Was I wrong?

[poolqjunkie]

Hi,

I would like to ask the opinion from the members here about something that happened to me.

We were practicing and it was very casual. He was just sitting around chatting to his friends when I was shooting and I was spotting my own balls pretty much all the time, and nothing was at stake.

It was a friendly game of a best of three. It was in a club whereas there were lots of traffic around the table, as it was in a veteran's club (like a working men's club), not a real snooker club.

Anyway, the score was 1-1, and I was standing behind a pole about 5-10 feet by the green spot, when my opponent was shooting his balls around the black. He made a black, was on a red shooting with his back facing me. I went to the bar, and gripped a piece of towel to wipe down my cue. When i returned, he just finished shooting that red, and was on a pink to the black pocket. I stood at the same spot, around the green pocket, about 10 feet away from the table, behind a pole, to pretty much stay out of his way.

He missed the pink, then turned to me and asked "why did you leave the table?"

I told him I wanted to get a towel from the bar, and I was only away for the amount of time it took him to make one red, I was behind him standing behind a pole, I did not move in front of him, and I did not make any sound. We played three frames and it was the first time I left the table.

He said I was not allowed to do that and he went on to suggest that "I should know better" which then implied that I was doing that on purpose to distract him.

I told him it was an informal game, he did not even spot my balls, and I had to keep track of my scores, and he stood in front of me a few times, and now he all the sudden wanted to enforce this one rule about me having to stay around the table at all time? If he wanted to follow the rules to the letters, I told him, I do not mind, but it has to be fair and all rules should be followed, not only the one rule he deemed to be important.

He did not want to do that, but kept complaining about me distracting him.

At that point, I asked him what in the world he was doing trying to see where I was when he was down on a shot and should be focusing on making the ball. He said my not being there does something to mess up his head and he said "I should know better."

This person is a century breaker, and he has been playing for may be over 20 years.

I won that frame and he started to accuse me of "sharking" him again after the game was over.

Is he just trying to find an excuse about losing, or was I wrong?

What is the usual etiquette in informal games?

Please comment, thanks.

[Monique]

You must have been playing my hubby lol! only I never knew he was a century man ...

Most probably he was angry at himself and like so many he had to blame it on someone else. Sad but very common.

[Mal]

Yeah, using it as an excuse -Personally, I do find it a bit distracting if my opponent leaves the 'field of play', but I tend to wait until they return. Even if playing pool, I would prefer my opponent was watching and not chatting - There is a rule about it in formal games for both I'm sure. However, as you say this was informal, and I'd expect this to be a friendly atmosphere where you can both relax, so perhaps he let out his frustration a bit - for some it helps to have an excuse whereby it 'wasn't their fault!'

[noel]

Always good to sort out any etiquette or protocol to be observed during a match, friendly or not, beforehand!

.Best of whatever and for how much or not?
.Foul & Miss rule?
.Only cueball fouls?
.Chalk on edge of table?
.What kind of beer you want from opponent when you make a half-century?
.Whether being out-of-line-of-sight is expected from opponent whilst shooting?


That sort of thing mate.

Next time... PJ... tell this guy when you shoot, you want him to stand over there [ clearly point exactly where ]
in the corner with his nose to the wall.

OK?


=o)

Noel

[poolqjunkie]

Always good to sort out any etiquette or protocol to be observed during a match, friendly or not, beforehand!

.Best of whatever and for how much or not?
.Foul & Miss rule?
.Only cueball fouls?
.Chalk on edge of table?
.What kind of beer you want from opponent when you make a half-century?
.Whether being out-of-line-of-sight is expected from opponent whilst shooting?


That sort of thing mate.

Next time... PJ... tell this guy when you shoot, you want him to stand over there [ clearly point exactly where ]
in the corner with his nose to the wall.

OK?


=o)

Noel

Okay, but he may ask me to do the same...

I am not too fond of standing with my nose to the wall...

[poolqjunkie]

Well, i think I just assumed that it was a friendly game but when he really wanted to win it became a serious game for him.

Perhaps I should have asked him if I could leave the table when it was my turn, would that have been better?

In a formal game, are you allowed to take a short break to get a towel to wipe down your cue in the middle of a frame? Am I only allowed to leave when it is my turn at the table. or only after a frame is done.

I guess it would. Just never occurred to me I needed to be so formal because it was very relaxed and informal.

In reality, everyone in this club leaves the table to get drinks and what not when the opponent is shooting, but not for very long, may be half a minutes or so. It is just understood that it is accepted.

It is his first time here, and the first time I played him...

I do not understand for the life of me why he would be paying attention to where I was, when he should be 100% focused on the ball.

After he started that, I told myself to stay clam and I really wanted to beat him, and I did. I ignored his comment, and just focused on making my balls. I cleared up from the green to the black and won. he gave me one of those 'dead fish" hand shake.

It felt good for me not to have got mad over what he said to be honest.

[Mal]

I guess it would. Just never occurred to me I needed to be so formal because it was very relaxed and informal.

