Please explain how a spot works.

D

DanielDeTinne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So here is the deal. I play in an ACS 8 ball league. I am a 7. One of the players in my league has a big mouth. He is a 9. I know that I could not beat him in a straight up game. But he is always running his mouth wanting to play for cash.
I would love to play him a some 9 ball for cash maybe a race to 10 for 100.00 dollars or more. However I know I would need a spot to have a chance. I don't care about the money. It would be great to play him and have a chance.
I am sure I could beat him if we played APA points style. So maybe with a good spot I could give him a run for his money.
Please help. Tell me how exactly it works.
 
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here is my 2 cents
an apa 9 could be a b+/a- player or a champion since 9 is as high as it gets
as far as i know ( i dont play apa)
........
where are you as far as beating the 9 ball ghost??
4 balls ???
5 balls????
as a 7 i dont think you can beat the 6 ball ghost
first of all you have to take a tough love look at your skill level
if you struggle at the 4 ball ghost
then getting the 8 and 9 wont be much of a spot since you arent going to run to the 8
and he is going to run out when you miss
how many games on the wire do you need ???
i dont know
since it depends on the the level of your apa9
if he is a strong shortstop
it will be hard to beat him regardless of the spot
he will safe you to giving him ball in hand and then run out
or
just run out
if he is a weak shortstop
there could be a game where you have a chance
im curious what other players apa7's and apa9's have to say
p.s.my 2 cents again
as an apa7 you can run some balls and probably have an inflated opinion of your game......sorry
play in an open tournament against REAL PLAYERS
you will get a better assessment of your level of play
the good news is s a 7 you are developing the skills to become a 9....:wink:
 
if you live near vero beach fl
i know some apa9's that would play you for $100 a set.....:grin-square:
 
DanielDeTinne said:
So here is the deal. I play in an ACE 8 ball league. I am a 7. One of the players in my league has a big mouth. He is a 9. I know that I could not beat him in a straight up game. But he is always running his mouth wanting to play for cash.
I would love to play him a some 9 ball for cash maybe a race to 10 for 100.00 dollars or more. However I know I would need a spot to have a chance. I don't care about the money. It would be great to play him and have a chance.
I am sure I could beat him if we played APA points style. So maybe with a good spot I could give him a run for his money.
Please help. Tell me how exactly it works.
Click to expand...

Considering I have no idea what the ACE pool league is, can you explain to use what the handicaps are? How big of a spot do you get in the 8 ball league?

Why do you both play in an 8 ball league, but want to gamble with him playing 9 ball?
 
Probably means ACS, not ACE. Since handicaps don't mean anything anyway, if I were him I'd get spotted 3-4 games in a race to 9, and play him that way. If he barely wins, the spot is probably legit. If he still loses, he needs more games on the wire. Just my 2 cents...

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

DAVE_M said:
Considering I have no idea what the ACE pool league is, can you explain to use what the handicaps are? How big of a spot do you get in the 8 ball league?

Why do you both play in an 8 ball league, but want to gamble with him playing 9 ball?
Click to expand...
 
DanielDeTinne said:
So here is the deal. I play in an ACE 8 ball league. I am a 7. One of the players in my league has a big mouth. He is a 9. I know that I could not beat him in a straight up game. But he is always running his mouth wanting to play for cash.
I would love to play him a some 9 ball for cash maybe a race to 10 for 100.00 dollars or more. However I know I would need a spot to have a chance. I don't care about the money. It would be great to play him and have a chance.
I am sure I could beat him if we played APA points style. So maybe with a good spot I could give him a run for his money.
Please help. Tell me how exactly it works.
Click to expand...

How do you figure you will shut him up if you are getting a spot? Anyone can win with a big enough spot. If you win, it just means you outran the spot, not that you beat him. He's still better than you are.
 
If you are the weaker player, keep the races short. Ask for the world, orange crush, the breaks, games on the wire, any advantage. If he is going to play the cocky roll then at least make him sweat some. Take the punks money and go have some fun. Good luck with your match up.

Aloha
 
Sorry I just retread your post, you don't care about the money. Maybe deflate his ego by offering him a spot. Even if he wins he's still got nothing over you.

Aloha
 
So to answer some questions.
Yes it is ACS, sorry.
Why 9 ball over 8 ball. I am better at it. I have a fair safety game and simply enjoy 9 ball more.
I know that I am not a good player. I am a C level at best he is a B+ or low A. He runs out alot.
I'm not really trying to shut him up. Just to call him on his constant offer to play for money. I will most likely lose. Not a big deal really, but it would be fun to give it a shot. I just need to make it close.
As far as playing the ghost. I can normally run 5, but not always. When I do run to the 9 ball I never run out. I always choke on the 9 ball.
Like I said, I know I am a weak player.
 
DanielDeTinne said:
So to answer some questions.
Yes it is ACS, sorry.
Why 9 ball over 8 ball. I am better at it. I have a fair safety game and simply enjoy 9 ball more.
I know that I am not a good player. I am a C level at best he is a B+ or low A. He runs out alot.
I'm not really trying to shut him up. Just to call him on his constant offer to play for money. I will most likely lose. Not a big deal really, but it would be fun to give it a shot. I just need to make it close.
As far as playing the ghost. I can normally run 5, but not always. When I do run to the 9 ball I never run out. I always choke on the 9 ball.
Like I said, I know I am a weak player.
Click to expand...

With you a C, and him an A-, according to the tournament chart I made up for around here, you get the break, the call 7, and a game on the wire going to 7. He still has the best of it, but you will win enough sets to be competitive with that spot if you just play your game.
 
