I recently joined Chisolm’s APA League on Sunday nights. I only agreed to play so long as I was never asked to throw a game or play below my handicap. The more I’ve been playing, the more I’ve been appreciating my teammates. Their eagerness to learn more and more about this game is what has kept me playing with this team.
Anyway! Here’s the point… Last week, during my first match, my opponent’s teammate made some rude comments to my teammates about my game. I had not warmed up and admittedly was not playing my best. Although I stayed ahead of my opponent and eventually beat him, his teammate still found it necessary to tell my teammates that I wasn’t playing up to my handicap and basically that I was overranked.
Well, after league I approached this guy for a game. I said, “What do you want to play for?” He only had $7 to his name so we played one game for $5 and one game for $2. Not only was he not a good player (and didn’t realize it) but he had stepped right out of my book, as though it were his bible. He didn’t just get down on his shot before the cue ball stopped moving, it was going mach speed when he would get down and would never stop anywhere near where he was positioned. While I was down on a shot, he even tried to ask me where I was from. I said, “I’ll answer any of your questions after this game.”
Anyway, I took his only $7 and he claims that he’d have more money to lose this week. After we played, he began telling me about all these other bars I could go to for good gambling action and where I could find people to gamble with. To all this I responded, “I don’t even like to gamble. I only played you to prove a point. I heard what you said about me and I didn’t appreciate it.” He denied that he was trying to “talk sh*t” and claimed that he was only trying to boost his teammate’s confidence (even though the teammate wasn’t around when he made the comments). He completely tried to back-pedal his way out of it.
The bottom line is: I am a far better player than this guy and will beat him 99.999% of the time that we match up. He is a decent ball-maker and that’s about it. I would never gamble with someone just to take their money. It’s not about the money. It was about the principle. However, I still wonder if continuously taking his money will ever really prove a point…
On a side note: Personally, I am a tournament player. I train to compete in a controlled, respectful environment. I am courteous to my opponent and expect the same in return. I would not object to scheduling a gambling match where both opponents know when and where it will happen and I am playing a race for a certain amount. But, I do not agree with spending 13 hours in a pool hall, only to break even. Is this right or wrong? It doesn’t matter. It’s my choice. I choose to be a tournament player.
I’ve been in the APA for 8 years, and it can be frustrating, irritating, but also humbling. A couple weeks ago I got wiped out in a 9 ball match, 2-18. He was skill level 2 and I am skill level 8. He got the luck and I did not. He was on his game, and I was not. It seemed he often hid the cueball when he missed, but I did not, even on some of my intended defense shots. I would make the tough 1 or 2 rail kicks to manage to hit the hidden object ball, but then the cueball and object ball would result in an easy shot for him. He reached his goal in only 7 innings or so.
In 8ball or 9ball you cannot guarantee a win, no matter how much better a player you are. Stuff happens.
Like you, I am serious about pool, and get a bit angry when someone has no clue how much time and effort I put into it. One guy on the internet, after I told him I got 65th out of 128 in the 2004 US Amateur Championship, said “Oh, so you are an average player then?”
That p***ed me off. I thought he was joking, but it seemed disrespectful to me. I pushed Quit on the chat window.
Generally speaking, I think you’ll find a higher calibre of people in tournament pool than bar pool…
Unfortunately, some people get their feeling of importance by putting other people down, rather than working on their own game.
I tied with Bob Johnson for 65th in the 2004 US Amateur championships. What his internet nemesis didn’t know is that those 128 players who competed had to beat 1000+ opponents who tried to get there, which puts 65th place way ahead of the average player.
The best way to deal with the ignorant is to ignore them…
I see from http://poolplayers.com/2004usam/2004Mensstandings.htm that you had tough opponents: Dave Buffone and Alex Rodriguez. Dave lives in my area, and I know he is a fine player. Alex ended up doing well too. My first opponent was Henry Brodt (champion a few years back), then a no show (easy win, lol), then Doug Grams. I should have beaten Doug, but I was nervous and off my game. My parents drove an hour to watch that match.