What kind of players give you a hard time?

victorl

victorl

Where'd my stroke go?
Silver Member
I like to play a fast and loose style of pool but whenever I run into a slow player I have a really hard time keeping my rhythm going and get really irritated. "Oh my god its a straight in stop shot, just friggin shoot it! Aaaaargh!" Any advice? Also I'm interested to know what kind of players are tough to play for you guys.
 
victorl said:
I like to play a fast and loose style of pool but whenever I run into a slow player I have a really hard time keeping my rhythm going and get really irritated. "Oh my god its a straight in stop shot, just friggin shoot it! Aaaaargh!" Any advice? Also I'm interested to know what kind of players are tough to play for you guys.
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Had to play a guy in league last summer that drove the entire team, and most of the league, nutz! The guy was a good player, but seriously...2-5 minutes per shot?!!!!! This is not an exaggeration, either. He was finally warned by league officials that there was a 90 second shot clock rule...at which point he got into an argument with the officials. That drove me crazy...which I am sure was his intention, because it had to be a sharking maneuver.

Lisa
 
Any player that behaves badly i.e. sharking, whining, etc. Not that they throw me off my game as much as I just don't have fun being in the company of such people.

Aside from that, I admit I haven't totally figured out how to accept very slow play from an opponent. Again, when I'm competing against a real slow player it just isn't fun for me. For sure I need to work on this one. ;)
 
ridewiththewind said:
Had to play a guy in league last summer that drove the entire team, and most of the league, nutz! The guy was a good player, but seriously...2-5 minutes per shot?!!!!! This is not an exaggeration, either. He was finally warned by league officials that there was a 90 second shot clock rule...at which point he got into an argument with the officials. That drove me crazy...which I am sure was his intention, because it had to be a sharking maneuver.

Lisa
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Some people are just slow! Years ago around here there was a guy that would stroke the cue 30 times before pulling the trigger.
 
rlw said:
Some people are just slow! Years ago around here there was a guy that would stroke the cue 30 times before pulling the trigger.
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I am not about rushing anyone...but seriously, 2-5 minutes per shot?!!! Not like these are tough shots, either...no funky safety leaves. Basically your cut and dried shots. Even his own team mates were yelling at him. The guy does it on purpose to utterly stall the game. There is absolutely no reason why it should take a race to 5 league match 4.5-5 hours to complete.

Lisa
 
We've got a few of those 'slow players' in our league...

Now, I can sympathize when somebody breaks and wants to take a minute to look at the layout of the table. Heck, I've done it myself.
Especially when that game can mean the difference between winning or losing the round and/or match.
And in some BCA leagues, the last player in the round may not only have to win, but can't let thier opponent make more than X amount of balls (due to the 'per ball' scoring system).
In those situations, I wouldn't be too upset if my opponent took a moment or two to assess the table.

That being said...

For me, it's not when my opponent takes two, or even three, minutes to 'run the table' in his/her head following the break. It's after thier first shot, when they have to take another two or three minutes for the next shot (and so on) !!!

THEY JUST RAN THE RACK IN THIER HEAD !!!!! THEY DIDN'T SNOOKER THEMSELVES BEHIND A BALL !!!!! THEY DID EXACTLY WHAT THEY INTENDED TO DO ON THAT SHOT, AND HAVE THE POSITION THEY WANTED FOR THE NEXT SHOT !!!!!

When my opponent abuses the time per shot, I usually tell them, "(a teammate) will watch my game while I'm in the bathroom." Then I take a few minutes while my teammate comes to get me when they miss (most of those players never seem to be able to run more than four or five balls).

I come out, chalk up, make an assessment of the table, and then I play MY game.

Those players don't DARE tell me that 'I took too long to get to the table'. But one guy actually had the cajones to tell me, "Geez, I thought you were never coming out". I walked over, looked him square in the eyes and said, "Geez, I know there's a clock we can put on YOUR stroke when you're playing on the table, but I had no idea there was a clock on my stroke when I'm playing in the bathroom !!"

He got the hint, but I can't figure out why no one wanted to shake my hand that night...
 
I have gotten better with slow players, which use to be my one of my biggest peeves. I sill don't like it, but I try to find something else to occupy my time while they shoot. Taking a drink, wiping my shaft down, talking to someone, etc. It has helped me quite a bit.

