I could give you a long dissertation on this subject but I won't. I wanted to play when I stepped into the poolroom! I didn't want to sit on my ass hoping to trap someone. I've seen guys sit for weeks looking for the nuts before they played. I liked to play and would take a tough game if need be. My attitude was get on the table and show me what you've got. I would play anyone I didn't already recognize as a top player. I felt confident enough in my game that I knew they couldn't stall and beat me.
I could usually tell within a game or two someone's speed and if I saw too much I would just pull up. If I thought I could hang with them I kept playing, sometimes beating a strong local player who became intimidated by me. I know I beat a few guys back then who were marginally better players than me. Playing every day like this is how I developed my game. I was never more than a decent shortstop but I could hold my own against all but the champions. My hole card was my Bank Pool game. I always played that a speed better than my One Pocket and 9-Ball and would throw it out there to someone who I knew I couldn't beat at the regular games. I snapped off a few good players who I took by surprise playing Banks.
I can understand that not everybody feels this way and that's okay, but I loved to play pool when I was younger and didn't want to spend my time watching others play. I pretty much stayed in action for ten straight years from my early 20's to my early 30's. That's when I took my first break from pool, after I sold my first room. I kept playing off and on during the next 20-30 years but never as much as that first period. I got more into the business end of pool then the playing end of it.
The weird thing is that once you have a speed established, people always rate you at that speed even if they don't see you for ten years. So it was hard for me to make games when I came back years later because my game had slipped. Guys I used to give games like 9-6 and 9-7 to years before were playing even with me now, but they still wanted weight. That didn't work out to well for me when I tried to do it.
I could usually tell within a game or two someone's speed and if I saw too much I would just pull up. If I thought I could hang with them I kept playing, sometimes beating a strong local player who became intimidated by me. I know I beat a few guys back then who were marginally better players than me. Playing every day like this is how I developed my game. I was never more than a decent shortstop but I could hold my own against all but the champions. My hole card was my Bank Pool game. I always played that a speed better than my One Pocket and 9-Ball and would throw it out there to someone who I knew I couldn't beat at the regular games. I snapped off a few good players who I took by surprise playing Banks.
I can understand that not everybody feels this way and that's okay, but I loved to play pool when I was younger and didn't want to spend my time watching others play. I pretty much stayed in action for ten straight years from my early 20's to my early 30's. That's when I took my first break from pool, after I sold my first room. I kept playing off and on during the next 20-30 years but never as much as that first period. I got more into the business end of pool then the playing end of it.
The weird thing is that once you have a speed established, people always rate you at that speed even if they don't see you for ten years. So it was hard for me to make games when I came back years later because my game had slipped. Guys I used to give games like 9-6 and 9-7 to years before were playing even with me now, but they still wanted weight. That didn't work out to well for me when I tried to do it.
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