No matter how well YOU play, your losing opponent says, "I played so bad!"

When I was about 18 I decided to try out the local legend at a bar one night. He'd been the best in town for probably 20 years and the locals thought he was jesus with a pool stick.

We start off around $10 a game and he starts off hot, runs 4 racks on me and gets up about 6 games pretty quick and I hear the railbirds starting. "he's in rare form tonight, kids got no chance".

That fired me up and I put a 5 pack on him, got even and then I heard "I don't know what's wrong with xxxx tonight, he's just not playing good" To the guys credit I was playing he told the guys, "I didn't shoot for 5 games, what am I supposed to do?"
 
BillPorter said:
Does it irritate you when you beat a guy and play well to do it and then hear him say, "Boy, I really played terrible today!" In other words, he gives you NO credit for winning and playing well, he just acts as though the only reason you won was that he played below par that day. I know two or three regulars at the pool hall who NEVER compliment their opponent on his good play, they just bemoan the fact that THEIR play was poor that day.

After giving it a little thought, I have a suggestion for those of you, like me, who are irritated by the "I played SOOOO bad" guys. Next time it happens to you, maybe you should say something like, "You think YOU played bad, ME, I'm the one who played just terrible! I don't remember EVER playing as bad as I played today. Geez, I hope I NEVER have another session where my game is off this much. Have you EVER seen me miss so many shots?":mad::mad:

OK, I know this may not help all that much, but at least it gives you something to toss back at the guy.:smile:
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I think you have a good idea Bill. :smile:
JoeyA
 
Bobby H

I've got this one guy who is very competitive but doesn't like to steal money HOWEVER, when I am beating on him, he comes with the following and trust me, he's used every one of them.

I'm tired.
I drank hard last night.
I drank a lot of beer today and you didn't drink any.
I have to pick up my dad from work (his dad doesn't drive) and quits early.
We weren't playing for money.
We weren't playing for enough money.
I haven't played any pool in the last couple of weeks. (he works at the damn pool room).
My game is just off.
My tip is a bad tip. (don't know why)
My shaft is too fat. (It's skinny as a pencil, well its about 11MM and a pro taper of about 18".

All said and done, Bobby H is a good guy, my friend and I like him in spite of excuses for when I "get lucky" and beat the dog doo-doo out of him. :D

JoeyA
 
alstl said:
I just laugh when I hear that and tell them I got lucky. Works for Efren.
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One time I said that to a kid. He had no chance but he thought I got totally lucky because "Every time you hit a cluster it came out right for you, that's just not right."

Anyway, at the end of the match I said "yeah, I got a little lucky." and he said "I know you got lucky, you can't beat me without it. You just got lucky cause I know I'm a better player than you etc..."

That time I did have the perfect response:

"Well it doesn't seem fair then that I won the tournament. This should be your money, so I'll give you a chance to win it back."

Shut him up tight. He just walked away without another word.

I heard him say "lucky" to a group of his friends later so I walked up and offered again in front of them but suddenly it was 'too late.'

:D

~rc
 
sixpack said:
One time I said that to a kid. He had no chance but he thought I got totally lucky because "Every time you hit a cluster it came out right for you, that's just not right."

Anyway, at the end of the match I said "yeah, I got a little lucky." and he said "I know you got lucky, you can't beat me without it. You just got lucky cause I know I'm a better player than you etc..."

That time I did have the perfect response:

"Well it doesn't seem fair then that I won the tournament. This should be your money, so I'll give you a chance to win it back."

Shut him up tight. He just walked away without another word.

I heard him say "lucky" to a group of his friends later so I walked up and offered again in front of them but suddenly it was 'too late.'

:D

~rc
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Nice story. Thats is exactly how you shut them up.Repped.You have to go check him in front of his boys.lol.You handled it very well.I liked the post also that said "you did play badly and I hope you do next time we play".That's classic and I cant wait to burn someone with that during the league tournament next week.:cool:
 
sixpack said:
One time I said that to a kid. He had no chance but he thought I got totally lucky because "Every time you hit a cluster it came out right for you, that's just not right."

Anyway, at the end of the match I said "yeah, I got a little lucky." and he said "I know you got lucky, you can't beat me without it. You just got lucky cause I know I'm a better player than you etc..."

That time I did have the perfect response:

"Well it doesn't seem fair then that I won the tournament. This should be your money, so I'll give you a chance to win it back."

Shut him up tight. He just walked away without another word.

I heard him say "lucky" to a group of his friends later so I walked up and offered again in front of them but suddenly it was 'too late.'

:D

~rc
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I played a good safe against a top player from St Louis once and he said "good shot" and I replied "I just got lucky" and he replied, "yea, I get lucky a lot too".

Point being most of the guys claiming they lost due to luck are not top notch players.
 
alstl said:
I played a good safe against a top player from St Louis once and he said "good shot" and I replied "I just got lucky" and he replied, "yea, I get lucky a lot too".

Point being most of the guys claiming they lost due to luck are not top notch players.
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I don't know how someone can mentally be a top player and not feel like luck at least balances out. Most top players I know feel like they are lucky.

I know that sometimes I feel snakebit but I also know that overall I'm well on the plus side in terms of luck.

~rc
 
you know, it honestly doesn't... as long as he means it.

I come into the game with the attitude that I don't care at all how well my opponent is playing. I have no control over it and I'm not really interested. I only care about my own game and what I can do to improve it.

So when someone says that and they seem to really be beating themselves up over it, I sort of recognize myself in that statement. They really just care about their personal performance. Someone else's performance is irrelevant.
 
