Gamblers are Strange People
- Thread starter dr9ball
- Start date
One thing to add would be Mosconi.
Mosconi=greatest pool player ever
Mosconi's legacy is 15 World Championships. World Championships are tournaments.
I both gamble and play leagues. My biggest complaint about the gambling world is when someone says "wanna play some" and I say "sure" then the proceed to say "I'll take the wild 7 and breaks"
HUH!!!!! You asked me to play!
My response when asked "what am I giving" I usually respond with "a hard time"
HUH!!!!! You asked me to play!
My response when asked "what am I giving" I usually respond with "a hard time"
1949..............................
Kathy Keegan
Registered
I practiced on a snooker table with regulation balls sometimes.
One guy had been coming in to Bakers in Tampa for years. He literally never said a word to me in that time. I was female, just not worth speaking to. He was rumored to be of the other persuasion.
I am on a fairly tight table out of the way with the regulation balls one afternoon. He wanders up, looking bored, and wonders if I would play him some cheap one pocket or banks, till his regular game strolls in. I look up at him. Then I fire the 10 ball one rail off the side into a corner, and it dropped like a stone into it. I am afraid I never heard a word from him after that. He never saw me practicing with Buddy or the Goose. Goose lived down here for years.
One guy had been coming in to Bakers in Tampa for years. He literally never said a word to me in that time. I was female, just not worth speaking to. He was rumored to be of the other persuasion.
I am on a fairly tight table out of the way with the regulation balls one afternoon. He wanders up, looking bored, and wonders if I would play him some cheap one pocket or banks, till his regular game strolls in. I look up at him. Then I fire the 10 ball one rail off the side into a corner, and it dropped like a stone into it. I am afraid I never heard a word from him after that. He never saw me practicing with Buddy or the Goose. Goose lived down here for years.
Wrong
I don't belong to or play in the APA but without the APA Leagues half the rooms in the county would close.
I don't belong to or play in the APA but without the APA Leagues half the rooms in the county would close.
One of my favorite stories is a time when I was in a pool hall where I sometimes played but wasn't a local. A young attractive gal who was a local approached me and wanted to play for money. I knew she stood little chance but I didn't want the potential trouble of beating her out of her cash, I was just there to enjoy myself and was perfectly happy playing 14.1 by myself. I told her I would play her and loser had to put $5 dollars in the juke box. That seemed like a harmless enough bet. I beat her and immediately she started loudly proclaiming to the entire pool hall I had just hustled her.
I told her to play some Patsy Cline and she informed me she wasn't going to play that crap and played something so bad I wasn't sure it was music. So now not only am I getting glaring looks from people in the place for hustling this cute young gal but I'm listening to terrible sound coming from the juke box which evidently this gal considered music.
I broke down my cue and left.
I told her to play some Patsy Cline and she informed me she wasn't going to play that crap and played something so bad I wasn't sure it was music. So now not only am I getting glaring looks from people in the place for hustling this cute young gal but I'm listening to terrible sound coming from the juke box which evidently this gal considered music.
I broke down my cue and left.
Sounds like a real b!tch. That's when you tell her, "I didn't hustle you, I beat you. You asked me to play"
I liked the blanketed all encompassing slam of league players on another thread so very much I thought I'd start a thread where people can discuss their pet peeves about that strange group of people who are always chirping players up trying to get them to gamble, complaining that people quit when they are winning, that you should give up your table so they can gamble on it etc.
Let's hear your thoughts on these also strange people.
Don't be shy
Strangeness, it's a human condition.
In a pool room, there are rules that only pertain to regular players. Regulars playing on house tables are required to give up their tables to gamblers. Happens often, for any short race for $20. The house man is blamed when non regulars wont give up their tables. The gamblers may even prod the house man enough for him to ask the non regulars to change tables. You cant quit while you're winning, unless you specified before starting, that you had to leave at a certain time. Woofing and chirping is expected, but usually by the same people. There are some who play for big money, as Elvi said, over their heads at times. These days I don't see that as much, maybe its just the economy.
None of this applies to league play or bar play, just the unwritten rules as I have come to know them. Are they strange, I suppose so. But they don't bother me, and I never heard anyone complain about them. Actually, guys do grumble when they need to move for $20 game. Nothing serious though.
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APA has definitely "dumbed" down the game. It's the worst league in pool. From what I hear before it's existence pool was a lot better. Yes they bring in lots of bangers and make a fortune off of them and don't put a dime
Back into the game. If that's good for pool I guess smog is good for the air.
