Can you top my bad luck???

Well, two of the shots you mention (trying to carom in a hanging ball & playing a tough bank with tough position) are prone to turning out badly. Especially when it comes to short races, you need to carefully evaluate your percentages on these types of shots and make sure you aren't overlooking a potential pitfall or an easy safety. I rarely carom hanging balls because it's so easy to scratch - potential pitfall. The great thing about 9/10 ball is that there is almost always some sort of safety to be played, and they don't have to be lockups to be effective against weaker players. If you're staring down the barrel of a tough bank with tough position, perhaps the best option is to give them enough rope to hang themselves by laying back a shot and just leaving them tough.

Not saying you didn't get unlucky, but it does sound like you were taking on unnecessary risk. In a short race of 9-ball anyone can beat anyone - all you can do is play your game and be as risk-averse as possible.

Aaron
 
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Bet ya can't! I just left another tournament a loser. I walk in the best stick in the place & by the time my bad luck gets through with me I'm finished. No player can beat me on skill alone. Only my bad luck beats me. With my bad luck they can be a C player & win a race to 4 for the match.

I'm winning every game tonight right? Can't miss a shot or get out of position. I play the best player there. He wins the coin toss [of course, that's how my bad luck always starts, with the coin toss]. He breaks gets two balls in & then the balls roll perfect for a 1-9 combo in the side pocket. I don't even get to shoot. I break & wipe the floor with this guy. Now my bad luck once it starts will not allow me to win another match. My bad luck is predictable. So I try to make the 9 hanging in the corner pocket off the 3 which I make in the side. The 9 knocks out of the way & the cue ball scratches [weird] the 9 rolls against the opposite rail next to the corner pocket & the 4 rolls right behind the 9 & my opponent has ball-in-hand. Win & match.

Loser's side story. Miss a hard bank on the 7, cue ball hits the 8 which was locked on the head rail. 8 goes in the side pocket & the cue scratches. Leaves my opponent with ball-in-hand on the 7 [I knocked the 8 in for him] & an easy shot on the 9.

I am so used to players telling me I shot great but so sorry about the bad luck & bad rolls. People come out of the crowd to tell me how bad they feel for me & that I don't deserve it. This is happening constantly. I can't even play my own game anymore for fear of the luck. No one can match my game & they win from sheer luck.

My bad luck beats me all the time. My son says I should stop playing pool. How in creation do I get this black cloud out from over my head??????????????

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I felt the same way after winning my 8-ball match 4-1, then losing my 9-ball match 38-29.
 
Ooo Oo Oo, pick me!
I have a bad luck shot story too.

Called shot 9 ball.

Guy lines up a longish combo. Totally misses the 9 with the ball. Ball banks off the back rail, kicks into the 9, sending it rolling in the path of the cueball which is following forward, 9 gets shot right into the called pocket by the cueball.

I also saw another called shot luck shot happen on a stream with a few good players. Guy plays inside spin to cut a 9 or 10 ball in a pocket, ball is maybe 2 inches from the hole on the short rail. Totally misses the ball. Cueball goes 3 rails around and cuts the ball dead center into the called pocket.
 
I also saw another called shot luck shot happen on a stream with a few good players. Guy plays inside spin to cut a 9 or 10 ball in a pocket, ball is maybe 2 inches from the hole on the short rail. Totally misses the ball. Cueball goes 3 rails around and cuts the ball dead center into the called pocket.

That is REALLY bad luck....
...most cue-balls go FOUR rails on that shot....I know mine did. :)

I'm the guy who evens out all you bad luck players...
...if I fell out of a window, I'd go straight up....:happydance:
 
Oh, yeah, about a hundred times over the last 53 years! 9 ball as it's played today has a great deal of dependence on luck. Especially if you play short or very short races, luck will play a large part. Don't give up, everybody hits spots in time where they can't seem to do anything right and the luck is hard to fade. A couple of things you said seem to indicate that you may want to re-evaluate just how well you play. And, don't forget that tournament play is difficult in that you can only lose once or twice and be done, not like going to the atm for more cash.
 
Only one person here seemed to understand the REAL issue with your "bad luck". The problem is in your head. It's not a skill problem. It's a psychological problem. Just condition your mind and play as you would during practice (like you got nothing to lose) and STOP thinking about money or winning (something to lose).
 
I can identify with your situation because I've had moments like that in the past. But I had it a bit worse because I was NOT playing for money...I was just playing to win (and maybe over-trying to runout). I was losing to rookies because I was missing some "simple" shots and they were just being left in a winning runout on the table. I felt terrible and even started questioning myself. But afterwards, when I would go into "practice mode", I noticed that I was playing my usual top game and started winnign.

