The most common shark

Cdryden

Cdryden

Pool Addict
Silver Member
Well, some might not even call it a shark. It's when the other guy misses a says something like, "Oh, you got that, that's a easy shot." or "Good game" when you got 4 balls left on the table! I suppose that several people who do it don't even realize what they are doing. Now I'm not talking about the every now and again type comment. I'm talking about the constant comments after every time they shoot. I've even had one guy break a rack of 8 ball, not make anything and say "Oh, he's going to run that out, it's a easy layout!"
It's kinda like they are trying to get in your head and make you think, if I can't run this out I must not be that good since it's so easy!

It cracks me up when someone says stuff like that to me. It gives me confidence because it shows their weakness. They are scared that they are going to lose so they are trying to get a edge.

Last night I played at league. I've been trying to get away from league but I agreed to do it for one more season so they wouldn't be short handed but on a limited basis. Anyhow, this guy I am playing constantly makes comments about how he left me a easy out or a easy shot or whatever. During the last game he tried to safe me but left a possible shot. It was a 2 rail kick shot that was NO GIMME! So I get down on the shot and just before I pull the trigger he says to me, "Oh you got that, that's a easy kick." (He couldn't have made it in 5 tries I bet) I fired it in for the win, stood up and looked at him and said, "Yeah that wasn't too bad!"

He left pissed! I left thinking that this guy will never understand what it takes to raise his game to the next level. Until he learns to change his frame of mind he will always be handicapping himself.

Do you all see a lot of this type of thing or am I just reading to much into it?!?
 
It's definitely a common scrub-level shark move. "oh yeah he's out" and such.
With very new pool players it's sometimes just premature crying.
I remember when I used to do it as a kid and someone pointed it out... I was like
"oh yeah, that's kind of a dick thing to say isn't it?"
Since then I resist the urge.
 
CreeDo said:
It's definitely a common scrub-level shark move. "oh yeah he's out" and such.
With very new pool players it's sometimes just premature crying.
I remember when I used to do it as a kid and someone pointed it out... I was like
"oh yeah, that's kind of a dick thing to say isn't it?"
Since then I resist the urge.
Click to expand...

Bad thing is, the guy I was playing last night was in his late 50's! Oh well, I guess he's set in his ways.
 
Cdryden said:
Well, some might not even call it a shark. It's when the other guy misses a says something like, "Oh, you got that, that's a easy shot." or "Good game" when you got 4 balls left on the table! I suppose that several people who do it don't even realize what they are doing. Now I'm not talking about the every now and again type comment. I'm talking about the constant comments after every time they shoot. I've even had one guy break a rack of 8 ball, not make anything and say "Oh, he's going to run that out, it's a easy layout!"
It's kinda like they are trying to get in your head and make you think, if I can't run this out I must not be that good since it's so easy!

It cracks me up when someone says stuff like that to me. It gives me confidence because it shows their weakness. They are scared that they are going to lose so they are trying to get a edge.

Last night I played at league. I've been trying to get away from league but I agreed to do it for one more season so they wouldn't be short handed but on a limited basis. Anyhow, this guy I am playing constantly makes comments about how he left me a easy out or a easy shot or whatever. During the last game he tried to safe me but left a possible shot. It was a 2 rail kick shot that was NO GIMME! So I get down on the shot and just before I pull the trigger he says to me, "Oh you got that, that's a easy kick." (He couldn't have made it in 5 tries I bet) I fired it in for the win, stood up and looked at him and said, "Yeah that wasn't too bad!"

He left pissed! I left thinking that this guy will never understand what it takes to raise his game to the next level. Until he learns to change his frame of mind he will always be handicapping himself.

Do you all see a lot of this type of thing or am I just reading to much into it?!?
Click to expand...

If it happens more than once or twice, I tend to ask the opposing player if they are conceding. "You're not? Ok, then sit down and pipe down."
 
