Are professionals supposed to call fouls on themselves?

boogieman

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
Well, yes. You are steeped in the mentality that makes pool suck and insures that it will never have much of a national profile.
So playing to win is wrong? I think maybe you should take up checkers... oh wait, they play to win too! Maybe go skip some rocks, but never count the skips, this just leads to wrongthink.
 

rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The only time I do not necessarily agree with this is when my opponent is too busy playing around on their cell phone. If they are not paying attention I wont offer up that I fouled and that they have BIH, if I foul and they are not paying attention I will simply leave the table and sit down, I draw the line at trying to take another shot though. When I have an opponent that is paying attention I usually grab the cue ball and set it down near the kitchen if I foul which usually alerts them to the fact that they have BIH.
Integrity: Doing the right thing when no one is watching.
 

rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When no one is watching, I am not shooting….as a rule. Opponents eventually get the point.
Still doesn't have anything to do with calling a foul on yourself. I've been in a match more than once (paying close attention) and my opponent calls a foul. I didn't even see it. It's usually lightly touching the cue ball on a practice stroke before shooting the shot. Sometimes that's hard to tell sitting 15 feet away but my opponent knew it happened and he called the foul. How about this:
Integrity: Doing the right thing when you are not sure someone is watching.
 

Dimeball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dunno about "professionals", but, honest people expect people to be honest, this includes ALL HUMANS.
I was watching the GB 9 Ball Tour match yesterday between Jayson & Darren where Jayson fouled, the referee didn’t see it & the game continued. He was trying to play the 1 ball & it was partially blocked by the 5 so he could only see the left edge of the 1. The cue ball just grazed the 5 before making a thin contact on the 1. The 5 was in Jayson’s eye line so I’d be surprised if he didn’t see it move. If he did see it is he expected to call the foul?

GB 9 Ball Tour starts at 1:20:30
 

KissedOut

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So playing to win is wrong? I think maybe you should take up checkers... oh wait, they play to win too! Maybe go skip some rocks, but never count the skips, this just leads to wrongthink.

Playing to win is fine. Lying to win by hiding your strength is not fine.
 

KissedOut

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Conditions can change. I used to give a guy Tony 70 points at snooker for $10 a game....I always won.
We were very friendly and sometimes I’d give him pointers after.
I took a year off from the game....so the first guy I played was Tony...the price made it a good warm-up.
He robbed me for $70....I had no chance....he didn’t want to take the money....he said he had always considered it a pleasure to see me run hundreds...he actually had tears in his eyes. I told him he had to allow me to be a man and pay.
I never gambled with him again...but when I got back in stroke I would ask him to take 10% of my action...
....I’m pretty sure I won the money back that I had beaten him for.

This is the world that Kissed Out that doesn’t understand.

Oh no, I understand it, but I think it sucks and I think this attitude is so engrained in pool mentality that it causes pool to suck.
 

bb9ball

Registered
I think Shaw was not aware that the cue ball brushed the 5. I think he normally calls fouls on himself. I think he was completely focused on the 1-ball contact.

I think that both players should try to make sure that all rules are honored during the game. The game goes better that way. That includes calling fouls on yourself. For a professional, failing to do so gets you a reputation as a cheater.

There are lots of stories of top players calling fouls on themselves that no one else saw. Allen Hopkins called an unseen foul on himself against me when he was playing badly and under a lot of pressure. He won that match and the tournament. Karma.

Here is a recent example, from snooker.
 
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Willowbrook Wolfy

Your wushu is weak!
The last time I called a foul on myself was in a tournament. I was pinned behind a ball close to the rail and ended up double hitting the cb. The guy I was playing looked at me like I was nuts calling the foul on myself.🤷‍♂️😱 I’ll always call a foul. My opinion on the professionals is when there is a ref the ref should call it. People get away with holds and pushes all the time in sports. You don’t see them asking for a flag or a yellow card. If the ref doesn’t call it I would say I fouled but couldn’t be mad at an opponent for not with a ref there.
 

JAM

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Here is a recent example, from snooker.
I watched this match between Ronnie and Mark King live, and when Ronnie called a foul on myself, the referee did not see it. The referee then went to the booth and asked for a replay, and the man in the booth said he didn't see the foul either. But since Ronnie called it on himself, the foul was allowed to be a foul. I took a screenshot of the shot when it happened. I didn't see a foul either. 🙃

foul.png
 

eastcoast_chris

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think of it this way....

There are two types of foul. Totally obvious fouls (i.e. no rail, complete misses, etc.) and close call fouls.

If I'm playing someone and they are miss me making a totally obvious foul because they just aren't paying attention, they too bad for them. (Unless there are a very new player) This is in pool and I'm doing what 99% of player would do. Close fouls I'll call them as I see them... agree on the correct call/way I see them. BUT, it is always on the opponent to call over someone to watch a close shot if they think there is a chance of a foul.

