Hiding your speed, why and how?

hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Some neat gambling stories cropping up, I thought of one of mine. I was practicing at my room, and a guy walks in. Immediately the guy behind the counter calls me over "you gotta play him, he thinks he's a pro and can run 4 balls, easy bet to make". At the same time a couple of other people perk up and say they may play him. After another hour of playing alone, I start dogging a few shots to draw him in. Make some nice plays, and rattle a couple a rack. Is this "hustling" or stategy, have you, would you do that to gain the interest of someone you never seen and want to try out?

The other part of the story, the guy comes over and asks me to play, no gamble just a game. I put on the focus again, beat him 5 games in a row, he shoots 3 times makes maybe 6 balls total. Then I think "Oh crap, if he gets frustrated and leaves, I just ruined the action of the others that may want to play him", I start with the rattles again. Is this something that happened to you? I guess you'd call it cue-blocking :)
 
Actually, Some of the Best Players I have met Hide their speed more often that not. One of the most common situations I find this in would be is leauge play. Some people I know who Enjoy leauge(WTF!) Hide their Speed so not to handicap their team.
Do I do it, Well, Yeah. Why? Well, Because of the Understanding of how most people think and use the collected Information. It's very possable to use someone's mind against them.
 
Methodman201 said:
Actually, Some of the Best Players I have met Hide their speed more often that not. One of the most common situations I find this in would be is leauge play. Some people I know who Enjoy leauge(WTF!) Hide their Speed so not to handicap their team.
Do I do it, Well, Yeah. Why? Well, Because of the Understanding of how most people think and use the collected Information. It's very possable to use someone's mind against them.
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That's called "sandbagging." It is blatent cheating and dishonest. You are the reason people don't like playing under handicapping systems.

Hiding your speed for the purpose of getting action is a little different. It may be deceitful, but it's what happens when gambling is invlovled.
 
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Methodman201 said:
Actually, Some of the Best Players I have met Hide their speed more often that not. One of the most common situations I find this in would be is leauge play. Some people I know who Enjoy leauge(WTF!) Hide their Speed so not to handicap their team.
Do I do it, Well, Yeah. Why? Well, Because of the Understanding of how most people think and use the collected Information. It's very possable to use someone's mind against them.
Click to expand...

I'd never play bad in an actual match, just to get the guy to think "hey he's easy to beat". Well, if I'm playing someone I know and I don't care if I win I'd do goofy stuff. One of the biggest reasons I don't like APA and such is the sandbaging. Play just good enough to win the important matches but loose enough to not go up much, then when you go against a player equal to you, you end up with a 2 game spot because you held back earlier.

I was thinking more of gambling stalling rather than league things. Or maybe a stall that went a bit too far and got you bust hehe :p
 
To funny.
lollol.gif
 
hiding

I've been hiding my speed for years now. I'm actually a world beater, but I play like B player every week in order to trap Efren.:)
 
hang-the-9 said:
Some neat gambling stories cropping up, I thought of one of mine. I was practicing at my room, and a guy walks in. Immediately the guy behind the counter calls me over "you gotta play him, he thinks he's a pro and can run 4 balls, easy bet to make". At the same time a couple of other people perk up and say they may play him. After another hour of playing alone, I start dogging a few shots to draw him in. Make some nice plays, and rattle a couple a rack. Is this "hustling" or stategy, have you, would you do that to gain the interest of someone you never seen and want to try out?

The other part of the story, the guy comes over and asks me to play, no gamble just a game. I put on the focus again, beat him 5 games in a row, he shoots 3 times makes maybe 6 balls total. Then I think "Oh crap, if he gets frustrated and leaves, I just ruined the action of the others that may want to play him", I start with the rattles again. Is this something that happened to you? I guess you'd call it cue-blocking :)
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Let me give you a little insight. You didn't know the guy? I used to, and still ask guys to play a "little for funsies." Then, after clocking them (while they are showing off and trying to clock me), I might just let them trap themselves. Gotta watch the reverse hustle, ya know. Throw in a Dominoe's shirt, and a wad of cash, and you might just offer me some weight. Hmmm....

It's happened to me too. You better be sure he's not just beatin' em around, too. Most of the time, if I find that a guy is playing his heart out for "fun," I will go ahead and play hard. If I think he's trying to lay down the trap, then let the games begin.
 
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Methodman201 said:
One of the most common situations I find this in would be is leauge play. Some people I know who Enjoy leauge(WTF!) Hide their Speed so not to handicap their team.
Click to expand...

I hear about this kind of thing all the time, more on AZ lately. It's the number one reason I won't play in leagues, though I've been asked more than once. I consider it despicable and shameful.
 
ABall said:
That's called "sandbagging." It is blatent cheating and dishonest. You are the reason people don't like playing under handicapping systems.

Hiding your speed for the purpose of getting action is a little different. It may be deceitful, but it's what happens when gambling is invlovled.
Click to expand...
ABall,
I would like to clear up the fact that, I do not, Never have played or will play in any type of leauge. Leauge is just not my type of thing. You'll Have to excuse my lack of Knowledge, I'm still Pretty Young, lol:D .
Thank you for the Correction.
-Vinnie
 
ABall said:
That's called "sandbagging." It is blatent cheating and dishonest. You are the reason people don't like playing under handicapping systems.

