Do you ever lay down for fun?

nyjoe14.1

nyjoe14.1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The question is would you take it easy on someone if you were playing pool in a bar for fun?

The bar that I hang out at has quite a few people that play “just for fun”. As I am a regular at this bar most people know that I play OK and think that im gonna win most of the time. Most of these people have never set foot in a pool room and just play because there at a bar. So the night in question I decided to play left handed because a few of my friends were breaking my balls about being on the table all night last week. Well the first few games went by OK and then this girl racks and I just happen to lose. I think I made the eight out of turn or something like that. Well a wise as*s friend of mine tells her that im not left handed and she proceeds to flip out on me for not trying against her. I wasn’t trying to pi*ss anyone off, just be fair.
The thing is it doesn’t seem fair for someone like me who plays pool 20-40hrs a week to run the table all night when other people just want to have fun, but I don’t want to just sit there and watch either.

Has anyone else been in this situation and if so what did you do?
 
I play hard for the cash and sometimes for a drink,but for fun i will sometimes play one handed to even the score.
 
I heard Mike Siegel isn't left handed either. He must have been trying to lay down for Efren at the King of the Hill...;-)

I've actually been asked to lay down for people though. They do get pissed sometimes if you just keep the table all night.

And of course, I'll be the first to say that I lay down for fun as much as I possbily can...
 
Did you really "lay down". Did you play the best you could left handed? If you did then you didn't lay down and girl shouldn't be upset. I used to play POOL with my wife --- left handed, one handed, arm behind the back, etc. just so I would loose once in awhile and let her have a shot --- it made it interesting for me (challenge to play one handed) and she wasn't completely bored and we had a good time "just for fun".
 
nyjoe14.1 said:
The question is would you take it easy on someone if you were playing pool in a bar for fun?

The bar that I hang out at has quite a few people that play “just for fun”. As I am a regular at this bar most people know that I play OK and think that im gonna win most of the time. Most of these people have never set foot in a pool room and just play because there at a bar. So the night in question I decided to play left handed because a few of my friends were breaking my balls about being on the table all night last week. Well the first few games went by OK and then this girl racks and I just happen to lose. I think I made the eight out of turn or something like that. Well a wise as*s friend of mine tells her that im not left handed and she proceeds to flip out on me for not trying against her. I wasn’t trying to pi*ss anyone off, just be fair.
The thing is it doesn’t seem fair for someone like me who plays pool 20-40hrs a week to run the table all night when other people just want to have fun, but I don’t want to just sit there and watch either.

Has anyone else been in this situation and if so what did you do?
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i lay down everytime you & i play!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
league stuff ready yet?????
hmmmmmmmmm???
gonna wait till tuesday, are ya???? ​
 
Varney Cues said:
Thats what the people watching you play think you must surely be doing too!!!:D :D :D
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hi kevin, where you been hiding buddy? was talking to a fella at the derby about you, of course , i can't repeat any of that conversation in public, haha
 
Hey, you're not playing in a tournament. Pool should be fun. It is a game after all. I don't think you did anything wrong. In fact, I think you were going out of your way to be considerate.
 
nyjoe14.1 said:
The question is would you take it easy on someone if you were playing pool in a bar for fun?

The bar that I hang out at has quite a few people that play “just for fun”. As I am a regular at this bar most people know that I play OK and think that im gonna win most of the time. Most of these people have never set foot in a pool room and just play because there at a bar. So the night in question I decided to play left handed because a few of my friends were breaking my balls about being on the table all night last week. Well the first few games went by OK and then this girl racks and I just happen to lose. I think I made the eight out of turn or something like that. Well a wise as*s friend of mine tells her that im not left handed and she proceeds to flip out on me for not trying against her. I wasn’t trying to pi*ss anyone off, just be fair.
The thing is it doesn’t seem fair for someone like me who plays pool 20-40hrs a week to run the table all night when other people just want to have fun, but I don’t want to just sit there and watch either.

Has anyone else been in this situation and if so what did you do?
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No matter what you do anymore it seems it is so easy to piss off somebody with the slightest thing..
 
Take a break from the table every hour or so and let others play. If you are already playing 20-40 hours a week, it can't be that important to you to get every game you can.
 
I just found a great way to equalize a game just last week. I was at my local hall and there were only a few people in the place. No one there wanted to play. I asked one of the guys if he would play nine ball with me, if I banked every third ball. He said sure, and we started to play.

He got to shoot enough to make it worth his money for time and I held on the best I could. He's not helpless at this game in the first place. If I was going to stand a chance, I needed my AAA best game. To nobody's surprise, I had alot of trouble running out like this...I think it will pay to play him like this from now on.

He knows I was trying my hardest and I was still showing him respect by doing so. I plan on getting him next time.
Jamison
 
nyjoe14.1 said:
The question is would you take it easy on someone if you were playing pool in a bar for fun?

The bar that I hang out at has quite a few people that play “just for fun”. As I am a regular at this bar most people know that I play OK and think that im gonna win most of the time. Most of these people have never set foot in a pool room and just play because there at a bar. So the night in question I decided to play left handed because a few of my friends were breaking my balls about being on the table all night last week. Well the first few games went by OK and then this girl racks and I just happen to lose. I think I made the eight out of turn or something like that. Well a wise as*s friend of mine tells her that im not left handed and she proceeds to flip out on me for not trying against her. I wasn’t trying to pi*ss anyone off, just be fair.
The thing is it doesn’t seem fair for someone like me who plays pool 20-40hrs a week to run the table all night when other people just want to have fun, but I don’t want to just sit there and watch either.

Has anyone else been in this situation and if so what did you do?
Click to expand...

I have a difficult time taking it seriously if there is no money on the table, or if I don't feel my opponent can beat me at my best. But I like to mess around, especially if I am playing against a banger.