I also play snooker and the ethics are a little different there, so I'll call everything... also a foul in snooker usually isn't as damaging to you, so calling them on yourself is no big deal.

Basically the it is completely different between pool and snooker. Pool, it's up to your opponent to call them. Snooker it is up to you.
 

Brookeland Bill

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was watching the GB 9 Ball Tour match yesterday between Jayson & Darren where Jayson fouled, the referee didn’t see it & the game continued. He was trying to play the 1 ball & it was partially blocked by the 5 so he could only see the left edge of the 1. The cue ball just grazed the 5 before making a thin contact on the 1. The 5 was in Jayson’s eye line so I’d be surprised if he didn’t see it move. If he did see it is he expected to call the foul?

GB 9 Ball Tour starts at 1:20:30
I play more golf than pool only because of the lack of proximity to a pool room. I apply the ethical standards of golf to both sports.
 

DynoDan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Billiards seems to be one of the few sports left where ‘honor’ is valued. Flagrantly ignoring the rules never seems to deter fans of football/basketball/NASCAR/etc. stars.
I tend to avoid shots that may put me in a position where, under intense pressure, my personal sense of honor might be tested. Nobody wants to lose, and who among us can say their self-discipline has never wavered?
 
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SBC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was watching the GB 9 Ball Tour match yesterday between Jayson & Darren where Jayson fouled, the referee didn’t see it & the game continued. He was trying to play the 1 ball & it was partially blocked by the 5 so he could only see the left edge of the 1. The cue ball just grazed the 5 before making a thin contact on the 1. The 5 was in Jayson’s eye line so I’d be surprised if he didn’t see it move. If he did see it is he expected to call the foul?

GB 9 Ball Tour starts at 1:20:30
Depends on the moral character of the characters.
 

Tin Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
It irritates me when people think there is something intrinsically good or bad about this subject. This is all about social norms.

When I played in the 90s no one called foul on themselves. It was on your opponent to play the role as the ref. This was also during the days of more money games than tournaments, etc. It wasn't considered cheating or low integrity, it was just the way the game was played.

I saw the shift in the early 2000s, probably with the influence of the Europeans. Pool began to make great strides in trying to clean up it's image. The colorful players like Keith and Earl started fazing out, and the new school started to be more about gentlemanly conduct and professionalism. One of those changes was the trend to call foul on themselves. Now this is pretty universal, and people who don't are considered uncouth.

To this day many old school players cling to the norms they grew up in. This isn't about a lack of integrity so much as a product of their environment.

So it's not good or bad to call fouls on oneself innately. It is all about how well the players stay in line with what most of the other players are doing. If you personally prefer a culture where we all call fouls on ourselves then that is fine, that's your preference. But it isn't 'Good'. It's just a preference. And it is definitely the norm right now so I will follow suit because that's what's expected. If the day came when it changed back then I'd be a fool to die on the hill and call fouls on myself if no one else did. It wouldn't make me 'Bad' for going along with the way the game was played by everyone else, it would make me normal.
 

DynoDan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It irritates me when people think there is something intrinsically good or bad about this subject. This is all about social norms.

When I played in the 90s no one called foul on themselves. It was on your opponent to play the role as the ref. This was also during the days of more money games than tournaments, etc. It wasn't considered cheating or low integrity, it was just the way the game was played.

I saw the shift in the early 2000s, probably with the influence of the Europeans. Pool began to make great strides in trying to clean up it's image. The colorful players like Keith and Earl started fazing out, and the new school started to be more about gentlemanly conduct and professionalism. One of those changes was the trend to call foul on themselves. Now this is pretty universal, and people who don't are considered uncouth.

To this day many old school players cling to the norms they grew up in. This isn't about a lack of integrity so much as a product of their environment.

So it's not good or bad to call fouls on oneself innately. It is all about how well the players stay in line with what most of the other players are doing. If you personally prefer a culture where we all call fouls on ourselves then that is fine, that's your preference. But it isn't 'Good'. It's just a preference. And it is definitely the norm right now so I will follow suit because that's what's expected. If the day came when it changed back then I'd be a fool to die on the hill and call fouls on myself if no one else did. It wouldn't make me 'Bad' for going along with the way the game was played by everyone else, it would make me normal.

Social norms? Billiards is not NFL football (where holding or late hits unseen by any ref is rewarded). Yes, the opponent is ‘referee’. But if someone I’m playing commits an obvious foul, and then continues to shoot (hoping I missed it), I typically won’t call it on him, but instead will just not play him again. If the day comes where cheating at pool is an accepted ‘social norm’, I will quit the game.
 
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