Are you any good at pool?

ktrepal85 said:
Some of you are missing the point of my question. I said that the person asking the question is not a pool player. I'm not talking about a scenario where you are at the pool hall and someone is looking for a match. I'm talking about a scenario where you are out at a picnic and you bring up that you are going to your pool league later. Then a distant relative or friend says "o you're a pool player, u any good?" With no intention of ever playing you.
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I tell people like that "I play ok." In general, the last thing I want to do is get into a conversation about how good I am or am not. Because almost certainly if you say "I play pretty good" then someone is going to go into how they hustled their way through college or some BS like that. But I'm kind of an A-hole and do my best to not converse with most people.
 
ktrepal85 said:
Some of you are missing the point of my question. I said that the person asking the question is not a pool player. I'm not talking about a scenario where you are at the pool hall and someone is looking for a match. I'm talking about a scenario where you are out at a picnic and you bring up that you are going to your pool league later. Then a distant relative or friend says "o you're a pool player, u any good?" With no intention of ever playing you.
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The answer is still no, or I'm a much better cook than pool player
 
If you're very good player, in any sport, and someone asks you, the standard answer should be "I'm OK", with a little shoulder shrug.

You are basically telling folks you are good without bragging. The smart ones catch on quick, and the dumb ones it don't really matter ;)

If you are anything else, just say so. I'm average, I'm kinda new, I'm learning, I'm decent, etc.
 
ktrepal85 said:
Some of you are missing the point of my question. I said that the person asking the question is not a pool player. I'm not talking about a scenario where you are at the pool hall and someone is looking for a match. I'm talking about a scenario where you are out at a picnic and you bring up that you are going to your pool league later. Then a distant relative or friend says "o you're a pool player, u any good?" With no intention of ever playing you.
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My usual answer is "it depends on what you mean. Compared to people who don't play pool, I'm okay; compared to people who play pool well, I suck." Most people seem to get it.

In my experience, the problem is that most people who aren't pool players only know two extremes - the people who don't play and never run two balls and "pros" or scenes from movies where the game is played "perfectly" (as far as they know). To these people, the guy they see at the bar who runs 4 or 5 balls is a really good pool player, but they just don't understand the spectrum.

Gideon<----no good, on any scale
 
Next time it happens, think I'll respond with...

Sometimes I'm good...if the voices give me good advice.

I usually say I'm just a recreational player...the truth.
 
If I saw ,myself play for the first time, I would have concluded that guy really knows how to play pool......but all in all, I'm really only a little better than the average bear.....I have moments of grandeur and amazement but I miss too many critical shots........Father Time has eroded my pool game. If I knew what I do now about pool and I could turn back the hands of time to start all over again at 18 years old, I have every confidence I'd be a world class player instead of the pool bum I am today after playing pool for 53 years.

Matt B.
 
Close friends, pool players or not, are the only ones I'll tell anything good about my game or progress I feel like I'm making.

To anyone else that might ask, "nah I suck"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am not as good now as I hope to be in the future. But no matter how good I become I am sure I will still want to improve.
 
I usually just say, "Not bad" or "Ok", but if people are golfers I can offer a comparison. I'm like an 8-10 handicap golfer. I'm way better than beginners, better than casual players, somewhat better than some who have played the game a while and never improved, but there are still a ton of serious players that would drill me easily. Golfers usually understand the difference between someone who is capable of shooting 78 to 81 and someone who is a scratch or better.
 
Usually what I get asked about my pool game it's "are you a pool shark" or "are you a hustler" soon as someone sees that you make 3 balls in a row.

Next comes the "I've seen that Asian chick play on TV, you know who she is right?".

I never quite know what to answer to the question about how good I play, I just say I'm an average player among those that know how to play. It seems others say more things about how we play than we do. I've had people try to setup games with me for money seemingly to show others that they are better than me because of what they heard since I never walk around saying how good I am or that I can beat so and so.
 
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"I once made 3 balls in a row... so yeah, I'm pretty good"

Why the hell would someone get into some sort of "I banged your girl last night" deal over a question like that? That's pathetic. Nobody is that much of an un-clever db are they?
 
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occasionally I'll have a golf buddy ask about pool, and how well I play it. As stated above, it's easy to explain it to a golfer. I usually tell them my "tagline"....I'm better with a wedge :p
 
I just tell people I've played once or twice, then I listen to them how they paid for college by playing pool. Then I ask them if they want to play some cheap sets.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
If you're very good player, in any sport, and someone asks you, the standard answer should be "I'm OK", with a little shoulder shrug.

You are basically telling folks you are good without bragging. The smart ones catch on quick, and the dumb ones it don't really matter ;)

If you are anything else, just say so. I'm average, I'm kinda new, I'm learning, I'm decent, etc.
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This......
 
ktrepal85 said:
How do you guys answer this question?
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I just say I'm little better than the average player...but not a good player compared to who's out there. My usual reply is I play good enough to have fun.....and I'm the best in MY house.
 
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