Quitting while you are ahead

tap tap tap

The best advice I've seen on this came from long time road player Tom Ferry who made the rules before he started playing, and they included paying after each set and anybody can quit after a set if they want to. Takes all of the arguing out of it and doesn't ruin your future action.

I come down on the side of quitting when you are ahead if you want to but if you don't set the rules in advance you are partly responsible for the heat you will get from the loser. And, if you aren't getting payed after each set you are partly to blame for the air barrel at the end of the night.

This is the best response yet, to your question.
 
I am not quite sure what I would do if I was ever ahead while gambling. Interesting question.

BVal
 
Rofl, ever thought of taking up another game? jk :sorry:
LOL I was actually just joking. Sort of.... Out of all the times I have ever gambled I once lost $40 and once lost $30. ALL other times I broke even. At least I know I match up quite well.

BVal
 
When I play, I try to lock a given number of sets in advance so there is no controversy. If that can't be done, then I usually give the guy who's behind on the money one set to recover his losses and I'm home free after that.
 
For those saying bust the other player, when you do you usually kill the golden goose. You can take a few dollars from a player for years or you can bust him once or twice. More money in taking small bites.

Hu


Smart....this reminds me of a story my father told me in my teens......something along the lines of I am a bull.....I can run down the hill, corner one, and have my fun.....or I can walk down slowly, join the herd, and have all the fun I want :D

Or something like that.....point is, be smart and think long term, not just about today.....why kill easy action....
 
I have never quit winner on someone unless we had a set time or a certain number of sets to play. I have played many players that can only play a few sets because of their age, back, etc... As long as it is discussed beforehand I have no problem quiting even after one set.

If someone who I am playing quits winner without the above condition, I will NEVER play that person again. One time a buddy of mine was playing a good player for $1,200 a set and I had half, he gave me his half and said to handle the money. He lost the first set and I paid off, they flip the coin and their man loses the flip and one of the guys on there side gets off so they can only bet $800 the next set. We win and they quit, I have to tell my buddy that we lost $400, they will never see another dime of my money in action again.

It is amazing to me how many people here think it is ok to quit winner on this site, in all of my gambling I have hardly ever seen someone actually do it. I think you might have a problem getting out of a few places I have been if you gamble and act like that.

I don't believe you need to give them a chance to get even if there is only time for one more set as long as you play for the same amount and not lower the bet.
 
Quitting while your ahead

Although I haven't gambled in a few years quitting ahead isn't good. If I were to gamble today I would tell them I would play so many hours (5 - 10) or will lose at least 2 sets then either player has a right to quit.

I would never gamble with a person who said either party could quit after one set. The purpose of gambling to to determine who will win (with or without weight) in the long run. People who want to quit after one set are nits. They fire one barrel at you hoping to get you stuck 3 or 4 sets. This way they get 3 or 4 to 1 on the money. I also try to agree with my opponent the minimum amount of sets each party will lose. I just want to know what I can win versus what I am willing to lose. I will always play at least 2 sets and probably 3 to give myself a chance to win if I get stuck in the beginning. If you can't come back from 1 or 2 sets stuck sometimes you probably shouldn't gamble.
 
The best advice I've seen on this came from long time road player Tom Ferry who made the rules before he started playing, and they included paying after each set and anybody can quit after a set if they want to. Takes all of the arguing out of it and doesn't ruin your future action.

I come down on the side of quitting when you are ahead if you want to but if you don't set the rules in advance you are partly responsible for the heat you will get from the loser. And, if you aren't getting payed after each set you are partly to blame for the air barrel at the end of the night.

are you saying it's ok to not pay up? ever? Because that's dead wrong.

I don't care if the guy is the nittiest nit in the world in the whole u-nit-verse. You pay what you owe and then you never play him again if that's how you feel. There is no excuse to not pay.

Maybe what you mean is "always post up"...but that's not getting paid after each set, that's putting up the money even before it starts.

If you think an early quitter partly deserves to get stiffed... all I can say is.. Which guy is more likely to get a black eye? The early quitter or the air barrel?
 
I never have understood the way that pool players seem to think about gambling. It's pretty simple, if we bet and I lose, it's my opponents money. If I win, it's my money, plain and simple.

Imagine trying to explain to a bill collector (gambling debt type) that you can't pay him his money because somebody nitted you out of your cash. No shades of grey here. You either pay or find out about their payment plan in a big hurry!

I agree with Tom Ferry's logic about clearing up any unknowns at the first of the match. It makes things understandable by both parties. If you plan on playing someone more than once, it just makes good sense to get everyone on the same page.

