Gambling makes you a better player

Lumocolor said:
What an idiot i am, i always thought practice would make me better and all this time i should have just been giving money to players better than myself and watching them run balls. :banghead:
Click to expand...

I'm picking up the sarcasim but what you're saying is true. Nobody is saying 'find the best player you know and bet high'. If you play people your own speed for $50 or whatever, you will learn to shoot different shots than playing for free. You learn to control the table. You will play a safe and not go for the bank. Sometimes, yea, jump in he box with a pro. See how you stand. Donate a little and pay attention. Watch how they play you. Then go back to playing people your own speed. After a few months, try the pro again and see how you stand. Test yourself. Get wieght, they will give it up.

Winning, even for money, isn't as important as improving. When your game gets better, you will win more than you lose.
 
Practice & lessons

Lumocolor said:
What an idiot i am, i always thought practice would make me better and all this time i should have just been giving money to players better than myself and watching them run balls. :banghead:
Click to expand...

Cleary, Practice & lessons (I think) would be a faster Road to a better player.

Just have the instructor put you in situations & teach you.

If I was looking to improve it wouldn't be thru gambling.

I'm not saying gambling won't help make you tough. I'm saying it's a slower road.
 
Here we go again lol putting yourself in competitive situations makes you a better player. It doesn't have to be gambling. I feel as much pressure playing In a tournament or league's As I do gambling. The only way to hone your skills is to apply the pressure of doing it when something you deem Important is on the line. To some gambling maybe the only way they feel that pressure and that's fine.. But some of us are so driven to win that we feel that pressure even if it's for a plastic trophy!
 
billy said:
In order to take your game to a much higher level, this is right on

Anyone who says different, is destined for mediocracy imho
Click to expand...

Yeah, like Ralf Souquet, Allison Fisher and others. I guess they're the exceptions to the rule, huh?

Maniac
 
I think most people that gamble and gamble serious turn into
f--king a--holes.Even if they were idiots before hand,gambling brings
out their inner idiot that's even worse.In pool i find most guys are
tools to begin with,even without the gambling.If you want to get better,
do lots of drills and play in tournaments.To much bad blood when
gambling's included.
 
I agree with what Cleary says... when I goof around with people within my skill range, I don't play smart pool. Gambling isn't a stand-alone answer, but for everybody there's a dollar figure where it ceases to be a "fcuk it, I'll try this 3 rail kick" game and your decision making becomes more intelligent. My experience has been that I can get more focused practice by recalling key shots or safeties I failed to execute while gambling. There are different ways to focus and feel the pressure for sure, I experienced it in the APA shooting for/in Vegas... Money is just a universal and more tangible motivator for many.
 
I've seen some guys who play great with nothing on the line
but play like crap if there gambling.He might choke playing for money
but it still doesn't lesson his ability as a player because he still possesses
the same talent but not when he's gambling.Losing all your money doesn't
prove anything but how dumb you are.Take that money and get a coach,
then you'll see your game improve.The value of good knowledge is worth
anything you'll ever win or lose gambling.
 
"This is the very reason all of the pool rooms are all closing,no gambling"

Because there's so much money in serving free refills of coffee and water at $5 dollars an hour for a bunch of gamblers trying to "win so they can eat."

Gambling and hustlers more importantly are the very reason that pool declined from a prestigious activity to one of infamy over the last century.
 
People who gamble at pool turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

They get it in their head (maybe from posts like runout's?) that gambling is the mark of skilled players and it's the best path to improvement.

They think playing for fun is for chumps so they don't bother giving 100% in games with their buddies.

Therefore they play worse when they aren't gambling. So they arrive at the conclusion "I only play good pool when I gamble, so gambling must improve my skills".

Putting money on the line helps with one specific pool skill, which is playing under pressure. But all those other skills... shotmaking, safeties, kicking, whatever... you can't buy those with cash, you can only buy them with time and effort. Even if you could... you don't need to pay the better players to learn those shots. You can sit by the table for free and watch them use those shots on someone else. Or learn from books, the internet, etc.
 
Maybe so, maybe not. I don't think the European players gamble much, at least that's what Ralf Souquet told me.

However, I will pass along a phrase that Ben Hogan coined..."If you can't play for money, you can't play"
 
scsuxci said:
I think most people that gamble and gamble serious turn into
f--king a--holes.Even if they were idiots before hand,gambling brings
out their inner idiot that's even worse.In pool i find most guys are
tools to begin with,even without the gambling.If you want to get better,
do lots of drills and play in tournaments.To much bad blood when
gambling's included.
Click to expand...

