Tonight was the first time I've played doubles for money in a long time. In all my experiences in the past, whether playing scotch or run-out, I never liked it. Tonight I had to play or else me or my partner wouldn't get any action.
We drove out to another city about 30 minutes away from our area, because my friend was supposed to play the owner of a poolhall some sets for a few hundred. The owner plays good, and on his home table he plays REAL good. This particular table is very fast and has huge corner pockets, but the side pockets are cut funny and the facing is sticking out of both of them, so if you hit a ball hard in the side it pops out. Anyways, I was sitting back staring at some gorgeous girl on the adjacent table, and my friend was getting drilled. He lost the first set badly, it was closer in the second but he still lost, and they played the third set for double and broke even. The owner was playing good but it seemed like he let up in the end, and my friend, who wasn't playing all that good caught a temporary gear and squeaked by. One of the workers there is a young guy in his teens and he shoots incredibly straight. His safeties and cueball control are so-so, but he is a pocketing machine. The owner didn't want to play my friend anymore and he asked my friend if I played pool. My friend said yes and they were going to match me up with the worker. The owner changed his mind and suggested we play doubles, races to 7 at $50 per man. I told my friend that we shouldn't play them on the big pocket table. The worker shoots as straight as any pro (no exaggeration) and the owner's position and pattern play is very, very strong. My friend told me I was giving them too much credit, and said that we should play them on the big pocket table because we will be running out more on that type of table. I quickly reminded him that we practice on extremely tight equipment at our home room and that we would have an edge on tight pockets because even their tightest table is like buckets compared to table 2 at our poolhall. He ignored me and we played on the table with huge pockets. They absoloutely slaughtered us the first two sets. The owner was shooting in the .800s, and the worker was somewhere up there. I mean these guys just didn't miss, and they didn't give up much. The few times they did miss they didn't leave us much. We lost 7-3 both sets. I just couldn't see any hope for us in the match. The owner's position play on his table was superb, and neither me or my partner could get the speed down. The worker pocketed balls from anywhere and managed to get out. I laid down some good safeties and would kick safe back. We were both frustrated, and feeling the heat. In the meanwhile, the owner and worker would be laughing and giggling when one of us got an unlucky roll, or when they would make a great shot, etc. I could see steam coming out of my partner's ears, and I was pretty angry at their attitudes also. Before we played the third set, I realized that although they had the edge on us at the table they know like the backs of their hands, that taking the heat and showing that we were taking the heat was giving them even more of an edge. My partner and I both acknowledged that if we played them on tight equipment they would in no way be running out that many racks, great position play or not. In one set the owner ran a 3 pack and the worker ran a 2, staying in perfect line. I was paying close attention, and I noticed that they were not making the balls cleanly. After paying more attention, I noticed that as straight as the worker shot, he would choke badly on tight pockets. So I told my partner that we should switch tables to the tighter one. We were down two sets and they said no, they wanted to continue playing on that table. We said "f*** it, lets just play win or lose". For some reason the next set me and my partner both shot lights out. We both became percentage players. Two way shots, strong safeties, and neither of us trying to be "heroes". We ran out how we were supposed to with nothing fancy, and kept control of the table for most of the set. They were still overconfident from thrashing us before, and naturally if I scratched on the break one of them would run out, and then break and run out, but that was about it. We beat them that set 7-2. The fourth set I opened up with a good break and run, and in the next game a safety on the 1 followed by my partner running out. We put the heat on them badly. They were not laughing and giggling anymore, they weren't smiling, they werent saying a word. They both shot their wads with one more nice run out apiece, and after we snatched control of the table right out of their hands for the last time, they were done. We won that set 7-3. My partner wanted to play one last set, but they were too tired and said no, which was a relief to me. I was exhausted, I didn't care about the money, I just wanted to go home and relax. We got there at 9pm and I just got home about 30 minutes ago, around 5am. Even though we broke even, it was a great feeling to fight back after they beat us badly with some top-notch pool. I am not exaggerating about how well they shot those first two sets, they were both shooting in the mid .800's or maybe higher, I mean they just did not miss, there only mistakes really were safety errors and a scratch on the break here and there. We lost a little in table time, but the owner gave us a discount which was nice of him. Even though that was a great learning experience, I don't want to play doubles anymore for money. I really don't like having the additional pressure of your partner. If you dog a money ball and lose, your partner still has to pay. Luckily I dogged one money ball but I didn' lose that game. But after I missed it, that was a bitter, aggravating feeling of guilt because you know your partner was counting on you. I fare much better when I am playing for myself. I can overcome my mistakes easier and not let it screw with my head. Those first two sets were so brutal, what little mistakes I did make, such as selling out a safety or missing a testy cut, normally if I were playing 1 on 1, I could brush it off easily and get my head right. But those small errors I made cost us a game each time. The same thing with my partner. He also didn't get much to shoot at, and when he couldn't lay down a perfect return safety or something like that, they made us pay. That's too much heat to deal with. I've played great players and had the same thing happen, but I didn't mind as much because I am not carrying anyone's weight but my own. So how many of you like to play doubles for money, and what do you think about it?
