Do you get angry when you lose?

depends on how i lost. if i lose by missing easy shots, putting the 8 in out of turn/scratching. you bet your ass i am going to be pissed. now if i lose after playing well but still getting beat because the other guy ran out on me? nope. nothing else i can do at that point.
 
Only if I played poorly and made mistakes. Some of the highlights of my playing have been losses to great players when I played my best and got close.
 
He was probrably angry at himself and not you.

This is quite likely the case.

Everyone gets angry at themselves at times when they play at a level below which they expect they should and lose as a result, EVERYONE. Look at Archer, SVB, Dechaine, Hatch, Bustamante, in the last few TAR matches, every single one has gotton mad at times when they missed a shot they are not supposed to or played below their expectations.

It is not losing but "how" you are losing. If I get run over by a guy doing nothing but running rack after rack there is little for me to be angry about, I am doing nothing wrong and simply hit a opponent in dead stroke, it happens and you take the loss and move on. What ticks me and every other player off is when you DO get chances to win, turns at the table where you should get out and you are missing shots or playing bad shape and not getting out and THAT is why a guy is beating you. That is what tends to tilt people and get their emotions going in this game.
 
I will be mad at myself is I lost because of stupid decisions and/or poor play on my part. I can be visibly upset, but will always behave like a gentleman. The few times that I have admittedly gone on tilt were from losses due to the equipment. The one thing that I absolutely can not stand is losing a match because of a table roll. It happens more often than one might think at the place I play. It sucks to play well, only to roll a ball in at pocket speed and have it roll off and hit the tit. Puts me on edge.
 
My answer is the same as most. I get upset with myself if I lost because I made stupid mistakes. In general I enjoy losing if the player played very well or much better than me as I work on improving.
 
I get upset, but never at my opponent. Only at myself and I would never throw a fit. The closest I've ever been to throwing a fit was actually this past week at league. I've played poorly the last two weeks, losing two race to five matches a total of 10-2.

I was losing this match 4-0 and I scratched on my last ball (playing 8-ball) in the case game. The scratch resulted in my opponent having ball in hand on his last ball and the 8. Well, I guess I'd had enough. I stood up out of my stance, unscrewed my cue, shook my opponent's hand, told him he played a great match and I walked away.

I was really angry, but only at myself. You only have yourself to be upset with, that's for sure. No matter who you're playing, they're not at the table when you are.

-J
 
My answer is the same as most. I get upset with myself if I lost because I made stupid mistakes. In general I enjoy losing if the player played very well or much better than me as I work on improving.

This is how I see it.

I am usually angrier at how I played poorly, rather than the actual losing of the match.

Sometimes I'm not the most happy-go-lucky person to be around after I lose, but to throw a tantrum is silly. I try and make sure my opponents know that is why I'm grumpy, as well, because I genuinely like most of the folks that I play against.
 
Always

Not only do I throw a complete fit when I lose even a single game, but every time I so much as get an inch out of position I hurl my cue at whoever is closest to me. Needless to say I'm not very popular.
 
No, because when you get angry you go blow off steam. And when you go blow off steam, accidents happen. And, well, I don't want to wake up in a roadside ditch.
 
No, because when you get angry you go blow off steam. And when you go blow off steam, accidents happen. And, well, I don't want to wake up in a roadside ditch.

I want the patch though.

Freddie <~~~ bring on the ditch
 
I get mad at myself when i play poorly, just like SVB did on day 1 of TAR 26. I have never smacked my cue on anything or thrown it on a table, i'm (knock on wood) probably the only person i know who hasnt dropped a cue on the floor in 20yrs...lol, i probably over protect my equipment, but i do get angry with myself when i play worst than i think i should.
 
Very seldom do I get angry at the competition. If I get upset, usually it is due to the fact I did not perform well. I have been playing long enough to know my limitations and skill level. I know my strengths and weaknesses. If I perform below my skill level, then I am not too happy with myself. If I perform at or better than my typical skill level and get beat, then he/she was the better and more skilled player. There are a lot of folks out there that have more skill than I, but there are also a lot that don't.

I know personally I would much rather play someone at, or above my skill level and lose VS play someone that I can just run over all the time......unless the lesser skilled player just wants to donate to my retirement fund.:smile:
 
Hi all

Yesterday I went to my local pool hall and I played with one of the best players here, we played 2 sets race to 7 and it wasnt about money or anything just for fun. So, I totally destroyed him, after the last game he threw his cue onto the table like hell(Something I would never do) making terrible noise and everyone was staring at us. Then he unscrewed his cue really fast and left almost running..

