Tired of buzzed or drunk teammates.

[Mr Slate]

Just because you think someone's game is hurt by how much they have drank. In the last few years that I played pool I had to get hammered to play at the high level everyone was accustomed to seeing me play. I came out to Vegas one year as a free agent and was immeditely enlisted by a local team from Nashville that had been courting me. The first match was early in the morning before I had consumed any booze or pain pills. I played terribly and was pulled after two matches. The next time our team played I downed two shots of whiskey at about 9 in the morning and slammed beers the rest of the match. Short story, we won and continued in tourney and wound up finishing in the money on the losers side. I had this arthritis condition for 40 yrs and it has gotten worse each year until I quit playing 2 yrs ago. It's league play, get over it and maybe you aren't as smart as you think you are.

By the way, my team captain and teammates didn't look to kindly on my drinking until they realized I never lost another match and was never pulled from play. They all admittedlater: different strokes for different strokes.

How smart do I have to be to not notice when someone at SL6 is missing shots that they normally can make in their sleep? Everyone has bad days but, when you can see a pattern forming it's hard not to get a little upset and disappointed. It's like when someone repeats the same shot with the same English over and over expecting different results. Not to mention the all too common inquiry as to "What am I, stripes or solids" after being away from the table for a half inning.
Slam me if you want, it doesn't bother me. What does bother me is a self inflicted handicap leading to wasted potential.

 

[Richardson]

I've kicked people who drink too much off my teams, because it takes away from your goals as a team imho. I don't see how getting drunk and losing playing pool is fun.


We are switching the bar we play in house APA league out of. All but a couple teams are drunks and its not fun. They don't know whats going on, they have to piss every game. If they aren't pissing they're ordering drinks. League takes us over an hour longer than it did at our other bar.

 

[Big Perm]

I play BCA and our team is a bunch of drinkers when we play.....we play hard, but we have fun.....we have a few beers.....if we are playing really good, we have team meetings which consist of shots.....

I can honestly say that alcohol really doesn't effect me.....no alcohol, 3 beers, 6 beers....I pretty much play the same.....it's less about the alcohol and more about my frame of mind......granted, if I get BOMBED, I can't play for crap, although I RARELY drink to that extent cause I can't do anything, like talk, LOL

 

[mikeyfrost]

I play BCA on a team full of pot heads and they smoke themselves absolutely silly! I mean they smoke to the point where right after a match sometimes they have no clue what there score was. Even worse when you compare score sheets at the end of the night and there is a discrepancy they have no clue what actually happened. Moral of the story if you can't fade stuff like that, find a new team and be happier.

 

[justadub]

Oh my, the drunken scorekeeping!!!! That is truly tiresome.

This coming from one who likes to have a couple drinks over the course of the evening.

Most of our team drinks like I do, a couple over the course of the night. Not getting stupid, or anything. Very casual. No one plays worse as a result. We tend to watch that stuff closely enough.

However, after the match, we have "team meetings" like BigPerm, and that is a whole other story. (Seriously. We need to get a handle on that sometimes.) Fortunately we don't do that stuff until after the match.

Sometimes I wanna change the name of our team to the old adage, "Our Drinking Team Has A Pool Problem." We do have fun, and sometimes we even win. We managed to win our division over the summer, so we can't be drinking too much, too often.

I agree with the bulk of the posters. If your teamates are out-of-control, it sounds like you need different teamates, be they the current team or moving to a new team yourself.

Good luck with it. It is supposed to be fun, for everybody. Yourself included. If you ain't enjoying it the way you're currently set up, you need to find a better way for you.

 

[btoneill]

This coming from one who likes to have a couple drinks over the course of the evening.

Most of our team drinks like I do, a couple over the course of the night. Not getting stupid, or anything. Very casual. No one plays worse as a result. We tend to watch that stuff closely enough.

However, after the match, we have "team meetings" like BigPerm, and that is a whole other story. (Seriously. We need to get a handle on that sometimes.) Fortunately we don't do that stuff until after the match.

