Gamble to be good??

D

dooziexx

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just read the interview with Danny "Kid Delicious" Basavich in the latest issue of BD.

"Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to go on the road?
A: If a young kid wants to get good, he's for sure gotta gamble. There must be only about one out of every 100 champions who just practices and doesn't gamble. I think its a must, even though its not talked about as, quote-unquote, a great thing to do. You really have to get that pressure in your veins."

Personally I dont think you have to gamble to be good. There are other ways to get "pressure in your veins" than gambling ie. competing in tournaments. What do you think?
 
dooziexx said:
Personally I dont think you have to gamble to be good. There are other ways to get "pressure in your veins" than gambling ie. competing in tournaments. What do you think?
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I agree and disagree with you at the same time. Its true that competeing in tournaments puts a great deal of pressure on you, but it is a different kind of pressure. It depends on what type of person you are, some people find playing in tournaments is less pressure than gambling, some feel the exact opposite. At any rate you can't play a tournament every day, and losing 1 game is not the end of the world in a tournament. When you gamble, every game you lose results in you handing over your dough! Unless you are playing a race of course. You can gamble all day every day if you want to, and put yourself under a tremendous amount of pressure all the time, you can't do that in tournaments. So either way you look at it i feel both gambling and playing tournaments can be a tremendous help to your game!
 
Gambling to get good

I read that last night. He might be right,however, i don't really want to be that good. My game is fine without gambling. I am a winner because I get to do something I love to do, not because I took some poor schmuck's money. Some people don't have any other way to make it. Some people can't play unless they gamble. Some people can't live without gambling. I gamble a little when someone else suggest it. Very rarely though.
Don P. :cool:
 
I approach every tourney match as a race for a portion of the last place monies. Then once you start moving up the money ladder, you are playing a race for the difference in what you would get if you lost and what you would get if you won.
1st $100
2nd = $50
3rd = $30

equals Race to 3 for $20 when playing for 2nd....and then a race to 3 for $50 when playing to point guy again. Keeps me focused cause I don't want to give it away.
 
I am only 13 (2 months till 14 ), but I do know what tournaments are like and kinda big money games are like. They are very different pressure. In a tournaments you pay an entry fee then dont have to worry about no other money. ( which will get your mind off money ). In money games however you (in most cases) pay after each game. So you are constantly dealing with money.( thinking, if I keep loosing I dont get dinner, that happened to me 1, lol) So I think you should kinda of gamble once in a while to have a different kinda of pressure. But who cares what I think right? I am 13, lol
 
dooziexx said:
Just read the interview with Danny "Kid Delicious" Basavich in the latest issue of BD.

"Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to go on the road?
A: If a young kid wants to get good, he's for sure gotta gamble. There must be only about one out of every 100 champions who just practices and doesn't gamble. I think its a must, even though its not talked about as, quote-unquote, a great thing to do. You really have to get that pressure in your veins."

Personally I dont think you have to gamble to be good. There are other ways to get "pressure in your veins" than gambling ie. competing in tournaments. What do you think?
Click to expand...

The most important thing is putting yourself in situations that put pressure on you in order to learn to execute under those conditions. For some it may be tournament play, for some it may be gambling, some people may be able to put enough pressure on themselves when they are practicing to get better, for some it may be all of the above. I know a lot of guys who don't like their money, so all the gambling in the world is not going to make them play better. It all boils down to how bad you want to win a tournament or someone else's cash. You first have to have the motivation to overcome the pressure in whatever situation you are in. You then need to learn how to handle the pressure to reach your goal.
 
dooziexx said:
Just read the interview with Danny "Kid Delicious" Basavich in the latest issue of BD.

"Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to go on the road?
A: If a young kid wants to get good, he's for sure gotta gamble. There must be only about one out of every 100 champions who just practices and doesn't gamble. I think its a must, even though its not talked about as, quote-unquote, a great thing to do. You really have to get that pressure in your veins."

Personally I dont think you have to gamble to be good. There are other ways to get "pressure in your veins" than gambling ie. competing in tournaments. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Tournaments are the only other way to put pressure on yourself. The worst part about tournaments is that you can't flip the coin when someone beats you. When I was in school I made my way around the local tournament scene, but I'd always skip the tournament for a shot at more money gambling.

Personally, I think you can learn a lot more about your abilities, and your opponents speed, over a long gambling session. I know a 'pro', who I am confident all of you are familiar with, who believes that gambling is the only way to learn new things and improve at his level. He was sponsored by a production cue that did not approve of gambling for a while, but that relationship did not work out.
 
I feel bad for those players who cannot enjoy playing for the fun of it. Kind of makes me wonder why the play in the first place. I like to play for fun, money or in tournaments, whatever the situation dictates. I think one thing makes you better and that is hating to lose more than you like to win. This is what drives me to improve and why I think great players come from areas where other great players exist.
 
I do believe that gambling is necessary to keep your game sharp. The consequences for making mistakes are much more severe with money on the line. I don't think that it is necessary to gamble big, $20 or $30 sets is plenty to keep me on my toes. Since I started playing again I have not really exceeded that type of bet and I think that gambling has helped me bring my game back up closer to how I used to play.

Tournaments are ok but just not the same, it is hard to get yourself ready to play a set sit down for maybe a couple of hours play another set and maybe sit again for awhile. When playing for money you learn other things that tournaments cannot do for you. An example is turning your game around when struggling, on many occasions I've played in games I felt I was supposed to win but was just playing bad. I learned a mental toughness that you can't get from tournaments. If you start out bad in tournament you are done thats it and you go home. On the other hand you can be in a game losing for hours and will yourself back into it, which is one of the hardest things to do.