The pool hall has two areas, one is the pool area and then there is a bar area you have to go through a glass door to the bar area, then i saw him through that door explaining to another guy why he lost:p

I know this guy for many years already, when I was kid we used to play, of course he always won against me, then I quit playing because of family problems and then I lived in Japan for a while.. So now Im back here and I have been training really hard and the result is that no one cant beat me here anymore..

I can understand that it might be not so nice to lose against someone whos much younger(im 21) but theres no need to get so angry right? I would never behave like he did.. Its just a game, if I lose then I get angry but I dont bother other people with that;)

Whats your opinion on this?:smile:

In my opinion if that guy is one of the best players in that pool room, the caliber of play must be pretty low. I own a room and see every kind of player that you find anywhere in this country.

Players that act like that guy are losers, their game can't progress. In order for some one to improve to a high level of play, their mental ability must equal their physical ability. You simply can't have a good grasp of one and not the other, because the lack of balance will throw ones entire game off.
 
I get frustrated with myself when I play poorly.
My first tournament was a small, single elimination, race to 3 8 ball tournament this past thursday.
First guy I went 2-0
Second guy I won first match, lost on a stupid shot the second, and on final match I missed a straight in, easy as it could possibly get shot. I started unscrewing my cue because he had a stupid easy shot......then he miscued. I screwed mine together and won 2-1 due to luck.
The final match I got best 0-2 by a kid that 70% of his shots were luck and he had no idea what he was doing other than "trying to put a ball in a pocket". That loss bothered me because I lost due to some frustrating shots and to someone that shot like he did.
Knowing the tournament paid two places and I finished third because of the guy made it worse.

I've only been back playing for about 3 weeks though and I'm picking everything up fast. I get just as frustrated even when practicing by myself and shooting poorly.
Id never throw a cue or say something to my opponent though. It's just immature in my opinion.
 
I have to say..... I'm not sure that there has EVER been a time that I
didn't mind losing!!!! I do look forward to the day when my daughter can
defeat me though.

Sometimes when my ego was hit hard enough, there were less than sportsmanlike responses.... and I usually did regret that, but even then
I kept it civil for the most part.

It always pisses me off when the #@$* ghost beats me though, and I
sometimes spit in his drink when he's not looking..... but I think he gets
me back when I'm shooting and my back is turned because my it seems my beer sometimes tasted kind of funny after that.

td

td
 
In my opinion if that guy is one of the best players in that pool room, the caliber of play must be pretty low. I own a room and see every kind of player that you find anywhere in this country.

Players that act like that guy are losers, their game can't progress. In order for some one to improve to a high level of play, their mental ability must equal their physical ability. You simply can't have a good grasp of one and not the other, because the lack of balance will throw ones entire game off.

Well perhaps his best time is over but he has won some major events here in Spain. He is not a pro player though if its what you mean. As every young pool player I dream of becoming a pro, but that is pretty hard in Spain right now, you know I spend most of the time alone in the pool hall because there are NO players.
Because of the financial crisis almost no one can afford to play pool, only the ones who can still afford it are playing(which arent so many), I live on an island and it used to be full of players here some years ago before the crisis, now the ones who are left, I can count them with 1 hand ;)

But thats another story, lol kinda off topic

Anyway, doesnt matter how good a player is, here in Spain its pretty common to get insane after losing, their ego is SO big, they cannot stand losing, especially against a younger "foreigner" yes, im not spanish. I have seen this with spanish pro players too.
 
I don't mind seeing other people flip out. I've done it myself, and it took years to outgrow it, and I still do it sometimes. I can empathize. If it's an important match, I just sit there expressionless... or if I really dislike them, I might let a little smile or snort of laughter show. But with random guys at the pool hall, playing just for fun... I just tell them "I know, I've been there. I hate that feeling." and try to let them know I understand. Having someone sympathize like that can really help cool you down.

Here's what doesn't work: You cannot tell people like that to "calm down, it's just a game".

If they are already mad about losing, telling them the thing that they love (pool) is meaningless and trivial and not worth caring about will NEVER make them happier. It will only make them angrier because you just dismissed something that they feel passionate about, and it shows them you don't "get it", it's the exact opposite of empathizing.

Instead of saying "I totally know why you feel upset" it's like saying "I have no idea why you're so upset."

I wouldn't write someone off over it. For some people it's just a phase. And in any case it's not personal.
 
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