"I gave the game/set away"

JDB

Idiot Savant
Silver Member
"I gave the game/set away"

How many times have you heard this in pool? I find it both very funny and frustrating.

This can be said by either player in most amateur matches because BOTH players have missed balls "to give away the game/match."

75%+ of amateur matches end when a player misses a ball or plays a bad safety and their opponent runs out the last few balls…

So what am I trying to say? Quit whining about “giving away the game/set” because that is how most amateur games end. When you win; how many times do you tell your opponent they gave you the game/set? I am sure some do now and then, but not nearly as often as complaining that they gave it away…

Just a thought…
 

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Amature? Hell all sporting events our based on who makes mistakes and who takes advantage of them. There is nothing wrong with saying that. It's not an excuse. You had an opportunity to win it and you gave it away.

"I gave the game/set away"

How many times have you heard this in pool? I find it both very funny and frustrating.

This can be said by either player in most amateur matches because BOTH players have missed balls "to give away the game/match."

75%+ of amateur matches end when a player misses a ball or plays a bad safety and their opponent runs out the last few balls…

So what am I trying to say? Quit whining about “giving away the game/set” because that is how most amateur games end. When you win; how many times do you tell your opponent they gave you the game/set? I am sure some do now and then, but not nearly as often as complaining that they gave it away…

Just a thought…
 

lorider

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There are only 2 times you never give the game away.

1. You never get to the table

2. You never miss a shot.
 

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There are only 2 times you never give the game away.

1. You never get to the table

2. You never miss a shot.

Really...?

You win;
you dont play;
You dont finish the game...

But you did use mostly all real words. Ya nailed that part.
 

lorider

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Really...?

You win;
you dont play;
You dont finish the game...

But you did use mostly all real words. Ya nailed that part.

Well let me put it this way for ya .

You miss a shot....you hook yourself... You play a bad safe. In all those scenarios the result is that you have lost your turn and giving your opponent a chance to win....in effect giving up the game

Now whether your opponent is capable of capitalizing on you giving up the table " giving up the game " is another matter entirely .
 

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well let me put it this way for ya .

You miss a shot....you hook yourself... You play a bad safe. In all those scenarios the result is that you have lost your turn and giving your opponent a chance to win....in effect giving up the game

Now whether your opponent is capable of capitalizing on you giving up the table " giving up the game " is another matter entirely .

No...you arent really going to defend your claim that there are only 2 examples.

Really, dont.
 

billiardthought

Anti-intellectualism
Silver Member
Well let me put it this way for ya .

You miss a shot....you hook yourself... You play a bad safe. In all those scenarios the result is that you have lost your turn and giving your opponent a chance to win....in effect giving up the game

Now whether your opponent is capable of capitalizing on you giving up the table " giving up the game " is another matter entirely .

If my opponent has break and runs and then plays a safety on me and has me hooked, then I kick and make a good kick but they get out anyway and run the set out, I didn't give the game away but I did make it to the table and I didn't miss any shots. Where are your 2 simple rules now?
 

fastone371

Certifiable
Silver Member
Do you mean like being up 4-1 in a race to 5 to play in the finals? I did exactly that last weekend.
 
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JC

Coos Cues
"I gave the game/set away"

How many times have you heard this in pool? I find it both very funny and frustrating.

This can be said by either player in most amateur matches because BOTH players have missed balls "to give away the game/match."

75%+ of amateur matches end when a player misses a ball or plays a bad safety and their opponent runs out the last few balls…

So what am I trying to say? Quit whining about “giving away the game/set” because that is how most amateur games end. When you win; how many times do you tell your opponent they gave you the game/set? I am sure some do now and then, but not nearly as often as complaining that they gave it away…

Just a thought…

This is an annoying and chickenshit explanation of what happened. And listening to it gets life threateningly old.

For the last decade or so I just tell the truth without the war stories. I made more mistakes than he did and didn't play as well. Therefore I lost. But I did learn some things I can work on. End of story.

Even if you choked the set ball the story is still the same with us amateurs. You made more mistakes earlier on. Had you not you would have prevailed.

JC
 

JC

Coos Cues
If my opponent has break and runs and then plays a safety on me and has me hooked, then I kick and make a good kick but they get out anyway and run the set out, I didn't give the game away but I did make it to the table and I didn't miss any shots. Where are your 2 simple rules now?

A: That's not what happened.

B: People who are running out the set you would not have beaten that day even if they
had allowed you to the table to make your mistakes. Which you would have.

The two simple rules apply. In your hypothetical they simply were not allowed to do their magic:smile:

JC
 

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
I see this scenario all the time in my game. To me,coming to the table with not just a shot,but the FIRST open shot with a reasonable "expectation" of running out the rack happens a LOT,whether my opponent shoots first and misses,comes up dry,or I "wrestle" myself thru tactical planning into that first shot,ideally with ball in hand.

If I don't get out from there,that is giving the game away. If you run a few balls,and for whatever reason something goes wrong and you leave your opponent with just a couple balls left,and it happens enough that you lose to an opponent that can't beat you in the long run,that is giving it away,pure and simple.