We drove out to another city about 30 minutes away from our area, because my friend was supposed to play the owner of a poolhall some sets for a few hundred. The owner plays good, and on his home table he plays REAL good. This particular table is very fast and has huge corner pockets, but the side pockets are cut funny and the facing is sticking out of both of them, so if you hit a ball hard in the side it pops out. Anyways, I was sitting back staring at some gorgeous girl on the adjacent table, and my friend was getting drilled. He lost the first set badly, it was closer in the second but he still lost, and they played the third set for double and broke even. The owner was playing good but it seemed like he let up in the end, and my friend, who wasn't playing all that good caught a temporary gear and squeaked by. One of the workers there is a young guy in his teens and he shoots incredibly straight. His safeties and cueball control are so-so, but he is a pocketing machine. The owner didn't want to play my friend anymore and he asked my friend if I played pool. My friend said yes and they were going to match me up with the worker. The owner changed his mind and suggested we play doubles, races to 7 at $50 per man. I told my friend that we shouldn't play them on the big pocket table. The worker shoots as straight as any pro (no exaggeration) and the owner's position and pattern play is very, very strong. My friend told me I was giving them too much credit, and said that we should play them on the big pocket table because we will be running out more on that type of table. I quickly reminded him that we practice on extremely tight equipment at our home room and that we would have an edge on tight pockets because even their tightest table is like buckets compared to table 2 at our poolhall. He ignored me and we played on the table with huge pockets. They absoloutely slaughtered us the first two sets. The owner was shooting in the .800s, and the worker was somewhere up there. I mean these guys just didn't miss, and they didn't give up much. The few times they did miss they didn't leave us much. We lost 7-3 both sets. I just couldn't see any hope for us in the match. The owner's position play on his table was superb, and neither me or my partner could get the speed down. The worker pocketed balls from anywhere and managed to get out. I laid down some good safeties and would kick safe back. We were both frustrated, and feeling the heat. In the meanwhile, the owner and worker would be laughing and giggling when one of us got an unlucky roll, or when they would make a great shot, etc. I could see steam coming out of my partner's ears, and I was pretty angry at their attitudes also. Before we played the third set, I realized that although they had the edge on us at the table they know like the backs of their hands, that taking the heat and showing that we were taking the heat was giving them even more of an edge. My partner and I both acknowledged that if we played them on tight equipment they would in no way be running out that many racks, great position play or not. In one set the owner ran a 3 pack and the worker ran a 2, staying in perfect line. I was paying close attention, and I noticed that they were not making the balls cleanly. After paying more attention, I noticed that as straight as the worker shot, he would choke badly on tight pockets. So I told my partner that we should switch tables to the tighter one. We were down two sets and they said no, they wanted to continue playing on that table. We said "f*** it, lets just play win or lose". For some reason the next set me and my partner both shot lights out. We both became percentage players. Two way shots, strong safeties, and neither of us trying to be "heroes". We ran out how we were supposed to with nothing fancy, and kept control of the table for most of the set. They were still overconfident from thrashing us before, and naturally if I scratched on the break one of them would run out, and then break and run out, but that was about it. We beat them that set 7-2. The fourth set I opened up with a good break and run, and in the next game a safety on the 1 followed by my partner running out. We put the heat on them badly. They were not laughing and giggling anymore, they weren't smiling, they werent saying a word. They both shot their wads with one more nice run out apiece, and after we snatched control of the table right out of their hands for the last time, they were done. We won that set 7-3. My partner wanted to play one last set, but they were too tired and said no, which was a relief to me. I was exhausted, I didn't care about the money, I just wanted to go home and relax. We got there at 9pm and I just got home about 30 minutes ago, around 5am. Even though we broke even, it was a great feeling to fight back after they beat us badly with some top-notch pool. I am not exaggerating about how well they shot those first two sets, they were both shooting in the mid .800's or maybe higher, I mean they just did not miss, there only mistakes really were safety errors and a scratch on the break here and there. We lost a little in table time, but the owner gave us a discount which was nice of him. Even though that was a great learning experience, I don't want to play doubles anymore for money. I really don't like having the additional pressure of your partner. If you dog a money ball and lose, your partner still has to pay. Luckily I dogged one money ball but I didn' lose that game. But after I missed it, that was a bitter, aggravating feeling of guilt because you know your partner was counting on you. I fare much better when I am playing for myself. I can overcome my mistakes easier and not let it screw with my head. Those first two sets were so brutal, what little mistakes I did make, such as selling out a safety or missing a testy cut, normally if I were playing 1 on 1, I could brush it off easily and get my head right. But those small errors I made cost us a game each time. The same thing with my partner. He also didn't get much to shoot at, and when he couldn't lay down a perfect return safety or something like that, they made us pay. That's too much heat to deal with. I've played great players and had the same thing happen, but I didn't mind as much because I am not carrying anyone's weight but my own. So how many of you like to play doubles for money, and what do you think about it?