I'll clarify my prior statement that myself and my team fall mainly in the same category. We all are able to drive home safely at the end of the evening (sometimes my wife can't after people buy her shots, but that's why I'm there). Normally the drinkers will end up having 3 or 4 beers during the course of 3-4 hours of league.

Brian

 

[cuesmith]

First off I know what to expect when playing in everyone's favorite "APA". It's a social league meant to introduce billiards to the masses.
I'm just getting more and more fed up with teammates that pound the beers BEFORE their matches and end up having their game suffer because of it. I'm not in any position to tell them what they should or shouldn't do.....I'm not a captain and they're grown adults. It just makes me upset when the team has a good chance of winning and the final deciding match is blown because too many beers or drinks have screwed up my teammate. I have said something in the past and usually I get the old "I play better when I've been drinking". I say BS. In my opinion the only thing one can do better under the influence, opposed to being sober.......is get a DUI.

When you join a "bar league" to play pool, what do you expect? The only reason the bar owner has the leagues in his establishment is to sell drinks. There is nothing else he has to gain by having you there! The "bar leagues" are not for anyone serious about pool. It's a social night out that includes playing a little pool. If you want to get serious about pool, you need to get involved in local tournaments at pool rooms and forget about playing in a bar league, even if you have to travel a little farther.

 

[btoneill]

When you join a "bar league" to play pool, what do you expect? The only reason the bar owner has the leagues in his establishment is to sell drinks. There is nothing else he has to gain by having you there! The "bar leagues" are not for anyone serious about pool. It's a social night out that includes playing a little pool. If you want to get serious about pool, you need to get involved in local tournaments at pool rooms and forget about playing in a bar league, even if you have to travel a little farther.

And remember that those people drinking and getting drunk are keeping the pool hall in business. It is the bread and butter of most pool halls. You should thank them for getting drunk in a pool hall instead of some random bar with a single 7' valley in a back corner, otherwise that would be one of the few places left to play.

Brian

 

[midstroke]

My team is the known drinkers in our apa league. We are also in first place by a few points. Most of the time i shoot first or second. So normally i shoot only a beer or two in. Two of us are starting a new team next season just a bit calmer. I will say this im going to miss the good times for sure. But drinking all night then getting up at five to goto work is starting to hurt a bit. We have one team in the league that does not drink. Every team hates playing them. They complain constantly and are very boring. Basically the team we r putting together is going to be perfect. Me, my father, my brother,my bro inlaw, my closest buddy, and his dad. So instead of getting hammered its prob only going to be about a sixer.

 

[onepocketron]

I would suggest looking for another team, or starting one yourself. My team mates may have a beer or two, but they want to be competitive. Over the years we have lost a few members due to them moving away. We were very selective in choosing whom to invite to our team.
When we lose a player for whatever reason, we want a good player, don't get me wrong, but it was much more important that they "fit in" with the existing players. We have a lot of fun, without getting hammered. There is nothing more frustrating for me than trying to play pool with half of them drunk. They forget what balls they are shooting, gab when they should be at the table.....I could go on but you get the picture. If they have to get drunk to have fun, then they may need to become aquainted with Bill W. or Dr. Bob.:angel2:

 

[NOSValves]

Just because you think someone's game is hurt by how much they have drank. In the last few years that I played pool I had to get hammered to play at the high level everyone was accustomed to seeing me play. I came out to Vegas one year as a free agent and was immeditely enlisted by a local team from Nashville that had been courting me. The first match was early in the morning before I had consumed any booze or pain pills. I played terribly and was pulled after two matches. The next time our team played I downed two shots of whiskey at about 9 in the morning and slammed beers the rest of the match. Short story, we won and continued in tourney and wound up finishing in the money on the losers side. I had this arthritis condition for 40 yrs and it has gotten worse each year until I quit playing 2 yrs ago. It's league play, get over it and maybe you aren't as smart as you think you are.

By the way, my team captain and teammates didn't look to kindly on my drinking until they realized I never lost another match and was never pulled from play. They all admittedlater: different strokes for different strokes.

Umm alcoholic maybe? I can see some one needing a drink or two for relaxation purposes but having to get hammered to play to your potential can only mean one thing. I'm not posting this to jab at you but I suspect you need to take a hard look at your drinking habits.

