Which Would You Choose?

since you have no control over it it doesnt matter.
and its really hard to tell whether you were playing well or not. as each day is different over your time, and you tend to judge how you are playin against your best days. and your best days cover those that the luck factor gave you good breaks.
 
ChrisinNC said:
This hypothetical question dawned on me last night. One of our tournament regulars here who plays the same speed as I do has been coming in on Monday nights for the last month or so for us to play, as we have discontinued our Monday night 9-ball tournaments due to Covid, and we both are in need of some decent competition.

Both of us could be described as very conservative $ players and we are good friends, so we play $20 sets, races to five 9-ball, just enough $ to make it a little more interesting. It has gone back-and-forth and overall we are probably very close in total sets won. We generally get in 5-6 sets total. Last night we both played like crap, and I ended up prevailing in a couple of the hill-hill sets, so I ended up winner by a few sets.

The question dawned on me - For this relatively small amount of $, if I had a choice between us both playing poorly but me playing just slightly better in the key games and coming out a $40-$60 winner versus both of us playing quite well but my opponent prevailing in the key games to where I come up a $40-$60 loser, which would I choose?

As much as I hate losing, for that amount of $ (and that is the key here) as long as I didn’t choke in those pivotal games that I lost, I believe I would prefer to play well and lose as opposed to playing poorly and winning, only due to my opponent playing even worse.

As I’ve been struggling with my game of recent, I believe I would just feel a whole lot better about my game knowing that I had played well, regardless of the win/lose. Just curious as to what others would choose and why?
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In my day I have won and lost ugly and won and lost like a Kentucky Derby winner going away.

In this scenario I will take winning ugly. There’s always tomorrow to figure out what happened and win like a champ the next time round the track.

Lou Figueroa
 
maha said:
since you have no control over it it doesnt matter.
and its really hard to tell whether you were playing well or not. as each day is different over your time, and you tend to judge how you are playin against your best days. and your best days cover those that the luck factor gave you good breaks.
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I tend to disagree - I know when I’m playing well and when I’m not, I know when my opponent (if they are a regular and I know them) is playing well and when they are not, and I know when me or my opponent is getting lucky / unlucky rolls.

Funny though how it seems when you are playing well you are also getting lucky rolls and when you are playing badly, you can’t catch a favorable roll.
 
ChrisinNC said:
Funny though how it seems when you are playing well you are also getting lucky rolls and when you are playing badly, you can’t catch a favorable roll.
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One of my biggest break throughs in this game was to stop considering luck (in either direction) as a variable. The reality is, the balls went the way they did because they were hit in the appropriate fashion. That's not luck, its science...lol

You may also notice bangers get more "lucky" rolls then advanced players.
 
The_JV said:
One of my biggest break throughs in this game was to stop considering luck (in either direction) as a variable. The reality is, the balls went the way they did because they were hit in the appropriate fashion. That's not luck, its science...lol

You may also notice bangers get more "lucky" rolls then advanced players.
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Agreed as never using your own bad rolls or your opponent’s good rolls as an excuse for losing. The exception in which the “lucky” player prevails can occur in short races such as in a weekly tournament match where a player’s luck could win them the match, even though they might not deserve it. In an extended 1-on-1 session, generally the more deserving player that has played better will prevail.
 
ChrisinNC said:
Agreed as never using your own bad rolls or your opponent’s good rolls as an excuse for losing. The exception in which the “lucky” player prevails can occur in short races such as in a weekly tournament match where a player’s luck could win them the match, even though they might not deserve it. In an extended 1-on-1 session, generally the more deserving player that has played better will prevail.
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I get it, and don't disagree with the premise. I just boil it down to luck not being a real thing in pool. Can't count how many times I've made a shot that my opponent thought was lucky. It's a subjective designation for anything that can't either be explained or comprehended by the user.

So rather than saying a "lucky" player has a better chance to win a short set then a long one. I just accept that their style of random play promotes the possibility of unexpected things to happen. Guess I'm just spinning it differently, but my spin allows me not to get frustrated over bs...lol
 
ChrisinNC said:
This hypothetical question dawned on me last night. One of our tournament regulars here who plays the same speed as I do has been coming in on Monday nights for the last month or so for us to play, as we have discontinued our Monday night 9-ball tournaments due to Covid, and we both are in need of some decent competition.

Both of us could be described as very conservative $ players and we are good friends, so we play $20 sets, races to five 9-ball, just enough $ to make it a little more interesting. It has gone back-and-forth and overall we are probably very close in total sets won. We generally get in 5-6 sets total. Last night we both played like crap, and I ended up prevailing in a couple of the hill-hill sets, so I ended up winner by a few sets.

The question dawned on me - For this relatively small amount of $, if I had a choice between us both playing poorly but me playing just slightly better in the key games and coming out a $40-$60 winner versus both of us playing quite well but my opponent prevailing in the key games to where I come up a $40-$60 loser, which would I choose?

As much as I hate losing, for that amount of $ (and that is the key here) as long as I didn’t choke in those pivotal games that I lost, I believe I would prefer to play well and lose as opposed to playing poorly and winning, only due to my opponent playing even worse.

As I’ve been struggling with my game of recent, I believe I would just feel a whole lot better about my game knowing that I had played well, regardless of the win/lose. Just curious as to what others would choose and why?
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Always would rather play best and commit no errors.
 
When I was in my teens and 20’s, all I cared about was winning money. Didn’t matter how bad I or opponent played. In fact I loved to win on lucky shots to boot.
Now I’m in my 40’s, and I get the most satisfaction by far of playing really well, even if I lose.
 
I'd rather play well and lose. than play poorly and win The reason you play cheap practice matches is to refine your play and if you play well and if an opponent who plays about your speed plays well enough to beat you, just say "well played" to them.
 
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I play pool for emotions and for beauty of the game, for money I have a job.
Playing well is always my desire.
 
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