Should I Even Get Started

travis92

travis92

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I read the article that Johnnyt just posted and it made me think a little bit. The main place I play is a little bar in the back of a hotel. Being by far the youngest person that ever goes there (16 years old), I wouldn't be very difficult to beat the crap out of. I like playing for money because it makes me focus more and I think it makes me better. As you can probably guess, losing money doesn't make people happy and I'm afraid it will eventually catch up to me when I take the wrong person's money. I'm kind of in-between on whether to just do tournaments or keep playing sets for a few extra bucks. Whats your opinion? :(
 
travis92 said:
I read the article that Johnnyt just posted and it made me think a little bit. The main place I play is a little bar in the back of a hotel. Being by far the youngest person that ever goes there (16 years old), I wouldn't be very difficult to beat the crap out of. I like playing for money because it makes me focus more and I think it makes me better. As you can probably guess, losing money doesn't make people happy and I'm afraid it will eventually catch up to me when I take the wrong person's money. I'm kind of in-between on whether to just do tournaments or keep playing sets for a few extra bucks. Whats your opinion? :(
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im no high roller or anything, but im not interested in playin unless there is some $$$ on the line....guess its sad i got to this point but "it is what it is"..(damn i hate that sayin to!!)
 
travis92 said:
I read the article that Johnnyt just posted and it made me think a little bit. The main place I play is a little bar in the back of a hotel. Being by far the youngest person that ever goes there (16 years old), I wouldn't be very difficult to beat the crap out of. I like playing for money because it makes me focus more and I think it makes me better. As you can probably guess, losing money doesn't make people happy and I'm afraid it will eventually catch up to me when I take the wrong person's money. I'm kind of in-between on whether to just do tournaments or keep playing sets for a few extra bucks. Whats your opinion? :(
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You are only 16 years old. Just make sure that you are in a good/safe environment. It sound very glamorous to play for money, but sometimes it is not worth it. If you are alone, don't take any chances. What happened to JohnnyT has happened to countless other people because they made a wrong decision.
 
That's a smart question to ask. It's obvious you aware of potential hillbilliy attitudes from some you have beat. I dealt with the exact same thing, sneaking underage into bars and beating the regulars. Many times i was on the verge of getting my ass kicked, and probably did not know it. You will learn quickly, that winning and coming off anything but humble will ignite a drunken, non shooting, problems at home, lunatic to go off. many variables. BE AWARE. Your weighing, unfortunately the need to improve, the action, and all the fun that goes with matching up, with one idiot taking a pot shot at ya. Is that the only place you can get a game? You can tell when a dude is melting down. just be aware of it.
 
Its amazing how irritated people get though. They get down 5 or 10 and they start to ***** and complain. But some of them are so bad you just hate to not take their money lol.
 
Thanks, that's a pretty messed up situation. Just becarful you play.
 
Always keep your opponent happy and make them like you....when they like you and their happy they never have problems giving you their money....and then if you feel like they really had no chance playing you anyways buy them a few beers with the money they just donated to you...Im young and very far from being a big dude and ive only had a problem once where a guy got pissed at me and said lets just fight for 100 and then a big friend of mine turned around and that was that.
 
travis92 said:
I read the article that Johnnyt just posted and it made me think a little bit. The main place I play is a little bar in the back of a hotel. Being by far the youngest person that ever goes there (16 years old), I wouldn't be very difficult to beat the crap out of. I like playing for money because it makes me focus more and I think it makes me better. As you can probably guess, losing money doesn't make people happy and I'm afraid it will eventually catch up to me when I take the wrong person's money. I'm kind of in-between on whether to just do tournaments or keep playing sets for a few extra bucks. Whats your opinion? :(
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My opinion is to stay out of gambling matches in bars for awhile. You are going to upset some people just because they are losing to a "kid".(their viewpoint but their viewpoint is what matters) If you can't resist gambling in bars, always try to have a fair sized friend to watch your back and make friends a few trips before you start gambling. You should be able to spot who handles trouble in the place. By them a beer or two. Likewise, "happen" to walk up beside a few large regulars when you go to the bar and offer them a beer now and then. This is money well invested and will pay you dividends later. It doesn't matter how smooth you move sooner or later you will have trouble in a bar. House sticks break easily and although full length house cues don't make much of a weapon one that has been shortened up a foot and left with a nasty end on it does.

Not to sound too gory or violent but I started playing in the bars the same week I turned fifteen and got my driver's license. Only a few months later a man that outweighed me a hundred pounds tried to bully me into paying ten times what I lost. When he came at me to take it by force I broke my first house pool cue and jammed the pointy end in his face as he was coming in. It ripped his cheek deeply from near his mouth almost to his ear. Hell of a mess. Just remember that you can be on the receiving end of such things, broken bottles, knives, or guns.