My hardest time is still the lucky ones. I know its not their fault, but I feel I have very bad luck on the table when it comes to rolls and stuff. Its always those certain few that can play pretty good, but have to slop in 2-3 balls to run a rack. Then when they miss a shot, leave me bad where I have no shot or have to kick at it just to hit it. I normally hit it, but usually the harder kicks result in leaving them straight in anyway. After about 3-4 games of that in a row I am usually mentally gone and can no longer focus. Still working on keeping my head in the game but no luck so far.
 
One of them is the slow player with no skill. Those that take forever figuring out how to run out the rest of the table and then miss the shot.

The other is the one that is involved in everything else except the game. As if the game that they are playing with you is an interruption.

Then the person that shoots, doesn't make a legal hit and complains that the condition of the table made them miss as if you should not take BIH.

And any player in a bar that starts making/changing the rules and then starts a argument when they see that you are about to win.
 
Kind of Player

The creeps that almost never miss a ball.
They are like mutants, I hear them mumbling "see ball , make ball"
Very disconcerting.
 
I once shot a guy in league..that after every shot...1) ate a buffalo wing
2) order and guzzed a beer
3) made a phone call
4) ran to the men's room to do a line of coke (and not wipe his nose)...so I said F*** it and ran the rest of the racks on him,to which he cried foul that I was a ringer,and that's where I quit playing here in leagues.
 
ridewiththewind said:
I am not about rushing anyone...but seriously, 2-5 minutes per shot?!!! Not like these are tough shots, either...no funky safety leaves. Basically your cut and dried shots. Even his own team mates were yelling at him. The guy does it on purpose to utterly stall the game. There is absolutely no reason why it should take a race to 5 league match 4.5-5 hours to complete.

Lisa
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Maybe I am a bad sport, but I had a match that was a race to five and after two hours I just concieded the match.
 
I see a lot people have the same problem. For all you slow players out there, I would like to know, what are you thinking about during all that time?
 
victorl said:
I see a lot people have the same problem. For all you slow players out there, I would like to know, what are you thinking about during all that time?
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I can't speak for the slow players, but I will shift gears with different players. I play really fast but I also like to mix it up. If I see a fast player like myself I will sometimes slow the game up a bit, especially one pocket. I can see when a guy is itching to get to the table ready to pull his hair out, I may hem and haw over shots go to the bathroom etc just to make em sweat. I try to slow them down and disrupt them from their rythym, and try to keep them from freewheeling on me. I may play more safety also, and try to expose their weaknesses if any.
 
Anyone that I figure has me beat before I take the first shot. If I think someone is so much better than me that I don't stand a chance, I end up playing like crap. Almost like well, this is what is going to happen so let it happen quickly.

Interestingly I've noticed the reverse effect as well. Someone will be playing great, see that I'm not a bad shot, then play like crap once they've decided that they can't beat me. If they took me for a fish they would have had the ability to give me a competetive game.
 
In league play when I am not at the table shooting I am watching the TV at the bar or talking to someone. I rarely glance at the table any more that's what the score keeper is there for.
 
victorl said:
I like to play a fast and loose style of pool but whenever I run into a slow player I have a really hard time keeping my rhythm going and get really irritated. "Oh my god its a straight in stop shot, just friggin shoot it! Aaaaargh!" Any advice? Also I'm interested to know what kind of players are tough to play for you guys.
Click to expand...

Over time I have learned to play with slow players. It helped as I once had a very slow player on my team and we used to practice together.

In 8 ball, the worse thing you can do is to run the majority of your balls and then miss. A slow player will aggrevate the sh!t out of you as they will milk every minute on the virtual time clock. What do I do? I will miss on purpose, breaking out some of my balls and/or tying him up. I will get balls into position. And I will do this slow and methodically - slowing down my game so I don't get the itch to rush to make up for lost time. Once they get their trash off the table, then boom - I am out.

What works best is to say something to them early in the match- it screws up their game every time. Heat it up a little bit my mentioning it over and over.

In 9 ball, the only thing I can say is that even the slowest players play faster than their 8 ball play.
 
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