One Gotcha could be the spot they need.
You know where they get to stand behind the shooter and at any time reach in and grab him by the balls while shouting GOTCHA! A spot they would never need to use as standing behind him should do the trick. 
Opinions regarding a former top pro playing in and dominating a Poolroom‘s weekly handicapped tournament?
- Thread starter ChrisinNC
- Start date
You know where they get to stand behind the shooter and at any time reach in and grab him by the balls while shouting GOTCHA! A spot they would never need to use as standing behind him should do the trick. 
That might be your best option. We have a local chip tournament that alternates between singles one week, and scotch doubles the next. Our local champion, Joven Bustamante (779 Fargo), plays in it often. It's bar table 9-ball, and he only gets 3 chips. For him to win the tournament, he has to win something like 40+ games before losing his 3 chips. Almost all of those games, his opponent breaks. It's triple tough for him to win, but he does sometimes. Usually when he does, you'll hear at least one person complain about how it's "not fair" to let him in...
he is pissing everyone off as it is obvious their money is going to one person.
you would be too if you had to play a certain person who beats you every time before you could play with someone else for money.
and you would complain if the t.d. took 50% of the prize money for no reason.
basically most do not like anything that seems un fair. we all do to our own extents.
if you run any business and the general customer thinks you do it un fairly then you are going to lose him.
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We had a pro in town when the chip tournament started. He wondered about playing. I told him they would let him play with the minimum chip total and he was a favorite with 3 chips. Told him worse players, like 100-150 FargoRate lower have won. I don’t run the tournament or anything.
They let him play. People enjoyed playing him. And he won. Picked up a little meal money. He didn’t make that tournament a habit. Granted, he doesn’t live locally but will be back. I think the tolerance depends on how habitual it is. He has some sense and knows how to avoid wearing out his welcome IMO. Pros would probably make more if they avoided burning a spot out. You have to rotate your crops.
all above true. but a tournament wherever it is should never be set up so a certain person or two almost always wins it.
and when the top players are dominant then spread out the payouts so others get in.
treat it as a business not an ego thing and run it so as many as you can will get in.
and when the top players are dominant then spread out the payouts so others get in.
treat it as a business not an ego thing and run it so as many as you can will get in.
Yeah, this little chip tournament is a pretty good format for a small weekly. It doesn’t have the same person win all the time etc…. Maybe that is a reason the better players can enter.
We had a local 8-ball tournament that also included a second chance tournament for those eliminated quickly in the main event. It was an APA based tournament, and they had an individual bracket for every APA level, but on the second chance, the guy running things asked if the three 7s could just get folded in to the field with the 6s. There was about 18 total of the 6 level players, and those three 7s that went onto the bracket, and they even used the usual APA races when 7s played the 6s. At the semi-final stage, it was the three 7s and one 6 left, and the final was 7 vs 7, so clearly the higher skill level players were just better. I was that last 6, and I was fine with the 7s being there, but if I was eliminated first round by one, I might think differently.
It boils down to each player's individual mindset. Some think that handicap systems should give the advantage to lesser skill level people, and some think that those that have put in the time and effort to improve their skill set should maintain an advantage. Kinda like the approach different political parties have, isn't it???
It boils down to each player's individual mindset. Some think that handicap systems should give the advantage to lesser skill level people, and some think that those that have put in the time and effort to improve their skill set should maintain an advantage. Kinda like the approach different political parties have, isn't it???
Dennis Hatch used to play on the Joss Tour. That was like money in the bank for him. I'm pretty sure he won more than half of the events he played. Should he have been banned?
In a cheap, social tournament that tries to equal things out some with a handicap, I say let him play. If I were on the other side of that match, I wouldn't mind losing to a much better player; they're supposed to win. If the handicap game me a fighting chance, that's all I could ask.
In a cheap, social tournament that tries to equal things out some with a handicap, I say let him play. If I were on the other side of that match, I wouldn't mind losing to a much better player; they're supposed to win. If the handicap game me a fighting chance, that's all I could ask.
Crazy how no one is asking the name of the player. The thread isn't a knock against him and he hasn't done anything wrong. Why the secrecy?
for the latter ask them if they will play in a 100 or 500 entry tournament with those players. and see if they are true to their beliefs.
whether its cheap or not depends on the person and why for any amount should you basically give your money away with little chance of winning.
does this good player do it also by going in the pro tournaments. no he goes where he is getting a free payday and i dont blame him. its the suckers that support it.
the smart ones complain and get it changed.
if you want to play a much better player go find one and play him some 9 ball even for money and see how long you keep playing.
whether its cheap or not depends on the person and why for any amount should you basically give your money away with little chance of winning.
does this good player do it also by going in the pro tournaments. no he goes where he is getting a free payday and i dont blame him. its the suckers that support it.
the smart ones complain and get it changed.
if you want to play a much better player go find one and play him some 9 ball even for money and see how long you keep playing.
I really think this is getting to be way more the exception than the rule. It used to be much more of a problem, but I think it's clearly flipped and the better players give up on attending the local handicapped tourneys more so than in the past. Everybody is rated so much more accurately now.
