Gambling Scenario - Opinions?
- Thread starter ChrisinNC
- Start date
Probably lost $100 in one on one stuff. Don't gamble much since I don't practice enough. Send me your pigeon if he ever flys off
Will play for popcorn too !
When I moved to my current home nearly fourteen years ago there was one poolroom close by. I went in there one day looking for a One Pocket game and a young Asian man stepped up to play. I was to later find out that he was the best player in that room and subsequent to that day I saw him go far in several local events. In other words he could play.
We agreed to play forty a game One Pocket and that was fine with me. After several hours of play and maybe a dozen games I was four games ahead. My feet were killing me since I was wearing sandals (I have flat feet) and never expected to get into a game like this on my first visit. I informed my opponent that I needed to quit soon since my feet were hurting badly. He proceeded to go off on me, yelling and complaining like a little baby, calling me a nit and a quitter among other things. I told him that I would be glad to come back the next day and we could freeze up $500. He said how about a thousand and I said okay to that as well.
I had made the mistake of putting the games on the wire after he showed me a bankroll and I showed him mine. Finally after much pissing and moaning on his part, I told him we could play one more game for the $160 and he could have the break (it was my break next). He agreed to that and ended up winning the game. During the final game his buddies who were sitting very close to the table made a point to try to shark me any way they could.
So now we were even and he continued to act out verbally. Finally, I let him know how I felt about his behavior and he shut up. It was the first time I raised my voice so it may have surprised him to see that the "nit" had balls. I also let his friends know how I felt about their behavior, especially in the last game. I may have used the words "low class" and "assholes" descriptively. Yes, I was hot by this time and let them know it. All four of them (two young men, the poolplayer and one woman) just sat there and took it. And that's a good thing for all concerned.
Later on a close friend of mine told me he would probably have stiffed me had I won that last game. I've always been a funny guy when it came to stuff like that. I usually start with a little speech about how I always pay if I lose and expect the same thing when I win. If that doesn't work I have been known to take more drastic steps, including confiscating someone's playing cue.
Yes, I will risk an altercation even if the odds appear to be stacked against me. It probably stems from being bullied in my youth and having to learn how to defend myself. Being in the right has given me strength in past encounters of this nature. Thieves and liars are generally weak people and have no real backbone. Basically he would have had to whip my ass right there if he chose not to pay me. I doubt his so called friends would have intervened. They seemed like spoiled kids.
If anyone is curious who this guy was they can PM me. I won't put it on here publicly. Just so you know, that if he ever called me out on this thread, I would tell him to his face what I said on here again.
We agreed to play forty a game One Pocket and that was fine with me. After several hours of play and maybe a dozen games I was four games ahead. My feet were killing me since I was wearing sandals (I have flat feet) and never expected to get into a game like this on my first visit. I informed my opponent that I needed to quit soon since my feet were hurting badly. He proceeded to go off on me, yelling and complaining like a little baby, calling me a nit and a quitter among other things. I told him that I would be glad to come back the next day and we could freeze up $500. He said how about a thousand and I said okay to that as well.
I had made the mistake of putting the games on the wire after he showed me a bankroll and I showed him mine. Finally after much pissing and moaning on his part, I told him we could play one more game for the $160 and he could have the break (it was my break next). He agreed to that and ended up winning the game. During the final game his buddies who were sitting very close to the table made a point to try to shark me any way they could.
So now we were even and he continued to act out verbally. Finally, I let him know how I felt about his behavior and he shut up. It was the first time I raised my voice so it may have surprised him to see that the "nit" had balls. I also let his friends know how I felt about their behavior, especially in the last game. I may have used the words "low class" and "assholes" descriptively. Yes, I was hot by this time and let them know it. All four of them (two young men, the poolplayer and one woman) just sat there and took it. And that's a good thing for all concerned.
Later on a close friend of mine told me he would probably have stiffed me had I won that last game. I've always been a funny guy when it came to stuff like that. I usually start with a little speech about how I always pay if I lose and expect the same thing when I win. If that doesn't work I have been known to take more drastic steps, including confiscating someone's playing cue.
Yes, I will risk an altercation even if the odds appear to be stacked against me. It probably stems from being bullied in my youth and having to learn how to defend myself. Being in the right has given me strength in past encounters of this nature. Thieves and liars are generally weak people and have no real backbone. Basically he would have had to whip my ass right there if he chose not to pay me. I doubt his so called friends would have intervened. They seemed like spoiled kids.
If anyone is curious who this guy was they can PM me. I won't put it on here publicly. Just so you know, that if he ever called me out on this thread, I would tell him to his face what I said on here again.