In reality, everyone in this club leaves the table to get drinks and what not when the opponent is shooting, but not for very long, may be half a minutes or so. It is just understood that it is accepted.

It is his first time here, and the first time I played him...

I do not understand for the life of me why he would be paying attention to where I was, when he should be 100% focused on the ball.

After he started that, I told myself to stay clam and I really wanted to beat him, and I did. I ignored his comment, and just focused on making my balls. I cleared up from the green to the black and won. he gave me one of those 'dead fish" hand shake.

It felt good for me not to have got mad over what he said to be honest.

Totally agree with the first points as in friendly games it is standard for a player to go off and get a drink or drain the weasel or whatever - As I said if he would prefer you being there, then he could have just sat back and relaxed.

Also, when a player shows frustration like that, I think that is much poorer in terms of etiquette and as you said and showed, it made you more determined to win and rise above it!

[bkpaul]

He's just a bad loser, simple.

[unclevit]

Hi,

I would like to ask the opinion from the members here about something that happened to me.

We were practicing and it was very casual. He was just sitting around chatting to his friends when I was shooting and I was spotting my own balls pretty much all the time, and nothing was at stake.

It was a friendly game of a best of three. It was in a club whereas there were lots of traffic around the table, as it was in a veteran's club (like a working men's club), not a real snooker club.

Anyway, the score was 1-1, and I was standing behind a pole about 5-10 feet by the green spot, when my opponent was shooting his balls around the black. He made a black, was on a red shooting with his back facing me. I went to the bar, and gripped a piece of towel to wipe down my cue. When i returned, he just finished shooting that red, and was on a pink to the black pocket. I stood at the same spot, around the green pocket, about 10 feet away from the table, behind a pole, to pretty much stay out of his way.

He missed the pink, then turned to me and asked "why did you leave the table?"

I told him I wanted to get a towel from the bar, and I was only away for the amount of time it took him to make one red, I was behind him standing behind a pole, I did not move in front of him, and I did not make any sound. We played three frames and it was the first time I left the table.

He said I was not allowed to do that and he went on to suggest that "I should know better" which then implied that I was doing that on purpose to distract him.

I told him it was an informal game, he did not even spot my balls, and I had to keep track of my scores, and he stood in front of me a few times, and now he all the sudden wanted to enforce this one rule about me having to stay around the table at all time? If he wanted to follow the rules to the letters, I told him, I do not mind, but it has to be fair and all rules should be followed, not only the one rule he deemed to be important.

He did not want to do that, but kept complaining about me distracting him.

At that point, I asked him what in the world he was doing trying to see where I was when he was down on a shot and should be focusing on making the ball. He said my not being there does something to mess up his head and he said "I should know better."

This person is a century breaker, and he has been playing for may be over 20 years.

I won that frame and he started to accuse me of "sharking" him again after the game was over.

Is he just trying to find an excuse about losing, or was I wrong?

What is the usual etiquette in informal games?

Please comment, thanks.

Forget the incident, and stay away from him. He is a bad loser

[poolqjunkie]

What would you folks say to him if you were in my shoes?

[unclevit]

What would you folks say to him if you were in my shoes?

"Sorry pal, I did not mean it "
"Sorry pal, I thought we are on a friendly game "
"You need me to get more concentration? :"
"I thought it is a friendly game. Are you looking for trouble ? "
Any answer you do, don't play with him again.

[bkpaul]

Can we talk about this outside

only joking!!!

Just say you don't really want to play like that and say thanks for the game but unfortunately its not something you will be doing again.

If he changes his mind and accepts he was wrong then say ok shake hands and kick his ass!!

[Wimm]

Always good to sort out any etiquette or protocol to be observed during a match, friendly or not, beforehand!
....Chalk on edge of table?

I do find chalk on the edge of the tabe very disturbing. If one of my practice partners are doing this, and they know I find it disturbing, I pick it up, grab their attention and throw it away (if it is not disturbing other players ofcourse!)

[Watford]

"Don't throw your teddy in the corner"
Is a good one.
I played with some good soft players. They hate to lose (this helps them) so will look for any excuse if things go wrong.
In a friendly I would say I'm just nipping of for a sec unless they looked deep in concentration. If you were fagging your own balls then he's not got a leg to stand on. If

[poolqjunkie]

"Sorry pal, I did not mean it "
"Sorry pal, I thought we are on a friendly game "
"You need me to get more concentration? :"
"I thought it is a friendly game. Are you looking for trouble ? "
Any answer you do, don't play with him again.

I dont have a lot of good players that I can practice with, so I am hoping we could play again in the future.
But I also do not want to get involved with this type of silly issues all the time with him.
So, I guess yes, I will not be playing with him.
I do not think a good player should be focusing on where his opponent is when he is down trying to shoot, especially when I was standing quite far away behind him. He should be focusing on making the ball and nothing else.
On another note, in a tournament, if I have to take a break, am I only allowed to do so between frames, or when it is my turn at the table? Like if I need to go to the bathroom and my opponent is in the middle of a big break, does not look like he is going to miss soon, can I ask someone to watch the match and spot his balls so I can go?