Refreshing to see that from someone else. I can't believe how often I watched guys literally get mad when they come up to me for a game and I say that I don't bet, but I'd be glad to "play" them. I get looks like I'm from another planet. I'll get, "oh, ok, how about for a drink?". I chuckle, "are drinks free now?"....isn't that the same as playing for money? Besides, your $4-$6 drink vs. my $1.50 pop sure sounds like a good idea to me.
Last week (I play on Thurs. nights - yep, just Thurs.) I had guy who seemed to not understand at all what I meant by, "I don't bet". I think I had to try and explain 3 or 4 different ways. First I said, "I'll play ya some". He said, "race to 5 for $20?" No, I'm not playing for money was my answer. Really???? I said, nope. How about for $10. I said, as far as I know, 10 bucks is still money. Well, we can play for drinks. I said, you pay for your drinks, and I'll get my free refills - LOL. He kept on, saying that I had beat him in league a couple of times, etc. I guess that was supposed to be the clincher for me....I finally said, look, you wanna play or not? I said I don't wanna play for money, that is what I meant. I don't care if there's a 75% or even higher chance of me winning...I DON'T CARE!
He finally played me a bit, and I musta won 10 of 15 games of 8 ball, and his comment when he moved on to another table - yep, see, you shoulda bet......It wasfree pool BTW too - just shooting after league, I get balls and a table (it's never PACKED, so no biggee) and practice.
I enjoyed the competition, and I'll do it again next Thurs. I'm sure I'll run into the same situation too. If someone won't play with no money on the line, I'll just shoot myself.