Moves And Other Sharking Techniques at DCC

JoeyA

JoeyA

Efren's Mini-Tourn BACKER
Silver Member
Players have a tendency to make moves on other players. Sometimes a player will take issue with you and say they didn't know they were sharking you and apologize.

Personally, I think that at the professional level, these players and I mean ALL OF THEM, know that distracting your opponent leads to lesser play by your opponent.

Here's a few things that happened to me this DCC while I was playing.
1. Player A was busy chatting away with railbirds while I was at the table. When I complained directly but discreetly, he apologized and stopped to his credit but he shouldn't have been doing it in the first place and he knows I'm sure that it is wrong to talk while your opponent is at the table.
2. I was sitting for a few racks while one player (Player B) was running out like water and so I stood next to my chair for a rack to get the blood running to my feet again, REMAINING ABSOLUTELY MOTIONLESS. He walks up to me and says, "Please be seated, your standing is distracting me". I sat down immediately and didn't say anything else. When he missed, I went to the table and
3. While I was at the table, Player B used his large white towel like a buffing tool to remove moisture and any other surface material from his shaft, but it looked more like someone waving a flag a bull. I took a break and went to the restroom and came back refreshed with clean hands and a clean mind. I immediately walked over to Player B and told him not to be cleaning his shaft with the large white towel while I was at the table. Being a smart guy, he tried to turn me into the bad guy and said, "So what is this, payback?". I replied to him that it wasn't but that his (and I demonstrated rather visually) moving his towel up and down his shaft was distracting and I expected him to stop all of that nonsense while I was at the table. To his credit he ceased that sharking and after I ran out the rack and broke the next rack, he continued his other tactic of winning by not missing any more balls. I had far more respect for that tactic than the former.

I think it is in the best interest of pool not to use the particular player's names and I hope you will abide by my wishes for those of you who saw it.

I would be interested in having all of the sharking techniques EXPOSED in this thread, so that the players can see how they are viewed by their peers but having their name drug through these posts is not my cup of tea. Please restrain your comments to sharking that you saw at the Derby City Classic. We don't want this to become one of those long boring threads. :smile:

I will however on EVERY OCCASION, immediately out every sharker in any of my matches and for the first time you shark me I will be kind to you and simply complain about your behavior. In the future, should you choose to distract me, you will be quite embarassed, of that I am certain.

JoeyA (believes in giving everyone a second chance)
 
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I think every player has some measure of sensativity to this. I personally don't care if they dance in front of the pocket, but then I'm just having fun at the table. I believe if I allow my mind to accept the distraction it will in turn give me an excuse to miss. Its all me out there, if I miss that is on me and not my opponent.
Just my 2 cents.
 
joey, i had the opportunity to watch beautiful danny jones in full shark mode a few times .he had all the moves and used them. i saw him in houston actually drop his cue as his opponent was stroking, whistle whlie his opponent was attempting to shoot, movning into his line of view,and the whole show, and it was in the finals of the tourny. i feel sure you remember him, and if you watched him play much, i think you'll agree he was a past master at sharking
 
I saw these three things at Derby City:

1) One player played a shot with the bridge and, after missing, walked away from the table leaving the bridge on the table. That's not very classy in my book, and seems like a move to me.

2) I didn't care for it when an incoming player picked up the chalk that his opponent had just used and walked over to his opponent in the chair and handed it to him. While three cushion billiards etiquette may call for removal of all chalk after one's inning, pool does not, even if your opponent carries their own chalk. A polite request to remove chalk after each inning would surely have produced the desired result.

3) During the rack-your-own nine ball event, a player broke quickly, denying his opponent an opportunity to inspect the rack. The nine went right into the corner. It led to a minor argument. Not affording your opponent an opportunity to inspect the rack in a rack-your-own event is, in my view, dirty pool.
 
sjm said:
I saw these three things at Derby City:


2) I didn't care for it when an incoming player picked up the chalk that his opponent had just used and walked over to his opponent in the chair and handed it to him. While three cushion billiards etiquette may call for removal of all chalk after one's inning, pool does not, even if your opponent carries their own chalk. A polite request to remove chalk after each inning would surely have produced the desired result.

.
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Does anyone think that asking your opponent to remove his personal chalk AFTER EACH OF HIS INNINGS from the table as bad form?

Their personal chalk isn't a big distraction for me, although I am tempted to use the nearest piece of chalk to me. I wonder if they might consider it a move if I smeared their chalk on my cue tip?
JoeyA
 
JoeyA said:
Does anyone think that asking your opponent to remove his personal chalk AFTER EACH OF HIS INNINGS from the table as bad form?
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Not my point. I'm saying that at the onset of, or early in, the match, if you ask your opponent "Would you be so kind as to remove your chalk from the table after each of your innings?" you will likely get the deisred result. The way it was handled was, by my standards, a bit rude.
 
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sjm said:
Not my point. I'm saying that at the onset of, or early in, the match, if you ask your opponent "Would you be so kind as to remove your chalk form the table after each of your innings?" you will likely get the deisred result. The way it was handled was, by my standards, a bit rude.
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Yes, I understand what you are saying.

IF and I know you wouldn't, but if you left your personal chalk on the table, would you consider it a move if I picked it up and started chalking my stick even if it were a different color.

I noticed Roy Steffensen, making darn sure I didn't chalk my cue with his chalk. He was probably making a move on me with his quick and deliberate grabs at his personal chalk just as he was leaving the table. :poke:
JoeyA
 
Shark moves at DCC;

Argueing over racks for extended periods of time.

Taking a bathroom break after opponent gets in stroke.