I have basically two comments at the handshake when I lose....

If they just played lights out, "Great shooting"

If I played poorly and missed a few makeable balls, "Wish I could have given you a better game"

I played so bad in my last match-up, you could tell the guy felt bad for me, he just shook my hand and he said, "sorry man" :D I was so pissed, I really should have wished him luck in the next round, but I was boiling over....I packed my sheit and left...

This is a good post from the OP....I need to remember to be a gentleman and remember to give credit for a victory, regardless....whether I gave it to them or they shot lights out, they won either way....to the victor go the spoils....
 
I rarely hear what he person says and I can hardly remember what I said. That soon after a match, I am still working myself out of competition mode. Then again, if the guys says that he played terrible, it could be true.
 
I don't know why anyone dislikes this type of attitude. I LOVE it! It just gives me a chance to match up with the best of it later. When you play a guy, beat him, and he says I played so bad, that is great. Next time you play, if he asks for weight because you won, just turn it around on him.

"The last time we played I played my best, you played bad. You should give me a ball."

Everyone knows pool players do not give credit because it will boost the confidence of the other player. No pool player wants to do this unless he is trying to steal someones money. If someone says how great I play I look at them funny thinking "Well who do you want me to go lose to".
 
Ive had a couple people who dont play as good as me lose to me in a tournament. Everytime they say they played bad and i got lucky. Everytime i tell them i will try them a $50 or $100 set if they would like.

Amazingly they dont accept. :(
 
BillPorter said:
Does it irritate you when you beat a guy and play well to do it and then hear him say, "Boy, I really played terrible today!" In other words, he gives you NO credit for winning and playing well, he just acts as though the only reason you won was that he played below par that day. I know two or three regulars at the pool hall who NEVER compliment their opponent on his good play, they just bemoan the fact that THEIR play was poor that day.

After giving it a little thought, I have a suggestion for those of you, like me, who are irritated by the "I played SOOOO bad" guys. Next time it happens to you, maybe you should say something like, "You think YOU played bad, ME, I'm the one who played just terrible! I don't remember EVER playing as bad as I played today. Geez, I hope I NEVER have another session where my game is off this much. Have you EVER seen me miss so many shots?":mad::mad:

OK, I know this may not help all that much, but at least it gives you something to toss back at the guy.:smile:
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I think it is a natural reaction, we notice our own mistakes first. I think the fact that your opponent played well is implied by the fact that he won. Usually when I say "I played so badly" I'm not assuming I would have won if I didn't play badly.
However, I would like to see the reaction of somebody when somebody responded to them with your idea. lol.
 
Richardson said:
Ive had a couple people who dont play as good as me lose to me in a tournament. Everytime they say they played bad and i got lucky. Everytime i tell them i will try them a $50 or $100 set if they would like.

Amazingly they dont accept. :(
Click to expand...

That reminds me of a story an old guy (even older than me :smile:) in a room I go to told me. When he was young he was a very, very good 14.1 player and he played some guy from Europe who was some kind of champion 2 our of 3 races to 100. The other guy won the first and last to win the match. The guy then went to shake his hand and say nice game, he was mad and responded by saying "You're the luckiest son of a ***** I've ever seen."
He was in his late 70's when he told me the story and the point he was getting at, and was evident in his expression, was that after 50 years he still felt bad about saying that. I thought it interesting that it still haunted him after so long. We often say things when we're mad about our own short comings that we regret later, but it is too late.
 
I have no problem at all with that response. In fact, that response is 10x better then most of the sh*t you hear when someone is pissed that they lost.

They're not taking anything away from you, they're just saying that they didn't play up to their potential and that you took advantage.

I see nothing wrong with that and i'll take it all day without a problem.
 
Let's break this down

Usually there are 2 different types that will say this:

1) The guys with an inflated ego, the ones that think they are better than they are, the ones that think their best day shooting ever is what they average. These are the ones you can hustle forever if you play it right.

2) Someone that used to play real good, but just isn't in stroke, or just really needs more practice to get their game back. Sometimes these guys might be better than you in their top form. So, when they say, "I didn't play very well", they are sincere, but it based on how they use to play, not on how they are currently stroking the ball. You need to be understanding here, and sympathetic, otherwise, these guys can come back later to bite you in the butt.

How do you tell the difference? By how much knowledge they show you when playing, what shots they miss, how well they play shape, and of course, by their stroke they have.
 
As long as it is meant as a self-criticism I don't mind. Though sometimes it is an attack on your game, which is annoying especially if you played poorly yourself.

What I find more annoying are the guys that try to pass off luck as skill. I was playing some cheap 9 ball sets with someone and I was up 6-2. I had run out to the 9 and my opponent unscrews his cue, which I took as a concession of the match and picked up the cb. He calls foul and trys to take bih. After a 'debate' I decide to give it to him as he didn't have a chance of winning anyways. He breaks in the next game making a ball and leaving a dead 1-9 combo. He snaps in the 9 in the next game. I get an opportunity in the following game and run out to win 7-5.

According to him I was lucky as he was on the a comeback and I would have had no chance of winning another set if he could have stayed. I later hear from a friend of mine he was telling people he ran a 3 pack on me after I blew the 9 for the win. Go figure, lol. FWIW I won the last two sets 7-3 and 7-1.
 
I am impressed

When I made the original post, it was just a little vent about one particular guy I play occasionally who over rates his game and seems to think that the only reason he ever loses is from his bad play.

I have read all the replies and without naming anyone in particular, I just want to say that I am impressed with many of the thoughtful and insightful comments. Makes me glad I started the thread!:smile:
 
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