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If you were already $160 up and had the money in your pocket, I don't know why you would have given him the break in a game like 1-pocket where the break is such an advantage, if it was due to be your break next and you were only going to play one more game, double or nothing? However, it sounds like it was worth giving up the $160 just to get out of a potentially bad situation.
In hindsight, maybe you should have offered to play him two more games for $100/game or $160/game if he agreed. I assume any future matchups with this guy never happened, once he saw you could play, and once he revealed his true character to you?
After reading your text again, sounds like you were keeping track of the games on the wire, and you were not paying off every game. We've all made that mistake before. In that case, sounds like you likely might not have gotten paid the $320 even if you'd won that last game, at least not without a physical altercation, and it sounds like you were outnumbered. I believe you made the correct decision in that situation.
If you quit in one hole and you're loser you generally will do it after your break. If you're winner and you are quitting you generally do it after the other guy's break.
Also as an aside if someone quitting winner bothers you so much then you probably didn't bet enough. I play a guy $100 sets and I already know if he ever gets up $200-$300 his wife will call or he has to go to work. The thing is if he's losing he will almost always lose $500 plus. I've never said one word to him about quitting I just tell him catch you tomorrow...we've been doing this for 5 years...best arrangement ever for me.
You are much better off when it comes to steady action with people who have self control that don't feel the need to go off. $20 a set is not the place to make a score, 4 sets of pool in one session is enough time. The guy mad about getting quit at $80 loser moved bad anyway if it was about the money, pretty clear he was going to have to win it back the same way he lost it.
I didn't know I had the ability / option to close a thread that I started, but why would I do that? You seem to have enough interest to keep reading and replying on this thread.
The gospel of $40 ?
Maybe you and vapoolpayer can get together and hi roll each other for a bag of Orville Redenbacker popcorn.
But generally I don't see that $20 sets after a $40 pool tournament makes anyone a degenerate. Just silly talk from the rail after the nit squad dropped.
LOL.......maybe you should read more into the principle behind my post than the dollar amount. People in pool get irate anytime someone quits a winner. $40 or $40k. I was guilty of this too in my younger years.
Carry that philosophy and if you don’t just play for $40 and see how far you go(unless you’re enough of a lock artist, then by all means, never quit).
Come with me now as we travel back to those glorious days of yesteryear!
Pool in general has changed dramatically in the past 40 years or so. Specifically gambling in the poolroom (at least the ones I spent time in) is almost unrecognizeable.
Back in the good old days if guys were betting it was per game never sets. A factor in who won often revolved around trash talking. With some frequency the lesser talented player would be so good at the verbal game that it caused chokeing.
Some players were so talented in that respect that I often wondered if rickels and
dangerfield drew their inspiration from guys I used to watch and sometimes play.
I learned that if you were gonna gamble you had better set ground rules before the first game.
For me it was like watching (sometimes) great pool combined with terrific standup routines.
Back then many people would smoke which also often caused chokeing and that combined with the standup routines the laughter (contagious among the more then a few par takers ) brought tears to many dilated red eyes.
Just watching the guys watching the trails of the balls was as funny as listening to the players banter, though some guys would get carried away verbally crossing lines that resulted in some guys getting carried away literally.
So relative to the op's dilemma,
Each guy is certain he has the correct response and a point in every direction is the same as no point at all. So Chris the bottom line is you can be happy if you've a mind to!
I hope this helps and I wish you good luck with your poolroom! A man that cares as much as you do deserves good karma!
Pool in general has changed dramatically in the past 40 years or so. Specifically gambling in the poolroom (at least the ones I spent time in) is almost unrecognizeable.
Back in the good old days if guys were betting it was per game never sets. A factor in who won often revolved around trash talking. With some frequency the lesser talented player would be so good at the verbal game that it caused chokeing.
Some players were so talented in that respect that I often wondered if rickels and
dangerfield drew their inspiration from guys I used to watch and sometimes play.
I learned that if you were gonna gamble you had better set ground rules before the first game.
For me it was like watching (sometimes) great pool combined with terrific standup routines.
Back then many people would smoke which also often caused chokeing and that combined with the standup routines the laughter (contagious among the more then a few par takers ) brought tears to many dilated red eyes.
Just watching the guys watching the trails of the balls was as funny as listening to the players banter, though some guys would get carried away verbally crossing lines that resulted in some guys getting carried away literally.
So relative to the op's dilemma,
Each guy is certain he has the correct response and a point in every direction is the same as no point at all. So Chris the bottom line is you can be happy if you've a mind to!
I hope this helps and I wish you good luck with your poolroom! A man that cares as much as you do deserves good karma!