i know this is a stupid question to some but dont have any experience in the area so... i have been wanting to play for some money, not much but a little to keep it interested but most of the players i play with are better than i am so how should i ask for a handicap, in other words what are the best ways to handicap 8 and 9 ball? should i ask for a race to whatever but i start out ahead or ask for a ball in 9 ball or what? again sorry for my ignorance but like i said i dont gamble or play leagues much.
how to gamble
- Thread starter nick55
- Start date
nick55 said:
yeah you gamble with people that are worse than you are, then you don't have to worry about it. And if you have to gamble with someone that is better than you are, my advice would be not to play someone that youve never seen play. You need to judge how good they are (their speed). Now you don't necessarily have to quantify that as a letter C, B, A. That is overrated and misleading. Just watch them play or practice, and say to youself, if I only had to run out to the eight could I win or play even? And then so on down the line. The key is in also knowing how well YOU play. I would suggest (as has been stated before on this forum) judge your play a ball less, and your opponents a ball better. That way you get a cushion for error in the right direction. Also this will help your comfort level, and thus your play. And don't be afraid to ask for the spot, or turn an unfair game down.
nick55 said:
First and foremost...do not gamble money that you cannot afford to lose. Now, with that being said, I feel you should play players better than you because you will learn more. If you are playing 8 ball, ask for games on the wire. If you are playing 9 ball, well then you have to know your opponents abilities and your own to decide what a fair spot would be. The only negative thing about starting to gamble at pool is that once the gamble bug bites you, you really will not play the game for the love of the game anymore...it will become a different beast. JMO.
Southpaw
thanks for the advice so far, i definitely wont be gambling much and of course not more than i can afford. i actually want to try it to see if it helps me get better on pressure shots ie money balls since this seems to be where i make most of my mistakes (choke). is there a good way to figure out how many games i would need to ask for? i wont begin to try to explain how good, well how bad i am or how good they are but i dont want to just play against people that are worse. i want to learn from better players and they are cool about playing without even asking for a bet but sometimes they seem uninterested since they know they are going to win the majority of games.