I used to play in a weekday handicapped 9 ball tourney. My last event I lost to a female who could barely play. She got a spot very similar to what SJM described. She could barely complete a legal break getting 4 balls to a rail. She had a table full of wild balls and understood how to ride the cheese. My only option was to play really tight. Play lock up safe after safe until the table was open, then finally run out. After a rack like this, I realized how ridiculous it was so I smashed the balls open after her break and give her a shot at one of her many money balls. I realized i was no longer playing pool. I lost and wished her good luck.
No complains from me. I just never returned for that event. I try to avoid the wild ball type handicaps if possible unless I'm just trying to get out of the house for the night. I find it hard to believe a former professional wouldn't get totally bored playing such heavily handicapped events. Guess it's a big country.
I used to play in a weekday handicapped 9 ball tourney. My last event I lost to a female who could barely play. She got a spot very similar to what SJM described. She could barely complete a legal break getting 4 balls to a rail. She had a table full of wild balls and understood how to ride the cheese. My only option was to play really tight. Play lock up safe after safe until the table was open, then finally run out. After a rack like this, I realized how ridiculous it was so I smashed the balls open after her break and give her a shot at one of her many money balls. I realized i was no longer playing pool. I lost and wished her good luck.
No complains from me. I just never returned for that event. I try to avoid the wild ball type handicaps if possible unless I'm just trying to get out of the house for the night. I find it hard to believe a former professional wouldn't get totally bored playing such heavily handicapped events. Guess it's a big country.
i would have had fun playing her as it became a game of strategy and not just pocketing balls. we all know who will win in any contest of pocketing the balls if we know both players.
in my limited mind i see 9 ball as no longer having good strategy useful in the game. as now just being the best at shooting. so the game is a different one than i knew. and not one i ever bother to play.
we always called it a bust out game. meaning after one or two games at most you can tell the speed of your opponent and whether you can win or not. even if he is on the stall.
in my limited mind i see 9 ball as no longer having good strategy useful in the game. as now just being the best at shooting. so the game is a different one than i knew. and not one i ever bother to play.
we always called it a bust out game. meaning after one or two games at most you can tell the speed of your opponent and whether you can win or not. even if he is on the stall.
I think at some large difference in level, game spots are the wrong way to go. The weaker player gets two or three shots in the match where he can hit the ball. He doesn't actually get to play.
If you do make the spot reasonably fair -- like the champ is only a 70% favorite in each match -- the champ will likely stop showing up. As a 70% favorite in each match, he has only a 1 in 6 chance to win the tournament of about 32 players. Maybe he just likes to play and will be happy with that.
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Y'all have done made me lose my mind. A tournament of any size is so much more than just winning or losing money. (Just wait until you don't have one to get to.) Be glad for (celebrate, protect, etc.) our opportunities to get together and compete. If someone is messing things up, put him out. Bad behavior by anyone should not be allowed to ruin, or threaten, everyone else's good time. Overreaching and stealing the little fellows' cheese is bad behavior. If the poor dude needs the money that bad, set up a pickle jar at the entry desk and take up a collection. If its a bunch of spoiled losers . . . All folks were not taught to act right when young, and, unfortunately, we end up having to continue to raise them throughout their lives -- boorish behavior does not have to be, and should not be, tolerated. (Oftentimes, all it takes is an effective explanation in language the idiot is able to understand.)
If it was bad enough behavior to cause this thread, something should be done. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown", but that's why the TD gets the big bucks.
If it was bad enough behavior to cause this thread, something should be done. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown", but that's why the TD gets the big bucks.
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I concur.
Ball spots were the equalizer back in the day.
One of the best players in the Northwest that played out of the 211 was known to give up the
. Gotta think it kept him sharp. A player getting soft money gets soft. A serious player giving the rainbow gets to where out running the nuts is the normal, not the exception.That's assuming they are motivated by the money. There's always the chance that a player wants a workout in preparation for a bigger Pro event.the rest said:
yeah like Bob said:
I'm in Syracuse....pool is dead. Action nonexistent.
We used to have 5 rooms within an hour with each having a weekly tournament.
Not much reason to stay in stroke for anymore...so my 9 foot diamond sits waiting for the day I have a reason to practice up. Might be time to put it up for sale and regain a third of my garage back.
Each year...I go to Super Billiards and the action just sucks more. Place has turned into a library.
People just love to hate on pool and the action. If it wasn't for the rednecks down south betting high...pool here in this country has become a ghost town.
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I know what you mean, that's why I said "cheap". I dislike losing money as much as the next guy, but I learned to change my mindset. If I lose $100, I can chalk it up to entertainment (similar to a round of golf). If I can't chalk it up to entertainment, it would bother me (I don't enjoy gambling like I once did).
I also believe the handicap would need to give me a chance of winning. I'm not saying it needs to be 50/50, but I would like to win one in 3 against a much better player. Having that been said, if the better player is winning week after week, they need to raise his handicap. He could still be the favorite, but if he's dominating most weeks, it stops becoming fun for everyone else.
Another option is shopping for customers. A good sales person can sew the seeds for a teacher student relationship. My first experience with that result, came from a tournament. It had me as the student. My investment in the lessons paid off many times over.