Hiding your speed for the purpose of getting action is a little different. It may be deceitful, but it's what happens when gambling is invlovled.
Click to expand...

LMAO.....Sorry buddy, but that is the same thing.

If I 'sandbag' to beat you out of a trip to vegas

or

deceitful so I can trap you and take your money. It's the same thing.
 
Bugz said:
LMAO.....Sorry buddy, but that is the same thing.

If I 'sandbag' to beat you out of a trip to vegas

or

deceitful so I can trap you and take your money. It's the same thing.
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Bull $!it it's the same thing!!!:mad: In a league, you are part of a greater system. If you are playing for money, then it is the responsibility of the player to know how to match up. I don't really like either one, but they are not the same. If you don't see the difference, then I'm not going to waste my time explaining it to you.
 
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i aint gonna get into the whole right or wrong thing, but i will give you some advice on how to do it lol. Dont change your stroke or grip, etc if you want to sandbag, cuz sometimes it will come back to haunt you later. If youre going to miss, aim to miss........aim to hit the ball into the jaw of the pocket or miss the bank by a couple inches...it will keep you on your game better. If you hit the ball harder or grip it harder or something it can throw you off for real.
 
AZE said:
league ftl.... imo.
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I agree i wont play league ever,biggest joke in pool,alot of guys who think they can play and take it so serious with there graphite cues,lol.Hey im a 7 in the APA,they get to a 9 ft. table and cant run a rack of anything.Keep sending your money to to the leagues,someone is making money out of it and it isnt the players,but if its fun for you enjoy it but its not for me. ;)
 
I started out playing league with a team captain that would tell me to lay down. I thought that was the way the league was. I didn't know the rules of league play at that time. I quit that team, and joined another. My new team captain is cool. He tells me to win every match. So, I let my speed out. I beat every SL7 in 8B, and got division top shooter a few times.

So, now the only serious competition I have, is against sandbaggers that decide to let there true speed out on me. I like crushing them like bugs. I play more strategically now, and I have found the game to be more fun. I know how to play and win against sandbaggers.

As far as hiding speed for money games (outside of league), I do what one other guy already mentioned.....I aim to miss, but to miss only a hair off. I actually will try to rattle the pocket and try to get the cue ball to ride along one of the rails and go into the next pocket.....and I try to execute and make the shot consistently. But, sometimes rattling pockets will scare off money players, too. Because they are afraid that the rattling streak will become a pocketing streak.

So, sometimes I will shoot all soft shots. So, soft that it doesn't get all the way to the pocket...which is a foul, resulting in BIH for an opponent. I have found that when you shoot hard, other players think you are really good because you are shooting so confidently. Also, other players don't like playing against bangers...especially in 9 ball, because they can get a lot of slop shots. Shooting super soft shots is indicative of a novice or beginner player. The reason I know that....is because when I first started playing...that's exactly what I did. I shot super soft. Shooting super soft will also allow you to see the table rolls, and by remembering the table rolls...you can use this to your advantage during match play. On thing of note, is to use center ball only. Using extreme english scares off other players, because it is thought that only good players use a lot of english. Use this misconception to your advantage. Center ball is actually the top level way to shoot. When you can get extreme cue ball action using center ball, your stroke is truly in-line. And you get more consistent collisional track lines. Predicting these track lines accurately is essential for getting your desired CB position.

Another way to hide your speed, is to shoot carom shots. Other players will see that you are missing the first contacted OB, and think the occasional secondary OB is just slop. Especially, when you are shooting 3 cushion shots. This allows you to keep your CB positional and collisional track line skills sharp, and you get a sense of how the rails are functioning.
 
i was of the opinion that hiding how I play would some how lead me to more action and easy games, yet I never seemed to find games. Then as I got better I realized that to get action you have to take chances and the cat and mouse game of hiding how I played just cut me out of alot of winable games. there is no future in being a lock artist or a being on the lemon all the time, i tried that for along time and made less $$$. Sure trapping someone is cool but it just dosent happen that often unless your in a bar or strip club that has boxes(not the hairy ones ;) ).


I learned from a great player how to play just good enough to win if your the better player, when your in a even game you just have to play better than the other guy or better than you normally do which is the oppsite of hiding how well you play.

Playing like your capable of all the time will improve your game and tough action will be there for you on a regular basis, when you get labeled as a nut hunter then its like playing poker to tight when you do show up to bet you get no action.....like tooth, he wouldnt flip a coin, that speaks volumnes about how much gamble he has, since he wouldnt flip a coin with me, why should I play him pool? I want to but he is a better player and showed me he dosent want to gamble, its a shame too it could have been a historic game. I know now, as I did before he only plays when he has the best of it(he just re affirmed it by not flipping). He has been in big action and will be again, but how often??? I have never been in action as big as he has but that was then this is now I have $$ now and when games I like come up I'll play them, hiding what your speed is is a action killer in the long run, in most places there are exceptions.
 
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