move and I told my firends that if something weird happened and I lost we were all late for the door, get the hell out of Dodge! I picked up a quick two hundred before they both quit me.

A few years later a friend's brother fired a two-thousand dollar air barrel. He swims with the fishies and my friend spent most of a year in the hospital after almost bleeding out and having a few vital organs punctured here and there when he was whittled on.

I have seen people beaten to a pulp over a two dollar air barrel too. Looked like they had been ran through a sausage grinder, . . . twicet! Fire an air barrel and you may have just defined what your life is worth.

Hu


cubc said:
Anyone ever did that?

The other night I was being woofed at by someone I'd never lost to before. He's an 8 in apa on big tables. Hes not the greatest but capable of playing some. He was talking shit because I was playing bad saying he'll play me for x amount and before I could say I didnt have the money someone who knows me that always has the money walked behind me and i heard "back you" so I agreed to the game (foolish mistake on my part and learned from it) and made it a race to 7 since I knew I wasnt on my game yet a short race would cost me.

After the first game is over im up 1 game and confirmed with the guy that he was backing me and he said "no I was saying for you to back me against him."

At this point I have 9 dollars in my bank with none in my pocket. I just bought a 2k computer, a cue, rent, etc. and have no money and I'm in the middle of a fairly costly set.

I didnt know what else to do so I just kept trying to play ended up down 3-1, then 3-3, then down 6-3 going to 7. I need 4 in a row with no money on an air bullet and hes on the hill. I just focused and ran the next 2 in a row, played a good safe got out and ran the last game to win 7-6. I never told the guy I fired an air bullet, but I was glad I won.

I never really felt so guilty before. Anyone else got caught up in a similar situation?
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I'd been out gamblin' one night and had a good night. About $800 winner. About $1500 total in my wallet. Got home about 8 in the morning and went to sleep.

My wife woke me up and said she needed some money for something. I mumbled, "There's my wallet, take what you need.", and went back to sleep.

I got up around 4:00, got dressed and headed to the pool room. Right through the door, another player jumps me to play $100 sets.

We're about half way through the first set and I order a Coke. The waitress comes, I pull out my wallet and there's only a $10 bill in it!!!!!!!

I was ahead by 6-3 in a race to nine, but I stopped play so I could run to the bank and get more money.

Of course, when I got home, I had a talk with my wife about the next time she empties me out, be sure to tell me first. She said it scared her knowing that I was carrying that much money around, so she deposited most of it in the bank.

She hadn't quite figured it out that gamblin' was a CASH business and they don't take credit cards. LOL

Stones
 
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ShootingArts said:
Hafta agree with the big dog.
Hu
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Yea, me too.

And you wonder why people on this very MB have a hard time finding guys to play games for money with.
 
just be glad you won.

and yeah, you should've said something when you realized he wasn't backing you but i cant say i dont blame you.

i know a strong local shooter who always goes on air. his rep is already ruined, but people keep playing him.

in that case it's their fault for not making him post.
 
ioCross said:
just be glad you won.

and yeah, you should've said something when you realized he wasn't backing you but i cant say i dont blame you.

i know a strong local shooter who always goes on air. his rep is already ruined, but people keep playing him.

in that case it's their fault for not making him post.
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He 'always' goes on air, people know that and still play him:confused:

When he loses does he eventually pay up at a later date? Do the others pay him when they lose? Is there something in the local water supply rotting the bain cells?:)
 
nah, they know he will go off for every penny so they think they will get paid as long as they win while he actually has cash on him.

like i said he's a strong player so he does make scores it's just he's such a degenerate that he will lose everything and then some no matter how much money he has.

i've seen him win 500 robbing some fish, and go home broke.

i've seen him win 300 playing keno and lose that all in 2 hours.

people like that are just degenerates.. i dont understand how that can be consitered having "heart"
 
Posting

is fine until you have to go take a leak, and sometimes, one of your friends is not around!!! If you are matching up in a strange room, this can be a problem.
 
thebigdog said:
I don't see where you accidently fired an air bullet. The way I read your story, you knew what you were doing the whole time. You were not in the middle of the set when you realized you were firing an air bullet, you were up 1-0 in a race to 7. Why didn't you disclose then that you didn't have the money and there was a misunderstanding with the guy you thought was backing you? You proceeded to play 12 more games when you knew you didn't have the money, why? My guess is that you felt you had the nuts, that this was an easy score, and this guy had no chance playing you even. Well looks like he did have a chance, because he took to you to the hill, and almost ruined your reputation by beating you and you not even having the money to pay the time on you let alone pay him. What would you have done if you had lost that set? Would you have asked him to play another, to try and get back what you lost? You say that you felt guilty after that set. I bet you didn't feel guilty enough to tell him to keep his money and that you wouldn't have been able to pay him had you lost. You say you learned a lesson from this, I hope you learned the right one.
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I dont really like the tone of this post and there are a lot of completely wrong assumptions BUT for the sake of answering the "what would I've done question"

I really dont know.. probably something like tell him what happened and then pay him when I get $. Everyone around here knows I have plenty of it usually and my gamble is good. Every night I'm in some pool hall or another.