Neil said:
With you a C, and him an A-, according to the tournament chart I made up for around here, you get the break, the call 7, and a game on the wire going to 7. He still has the best of it, but you will win enough sets to be competitive with that spot if you just play your game.
Click to expand...


This spot is a good start. As Neil said, he still has the best of it but if you play your game you can be competitive. It takes his break out of the equation & if you can utilize your break to control the table on a consistent basis & duck when you should as you say you can't run out then you can flip the edge he does have. Good luck.
 
DanielDeTinne said:
So here is the deal. I play in an ACS 8 ball league. I am a 7. One of the players in my league has a big mouth. He is a 9. I know that I could not beat him in a straight up game. But he is always running his mouth wanting to play for cash.
I would love to play him a some 9 ball for cash maybe a race to 10 for 100.00 dollars or more. However I know I would need a spot to have a chance. I don't care about the money. It would be great to play him and have a chance.
I am sure I could beat him if we played APA points style. So maybe with a good spot I could give him a run for his money.
Please help. Tell me how exactly it works.
Click to expand...

Well as stated above, without knowing his speed as anything other then a "9" , a good starting point may be you getting the " free 7 ". Try that and see how that goes if he will give it to you and adjust if needed. Also a race to 10 for a Hondo I believe u will find it being a very long set. Probably be better racing to 5, or 7 AT THE MOST. Keep in mind - and to urself of course that the shorter races is better for the weaker player ( you if u are the one getting the spot and the longer the race generally helps the better player. Give it a whirl ( ya gotta start somewhere ) and GOOD LUCK - GET DAT CASH BOY! And dont forget to let us know how it goes!

Also, if he is a strong run out player and or is capable of putting some racks together try your very best to get the breaks as well, ( not only will that help u out alot if ur getting the free 7, but even more importantly you will be taking away his ability of putting any packages together and by doing that no matter what the score is during the set you will always still be in it. You can always try to get a few games on the wire too. Even if he won't go for games on the wire it will surely help with ur getting the break from him which is ultimately more important anyhow.
 
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Neil said:
How do you figure you will shut him up if you are getting a spot? Anyone can win with a big enough spot. If you win, it just means you outran the spot, not that you beat him. He's still better than you are.
Click to expand...

I think the OP means he needs some advice on taking up the guy on his offer to play for money since he thinks that no one has the balls to take him up on it. He wants an idea of a spot since heads-up hes not gonna make it. As he's said in later posts, he doesn't care if he loses, just wants it to be a fair race to show that there's at least someone who'll play him. I say, ask the guy what he wants to give you for the spot and then add a game/ball or two, and pressure him with the fact that he's the one asking and giving. If he loses, then he cant complain that you guys never played heads-up. Just remind him that he's the one who made the challenge, and he's not living up to it.
 
DanielDeTinne said:
So to answer some questions.
Yes it is ACS, sorry.
Why 9 ball over 8 ball. I am better at it. I have a fair safety game and simply enjoy 9 ball more.
I know that I am not a good player. I am a C level at best he is a B+ or low A. He runs out alot.
I'm not really trying to shut him up. Just to call him on his constant offer to play for money. I will most likely lose. Not a big deal really, but it would be fun to give it a shot. I just need to make it close.
As far as playing the ghost. I can normally run 5, but not always. When I do run to the 9 ball I never run out. I always choke on the 9 ball.
Like I said, I know I am a weak player.
Click to expand...

If you average running out 5 balls, that is a bit higher than a C, on average, I'd say C+, B-, although the issue with missing the 9 all the time is bad.

Find a friend that is equal to his skill and stake him, it's easy to want to play for money and jaw at players a level or 2 bellow you. See if he will play someone equal for something.
 
DanielDeTinne said:
So here is the deal. I play in an ACS 8 ball league. I am a 7. One of the players in my league has a big mouth. He is a 9. I know that I could not beat him in a straight up game. But he is always running his mouth wanting to play for cash.
I would love to play him a some 9 ball for cash maybe a race to 10 for 100.00 dollars or more. However I know I would need a spot to have a chance. I don't care about the money. It would be great to play him and have a chance.
I am sure I could beat him if we played APA points style. So maybe with a good spot I could give him a run for his money.
Please help. Tell me how exactly it works.
Click to expand...

If you are sure you can beat him playing APA points style then offer to play him APA points style. If you know he is better and you have to ask how a spot works you are most likely going to lose you cash to a guy who is accustomed to gambling.

I don't like your end of this game - just my opinion.
 
I'd tell him what a pool stud he is, and that I could not beat you without a significant spot. Then offer to take the last 3 and the breaks and a game on the wire for a race to 7 for a hundo. All he can say is NO, and they you can say, I offered to play him, but he don't want my action ;) Plus, he might leave you alone if he doesn't take the bet :thumbup:
 
I think that if you really want to play him for money you should get games on the wire. Players misjudge how many games they can give up, so you might actually have an advantage in the negotiation.

Propose a race to 10 for $100 and you get games on the wire. I don't think you should play with only 5 based on your descriptions, but that's up to you. Agree beforehand that for every $200 (or whatever) a player is up overall, the spot changes by 1 game to 10.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I was trying to figure out what a "spot" was to determine what would work for me. I found that answer on an other thread. So now the advice in this one makes alot more sense to me.
I will see him next week. I will push for the break and spot the 6 out. Race to 5 maybe even ask for 2 on the wire. See how that goes and maybe play a few sets.
I know that's a lot to ask for, but why not.
If he wins he deserves it. Plus it will be fun.
 
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