I drink about 5 or 6 beers on pool night. I usually show up at least an hour before the match to warm up since me and my partner shoot first on our team. I stay till the match is over. I shoot better with a drink or two... but hammered? I don't think so.

 

[measureman]

Every Tues night my teams drinks beer and I have a couple of bourbons and coke. Fine.Last year we went to the year end tournament at a hotel with 120 tables and who knows how many teams. The night before the event I got a good nights sleep had a good breakfast and came prepared to play my best.Same old crap they started pounding beers.I took it seriously and they didn't.

 

[pdcue]

First off I know what to expect when playing in everyone's favorite "APA". It's a social league meant to introduce billiards to the masses.
I'm just getting more and more fed up with teammates that pound the beers BEFORE their matches and end up having their game suffer because of it. I'm not in any position to tell them what they should or shouldn't do.....I'm not a captain and they're grown adults. It just makes me upset when the team has a good chance of winning and the final deciding match is blown because too many beers or drinks have screwed up my teammate. I have said something in the past and usually I get the old "I play better when I've been drinking". I say BS. In my opinion the only thing one can do better under the influence, opposed to being sober.......is get a DUI.

Stop playing league pool and play individual matches for money.
Next.

Dale

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

Drinking

Drinking is part of the culture of pool. Cigarettes also. Foul language. These things are also the culture of honkey tonks. APA has more beginner type players and not so serious players. All leagues have these problems. IMO BCA is a higher level of players. Most league pool is played in bars. Don't complain about people who drink in a bar, it's a bar!!! Start your own team and hand pick the players. Higher level pool is there for you, you just have to make the moves to get there. Playing league pool is not some huge step to playing great pool. Part of weekly league pool is putting up with the whole bar scene. Worse than drinking is the second hand smoke going into your lungs. And the women flitting around in tight jeans showing too much cleavage wanting to buy you drinks and touching your leg and trying to take you home so they can have their way with you, that's the worst of all. I need to go take a shower. My soap, my water, I'll wash as fast as I want.

 

[smoooothstroke]

Alcohol and pool don't go well together IMO.But they are tied together like a bad marriage.

I do not drink but I have been on BCA teams with drinkers and it doesn't bother me at all.Most league players who want to exel at the game know how to either save the drinking for later or keep it at a minimum while competing.At regional or national tournaments I make sure the team I am on is not going to drink durning competition or get so hammered the night before a big match that it harms thier level of play.IMO when people start getting drunk during a big tourney they have given up-They are essentialy making thier exuse for losing before they even lose!

As far as the APA,I think you can expect many of the players to bellieve that a "few" beers makes them play better.

 

[akaTrigger]

I'll be happy to share my experiences (and the wifes) about stick in the mud boring take it too seriously pool players at APA vs. the APA in-house league that we love the most (and miss, since we moved back to Minneapolis from Charlotte, NC). It was ANYTHING but boring

Brian

I'll pm ya for details about the above for my blog.

Thanks, Brian!

 

[Runnintable]

You decide how competitive You want to be

Remember....When in Rome.....

If you don't like Rome you just might want to leave.

My Drinking Team has a Pool Problem!

 

[JoeyA]

You bring up some interesting memories. I had retired from playing pool for a couple of years when I got the call.

"Hey Joey, Kevin here. How ya doing? Man, a bunch of us guys from the old neighborhood was just thinking about you. Are you still playing pool?" I answered no and that I hadn't played in a while.

Kevin countered, "Well, we all know how good you were and probably still are and wanted to let you know we went to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LAST YEAR and out of thousands we came in like 56th. If you had been on our team we would have won the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Would you be interested in playing on our APA team with all of the guys from the old neighborhood? Kevin rattled off a bunch of the guys and while they were a nice bunch of guys, we all kind of went our own separate ways in life and I hadn't kept up with any of them for the most part.

Kevin extolled the virtues of the APA league and told me none of the downside. I joined not knowing what a pool league was and was glad to get out of the house and get back to hitting some balls. The old pals were great to see again. However, it was a MONDAY night team and the first night, I met at the agree place and time. I signed the papers, paid the upfront fee and sat down to watch and listen to see what was going down. Everyone was in good cheer and relatively sober. I ordered a beer for everyone and received raucous high-fives in return.

