To gamble or not to gamble?
Used correctly, gambling is a great "TOOL" to help you improve.
Used correctly, gambling is a great "TOOL" to help you improve.
Does anyone actually believe GAMBLING will
- Thread starter CocoboloCowboy
- Start date
crawfish said:
I believe that somewhere earlier I agreed that it must help your game. ALL playing helps your game. If gambling gets you out on the table more and helps keep your mind focussed then it's all good.
Maybe that's it's downfall too though. Not enough at stake in a small tourney so no concentration. Too much at stake in a big tourney pride-wise plus the catch that when you are done that's it (no double or nothing) and ...
Gambling is gambling. If it gets you to the table more often you will get better. It is not a required tool for improvement, though. Just an option. Constant play is the only requirement.
Ed
Anyone can gamble for small stakes, something you can afford to lose and forget about it. Hell, even I did it a few times and honestly it didn't make me very nervous at all. But if I bet my entire paycheck, things would be very different. I don't think I could do it. And if I bet several of my paychecks, I think I'd pass out on the table, honest.
I don't think I could ever enjoy the game like that.
Yes, constant big gambling would for sure make me better at some aspects of the game, but I prefer being finantially stable...
Gambling small part time, I'm not so sure. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't.
I enjoy my pool just practicing and playing tournaments. This is what makes me happy and I'll stick to it.
I don't think I could ever enjoy the game like that.
Yes, constant big gambling would for sure make me better at some aspects of the game, but I prefer being finantially stable...
Gambling small part time, I'm not so sure. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't.
I enjoy my pool just practicing and playing tournaments. This is what makes me happy and I'll stick to it.
I would have bet this thread NEVER would have made it to 100 posts...
That's why I needed a spot.
That's why I needed a spot.
and even if we assume for a second it doesnt improve your game, well god forbid somebody that actually has talent and dedication for the game can earn some money off of it..... i mean come on -- you don't want to lose your money to a guy like that, do you. vegas or the track are much more deserving of your cash, and there is less of an ego blow too. i say anybody who loses money to a person that actually has talent in pool is a pure sucker lol.
I have no problem with people gambling on pool. Not too many things are more exciting then watching 2 people go at it for big stakes. The only thing I want to say in this thread is that it's wrong to tell a younger, up and coming player that he'll never be able to play well if he doesn't gamble. That's just silly.
MULLY
MULLY
This is just a strawman Ed. People who voted, voted based on actual results and experience. Let's not mock that.emccune said:
People believing that the earth is flat was based on guessing and non-scientific theory. Scientists who actually studied the stars theorized it was spherical. Only those that didn't give it much thought assumed it was flat.
Fred
I can not believe this thread is still a live.
Cornerman said:
It's not a strawman Fred. Running a poll doesn't consititute proof of any sort except what the responders believe. I didn't respond because I disliked the framing of the question. This is typical of yes/no polls. They are framed to the bias of the framer.
In fact my answer to the original question of this thread is YES, gambling will improve your game. So will tourney play, solo practice and even just banging them around.
The question is pretty meaningless because any and all forms of playing/practice will contribute to improving your play.
This is like stating that nine ball will improve your game. Implying that it is the most important game out there but sidestepping critisism with the comment "well it does improve your game doesn't i?". I know you understand how deep a game 8 ball is Fred.
Or saying playing on big tables improves you game..yes/no. Of course it does but the implication is that again, it is more critical than smaller tables.
All slanted polls implying false assumptions. It may indeed be true that gambling/nine ball(or straight pool if you prefer)/ large tables are indeed the BEST way to improve but I have yet to see ANY reasonably logical argument in favour of gambling, at least, being so in this thread.
Just the usual posturing and woofing.
I have heard decent arguments in favour of gambling before, though, but on another forum.
Ed
SJDinPHX said:
Well, the results of the poll are a result of a bunch of amateur players, 99.9% of which never leave their damn computer. There is no true evidence that gambling is necessary to become a good player. Not saying it can't make you better, I'm saying it's not necessary to become better. The poll results here really mean nothing.
MULLY
and I'm one of those 99.9%
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When I got out of the Marine Coprs, I thought I was king of the felt...
I won every tournament around any base I'd been around for the past couple of years, so I had to be a rock solid player, right?