But honestly I didnt think about that at all at the time. I had the mindset of well I'm already into the set 1 game and didnt know if I should explain and back out or not. It wasnt "the nuts" reasoning. We always play tight 9' tables and hes an 8 on them and I was playing badly.. thats not easy wins. I really just focused on winning the set and if I lost to worry about it then. I knew if i worried about it while playing I would be done.

When I asked what the difference was between a champion and someone who can run racks all the time but isnt a champion their response was "A champion knows hes never out of the match even if hes down 10 to 1 in a race to 11"

I really think about shit like that when I need to really play when I think I'm out. Keeps my head right.

It just was a very weird situation and has never happened before because I havent had a backer since I was 19 years old. I always use my own money because I normally have it. Funny thing is I normally make people post because I dont like people playing on air and here I got caught up in it by accident. And no.. of course I wouldnt have played another set heh..
 
thebigdog said:
I don't see where you accidently fired an air bullet. The way I read your story, you knew what you were doing the whole time. You were not in the middle of the set when you realized you were firing an air bullet, you were up 1-0 in a race to 7. Why didn't you disclose then that you didn't have the money and there was a misunderstanding with the guy you thought was backing you? You proceeded to play 12 more games when you knew you didn't have the money, why? My guess is that you felt you had the nuts, that this was an easy score, and this guy had no chance playing you even. Well looks like he did have a chance, because he took to you to the hill, and almost ruined your reputation by beating you and you not even having the money to pay the time on you let alone pay him. What would you have done if you had lost that set? Would you have asked him to play another, to try and get back what you lost? You say that you felt guilty after that set. I bet you didn't feel guilty enough to tell him to keep his money and that you wouldn't have been able to pay him had you lost. You say you learned a lesson from this, I hope you learned the right one.
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This is a very good post. I agree with everything you've written. The point in time of the"confirmation" question after 1 game showed where the integrity is.

As another poster mentioned, I hope the guy doen's read the board.
 
Funny I ask about others situations and instead I get lectured and even some peoples dumbass assumptions like "you think you had the nuts" when I already pointed out I knew it was a mistake and learned from it.

I guess every topic has to take a negative turn anymore. Ridiculous.
 
cubc said:
Funny I ask about others situations and instead I get lectured and even some peoples dumbass assumptions like "you think you had the nuts" when I already pointed out I knew it was a mistake and learned from it.

I guess every topic has to take a negative turn anymore. Ridiculous.
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That's how it goes around here, Cubc... unfortunately, we can't just share stories and exploits... someone always has to be accused of being "wrong". And this is the reason so many are afraid to post here... public persecution is not fun.

I personally think that your story was very interesting... and as I said before, it showed a tremendous amount of concentration and focus to be able to pull that off. Maybe it's because I am not a gambler that my thoughts don't immediately go to the "what if" you lost. But either way, I enjoyed hearing it, and wished others would have shared their stories too... instead of ripping you apart.
 
Snapshot9 said:
is fine until you have to go take a leak, and sometimes, one of your friends is not around!!! If you are matching up in a strange room, this can be a problem.
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Well...you probably shouldn't be matching up in strange and untrusted rooms without a friend, especially for a few hundred or more.

And for the OP. I'm sure we've all fired air at one point or another. I know I've done it a few times. Maybe we have the nuts or maybe it's just a game we like. Maybe we're dead broke. But it does happen. That's why I always post up if it is a significant amount.
 
