Which Do You Prefer - Playing Bad and Winning or Playing Great and Losing?

Have to Chose One: Playing Bad and Winning or Playing Great and Losing

  • Playing Bad and Winning

    Votes: 39 35.1%

  • Playing Great and Losing

    Votes: 72 64.9%
  • Total voters
    111
B

BasementDweller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
GSitz89's Thread "Bad Night" found here - http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=248129 got me thinking. This usually leads me to trouble but oh well.

I was wondering what is worse - Playing Bad and Winning or Playing Great and Losing?

Like most of us humans, I really enjoy competition and I would prefer to win :) But I also hate playing bad. I've also come to accept the fact that our game is very unique in that you can play your best pool and still lose depending on the game that you are playing. There are a lot of different ways to play great and lose, I'll leave that to your imagination.

So, for me the goal is to play my best pool and let the wins and losses take care of themselves.

Of course, if you are playing for high stakes, then I'm sure most guys just want the cash but aside from that I'll take playing my best any day.
 
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I agree that I'd rather play better than play worse...

You'd have to have a screw loose to say you'd rather pay to play well than get paid to play poorly.
 
If I'm playing great, then why am I losing? I'm either getting some really really bad rolls (in which case I'd be PISSED), or I'm not really playing (because I'm stuck in my seat, therefore negating the "playing great").

I'd rather play bad and get lucky than play great and get unlucky.
 
I like a generous mixture of both types of wins. The deserved and the sh!t out variety. But I can deal with losing to better play ....but begrudgingly:grin:
 
Generally speaking I get more satisfaction from playing well. When I've lost to a better player but played well I walk away with something positive. However, in a tournament I'll take a win in a round any way I can get it, even if that means I sucked only slightly less than my opponent did.
 
Oh, BasementDweller, you are singing my song. I would much rather play great and lose. Winning when you are playing poorly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I lost last night to a player who was shooting "lights out" and I shot well when I got a chance. She was just on her A game.
 
nelldrake said:
Oh, BasementDweller, you are singing my song. I would much rather play great and lose. Winning when you are playing poorly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I lost last night to a player who was shooting "lights out" and I shot well when I got a chance. She was just on her A game.
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I agree. I'd much rather play my top game, and get beat, than struggle with a very lackluster/unsatisfying "B" game that just creeps over the "W" hill because my opponents were having an even tougher time of it than I was.

At least with the former, you can be confident with yourself that you played your all, but the opponent was just that much better than you (or played their all-time career best, as Hu mentions). I don't necessarily agree with the notion of "playing well but getting bad rolls" -- if you were indeed playing well, you *do* have some control over those bad rolls, better than usual, at least.

With the latter, you're not sure if your opponent was weaker than your weakest "B" game, or if they, like you, were just having a hard time of it, more so than you.

-Sean
 
To play really well and still lose means you're playing people better than yourself-- and that's how you get better.

Playing like crap and winning means you're clubbing baby seals - and what fun is that? I'd rather have a tiger by the tail - more fun that way.
 
Never enjoyed losing ever, that's for someone else. Get out there enough, pay your dues and some days all ya gotta do is show up, which you deserve. I always learned more losing than I ever did winning.
 
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Island Drive said:
Never enjoyed losing ever, that's for someone else. Get out there enough, pay your dues and some days all ya gotta do is show up, which you deserve. I always learned more losing than I ever did winning.
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I don't think anyone said they enjoyed losing. I certainly don't either. But If I had to choose playing well always gives me greater satisfaction than playing poorly and winning.
Nell Drake
 
I'll let you know the first time I actually play WELL....so, for now, I'll take the playing badly wins, cuz the sure beat the playing badly losses. :p
 
My Preference

I am always happy if I was not playing my best, but found a way to take home the dough.

But there have been many times where I put my self knowingly into a cheap game I am not expected to win even if I play my best and played well beyond my expectations and lost and was very very happy.

I play alot of one pocket and as many know most games are not won on one hole, they are lost.
 
The question could be looked at a couple ways. At my skill level I'm not going to win if I play bad unless I'm playing a nobody and there is no satisfaction in that. I suppose if I was playing a world champion and lost but played great I might be okay with it but I'd rather win.
 
Something Danny D told me few years ago was a bit of advice someone had given him.... Show up and play "your" game... If the you play good and it's your turn you will start winning tournaments......

I doubt that was verbatim but it's very close......
 
Drew said:
If I'm playing great, then why am I losing? I'm either getting some really really bad rolls (in which case I'd be PISSED), or I'm not really playing (because I'm stuck in my seat, therefore negating the "playing great").

I'd rather play bad and get lucky than play great and get unlucky.
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Here's a couple of examples in a race to 11 9 ball, you break and run 7 racks in a row playing against Earl. The next rack you break dry and he runs out 11 for the win. You played great and still lost.

In a game of straight pool, You come to the table with the score 0-0 you run 125 balls and play safe and your opponent makes a very difficult kick shot and runs 150 and out.

In neither case did you get some really bad rolls.
Again you played great and lost.
 
My experience has been that usually if you play good you do have a chance to win. And if you play bad you find a way to lose.

I think back to a match earlier this year in a tournament at Hard Times. I won a couple of matches and lost one as well. To get in the money I had to beat Sal Butera, who has been playing good this year. He was pretty confident and I was determined to just play my best. I did get a couple of rolls along the way and it went hill-hill (6-6). In the case game I broke and had a shot on the one. I made the one and the two ball. The only possible shot I had was to play shape for a long combo down the rail from the three to the nine ball. I got perfect shape on the three and I could see Sal smiling at me. He was sure I couldn't make the long combo on the tight Gold Crown. I just did my best and lo and behold the nine went in.

Sal shook my hand but also shook his head like I got lucky to win. Maybe so, but I still had to make that tough combo. If I dog it I lose. Did I feel bad about winning? NO!!!
 
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jay helfert said:
My experience has been that usually if you play good you do have a chance to win. And if you play bad you find a way to lose.

I think back to a match earlier this year in a tournament at Hard Times. I won a couple of matches and lost one as well. To get in the money I had to beat Sal Butera, who has been playing good this year. He was pretty confident and I was determined to just play my best. I did get a couple of rolls along the way and it went hill-hill (6-6). In the case game I broke and had a shot on the one. I made the one and the two ball. The only possible shot I had was to play shape for a long combo down the rail on the three and nine ball. I got perfect shape on the three and I could see Sal smiling at me. He was sure I couldn't make the long combo on the tight Gold Crown. I just did my best and lo and behold the nine went in.

Sal shook my hand but shook his head like I got lucky to win. Maybe so, but I still had to make that tough combo. If I dog it I lose. Did I feel bad about winning? NO!!!
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NO FAIR!

Playing good and winning was not one of the choices.
 
My $.02

My first thought about the "playing well but losing" option is that if I am playing well (for me) and lose, the most likely reason for losing is that I didn't match up well. I play in the same little pool hall almost every day and mostly play people I have played many times before. Some I give weight to and some give me weight. If I play above average (for me) I will probably get the cheese because I matched up based on what I know to be my average game. The only way I lose if I matched up well is for the other guy to play way over his head and that does happen now and then.
 
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