The one thing I notice about a--holes is they always end up hanging around each other. Think about it :thumbup:

It's been a while since I would consider myself a gambler but when I did I was in the pool room every day looking for action. There were weeks I would put in 60 + hours on the table. IMO If I could have made myself play that hard for that amount of time without money being involved I would have still improved at the same rate. Some people can do it without needing the motivation that losing/winning money can provide.
 
angldemn said:
"This is the very reason all of the pool rooms are all closing,no gambling"

Because there's so much money in serving free refills of coffee and water at $5 dollars an hour for a bunch of gamblers trying to "win so they can eat."

Gambling and hustlers more importantly are the very reason that pool declined from a prestigious activity to one of infamy over the last century.
Click to expand...
Very well put and dead-on.Most pool room owners I ever knew always
said,if my clients were all ''pool players''I'd have to close my doors cause
none of them want to spend a nickel.And the really good players feel like
they should get everything for free,from table-time to food.Its funny
cause its all the non-pool players that generate the most money in a poolroom.Kinda weird!
 
B.Carson said:
The one thing I notice about a--holes is they always end up hanging around each other. Think about it :thumbup:

It's been a while since I would consider myself a gambler but when I did I was in the pool room every day looking for action. There were weeks I would put in 60 + hours on the table. IMO If I could have made myself play that hard for that amount of time without money being involved I would have still improved at the same rate. Some people can do it without needing the motivation that losing/winning money can provide.
Click to expand...
Thats probably why I'm a loner.:smile:If someone has a bad opinion about me,I'd rather them have it from something I've done, compared to
automatically thinking I'm a dink because of who I'm hanging out with.
 
ignomirello said:
Cleary, Practice & lessons (I think) would be a faster Road to a better player.

Just have the instructor put you in situations & teach you.

If I was looking to improve it wouldn't be thru gambling.

I'm not saying gambling won't help make you tough. I'm saying it's a slower road.
Click to expand...

The gambling it's self doesn't make you a better player. The money doesn't teach you the routes or how to draw the ball. It's the ability to play under pressure that gambling teaches you. You can't slack off or take a flier. It's the 'finals of a tournament' pressure, every set. The finals is different pressure than the 1st round, right? Of course. When you're under pressure, your arm gets shaky and you're cue gets heavy. You're palms sweat and making the right choice gets tougher. When you play for money often, these feelings go away. You're nerves settle and you're numb to that type of pressure (for the most part). You do lean from your mistakes quicker when it costs you money.

That said, of course you have to practice and get lessons. You have to learn the game and apply what you have learned.
 
Hi Pangit, nice new thread, same style though.

I'll bite only because there's bad information here.

If you can't play "good" unless there's money on the table you have a problem with focus, or ADD, or you're a whore. Want some pressure, get 5 members of the opposite sex to watch your game. Or 10 railbirds. Or ChopDoc in his biker leathers who swears he just put his house on the rail and you'd better win or you and your purty mouth will go home in his saddlebags.

I've no need for external motivation, I play to win.
 
krupa said:
And video games should have stopped here...

pacman.png


And what's wrong with wearing fedoras and zoot suits, and poodle skirts!? (all at once, like great uncle fred used to do at family occasions :smile:)
Click to expand...

Even in 1984, this game sucked.
 
While I agree that a little Gamble can raise peoples games and add interest to a match up of two good players it is also important to remember that you would be hard pressed to get a money game against just about any European player and they have won 4 out of the last 5 Mosconi cups and have Germany just took the World Cup of Pool. Myself will bet a small amount if the match up is right, I'm in stroke and I have money I can afford to lose. But I mostly don't gamble, I just enjoy playing. That said I turn into a rail bird the minute I see a pretty high stakes game going on in the pool room though.
 
CreeDo said:
People who gamble at pool turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

They get it in their head (maybe from posts like runout's?) that gambling is the mark of skilled players and it's the best path to improvement.

They think playing for fun is for chumps so they don't bother giving 100% in games with their buddies.

Therefore they play worse when they aren't gambling. So they arrive at the conclusion "I only play good pool when I gamble, so gambling must improve my skills".

Putting money on the line helps with one specific pool skill, which is playing under pressure. But all those other skills... shotmaking, safeties, kicking, whatever... you can't buy those with cash, you can only buy them with time and effort. Even if you could... you don't need to pay the better players to learn those shots. You can sit by the table for free and watch them use those shots on someone else. Or learn from books, the internet, etc.
Click to expand...



I'm a chump...strictly playing for fun. Nothing against those who play for money, but it's not my bag. But who is the chump here? I have a nice investment portfolio, my home on a small acreage is paid for, paid cash for my Bullit Mustang, and pretty much do as I want when I want.

How'd I get to such a nice retirement gig? I worked, saved, invested. Yeah, I know...only suckers do that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top