Railbird wisdom

tone is everything

houmatroy said:
I'll tell someone nice shot when they hit a nice shot..but the "Nice try" one that alot of people use..I* guess it depends on who u playing and their tone..lol:scratchhead:

Also i guess it depends on how bad i missed the shot...if it's a hard shot and i rattle the pocket..i dont think nothing of it..but if i miss it by a mile & they say it..then u just know..lol
Click to expand...

I used to walk by a guy's desk every morning at work. I made it a point to ask him how it was going each morning because it was entertaining to me. His reply was always "Great, just great." However the tone ranged from "WOW it is nice to be me and great to be alive" to "I wish I was dead". "Nice try" and "Nice shot" are much the same. They can definitely have a world of different meaning according to tone.

Hu
 
A harmless drunk was sweating my game once and he kept making comments like "did you call the rail", ballbanger stuff.

I waited until the next time I was hooked and asked him to put his finger where I should kick to hit the ball, then I missed the kick and went off on him for giving me bad advice and he went away to bother somebody else.
 
Was playing in a Jack/Jill tournament today. Was a race to 4.

After winning one set a drunk railbird comes up and says:

"Hey, im not sure if you know this or not ...... but there is a quarter under the rail of the table you're playing on"

Just kind of made me laugh for awhile.
 
Richardson said:
Was playing in a Jack/Jill tournament today. Was a race to 4.

After winning one set a drunk railbird comes up and says:

"Hey, im not sure if you know this or not ...... but there is a quarter under the rail of the table you're playing on"

Just kind of made me laugh for awhile.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA! At least he didn't take it which has happened to me before. The dude just walked up to the table, looked around and took it like we were not even there playing! :eek:
 
alstl said:
A harmless drunk was sweating my game once and he kept making comments like "did you call the rail", ballbanger stuff.

I waited until the next time I was hooked and asked him to put his finger where I should kick to hit the ball, then I missed the kick and went off on him for giving me bad advice and he went away to bother somebody else.
Click to expand...

That's awesome.
 
On Saturday I went to practice for a while. Met a player I know there, and played a few little $5 short races, keeping score with nickels under the rail. He had to quit after a while, and 3 drunk guys came in and started watching me shoot. One came up and asked me to play some. I said sure, and he racked for 8-ball.

I won the first game easily, and he asks to play for $5. I said sure, and won that next one. He talks to his friends for a short while, and then comes back and asks me to play double or nothing. I said sure, and I broke and almost ran out, but missed shape on the 8. Instead of shooting a tough bank I bunted it in front of a pocket, and won on my next inning ("run out" and "play safe" were not in this guy's vocabulary, and I was quite certain I'd be shooting at that easy 8-ball shortly).

One of the other drunks told me that the 8 I passed up on was a routine cut shot into the corner I ended up playing it in. I told him I'm sure it was routine for him, but I'm just learning. The cut he was talking about was well over 90 degrees. The guy I'd been playing had enough, and paid me my $10, but took both nickels from under the rail. I just watched and chuckled to myself.

The guy who made the "routine cut shot" comment asked me if I'd play him one for free, so I said sure, and he couldn't even hit the object ball he was aiming at consistently, much less pocket any difficult cut shots. After I won he asked me if I played on "the circuit".

-Andrew
 
My best one is a scotch double match game 5 we are ahead 4-1 in a race to 7 I am shooting the 8 ball , call my pocket , strech ovet the table stroking the ball and a face apears 8 to 10 inches from mine , not in the match , and he says clean right ? i still dont know what this means
 
FELIX said:
My best one is a scotch double match game 5 we are ahead 4-1 in a race to 7 I am shooting the 8 ball , call my pocket , strech ovet the table stroking the ball and a face apears 8 to 10 inches from mine , not in the match , and he says clean right ? i still dont know what this means
Click to expand...

Bar banger rules often include that the 8-ball can't touch any other ball on its way in. Silly, but watch out for it.

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
Bar banger rules often include that the 8-ball can't touch any other ball on its way in. Silly, but watch out for it.

pj
chgo
Click to expand...

Or a cushion for that matter. When they say clean, they mean it dodn't touch anything on the way to the bottom of the pocket.
Just another reason I never play pool in a bar.
Steve
 
I just smile and nod and give them the satisfaction of thinking their way is the right way. Most of them havent a clue to what their talking about and i sometimes feel sorry for them.
 
I like the one after you play a particularly decrepit safe the railbird says something enlightening like,

"That'll hold him"
 
I'm too lazy to do any work, how about you shoot some for me to learn.
 
"I know why you missed that. There ain't no hole there."
"That would have gone if you made it."
 
Railbirds

I got this one once...

"You look like you used to shoot pretty good". Geee, thanks.
 
being an old bar banger myself let me give you what the mentality is behind the 8 going clean or not, for that matter, any ball. when i grew up playing in bars you did not have to make the 8 clean, you could call it off another ball partially blocking a pocket and it was a good hit.

if you called a pocket clean on any ball you were shooting and it hit another ball before going in it was considered a slop shot, much like in apa where you have solids and you shoot at the 5 and it hit the 7 knocking it in and you keep shooting.

in my opinion playing under those rules made you play under greater pressure , especially when money is on the line.

in all my years of playing in bars i only had the calling off the rail come up 1 time. i was playing in a bar down in west palm beach for 100.0 a game and doing pretty good. about the 5 th guy i played called a shot i made bad because i did not call the rail. i had a fairly straight on my last ball down the long rail into the corner pocket and it touched the rail about 2 inches before falling in and i was left with the 8 straight in other corner pocket. he is standing there hollering bad shot. i had never heard of that before. i was standing there looking over the table and mulling over what to do. looking at the 5 ball he had left i figured it would be easier to out smart him than fight him over a 100.00.

i asked 2 guys sitting by the table if they would not mind watching the game and that we were also calling off the rail if need be, some thing none of us had heard before, they said sure. i waited to make my move when he made his 3rd ball. i said bad shot. he said what you mean bad shot ? i said you hit the point on that pocket , that is part of the rail, you did not call it. the other 2 guys agreed with me and i made the 8 taking his money and buying both of them a couple beers for their trouble.

i offered him another game to get his money back and he just stomped out of the bar. you had to be careful in some of those bars. plenty of guys would go to fist city just over whose quarters were up next.

i guess i am fortunate to be playing in the leagues i do . i have been playing league for a year and a half and have never encountered the problems you guys have posted on here that you have encountered in your areas. talking about drunks , arguments over rules etc.
 
Two weeks ago in a lower level league: "You can't rack the 10 and 2 in the corners, they have to be different colors." After I quickly quashed the argument with a loud laugh and by threatening to grab the rulebook (that I didn't have), the guy comes back a few rounds later and apologizes, because "they just changed the rule this week."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top