So here's a quick story. I'm broke one night when a few well known gamblers come in. Several people in the room owe me a couple bucks (maybe $40 or so). So I figure that I've got some firing power. Anyway, I start off playing with one of these gamblers. Nothing big just $20 sets. I lose the first 2 sets and we double the bet. So now I'm down $40 and I've got nothing in my pockets. I end up winning the next 3 sets to put me up $80 when the guy asks for more weight. I refused so his brother decides to try me out some. He wants to play $100 sets and I oblige. I win 2 sets and he asks me for more weight, I refuse, so he tries to high roll me by doubling the bet again. So here's the situation:

I started with nothing but now I'm up 280 (no payments have been made yet).
The new game is bar table 9-ball.
I'm giving up last 3, a wild 7, and a game.
Race to 5 for $200

For obvious reasons, I'm not liking the game too much. Anyway, I win the first set, lose the next set, win the next 2. So now I'm up almost $700. BTW, by this time, I'm backing a couple other games involving these guys and we're all coming out winner. This is when I demand to get paid or I'm done playing. After a lot of whining he does end up paying me. Then he wants to play some races to 3 for $500. I refuse so he asks for a race to 7 for $1000. I tell him I only have $800. Now he's really pissed and says something about "no gamble" and goes to the bar for a drink. Now that I think back, I probably should have negotiated a little with those $500 bets he wanted.

Edit: I ended up winner that time but what if they had demanded I pay up when I was down? Firing air is risky business, but it is the best way to learn to play with pressure.
 
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lodini said:
That's how it goes around here, Cubc... unfortunately, we can't just share stories and exploits... someone always has to be accused of being "wrong". And this is the reason so many are afraid to post here... public persecution is not fun.

I personally think that your story was very interesting... and as I said before, it showed a tremendous amount of concentration and focus to be able to pull that off. Maybe it's because I am not a gambler that my thoughts don't immediately go to the "what if" you lost. But either way, I enjoyed hearing it, and wished others would have shared their stories too... instead of ripping you apart.
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Yep! and the thing about the "what if" gambler or not pool related or not.. it does no good to think about those things after the fact. It's done and over with.. keep looking forward.
 
I personally think that your story was very interesting... and as I said before, it showed a tremendous amount of concentration and focus to be able to pull that off. Maybe it's because I am not a gambler that my thoughts don't immediately go to the "what if" you lost.
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Me too...I took it as an honest post about a bad situation...bad because of his actions (or bad hearing ) no less.The fact he found the dig to get out is not your whole point...at least not how I read it anyway.
 
stories

cubc said:
Funny I ask about others situations and instead I get lectured and even some peoples dumbass assumptions like "you think you had the nuts" when I already pointed out I knew it was a mistake and learned from it.

I guess every topic has to take a negative turn anymore. Ridiculous.
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Posts on a public forum are never between two people, they are between the writers and everyone that reads them. On ammunition reloading forums, I often spoke out strongly against dangerous practices. I will do no less here. Shooting an air barrel is dangerous, whether for two dollars or two thousand as my first post made plain. Seasoning and pressure don't need to involve physical danger. Those that want that can just go to the wrong part of town to play where just showing up to practice is all of the danger they need!

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
Posts on a public forum are never between two people, they are between the writers and everyone that reads them. On ammunition reloading forums, I often spoke out strongly against dangerous practices. I will do no less here. Shooting an air barrel is dangerous, whether for two dollars or two thousand as my first post made plain. Seasoning and pressure don't need to involve physical danger. Those that want that can just go to the wrong part of town to play where just showing up to practice is all of the danger they need!

Hu
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It is a dangerous practice, I know that first hand. One time, about 15 years ago, I went with a group of about 3 other guys to a pool tournament about 40 miles away from our home room. We were all known pretty well by the regulars at this pool hall except this one guy who asked us if he could tag along. We had room in the car so we told him, he was welcome to join us. As each of us were eliminated from the tournament, we individually found people to match up with. At the end of the night, this new guy to our group was the last one left playing. He ends up stiffing the guy he was matched up with for around $500. None of us had any idea, that he was shooting air. But the problem was that we had brought him down with us, and it looked like we knew what was going on. It was not a pretty scene getting out of that room that night. I think the only thing that saved us, was the fact that the rest of us were known well by those guys and we had a good reputation with them, so we got the benefit of the doubt that night. That was really lucky for the guy who was with us because that guy he stiffed was a big time dealer in SoCal, who as it turns out has been in prison for the last 10 years now.

Cubc said he didn't like the tone of my post. The story he posted made me think about my experiences. I was lucky to get out that night with my health, and the only reason I did was the fact that I had a good reputation with all those guys. If they hadn't known me so well, I would have been in deep shit.
 
ShootingArts said:
Posts on a public forum are never between two people, they are between the writers and everyone that reads them. On ammunition reloading forums, I often spoke out strongly against dangerous practices. I will do no less here. Shooting an air barrel is dangerous, whether for two dollars or two thousand as my first post made plain. Seasoning and pressure don't need to involve physical danger. Those that want that can just go to the wrong part of town to play where just showing up to practice is all of the danger they need!

Hu
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I have seen a guy laying dead in the street after being stomped to death over, get this, a 50 cent 8 ball game. A very sobering experience.

Stones
 
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