Cdryden said:
Well, some might not even call it a shark. It's when the other guy misses a says something like, "Oh, you got that, that's a easy shot." or "Good game" when you got 4 balls left on the table!.....It cracks me up when someone says stuff like that to me. It gives me confidence because it shows their weakness. They are scared that they are going to lose so they are trying to get a edge.
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I agree with your above perspective, Cdryden......

The unwitting SHARK I can't stand is the one who calls, "Good shot" right after you describe your next shot to him/her but right BEFORE you actually shoot it.
It's usually said in a matter-of-fact way. I have to admit that this is a "move" whether the one saying it knows it.

For one thing, it's not a good or bad shot until the shot has been attempted.
For another, the above comment has the potential to get into the shooter's head;
such that if the player were to miss the "good shot" a "golden opportunity" could be possibly foregone (a bit more pressure?).

In either case, my perspective is that this comment seems to evoke frustration toward the opponent.
On that last note said, I hear an opponent say "Good shot" to me usually after he or she just missed a key shot.
 
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Reminds me of the scene from Major League "Rick Vaughn: You put snot on the ball?

Eddie Harris: I haven't got an arm like you, kid. I have to put anything on it I can find. Someday you will too."

I've seen so much ridiculous attempts at sharking, anything from a guy blowing his nose
to a guy almost starting to do jumping jacks while I'm down shooting.
Some people just got no class.:shrug:
 
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The most common shark move I see around here is the old - going to get your quarters move as you're finishing off the rack.

I let this move shark me a couple of times recently.

The only reason I allowed it to bother me was because I KNEW that my opponent had NO malicious intent in mind. I've noticed this move is very common among the players that grew up playing in the leagues vs. those that grew up playing in the pool rooms. I really have to get used to the common moves you see among the league players.

Sharking is almost a foreign concept to most of them.....that's the part that sharks me. It's not the actual move they make, instead it's my own distracted thinking. I'm constantly thinking to myself, "can you believe these guys don't understand that this is sharking." Meanwhile, I fire the ball into the rail.
 
good call. i think next time i hear someone say "you got that" I'll say "thanks" and just start grabbing the balls out of the pockets and throw them down the table towards the footspot. the look on their face will be priceless
 
I've done this my self but not in an attempt to shark my opponent. I have been sharked intentionally and unintentionally and I love it! When I get down and make the shot despite the distraction it provides double the satisfaction.
 
Cdryden said:
Well, some might not even call it a shark. It's when the other guy misses a says something like, "Oh, you got that, that's a easy shot." or "Good game" when you got 4 balls left on the table! I suppose that several people who do it don't even realize what they are doing. Now I'm not talking about the every now and again type comment. I'm talking about the constant comments after every time they shoot. I've even had one guy break a rack of 8 ball, not make anything and say "Oh, he's going to run that out, it's a easy layout!"
It's kinda like they are trying to get in your head and make you think, if I can't run this out I must not be that good since it's so easy!

It cracks me up when someone says stuff like that to me. It gives me confidence because it shows their weakness. They are scared that they are going to lose so they are trying to get a edge.

Last night I played at league. I've been trying to get away from league but I agreed to do it for one more season so they wouldn't be short handed but on a limited basis. Anyhow, this guy I am playing constantly makes comments about how he left me a easy out or a easy shot or whatever. During the last game he tried to safe me but left a possible shot. It was a 2 rail kick shot that was NO GIMME! So I get down on the shot and just before I pull the trigger he says to me, "Oh you got that, that's a easy kick." (He couldn't have made it in 5 tries I bet) I fired it in for the win, stood up and looked at him and said, "Yeah that wasn't too bad!"

He left pissed! I left thinking that this guy will never understand what it takes to raise his game to the next level. Until he learns to change his frame of mind he will always be handicapping himself.

Do you all see a lot of this type of thing or am I just reading to much into it?!?
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Here, ayone who loses claims to have been sharked or distratcted. Most are just looking for excuses to playing awfully.
 
I've made the comment " there ya go man" after seemingly leaving my opponent out, but never say that's an easy out or you should be out.
 
Txstang1 said:
I've made the comment " there ya go man" after seemingly leaving my opponent out, but never say that's an easy out or you should be out.
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Similarly, I've said "Merry Christmas" after shooting and leaving a no brainer out. But only in friendly games and before my opponent approached the table.
 