I realised my mindset in that case was changed from "trying to win" to "just pocket the ball and get position". That worked for me so try it and lemme know if it worked for you.
 
I was talking to my bookie about you, and he wants you to give him a call.
My only request is that every time you place a bet, let me know so I can go the other way.
The action room should waive the 50-post minimum and get you in there now, because they are losing money every day you're not on the G.A.L.
As far as pool goes like I said before, give it up, typically the bad rolls even out but in your case I don't think they ever will.
 
Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.” - Branch Rickey

You create your own luck!!!!
 
Luck is overrated. For you it sounds like you don't have a clue where the rock is going off of your shots, that isn't about luck, it's about lack of planning & execution. Everyone gets a funny roll once in awhile but what you describe is cutting the rock loose & those with no plan have little future in any area of life, not just on a pool table.

Did you not get the chicken this time?
 
Next time close your eyes and use the force.
"Luck, where skill meets opportunity"

Maybe we make our own luck, good or bad, or maybe you're a rotten person and karma is catching up with you. Either way, have a drink, relax, and play your game. Sounds like you might be squeezing the stick a little too tight
 
Whenever I play 9 Ball I always try to remember the last line of the voice over that director Martin Scorsese did at the beginning of 'The Color of Money'

"Nine-Ball is rotation pool, the balls are pocketed in numbered order. The only ball that means anything, that wins it, is the 9. Now, the player can shoot eight trick shots in a row, blow the 9, and lose. On the other hand, the player can get the 9 in on the break, if the balls spread right, and win. Which is to say, that luck plays a part in nine-ball. But for some players, luck itself is an art."


:cool:
 
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I walk in the best stick in the place

I play the best player there.

How in creation do I get this black cloud out from over my head??????????????

Does that mean you played yourself....:D

Take a golf tee and put it over your left ear next time you play.
 
Bet ya can't! I just left another tournament a loser. I walk in the best stick in the place & by the time my bad luck gets through with me I'm finished. No player can beat me on skill alone. Only my bad luck beats me. With my bad luck they can be a C player & win a race to 4 for the match.

I'm winning every game tonight right? Can't miss a shot or get out of position. I play the best player there. He wins the coin toss [of course, that's how my bad luck always starts, with the coin toss]. He breaks gets two balls in & then the balls roll perfect for a 1-9 combo in the side pocket. I don't even get to shoot. I break & wipe the floor with this guy. Now my bad luck once it starts will not allow me to win another match. My bad luck is predictable. So I try to make the 9 hanging in the corner pocket off the 3 which I make in the side. The 9 knocks out of the way & the cue ball scratches [weird] the 9 rolls against the opposite rail next to the corner pocket & the 4 rolls right behind the 9 & my opponent has ball-in-hand. Win & match.

Loser's side story. Miss a hard bank on the 7, cue ball hits the 8 which was locked on the head rail. 8 goes in the side pocket & the cue scratches. Leaves my opponent with ball-in-hand on the 7 [I knocked the 8 in for him] & an easy shot on the 9.

I am so used to players telling me I shot great but so sorry about the bad luck & bad rolls. People come out of the crowd to tell me how bad they feel for me & that I don't deserve it. This is happening constantly. I can't even play my own game anymore for fear of the luck. No one can match my game & they win from sheer luck.

My bad luck beats me all the time. My son says I should stop playing pool. How in creation do I get this black cloud out from over my head??????????????

That's nothing! One time at the poolhall I go over to the counter to pick up balls to get some practice and they didn't have the measles ball! All they had was a red circle cue ball.

Later on, I happened on a folded $1 dollar bill tucked under the rail. Not $10, mind you!
 
"Bad luck is a synonym for lack of skill."

I have trophies, patches, pins, certificates, pictures enough to fill a big wall. But in every tournament I play in the past 2 months the balls keep rolling perfect for easy combos & kisses for my opponent so he can win without any sort of skill. This has been happening without exception.

BTW: I have been ranked 16th in my state. Not bad... 16 out of 11,000,000. And that was after another terrible bout of bad luck. What happened there was a million to 1 occurrence in a national tournament. Actually for balls to line up exactly the same way twice in a row right after the break is in the trillions. But my bad luck can make the almost impossible happen.
 
"For you it sounds like you don't have a clue where the rock is going off of your shots, that isn't about luck, it's about lack of planning & execution."

I think after 45 years of playing I might have some idea where the 'rock' is going. I was trained by Tom Simpson & I routinely play with & beat pros.
 
"Take two weeks off."

I did. Then went to a 9 ball tournament last night with my son. Bad luck started up all over again.
 
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