Define "Trapping" - Gambling Term

[ShootingArts]

good point!

Many guys trap themselves. If you're asking for a game in a new room, you can't really expect that you are going to get matched up with a weak player.

Only one time I was traveling and brought just my playing cue with me. I was challenged to play, but only for the table time. I won and the guy looked quite surprised actually. But I figured that anyone asking a stranger to play for anything in a pool room is probably at least an A player.

If you're not at least an A player in a new room, you have a really good chance of trapping yourself IMO.

Coming in as a stranger, I figure somebody wanting to play free or cheap is trying to play pool room detective. If they are willing to bet a decent amount they are either one of the best there or a bit wealthier and freer with their money than most pool room regulars. If they want to bet large, you are looking at a full grown bear!

A few times over the years I have ran into somebody that was just mad at their money but that is rare enough to be ignored when judging what you are facing. A cowboy friend of mine would go bust for whatever was in his pocket pretty much every time he found a pool table.

Hu

 

[jay helfert]

I needed to make money every day and didn't have time to sit around and try to trap someone. The line I must have used a million times when I saw someone who could play a little was, "Let's just play some social pool for a dollar or two a game." I would gladly play Eight Ball or 9-Ball or any other game they wanted to play. If I could make a $20 score I was good for the day. :smile:

 

[Michael Andros]

I needed to make money every day and didn't have time to sit around and try to trap someone. The line I must have used a million times when I saw someone who could play a little was, "Let's just play some social pool for a dollar or two a game." I would gladly play Eight Ball or 9-Ball or any other game they wanted to play. If I could make a $20 score I was good for the day. :smile:

Wow... does THAT bring back memories.

 

[Michael Andros]

Here's a trap I almost fell into:

Me: Hi, Jimmy. Do you know anyone who would like to play some nine ball?
Jimmy: Joe over there might like to play.
Me: Hi Joe, I'm Bob. Would you like to play some nine ball?
Joe: Nine ball is a young man's game. (He was really old, like maybe 50.) I'll try you some one pocket.
Me: No thanks, I don't know how to play that.

I thought that Jimmy was my friend. Joe was Joe Procita who held the high run record in tournament competition for about 60 years (182 on a 5x10 table).

With friends like that...

 

[pt109]

Coming in as a stranger, I figure somebody wanting to play free or cheap is trying to play pool room detective. If they are willing to bet a decent amount they are either one of the best there or a bit wealthier and freer with their money than most pool room regulars. If they want to bet large, you are looking at a full grown bear!

A few times over the years I have ran into somebody that was just mad at their money but that is rare enough to be ignored when judging what you are facing. A cowboy friend of mine would go bust for whatever was in his pocket pretty much every time he found a pool table.

Hu

If a room was known for good action, I used to ask for $100 gin rummy as an introduction.
....I play pretty good and managed to show a small profit over the years...I’ve always
assumed I wasn’t world class at gin and had no intention of going the extra mile....
....but it kinda established that I had some gamble without showing any hole cards..
...5x10 snooker was my best game as a kid...but I ended up with a few games I played
at the same level.

So my best trapping came from stepping into other people’s traps.

Yeah, I was a dirty low-down, stinkin’ pool hustler....and enjoyed every minute of it...:happydance:

 

[Michael Andros]

If a room was known for good action, I used to ask for $100 gin rummy as an introduction.
....I play pretty good and managed to show a small profit over the years...I’ve always
assumed I wasn’t world class at gin and had no intention of going the extra mile....
....but it kinda established that I had some gamble without showing any hole cards..
...5x10 snooker was my best game as a kid...but I ended up with a few games I played
at the same level.

So my best trapping came from stepping into other people’s traps.

Yeah, I was a dirty low-down, stinkin’ pool hustler....and enjoyed every minute of it...:happydance:

Some things never change... :yeah:

 

[HawaiianEye]

Most of the "trapping" I ever saw done was trapping the backer.

Some good shooter would get a backer with a lot of cash to stake him against someone he should beat, but maybe didn't have much money. Then the shooter would "throw off" and let the other guy win all of his backer's money and they would later split it.

We also called this "middlin"...putting someone in the "middle".

 

[jay helfert]

Most of the "trapping" I ever saw done was trapping the backer.

Some good shooter would get a backer with a lot of cash to stake him against someone he should beat, but maybe didn't have much money. Then the shooter would "throw off" and let the other guy win all of his backer's money and they would later split it.

We also called this "middlin"...putting someone in the "middle".

That's a good old fashioned "dump" sir!