In Houston they say that Jamie Ferrell guy is a nit. Wouldn't get up and play a guy most people don't know or never heard of. Damnnnnn
I know the guy has played Tony Fargo, head-up banks (long rack-Tony's favorite). Shane Van Boening even up nine ball. John Schmidt even up one pocket and a host of other players at his pool room. If that's the definition of a nit, so be it.
From my own personal observation over a couple of decades of watching
MOST POOL PLAYERS gamble, the only reason that someone calls another person a nit is because they can't get the other person to agree to their bet or they're just jealous of the person.
The truth is that MOST gambling POOL PLAYERS will bet it up when they think they have the best of it. When a gambler thinks they are stealing, they grow nuts the size of coconuts and pull money out of their IRA's and call the other player a no-gambling-nit in hopes of making the other person bet.
While I gamble as a hobby and just entertainment, even though Jamie is a far better player than myself, I don't think Jamie thinks about gambling much different than I do, but I could be wrong. I didn't quiz him on his perspective about gambling.
I do know that I am very hesitant to play people who I don't know or have never heard of and so are most gamblers.
I would bet a large sum of money that if I walked in with one of those second tier players from the Philippines in any pool room in America, 99 percent of the gamblers would be snapping pictures, emailing notes, calling on the cell phone, asking their brothers and sisters if they knew anything about this guy and how he played.
But I don't know about the specific situation you are referring to and you might be right but I do see Jamie matching up TOUGH with locals all of the time. When he steps up to play some of the top players, if they know they are stealing they want to bet thousands. When they get asked to play some banks, the top players OFTEN, bow their heads and get a little less nervy. That's just what I've seen. It could be different elsewhere.