predator said:Hi guys! Do you know a player who thinks he's much better than he really is? And is full of excuses when he gets defeated? Yes, we know them all, but imagine playing for small stakes against such guy almost every day...
My and my clubmates are not gamblers by any stretch of imagination. But, in search for a better and stronger mental game we have agreed to play sets for small stakes. Always for fixed amount, no spots, just normal 9ball races to seven.
I regularly play against this one guy who has far more experience than me and is much higher ranked in our national league. But, I beat him most of the time nowdays. That couldn't have happened let's say 2 years ago. So where's my problem you may ask?
Well, every time he loses he says that he's horrible nowdays, only plays 15% of his real speed, and that he can't motivate himself. Then he starts his old war stories on how he ran many racks agains top players, how great he was, etc...
Just a few hours ago we played two sets...I won by 7-5 and 7-6, being 3 racks down in each set. He was really pissed off, probably because he had a significant lead in both sets.
He starts with his usual excuses, but this time says something which I believe is slightly out of line: "at my normal speed, you couldn't win more than 3-4 racks against me."
I smile and respond with: "Really? You seem to forget that I can also raise my game, especially if you raise yours...neither of us played well today, that can change tomorrow...".
He says: "No, I don't think you could respond to that kind of game. You can play like a champ for one set, and than after that your game turns to shit. You see I used to run 5 racks. And I also beat many players far above your speed."
Me: "Well, I'm not a pro so shoot me. And you seem to forget that you ran those 5 racks JUST ONCE in your lifetime. That's not your normal game. Deal with it. You're delusional!"
He says: "I don't know what's wrong with me when I play nowdays. When I practice everything is fine. Yesterday night I threw 9 balls on the table and ran out. I did it ten times without any trouble."
Me: "10 times in a row??? Surely you meant in a session..."
He says: "No, a 10 pack with no breaks. It wasn't a big deal."
Me: "Come on man, you're full of it. There's no way you can do that..."
He says: "Of course I can run 10 open racks in a row with ball in hand. Why won't you believe me???"
Me: "Because such a feat would be a challenge for a pro player, which you are not. You don't have that kind of game. 90 balls in rotation without missing?Are you mad? The game of 9ball is a bit more difficult than that..."
He says: "I still don't get why won't you believe me?"
Me: "Look now, I'll gladly give you my whole pay check if you run 10 racks like that in front of me."
He says: "Ok."
I think he actually believes he really ran 10 open racks. How can I make him see the light?
This whole gambling affair will not turn out well I'm afraid. Sooner or later he will ask to raise the stake. I will not be able to say no to that. And if I beat him for larger stake which I probably will, he will get into serious trouble with his wife. I actually like the guy, we're friendly. He's quite OK when he just hangs around...we all listen to his stories about how great he was once...
Do any of you know such a player?
Here is a story for you..
There is this one dude I used to play about a year ago.. we were around the same speed. I heard of him thru a friend of mine and he told me about how much this guy yaps.. well, I didn’t have a job then and he was off on Mondays so we would shoot in the afternoons. We would do races to 9 for $10 and time even up. I lost the first set.. then I won the next. That was the first Monday. It was all good. From the next week and on we did the same thing.. the only difference is we would play 3 – 4 sets most of the time.. I beat him 14 sets in a row. ( its not hard to keep count when the guy never beats you) none of them he got past 5. He never really had nothing to say.. till he finally won HILL – HILL on the 15th set. ( this was the 1st set on a new week) I was SHOCKED! LOL. I knew the loss was coming, but I was so confident playing this guy that my mind already won the hill hill ! I then said “ WOW! You finally beat me ! “ I probably shouldn’t have said that but it made him “not happy”. But what made ME mad was that he said… “ huh? When have you beaten me???” I thought he was joking .. then I realized he wasn’t. so I beat him the next set .. broke even for that day. And he never played me again.
The thing is when somebody would ask him how he plays with me he would say.. we play the same. Never mentioning the tremendous ass whupping I gave him.. but when he beats somebody.. the whole pool scene would know. And if somebody mentions the ass whupping I gave him.. he would pull out the excuses.
“I was tired, I wasn’t really playing, my kid was there ( his son was there one time), I cant play with him he gets mad too much. ( get mad at what? Winning 14 times in a row without you getting passed 5 in a race to 9?) “
I would try to call him to come out to play but he never came out for months.. his excuse is he is not playing pool no more but .. of course my friends spot him in another pool hall all the time..
Then a few months later he finally played me! And it was a nightmare!
He beat me 3 times in a row !!!
(I even gave him his props and told him he played GOOD! and yes I told my pool buddys that he beat me 3 times in a row) BUT he beat me to most of them! The first night he beat me.. I literaly just left the pool hall to go back home and one of my pool buddys that live across the street from me ran into me on the block and said “ so, I heard so and so KICKED YOUR ASS !!! “
I was like WOW.
lol
So from then on he calls me EVERY DAY !!!! lol ! (but I have a job at this point so I couldn’t play him every monday but we played a couple of weeks later.)
And again, for the last time we ever played a match up.. I handed him his ASS. Got him back for the shit talk.. and afterwords I said.. ill spot you the 8, for a $100( we always play for $10 but since he was talking so much shit about me the last few months I wanted to play for more)
Obvously he said no. so I started to bark at a couple of gamblers that knew the both of us and played the both of us before that was sitting there.. to stake him for $500 7 ahead AND ill give him the 8. ( I was getting too pumped up I guess.. ) They declined. For a while he never even said hi to me any more lol.. but recently he says whats up.