I have run into situations before where this has pissed people off. One that stands out in my mind occured last year.

I was playing a guy and I started playing left handed and continued beating him. In 4 hours he didn't win a single game of 9 ball, 14.1 or 8 ball. He got very angry stating that I was humiliating him and sending a statement that he isn't good enough for me to give it everything I had.

I can see what he was getting at, but he was taking it far too seriously. But that will happen in anything that is competitive, when playing a weaker player.

My advice is to not play left handed (or one handed) against someone unless you know they don't care if you screw around. Such exhibitions can be very embarrassing for the person you are playing. This is the same reason why a lot of people don't want to accept a spot, they don't want to neccessarily admit their inferiority even if they know it to be true.

Against someone you don't know, or someone who takes games with you seriously, you can still lay off a bit. If you lay off and play with your stronger arm, you can at least say that you aren't play well that night.
 
'Laying Down'

I don't see anything wrong with it... it's usually called a "spot". Some people might be sensitive to charity though, so if you're going to play opposite hand, you should probably keep it up all night. Your "friend" is the one who precipitated the bad feelings by spilling the beans.

I don't really understand why someone would be so upset. If you were playing right-handed and purposefully dogging a shot here and there, it would amount to the same thing, and no one (not even your friend) would really know what was up.

Someone brought an old 8' table to work last year, and when I play cutthroat with my coworkers, I shoot left handed. I prefer that sort of handicap, because it really helps my left-handed game, and they don't mind winning a few games here and there either.

Here's a pretty good story that fits in this thread.

A few years ago at the USPPA Reno tournament there was a young lady from the Modesto area (rated around USPPA 65) who was making quite a bit of money playing guys who thought that a 'girl' shouldn't be beating them. She appeared to love gambling, and could really knuckle down for the cash. One of my friends is a USPPA 89, and has an unbelievably natural left-handed stroke - long bridge, strong follow-through, the works. You'd never guess that he was really right-handed. We started "practicing" on a nearby table, him playing left handed, and before long, Lady Gambler starts woofing at him. They made a game where they would play straight up if my friend would play right-handed. It didn't take her long to figure out that she was in a trap. When the dust settled, he let her off the hook and we all had a good laugh about it.

Ken
 
i used to lay down all the time not neccessarily one handed but i never played safe went for the ridiculous shots and banks ect but whenever i lost i never heard the last of it and so now i just hammer them and then leave the table after 3/4 racks for others and then come back later

i hate losing but to hear about it all night with comments like "your ranked where in the UK Ha Ha "
 
Lay down? Not anymore, but if there's nothing on the line I don't bear down, which makes me sloppy, which is bad for my game, which is why I avoid those kind of situations. :)
 
My experience has been that "laying down" will get you out of stroke. And if you play your best, people will get excited about the opportunity to beat you. Everyone wants to be the one who beats the good player in a bar, or in a poolroom.

So wherever you are, play your best. It's better for you and more fun for your opponents, except for an occasional a--hole.
 
I try to play my best against most people in friendly situations, especially my friends who are not too good. The reason is that I think they will get better that way, and they will be able to tell better how they are doing if I do not let up. This is sort of my philosophy in most games and such. I will let up for certain people though. Sometimes I just naturally play really bad when I play (for example) my dad, because it is just for fun and I want him to have a good time and not just rack for me. I can't concentrate well in those situations =).
 
It is no fun if you win every game and no one wants to play you anymore.

So lose a few every now and then!

But trying to lose in these situations is not always easy. If playing 8-ball, it helps if you pocket a few of your balls so your opponent can more easily make theirs. Also you can intentionally scratch giving them ball-in-hand. Or you can intentionally miss a shot and leave the cue ball for your opponent to have an easy shot. Note: I need to "aim" at something to miss the shot, like the rail next to a pocket. If I just whack it toward a pocket, many times it will go in the pocket, even though I am not trying to aim. (Muscle memory is automatic I guess.)

Always leave 3 or more of your balls on the table so you can "miss" and leave the cue ball just about anywhere for your opponent to have an easy shot.

Anyway you can do all of the above, even scratch intentionally about 8 times, and then they go and knock in the 8 accidentially or something. So not always easy to lose intentionally!

I have found that people want to play me if I win a lot of the time, but they win sometimes. If I always win or with other players who always win, no one wants to play them except the very best players. And these guys are not always around to play.
 
I don't usually play my hardest against my fiancee's dad anymore. He's very good for a casual player (he used to be serious about the game a long time ago, and he hasn't forgotten all of it), but at this point I'm very serious about the game and he's a casual player who mostly only plays against people who come over to his house, so it's no contest. If I beat him too badly, he gets kinda grouchy, and nobody wants a grouchy future father-in-law.

However, for someone who doesn't play very good position in 8-ball or 9-ball, he's a surprisingly good one-pocket player. I'm still a one-pocket beginner, in that I've never really played any competitive one-pocket, so I can play my hardest when we play that. I beat him, but it's close. Sometimes if he's pushing me real hard, I even take a bathroom break and put in my contact lenses ;)

-Andrew
 
I do it all the time.
Down at the Sunshine center one of the guys just hates to loose, it's just the way he is. So if I am playing him and I get out, I will run all my balls off (8Ball) and dog the 8.:D

At the Flamingo if I'm holding serve (8Ball or 9Ball) and I start getting tired, or the wife calls and wants me to come home, I dump.:D

In 9Ball if the ball after the one I'm on is tied up, and I don't have the correct angle to develop it, I dog the ball before it and leave it straight in, so the incoming player has to make a good hit on the next ball and break it out for me.:D

In 1P, I never dump, no matter what. That game I always want to win, and If I have to go, it will be at the end game.:) That is the game I respect.
 
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