Yeah, he really is. We played today and it was the worst its ever been. The time between shots was just insane. He thinks for 2 solid minutes, then goes down on the shot, takes 5 practice strokes and then stands back up, walks around the table, And his only intention is to leave me with a 9-foot shot off the rail or snookered behind a ball on my shot and maybe move one of his balls a few inches closer to a pocket while doing so to make it as excruciating as possible. Which is ok, that's part of the game and everything, but every single shot.... jeez. I understand it's a strategy and it's defense and you have to figure out a way to win against it because it's not going away, but it's just so unenjoyable.
I tried all the suggestions in this thread today, such as introducing a shot clock (He was absolutely against it), playing other games like straight pool or that short rack 8-ball game... he refused. I tried suggesting going back to a bar table so at least the racks run faster.. another no. So i'm just going to have to live with this. The first half of the session I just did the same thing back to him and it works of course, but I'm just not interested in 30-minute safety battles.
It's very frustrating. I just have to find the positives in this, like a silver lining. I either have to become the best shot maker in Las Vegas, or get so perfect at safety play that he literally can just never shoot. It'll make me better in the long run, and I guess that's what I have to take out of this.