I do believe tournaments are helpful but I also think gambling is necessary if you want to continue to improve.
 
Agree with Basavich

:cool: Danny said it right, without gambling, you will surely see your game go down. The very best players ever all got to be that way by gambling around the country and having to "get out" to be able to eat. Even though it may not be politcally correct to endorse gambling, it's the number one thing pool fans like to watch and participate in. Don't believe me, well in at least 3 of the last 5 years, gambling matches had more spectators than the finals at the Derby City Classics. Ask anyone who was there, as I was. :)
 
jungledude said:
:cool: "The very best players ever all got to be that way by gambling around the country and having to "get out" to be able to eat."
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No...they ALL do not have to be that way. Take Johnny Archer for example, I can't remember the last time I saw him in gambling action. I would assume this is due to sponsorship obligations, but lack of gambling action sure doesn't affect his game.
 
I think the biggest key is the desire to be the best that you can be.Whether that be tournament or gambling.I love both but i would give the edge to gambling , but to each its own.We all need our own motivation to get over the hump.I try to get a steady diet of both as much as I can.In both areas you can learn something to make yourself better.Its just what you prefer to do and enjoy.I also know that no matter which one I choose,if i dont get out there and work on my game ,I'll probably going to end up on the wrong end.I still do enjoy playing for fun because thats why i started to play and thats the main reason i still do play.You may not be able to find a game or a tourney but fun always shows up.But if i can make some dough while im having that fun, so be it.lol
 
Worminator said:
No...they ALL do not have to be that way. Take Johnny Archer for example, I can't remember the last time I saw him in gambling action. I would assume this is due to sponsorship obligations, but lack of gambling action sure doesn't affect his game.
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Where have you been Worm? Archer WON the second $30,000 Ring Game at the Derby City Classic. He Gambles.
 
Archer was also a pretty strong road player too from what ive heard from friends that have been around the game.
 
hemicudas said:
Where have you been Worm? Archer WON the second $30,000 Ring Game at the Derby City Classic. He Gambles.
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And you believe he did that on his own dimes?
 
Tony said:
Archer was also a pretty strong road player too from what ive heard from friends that have been around the game.
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There is no doubt Archer WAS a strong road player at one time.
 
I think we're talking apples and oranges here. Kid Delicious was talking about Champions. 99.999% of pool players are not at the level that he was refering to. So that leaves the rest of us.

I believe that gambling is a great teacher. It doesn't teach you how to make balls, rather it teaches you how to find your best game when you need it most. It can be a very emotional ride. Humbling at times. Is there any worse feeling than doggin it for the cash? I don't think so. When I say doggin it, I mean it may be that when you played a safe, you didn't freeze him up behind a ball, but you left him enough room to kick three rails and then he puts a four pack on ya. But until you can get that action again, guess what your mind is doing. Replaying the game again and again, until you figure out how to overcome the obstacles that kept you from posting a winner.

At the other end of the spectrum is, as Bert Gordon calls it, glory. The most I've ever won gambling is 560 bucks. Most I've ever lost, sober:$250, loaded:$400. It may not even be the amount of money you win, in fact I'm sure of it. Picture this: Say you've been playing in the same room or area for three or four years, gradually improving. You know who the big dogs are. And then one day you say to yourself. I can beat that dude, and I'm the only one that knows it. So you take a shot at the title. Win or lose, all of a sudden, you've got the confidence of a champion. People look at you differently.

I've always considered myself a somewhat conservative gambler as far as pool players go. I mean, I don't make my money gambling. I work for a living just like most other people out there. But when I need action (to try to improve my game), a lot of times it's frustrating because everybody wants some weight or whatever. As I was talking to one of my mentors a few years ago about what to do about matching up, he told me point blank: You intimidate the lesser players BECAUSE you gamble. In other words I'm not afraid to invest say a hundred bucks stepping up to a better player. Well guess what happens come tournament time...half the field rolls over because they don't have the guts to step up and play hard. They're afraid to win. "I can't beat that guy, I saw him play so and so for cash the other night. Sure he lost, but he must be good."
 
Seems to me that gambling and pool could be mutually exclusive, i.e., a good pool player may not be a good gambler and vice versa. A good gambler is able to read his/her marks and knows when to raise the bet. It's tough to find someone that plays strong and gambles well too. I think that's why Bucktooth has made so much money over the years. I think he's probably a better gambler than he is a pool player but he's a pretty good pool player too.
 
I think by gambling you can develop a killer instinct. Especially if you're on the road. If you are down in a match with your last money is at stake, you _have to_ get out and win if you don't want to go home with your tail between your legs. If you're down in a tournament match, the situation is different... then you need to find a way to motivate yourself and find that killer instinct. In gambling it's all about surviving, or surviving your money, but in tournament play you might get too comfortable if you're shooting them straight, but I doubt many players have been comfortable in a match of big $$$'s at stake.

I've never gambled much, I don't like the extra pressure...
 
Why do people call playing for money "gambling"? If a weak player plays much stronger opponent, he's gonna get destroyed for sure. Even with handicaps. It's a rip off. No luck involved.

And about handicaps to adjust skill level...Let me just tell you that I'd feel ashamed playing like that against better players. I'd rather take them on in a tornament and get a proper lesson there playing a real pool game with real rules, not some invented ones.

Besides, there's money in tornaments, no? It's not the same if you win $500 or $1000. The good thing is that there's nothing to lose except your entry fee...and your pride... :D
 
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