Finally, it was my turn and Kevin, the team captain waved me over and whispered in my ear, "Now here's what you need to do." I pulled away and looked at him like he had lost his mind. I wanted to shout at him, "You want me to LOSE??" but I asked instead and he said I was a 2 and needed to stay with a low handicap so that they could have a chance to win the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. I protested for a couple of minutes but knuckled under the peer pressure and dogged ball after ball. I drank beers faster than I had ever before to dull the pain I felt in my heart. I hit balls in the points of the corner pockets just hard enough to keep them from going in. I must have had twenty innings at the table because the guy I was playing was no more than a two or three himself but I felt more pity for myself than the other guy and drank the beers faster and faster.

After I finished my match I had to sit and watch my teamates stall endlessly through the night all the while sucking down beer after beer to live with myself. I must have drank 8 beers that night and the next day and the day after I felt like crap.

Each week the same thing happened all over, except my teamates stepped up to the mixed drinks, shots and drink challenges and each week I suffered and hangover. I tried to resist my pals encouragement to drink but they were my pals and all of the drank to excess so what could I do. You know the old story of birds of a feather.... Anyway we finally make it to Vegas and everyone had promised that they would individually practice to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP before they went and we met on the airplane and I knew then I had made a mistake. Here the last two weeks I had been practicing like a man possessed, abstaining from all alcohol and was playing pretty good. I looked over at my teamates as all of them were ordering drinks on the plane before we even hit the sands of Las Vegas. I inquired with Kevin if this is what was in store for us and he grinned like a Cheshire cat and said this is how we do it buddy. We get a good buzz on and destroy anyone in our path. My eyes must have looked like saucers by now and I sat there looking stunned. I had come out of retirement to compete for the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP and all my pals were thinking about is getting loaded and "having a good time".

I managed to keep from saying anything seriously negative other than, "Are you sure Bill should be drinking mix drinks this time of the morning?" It was a little pass 8:00 am and Bill was already started on the good stuff. He was from Canada Kevin reported to me with a twinkle in his eye and merrily the team played, oblivious to the rest of reality.

They blamed our loss on many things but not once did they blame it on the team who had one too many. I resigned right after we got back to New Orleans and they tried to apply the old buddy pressure but I wasn't to be deterred and never looked back. A year later, another group of old buddies knew of my fate with the Monday night team and they were from the BCA league and told me grand stories of the BCA whereupon I went out on another quest, one far more fulfilling. We were called the Wolf Pack and while our team members didn't drink much somehow we stumbled to win virtually every major award the local BCA league had at that time.

The next year the local leagueoperator changed the rules of the teams because of us but I had a better time playing in the BCA. At least I competed in the Singles Championship and had a good time there, thanks to my good friend Alan, from Seattle who coerced me into coming back to Las Vegas. Alan and I passed a great time that year but I haven't been back since.

My Wolf Pack BCA team never made the trip but I can assure you they would have been a competitive team. Sober = Faculties in gear.
Drunk = Faculties on the fade.

 

[jtmoneyball]

I am on a team of guys from my AA group! Our captain advised us from the beginning to play as slow as possible. His idea is to wait until the alcohol has a chance to "work" on our opponents. With all of us being ex-drinkers it's very easy to see when the odds are completely in our favor. WE are in 2nd place and we have as much fun, perhaps more than our drunken competition.

 

[btoneill]

I am on a team of guys from my AA group! Our captain advised us from the beginning to play as slow as possible. His idea is to wait until the alcohol has a chance to "work" on our opponents. With all of us being ex-drinkers it's very easy to see when the odds are completely in our favor. WE are in 2nd place and we have as much fun, perhaps more than our drunken competition.

Sounds like a group we referred to as the "old guys" we used to play against. We hated it. Mainly because when we would play them league would start at 7pm and finish around 1am... One night it went till 1:30 against them...

Oh, and at least in APA, intentional slow play is a sportsmanship issue...