1. I'll send a cab for you when you're ready to play.
2. You can get half your money back.
3. Same game as before, except I'll put up $50 to your $40.
4. What do you want? How much weight do you need?
5. I'll play you any game you want on a pool table. Pick your best game.
6. You can owe me. Your credit is good with me.
7. Let's just play some sociable pool. You name the bet. (pause) Whatever you're comfortable with is fine with me.
8. Let's play cheap. Keep it friendly.
9. How much do you like to play for? I don't have a lot of money.
10. I don't play that good. I just like to play for money. (optional) I have more money than brains.
And to answer your question. YES, I have said all of the above in my sordid career. My favorite response when entering a new room and being asked by the houseman how I played, was "I can play a little".
Oh and one other line I liked to gain the upper hand. "If you like the game, you can empty out". It was always important to have a psychological edge when playing someone who could play. If they wanted to play for ten a game, I would ask to bet twenty. Even if we started out for ten, they were thinking about this.
Here's a couple of other good moves I liked, to intimidate a new opponent. Please don't tell anyone. Okay? Back in the day, I was in action and playing EVERY day, so I stayed in stroke. I would go into a new room looking for a certain player I heard about or just cruising the room looking for a game. More often then not, the player would be warming up already on his favorite table. After we made the game, I would let him warm up all he wanted, watching him to gauge the speed of the table, and to see where the rolls were. When he asked me if I wanted to hit some balls, I'd say sure. I would place a long straight-in shot on the table, carefully take aim, and fire it in. I rarely missed this shot. Then I would say I'm ready. Do you have any idea what this did to his confidence? I just took a one shot warm up. This was my routine when playing in a new room. I knew I would be wired in on the table after 15-20 minutes of play anyway.
One other move I made in the early stages of a match (remember I played in the days of "roll out" pool). When my opponent pushed out for a tough shot that he thought I would pass on, I got down and fired at it anyway. If I made it, he might start getting a little weak, and if I missed it he would wonder what he was up against. I can think of several times that moves like this helped me get the best of a marginally better player.