I liked the blanketed all encompassing slam of league players on another thread so very much I thought I'd start a thread where people can discuss their pet peeves about that strange group of people who are always chirping players up trying to get them to gamble, complaining that people quit when they are winning, that you should give up your table so they can gamble on it etc.
Let's hear your thoughts on these also strange people.
Don't be shy
Strangeness, it's a human condition.
Gamblers like the thrill / rush that comes from being in "action" be it in poker, casino or pool. Gamblers will bet on anything if they like their chances. Most of the gamblers are just looking to get into some action, I like action too but I don't have traits like complaining when some one quits or asking people to give their table, those are characteristics of their personality and got nothing to do with their gambling habit. That's why when gambling the most important thing is to find "good action", doesn't matter if you loose or win.
It's the whole microwave and internet generation too.... They want everything right now and not have to pay their dues or pay $ to get it.
Why take lessons from a pro like you when they can go to Dr. Daves site and learn for free??? Dr. Daves knowledgeable and all but who has he beat? Tourney or gambling?
People will pay $30 for a piece of chalk looking for a quick fix to their game but will then b!tch if someone lets you in a $5 or $10 tourney.
All of you people that hate on gambling fail to see the critical thing that a pool game needs, grind. Can you learn grind playing tourneys, to an extent, yes. But nothing like you can by getting in the box and putting real money into play and going to war with someone... Lets say you are hiring someone for personal protection as a bodyguard, are you going to hire the guy who is a champion competition shooter or the special forces combat vet that's actually bet it all and put his life on the line?
You're a seasoned combat veteran son.....
Gamblers
Nothing wrong with gamblers as long as they don't make an ass out of themselves. Playing for small amounts of money is good for your game. It makes you bear down and concentrate. Playing for large stakes is a different matter. It is just like any other form of high stakes gambling in that you bet yours and I'll bet mine. Let the best man win, period. Back in the day when all there was, was gambling, it was the only way any pool player could supplement their income. There were no leagues and/or few tournaments available. Gambling wasn't frowned upon back then. Now it seems that it is.
Nothing wrong with gamblers as long as they don't make an ass out of themselves. Playing for small amounts of money is good for your game. It makes you bear down and concentrate. Playing for large stakes is a different matter. It is just like any other form of high stakes gambling in that you bet yours and I'll bet mine. Let the best man win, period. Back in the day when all there was, was gambling, it was the only way any pool player could supplement their income. There were no leagues and/or few tournaments available. Gambling wasn't frowned upon back then. Now it seems that it is.
I know a guy that will gamble playing pool, not high because he's always broke. He will run every dollar he has through the poker machines, the ones that say for amusement only on them of course. But he draws the line at paying a dollar for a can of soda. Lol I called him out on this the other day. I said you'll spend every dime you have in the effing poker machine but the $1 coke is where you draw the line? He just laughed because he knew it was weird.
I haven't played for money since 1990.
But I will play anyone in the world for a dollar a game and I'll play for a couple hours before I quit.
So if you are good enough...you can maybe make more than the minimum wage.
LOL...not if the minimum wage goes up to $15!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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Banks
Banned
People on here will blow $K's on cues, but take a look at how they match up. There's *****ing and moaning, haggling, all kinds of stuff and many times nothing happens.
Here's my quick run-down.. started as an average bar player in APA. My captain loved to get me in $1 or $2 games. Eventually, I started catching up. He didn't play that game when the tables turned. I'm not far into a local A level. I'll play some of the good local masters and drop a little money, but if they feel like they're on the short end of the stick, they tend to pull up early. I'm starting to get a bit burnt on that feeling - they want to rob me, but heaven forbid they risk losing a few bucks. Can't wait til I hit master and see the nits come out of the woodwork(or go hide back in the woodwork). On one night, I hang out with my friends, maybe give a spot to play for a few bucks and treat it like an exercise, then on another night I'm the weakest player on a team of people that have spent a lot of time playing for money.
Being a nit has nothing to do with being in a league. APA probably gives people a better idea of the pecking order, but not much else in terms of gambling. These are people that want to go out, have a couple of drinks and hang out with their buddies playing pool. Not a problem, they're contributing to the game. Maybe the problem is that outside of league, there aren't a lot of players left that want to gamble. League shouldn't shoulder that blame.
How about another one.. last Spring at our regional BCA, I played a good master getting the 8. I won. A newer regional grandmaster asked if I wanted to play after. I figure what the heck, I'd fire off some of what I just won. He refused to play banks, refused to give up any kind of a spot other than what I had previously gotten from the master. He ran 5 of the 7 racks, I think, and I didn't get a game. League players are nits? Bah. I think it's closer to the old saying, that there's no honor among thieves.