My opinion, hang in the nicer pool halls and settle for tournament play and friendly bets with regulars in the pool halls for awhile. Bars are easy money until things get rough. Then the fight is unlikely to be fair. The other person may well have a weapon or several friends that join in. Bars and gambling equals trouble, just a matter of if it is sooner or later. Sooner or later you will get in trouble in a bar. If you lose you could be badly injured. Friends have gotten stomped, ribs broken, and punctured lungs in bar fights not to mention faces rearranged so they never looked the same. If you win you may have major legal issues these days. Either way you lose.

Hu
 
Personally, I don't like gambling, but if I was going to gamble against stangers when I was 16, the money would be on the light and I would not be alone.
 
Also, johnny never mentioned it, but he apparently liked to lay down a little. Maybe that's part of what happened. You will piss off more people if you hustle than you will if you just play them straight up without any tricks or BS. If someone just freaks out and hits you after losing legitimately, without you hiding your speed... well, that's impossible to predict. But it prolly happens more at bars than at pool halls.
 
The Bar Scene

At 16 years old, I would suggest playing at bowling alleys and such instead of bars. I was fortunate enough to live in an area where the local bars all new of my family and new the consequences if they messed with me in any way. Not saying I couldn't take care of myself though...but it did help that I knew pretty much everyone that came through. The few times that people passing through did get their panties in a wad cause I took a little of their bankroll it was quickly taken care of by the locals that new me.
 
When I was 14 I would ride my bike 8 miles and play in the worst dive bar in the area for dollars until I was broke but there wasn't anyone in there that would do me harm since I was a kid but times have changed.
 
Pepperspray or taser. Your only legal way right now. Carrying/concealing a knife can damn near get you the same amount of years in jail as a gun. Also, being 16, anything that involves the law, you might get trialed as an adult, so like I said before, be very carful, not only of who you are playing but everything in your surroundings. I really like what Hu said, befriend the people at the bar and they will be your friend. Even if they don't fight for you, they would at minimum try to pull another guy off of you.

The only bar I play in, the bartender is a very good friend of mine, he is 6'7 and the bouncers there are personal friends of mine, both topping over 6'3, so I don't ever find myself having problems at that bar. Not to mention, even though I am very tempted to play for money, but I am afraid to lose it lol.

Chino
 
often a word is all it takes

chin0 said:
. . . I really like what Hu said, befriend the people at the bar and they will be your friend. Even if they don't fight for you, they would at minimum try to pull another guy off of you.

The only bar I play in, the bartender is a very good friend of mine, he is 6'7 and the bouncers there are personal friends of mine, both topping over 6'3, so I don't ever find myself having problems at that bar. Not to mention, even though I am very tempted to play for money, but I am afraid to lose it lol.

Chino
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I have never had one of the regulars fight for me but often a word from one is all it takes to cool things down and I have had them step in between a few times.

Never know what the big guys will take a notion to do. At fifteen or sixteen I was in a late night honky-tonk. I went to the bar to get a Turkey and coke and a great large son of a gun starts insisting on a fight. This guy looked like he was out of a grizzly and sired by a sasquatch. When the bartender finally came over I changed my order to a double Turkey planning to throw it in the guy's eyes, maybe a quick shove to make him fall off the bar stool onto his butt, and I was hitting the door, double time. About the time the drink got to me a big voice behind me asked "what are you doing picking on my brother?!?"

I looked behind me and this guy was even bigger than the first! Damn, what is this giants get in free night or something? I'm bracketed by over six hundred pounds of beef and neither is toting much fat. One double ain't going to get it done. I might as well down the Turkey and get in a lick or two if I can. While I am thinking these cheery thoughts I looked back at the first guy and he has wilted on his bar stool! It wasn't his brother either. The monster behind me had decided to back me just for craps and giggles, never saw him before. I did buy him and the lady he was with a drink. He was the best brother I ever had that wasn't mine. :thumbup:

Hu
 
Since you are only 16 don't you know any guys on the football or wrestling team who wouldn't mind hanging out at the pool hall with you? Or you could join a gym if they have one in your area and make some friends there. If you are worried about it and you don't think you can handle it yourself bring some buddies.
 
we dibt have football or wrestling at our school and I live like 40 miles from you by the way lol
 
travis92 said:
I read the article that Johnnyt just posted and it made me think a little bit. The main place I play is a little bar in the back of a hotel. Being by far the youngest person that ever goes there (16 years old), I wouldn't be very difficult to beat the crap out of. I like playing for money because it makes me focus more and I think it makes me better. As you can probably guess, losing money doesn't make people happy and I'm afraid it will eventually catch up to me when I take the wrong person's money. I'm kind of in-between on whether to just do tournaments or keep playing sets for a few extra bucks. Whats your opinion? :(
Click to expand...

If you took steroids and got really big I do not think people would f*ck with you. Just kidding but seriously keep playing. With tournaments once you pay you can not get that money back unless you win and I think it is less intense than gambling.
 
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