As far as letting someone play until they get back even again, that reminds me of playing marbles for "funsies". If you can't afford to gamble and lose, then don't gamble. Try going to the window at a dog track after a race has been run and explaining to the cashier that you just didn't have enough time to match up with the dog that you just bet on (that lost). Explain to them that you would like to double your bet on the next race, but you've realized you're broke and see if they would give you a chance to get your money back. If anyone finds that track, please let me know!

Steve
 
> The only time it happened to me,nothing was discussed ahead of time. My opponent got hot,and had me 17 games stuck. I finally get myself together,and get it back to 10 games,so money wise I'm only down 100.

My opponent and his backer/ride home/butt buddy are in a huddle over on the side,and THEN they decide to quit winner. We didn't start playing until after midnight,it's 5:30 on a Sunday morning,and all of a sudden they have to be home soon.

I stiffed them. End of story. In the area I live in,rule #1 in gambling on pool is you don't quit until your opponent says he's had enough. Quitting winner usually results in you tasting a tire iron. Tommy D.
 
are you saying it's ok to not pay up? ever? Because that's dead wrong.

I don't care if the guy is the nittiest nit in the world in the whole u-nit-verse. You pay what you owe and then you never play him again if that's how you feel. There is no excuse to not pay.

Maybe what you mean is "always post up"...but that's not getting paid after each set, that's putting up the money even before it starts.

If you think an early quitter partly deserves to get stiffed... all I can say is.. Which guy is more likely to get a black eye? The early quitter or the air barrel?


I'm saying that Tom Ferry's advice which was built upon years of experience on the road is wise and is a good way to ensure you get out the door with the cash and in one piece.

I'm not exactly sure what your post is about, but this is simple advice on how to avoid problems. To quote Clint Eastwood in the Unforgiven, "Deserve ain't got nothing to do with it".

If the unwritten rules of gambling worked then there wouldn't be any problems would there?
 
Nothing wrong with quitting while you are ahead. You started the bet because you wanted to win some money. One of the people has to lose. If you're going to work it out all night and then do an all or nothing on the last set then you might as well not have bet in the first place.

It always amuses me how so many people claim they're big betters but piss and moan about how the betting should be done. If you're going to bet then you gotta take the good with the bad.

I agree in setting a time limit or amount limit. I also agree with paying after every set. If the money doesn't come out of his pocket then I totally support quitting right then and there and making him pay the table time......even if the table time is more than the bet was. He reneged on a bet so his ass should be punished.

I don't bet very often but when I do I make sure to tell the person that if I get down this certain amount then I'm done because I won't be able to pay more than that.
MULLY
 
Allot of the conversation seems to me to be touching on the concept of good or bad action. Do you want to be in a game you can play tomorrow, next week, or even the next couple years? If I nitted up and quit every time I was ahead who would wanna play me? You'll never make a large score in that manner. Gamblers give action to those give action back.

Good action is someone who makes you want to play them again regardless of the result. Bad action leaves you grumpy wondering why you played them in the first place.

If someone quits ahead out of the blue just cuz there up without communicating there intentions ahead of time or even setting up another playdate thats fine I'll pay them without incindent. I'll make sure I never lose anything I care about to that individual again.

I work allot of hours so I don't grind out long sessions but I always tell my opponent when I'm gonna need to quit.

Dudley
 
The main reason I wouldn't ever quit winner is because you've already made money. Basically, you're betting their own money against them. Even though no one likes to play for hours and hours to break even, why not keep playing because you haven't invested any money and have the chance of making some.

With that said, I don't think that someone should just keep adjusting or playing double or nothing simply to feed the money back. This brings up another point which is when to adjust. I don't really care for people who want to adjust after one or two sets. You can't really see anything. There's a pretty well known player that gives me a huge spot for $20 or $30 a game. I'm finally over a thousand loser over multiple sessions, and I just now asked to adjust. Gambling is gambling. I don't really do it to trade money or feel bad for other players. I just like to play pool and bet a little. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. It is what it is.
 
My philosophy is, if you wanted a chance to win it back, you shouldn't have lost it. You had your chance to leave with the money you came in with, before you made the bet.

-Andrew

This is what you get for fambling with non gamblers or those sho havn't been around it much.

If they don't know and understand the "code" don't play em.
 
If there was no stipulation, I think you should be able to quit if you want to.

That said, don't be suprised if you quickly run out of people willing to play you.
 
IMO: Quitting while you're ahead is bad form unless you've let your opponent know ahead of time that you plan to quit a certain time or after a certain amount of games.
 
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