Cory in DC said:
If it happens more than once or twice, I tend to ask the opposing player if they are conceding. "You're not? Ok, then sit down and pipe down."
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This is my route as well.

I don't mind a bit of friendly chit chat, but stuff like this drives me crazy.
 
I don't shark except to joke around with a friend, but my new favorite weapon is the spin move.
This should be started when they're on the 7-ball.

Stand up and kind of wander around with your cue,
like you lost something or forgot something.
Look down at your hand and act a little surprised like "oh! there it is!"
Look around like you're unsure where to put it. Find the Q-claw or whatever.
Make like you're going to put it back there, then hesitate like you're not sure.
Turn and start to walk away from the cue claw. Then complete the turn (the actual spin move)
and place your stick on the cue claw with a flourish.

If they make the game ball from here they earned it.
 
The people I've constantly heard the "ok, go run that out" sort of shark from is not my league opponents, but my actual teammates! They actually intend it as encouragement.

Unless I pull off the shot of the year, I'd rather my opponent not say "good shot". Not because I feel sharked, but because it becomes an arms race... So since he is saying "good shot" to me excessively I need to say it too, or I'm a jerk. Ugg.

I try to avoid the grabbing for quarters shark when my opponent is running out, but i remember doing it over the top when I was gambling with a guy 30 years ago when I was like 15. We were playing a dollar a rack. When he was on the final ball, I'd get a dollar out of my pocket and place it on the rail just next to the pocket he was shooting at! I just have to smile about it now and chalk it up as a youthful foible.
 
in my mind if someones comments like "good shot" are enough to get you thinking that you are possibly being sharked, youre head is not in the game to begin with. Its a small jump from thinking about the meaning of someones comments, to wondering if people are watching you play, what they think of your play...etc...etc...your mind should be on the table not out in the crowd. Its one thing when someone is starting an argument with you, threatening you etc....but comments dont even register on my radar.
 
Most of the sharks I've experienced over the years have been very blatant and overt - the kind where you just stand up and glare at the guy for a few seconds before getting back down on the shot. There have been a few occasions, however, where I almost didn't recognize the shark for what it was.

This is a story of one of the more subtle ones I've experienced:

A stranger (to me, anyway) walks into the pool hall and says he wants to play someone for $10 or $20 a game, I can't remember which. I give him my standard response, which is that I won't play him one game for that amount, but I will play him a minimum of 5 games for that amount. He agrees, and we settle in to play some... I think it was $20 10-ball. I'm on the stall a little - feeling the guy out - and the feeling I get is that he is on the stall too. He will do stuff like fire in a long, off-angle three ball combination, and then dog a ball straight in the hole. Or shoot a shot and put the wrong spin on the ball, ending up with terrible position, but then one-stroke a ridiculously tough bank/combo on the 10-ball for the win. We were playing call shot, so I know these things were intentional, and there were at least 3 or 4 of them in the first few games.

Anyway, at some point later when I'm up 3 or 4 games, he lays down a pretty good safety on me, hiding me from the 2-ball. I measure out a line for a two-rail kick and kick the ball in. There was no kick safe. I just had to kick to make, and take my lumps on the position. And lumps I did take. For my troubles, I was rewarded with a long, difficult, jacked-up shot on the 3. As I'm addressing the cueball - not quite ready to pull the trigger, but close - he finally says "That was a nice carom on the 2." :confused:

So here I am, about to shoot this tough shot, and the only thought in my brain is: "Carom? WTF? This guy is obviously a player. Does he not know the difference between a kick and a carom? What th.... ohhhhhhhh, I get it!"

Luckily I had designated one of my three working brain cells as the sober chauffeur for the night, and that guy managed to convince the other two that things were not going to go well if I pulled the trigger at that particular moment. So I stood up off the shot for a few beats, rebooted my process, and fired in the 3-ball.

Then I congratulated on a job almost well done. He just smiled. :)

Aaron
 
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