There is a guy that pops up in the poolhall every once in a while and he is known for good action if he likes the game. He wanted to play my friend for $500 per set, race to 9. They play about the same level, and they matched up even. The problem is that the other guy had been practicing for a few hours before my friend showed up, and my friend had not hit a ball in three days. I told him to warm up before playing, and he just jumped in the game telling me not to worry. That ended up costing him the first 4 games because he was cold, and the other guy had been warmed up for the last few hours. My friend lost that set badly 9-3. The second set went the same way, my friend not even getting to shoot that much because they other guy was in stroke, and with the few opportunities he had, he couldn't do much. He lost the second set 9-4. The third set he finally warmed up and beat the guy 9-7, then won the fourth set hill-hill. The guy unscrewed his cue and said he had to leave. They played a few hours and broke even, and all the while if my friend had just hit balls for 10-15 minutes before the match, he had a chance to win the first two sets. I told him that going into a match cold when the other guy is warm, is like giving up a huge amount of weight. I have never seen anyone come in and shoot lights out after not hitting a few balls before hand. This is something you should keep in mind, because I'm sure this has cost every one of you at least one match.