Playing IPOD so loud that it could be heard in the crowd.

Making a loud anoying screeching sound with the chalk while chalking.

All of these done by players I like. Just wish they wouldn't do it.
 
Maybe some of it is not sharking as much as it is people's etiquette. There's a large amount of the population that really just lack manners. We all see it every day out driving on the road or watching people not hold open doors for other people right behind them or how cell phones are handled out in public.
 
Good thread Joey.

I watched the Bryant - Mika match pretty closely. I don't know if there is history between the two but it appeared that Charlie was prepared to immediately set the ground work of what was acceptable for Mika while Charlie was at the table. In fairness, I thought that Charlie was very professional in his requests and was even thinking at the time that a class to pool players on how to act while their opponent is shooting would be something good for Charlie to hold. Charlie went to extreme lengths to make sure that he was not sharking or interferring with Mika at all. Charlie was agitated that Mika was not sitting down while he was shooting. In fairness to Mika, he abided by each request Charlie made but didn't seem happy that he had to be told how to act. Just my opinion.

I don't like to be sharked but can shark with the best of them. If I feel that I am being sharked, I'll ask one time and one time only. After that, the window is open.

I also think that a player should only be able to take a break when it is their turn at the table. I saw a lot of players leave the table after their opponent won a game. The player should have to have control of the table to take a break.
 
A very interesting thread and we haven't touched the surface yet. I've seen the best sharkers to ever live, and believe me there have been some good ones. Danny Jones would be up there but not the best by any means.

The most glaring 'moves' I've ever seen by a top pro in a major event both occurred during Oliver Ortmann's match with Fong Pang Chao in the 2000 WPC. Chao had his phone with him by his player's chair, and when Ortmann was about to shoot a tough shot, the phone rang. Oliver had to get back up when that happened, and subsequently missed the shot. Not so bad huh. Well the kicker is that the call came from Chao's manager who was sitting in the stands. :cool:

Later in the same match when Oliver was shooting a long shot, at a critical juncture in the match, he was looking directly at Chao in his chair. Chao sat perfectly still, but the moment Oliver took his final stroke, he turned his head abruptly to the right. Oliver missed and he was visibly mad. Chao went on to the win the match. I NEVER will be a fan of Chao's after that display of bad sportsmanship.

I'll tell you a few more later.
 
sjm said:
I saw these three things at Derby City:

1) One player played a shot with the bridge and, after missing, walked away from the table leaving the bridge on the table. That's not very classy in my book, and seems like a move to me.
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That's just horribly wrong. I could see someone getting into a fight over that, and I hope they'd get the bridge shoved up their butt for it. I'd like to know who did it but if you don't want to say, I understand.

Eric
 
sjm said:
I saw these three things at Derby City:

1) One player played a shot with the bridge and, after missing, walked away from the table leaving the bridge on the table. That's not very classy in my book, and seems like a move to me.

If it were me, I would sit in my chair until he got up and put the bridge away. However long that took. He'd get the message after a while. :)
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sjm said:
3) During the rack-your-own nine ball event, a player broke quickly, denying his opponent an opportunity to inspect the rack. The nine went right into the corner. It led to a minor argument. Not affording your opponent an opportunity to inspect the rack in a rack-your-own event is, in my view, dirty pool.
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Rack your own events should also be spot the 9 ball if you make it... it is only fair IMO
 
One of the worst is when you're up at the table and your opponent is hitting balls on the table next to you. This happened to me just this past weekend. I didn't say anthing to him until it was over. I just figgured he was young and did't know any better. I did win the match.

After it was over I did mention it to him and as I suspected he was not aware that it was not ok to do this. I told him that others would have said something to him right away. He was understanding.
 
There's a guy I've played here locally on bar boxes who used to make it a habit of grabbing for quarters as I was down for the easy 9-ball. It was obvious and I could hear coins rustling. I let it happen 3 times before finally saying something. He stopped of course.

Watch out for the coin rustlers! :D

-Abe
 
jay helfert said:
Later in the same match when Oliver was shooting a long shot, at a critical juncture in the match, he was looking directly at Chao in his chair. Chao sat perfectly still, but the moment Oliver took his final stroke, he turned his head abruptly to the right. Oliver missed and he was visibly mad. Chao went on to the win the match. I NEVER will be a fan of Chao's after that display of bad sportsmanship.

I'll tell you a few more later.
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I maybe have seen Chao play on TV (ICOC) a handful of times and he always seemed like a gentlemen. I never would have guessed he was capable of such behavior. Disappointing. :mad:

Waiting for more Jay... Thanks for sharing!

-Abe
 
coin rustlers

The coin rustlers around here are more into rustling the coins off of the table!

I sometimes carry my own chalk. Nothing special just oven dried Masters blue, mostly insures that I have decent chalk to play with wherever I go. I do mark it just to keep nits from fussing if I pick it up after playing. I do leave it on the rail all the time while I am playing so I feel I have absolutely no reason to complain if someone uses it, even if they smear a different color into my chalk. I might keep the next cube by my chair though. :smile:

Hu



i4pool said:
There's a guy I've played here locally on bar boxes who used to make it a habit of grabbing for quarters as I was down for the easy 9-ball. It was obvious and I could hear coins rustling. I let it happen 3 times before finally saying something. He stopped of course.

Watch out for the coin rustlers! :D

-Abe
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Scratching

Whenever I scratch, I always retrieve the cue ball and lay it gently on the table.

I have had players scratch the cue ball across the room and then go sit down. I just sit down too and wait, no matter how long it takes! LOL

Ray
 
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