For example,I lost a match in my last tournament where I am going to 9 and my opponent is going to 2 playing 9 ball. I won 7 games out of the 9 played with solid outs. The 2 games I lost gave my opponent a ball in hand combo on the 9,which he made,and a bad position on the 9 where I thinned the 9 and played safe and he guessed right and made the long-rail bank on the 9.

Quite often,the line between playing good pool and feeling bad because you lost to a kid that only made 5 balls the whole match is nearly invisible.

I know what that kind of frustration feels like.

In my mind,if I just get out when I'm "supposed" to,no one is out of reach in a tournament match. Tommy D.
 

JC

Coos Cues
In my mind,if I just get out when I'm "supposed" to,no one is out of reach in a tournament match. Tommy D.

How many fails does it take before a person admits to themselves that they are not skilled enough to "supposed" to run out every open table?

Honesty with one's self is the first step to improvement.

JC
 

michael4

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
"I gave the game/set away"

How many times have you heard this in pool? I find it both very funny and frustrating.

a different variation of that.....a played a guy last weekend (that I dont know), we play a friendly best of 7 games.........I'm not a great player, but I can see in the first game that I'm clearly the better player.....I win 4/3 without much effort (not playing any safeties, etc)........the rest of the night he considers us "even players" and he "could have won".....of course I'm polite and shake hands, saying "yep, close match"

.....but kinda funny to me when people cant tell who the better player is......and think they were just "one shot away" or got "unlucky" ......
 

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I watched a woman named Hillary match up a while back and when she lost she blamed the Russians. I couldn't figure it out because the guy she was playing wasn't Russian. I guess the Russians sharked her or something.
 

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
Yep I'm that hard on myself. Obviously,the balls don't cooperate every single game,but if there are no clusters or places where the position zone is smaller than a handspan,etc then yes I come to the table thinking to myself that I am "supposed" to run out.

It might not work out like that,but that is the mindset. I might miss balls physically,but that's because I wasn't just born with the physical gifts of Alex or Shane.

Until someone shows me proof otherwise,my misses are NOT caused by issues between my ears.

Concentration,desire,and knowledge are abundant here I promise :thumbup:.

This is with me only getting to play meaningful pool once a week at a place 45 min away too. Up until recently,I honestly couldn't remember the last time I hit balls 7 days in a row. Tommy D.
 

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
Silver Member
"I gave the game/set away"

How many times have you heard this in pool? I find it both very funny and frustrating.

This can be said by either player in most amateur matches because BOTH players have missed balls "to give away the game/match."

75%+ of amateur matches end when a player misses a ball or plays a bad safety and their opponent runs out the last few balls…

So what am I trying to say? Quit whining about “giving away the game/set” because that is how most amateur games end. When you win; how many times do you tell your opponent they gave you the game/set? I am sure some do now and then, but not nearly as often as complaining that they gave it away…

Just a thought…

When you lose a game, you shake the mans hand and if you can even muster a smile, that's even better. That shows character. Whining after the match makes you look so bad, so bad...Makes you look petty and like a loser. Losers whine, winners do something about it.

I've heard stuff like (I gave you the match) so many times, and I've gotten sick of it. In a way that has been good for me, since it helped me stop doing that sort of thing myself. Look, sometimes a not so good player catches a gear, or we dog an easy ball, but that is life. What shows character is how you deal with adversity.

I think the worst thing that happened to me was when I won an 8 ball game by breaking and running 5 racks. It was an important game, and my opponent was someone I looked up to. At that time it was a major accomplishment, and I was smiling from ear to ear, but instead of shaking my hand or just being quiet, my opponent had to make snarky comments. I lost a lot of respect for him that day. I try to remember that when I play weak players. If they beat me, I should let them enjoy it.

My philosophy is always to hold my opponent in high esteem. If I don't respect him, then beating him gives me nothing. If I say to myself, this is a good player, capable of running out, then I do my best to win and winning is even sweeter. And if he truely does not deserve my respect, then losing to him is my fault and should not lead to me speaking ill of him or whining. Sorry about the long rant.
 

Celophanewrap

Call me Grace
Silver Member
"I gave the game/set away"

How many times have you heard this in pool? I find it both very funny and frustrating.

This can be said by either player in most amateur matches because BOTH players have missed balls "to give away the game/match."

75%+ of amateur matches end when a player misses a ball or plays a bad safety and their opponent runs out the last few balls…

So what am I trying to say? Quit whining about “giving away the game/set” because that is how most amateur games end. When you win; how many times do you tell your opponent they gave you the game/set? I am sure some do now and then, but not nearly as often as complaining that they gave it away…

Just a thought…

Nobody gives the game away, if they were gonna give the game away I alway have to
wonder why they bothered to play in the first place. Next time, if they will just let me know
before the match starts then we don't have to bother playing. We can put our cues away
and I'll buy the guy (or girl) a beer.

If you gave the game or match away then that would indicate you didn't give your best
effort and we're consciously sandbagging.

Perhaps you played poorly, or were unprepared, but still your intention was to win.
If you were going to give it away you shouldn't have even come
 
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