I moved to Amarillo where there were two poolhalls: Amarillo Slim's and Harvey's, both about a block and a half apart.
At Harvey's you had your tournament players and bangers for the most part. The fun place to play.
I was doing pretty well in there consistantly.
Then I went to Slim's.....
The sole ambition of the vast majority of guys in there was to be a road player, gambler, hustler what have you.
The stake horses were easy to find because that's where they were.
I lost so much money gambling in there the first year, that I had two choices.... give it up, or learn to play better.
I got sick of losing to these guys for the cash, and started relearning the game.
I was in there when they opened first thing in the morning watching and learning, practicing all my weak spots, and closing the place down the next morning.
I started making the bar circuit tearing up the panhandle, and before long there were only a small handful of guys in Slim's that would even ask me for a game anymore.
I don't know which was more directly responsible for what my game turned into.... all the practice I put in because I was sick of losing money, or the incentive I got from losing money to get on the table and practice until I stopped losing money.
Either way, I don't know if I would have advanced past where I was before all this, but I know I became the player I turned into because of what I learned from gambling.
Actually, I think I learned the most from the road players I've encountered all over the country.
Some of them I've met in various states out of the blue, but everytime I learned something different that strengthened my perspective and broadened my options when I got onto the table.
Do I still gamble? Rarely. I have too many kids to take care of first.
I hardly ever get to really play anymore. Do I miss the action? Damn straight, but the gambling life isn't the same when you add in the family life.
But I can honestly say that with out gambling, that my game has lost alot of it's edge, because it just doesn't mean the same thing anymore.
And practicing doesn't get the same results anymore, because it's just that---practice.
What good is practice if there isn't anything to practice for?
I think Chohan said it best..."don't even practice for free. Even if you're only playing for $5.00 it will put something into the game that will make you focus that much more and make you a stronger player."
I won every tournament around any base I'd been around for the past couple of years, so I had to be a rock solid player, right?
I moved to Amarillo where there were two poolhalls: Amarillo Slim's and Harvey's, both about a block and a half apart.
At Harvey's you had your tournament players and bangers for the most part. The fun place to play.
I was doing pretty well in there consistantly.
Then I went to Slim's.....
The sole ambition of the vast majority of guys in there was to be a road player, gambler, hustler what have you.
The stake horses were easy to find because that's where they were.
I lost so much money gambling in there the first year, that I had two choices.... give it up, or learn to play better.
I got sick of losing to these guys for the cash, and started relearning the game.
I was in there when they opened first thing in the morning watching and learning, practicing all my weak spots, and closing the place down the next morning.
I started making the bar circuit tearing up the panhandle, and before long there were only a small handful of guys in Slim's that would even ask me for a game anymore.
I don't know which was more directly responsible for what my game turned into.... all the practice I put in because I was sick of losing money, or the incentive I got from losing money to get on the table and practice until I stopped losing money.
Either way, I don't know if I would have advanced past where I was before all this, but I know I became the player I turned into because of what I learned from gambling.
Actually, I think I learned the most from the road players I've encountered all over the country.
Some of them I've met in various states out of the blue, but everytime I learned something different that strengthened my perspective and broadened my options when I got onto the table.
Do I still gamble? Rarely. I have too many kids to take care of first.
I hardly ever get to really play anymore. Do I miss the action? Damn straight, but the gambling life isn't the same when you add in the family life.
But I can honestly say that with out gambling, that my game has lost alot of it's edge, because it just doesn't mean the same thing anymore.
And practicing doesn't get the same results anymore, because it's just that---practice.
What good is practice if there isn't anything to practice for?
I think Chohan said it best..."don't even practice for free. Even if you're only playing for $5.00 it will put something into the game that will make you focus that much more and make you a stronger player."
Cuephoric said:
You got better because you practiced not to lose. If you want to credit gambling for that then that's just fine, but the gambling didn't improve your game. And again, not everybody needs the rush of putting money on the line to focus on what they have to do to win.
I'm sorry, but the people that swear by gambling sound as if they're saying "Hey MULLY, you can't focus on the game because you don't gamble" and I beg to differ on that.
MULLY
my last post on this subject was about 20 posts ago heheheeh!!