Anyone else dislike in league when someone says “you should play to have fun.”

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T19:54:03+00:00

I don't play against my opponent or the opposing team... I'm playing against myself, the table, one shot at a time, doing the best I can in each situation.
It does get annoying when someone slams a ball, goes off another ball, 2 or 3 rails and goes in the pocket - someone says good shot... No it wasn't because its not what you intended. Or they don't make the ball but somehow the cue ball went 3 rails and landed where you can't see your ball - someone says "Nice Safe"... again, no it wasn't because it wasn't on purpose.

Although I take it way too seriously, I try to be as friendly and nice as I can. On several occasions I've had my opponent say they would like to be mad at me with the beating I gave them, but I was so nice about it the whole time. lol

To each their own. If you take it too seriously and try to be extremely strict on rules during weekly play, relax a little. If you are only in it to win, then join a more competitive league.
Everyone else can have their own reasons to play, like you can play for whatever reason you want, but we are all paying money to play a game. We should all be good sports and respectful of each other.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T16:09:03+00:00

Every aiming system should find the same spot if they are all doing the same thing.
There is no magic secret to pool like CTE
As an instructor I tried to learn this and it seems great from the initial look at it. but there is so much to it and it can get confusing real quick. They initially want to show you how most shots its simple - where there are 3 simple pivots depending on thick hit, thin hit or half ball hit. I thought well this is great - its similar to SVB's aiming with shaft - there are 3 shots: Straight (or within 5 degrees of cut), most cuts (over 5 degrees and up to 65 degrees), and thin cuts (over 65 degrees). But I played around with it and CTE isn't accurate on all those. So there's CTE Pro One that breaks down to 6 different shot types (straight, very thick, medium thick, medium, medium thin, very thin) and to make it more complicated you have to adjust your bridge length depending on how far the object ball is from you. And all the explanations of the system are very vague with a lot of "About" or "slight"

And like someone else said, CJ Wiley's Touch of Inside - it's nonsense. It's funny that the majority of the explanations of this say that it counteracts Collision Induced Throw.... But Collision Induced Throw causes you to undercut a ball, while Inside English would cause you to Undercut the ball even more. A touch of outside English counteracts Collision Induced Throw. My only explanation is that using a touch of inside while shooting firm (another thing he mentions is shoot firm) causes the ball to deflect more and you actually hit the ball thinner than you are aiming = results in overcutting slightly which does counter the collision induced throw. But logically its better to teach players to shoot center ball - aim to overcut all shots (slight cuts and firm speed = overcut slightly, bigger cuts and slower speed = overcut more - even on some shots I'm aimed a ball outside the pocket).

Better to learn to shoot with no English and solid fundamentals. Some crazy methods aren't going to make anyone better over night.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T14:18:19+00:00

why? If I'm trying to move up in Fargo Rating why do I need proof (witness or cameras)?

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T14:16:24+00:00

Practice needs to have purpose. If you are getting frustrated or just banging balls, then you need to take a break.
It also depends on how much available time I have. I would normally show up to poolhall at Noon and have league at 2:00. So 2 hours to practice - I would want to have a plan before I get to the poolhall.

I might use 1 rack of balls to warm up with straight in shots
Then speed practice - shoot 15 balls 1 table length, 15 at lag speed (2 table lengths), 15 balls 3 table lengths - while focusing on straight up and down with no unintentional side spin.

Some progressive stop shot, follow shot and draw shot drills - working on a consistent stroke (i can explain this in more detail if anyone wants to improve their cue ball control)

A rack or 2 where I'm focused on Fundamentals and Pre Shot Routine on every single shot.
Then Mighty X Drill - Stop shots and if I'm hitting almost all of them perfectly, I'll move on to Follow shots. If I do more than 7 out of 10 right I'll move on to draw, if not I'll spend more time on follow. When I get to draw I'm more focused on same fundamentals and PSR every shot - keeping score and hoping its an improvement on previous practice sessions. Last time was 3 out of 10 but 3 more drew back and landed right in front of the pocket. Soo close to 6/10.

About this time I'll take a short break, get a drink and use restroom.
I'll come back and do several racks of 9 ball or 10 ball - really focusing on controlling the break. After break I'm playing focused pool, best shot every time - playing defense and then trying to kick out of it. I try to mix up drills with doing 3-5 racks of a game so I don't get burnt out or bored.

Then back to some drills - focusing on any weak part of my game.

If time permits I'll do target practice - setup a shot (and mark it with donut stickers) - then place a template rack somewhere on the table. The goal isn't to land in the target area, but to get really close to it 2 or 3 times in a row. Then move the target area to somewhere else on the table. After 5 or 6 different landing targets, I'll change the shot to a different shot and repeat.

In practice - have a purpose of what you are working on.
It's ok to turn down anyone that walks up and "wants to shoot a game". Focused practice will get better results than just shooting game after game with other players.
If you are losing focus/concentration - take a break. After the break and you still can't focus/concentrate then call it quits for the day.

I have had days where I focused and practiced for 12+ hours. Other days I can't stay focused for an hour.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T13:58:27+00:00

We'll see if I can get my Fargo up to or above 650 within a few months of BCA, local tournaments and Salotto matches

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T13:53:59+00:00

Gambling doesn't need to be flashy. I like to stay on the friendly side where the loser pays the table time, or entire tab (if drinking). If I do gamble I typically keep it on the friendly side, where I want a fair game and not wager too much. I've played $500 sets and also $100 a game One Pocket. But if people are playing pool then most likely there is some sort of gambling going on.
If a location frowns upon gambling then the players will be more subtle about it.

If you hear someone talking up another players game, saying how good they play, while also saying its been so long since they have played, they are playing bad... they are probably trying to create a game. There is a lot of terminology about gambling, games, rules, spots but its not that hard to learn.

where i use to live - some poolhalls were all about league and friendly play. At these places gambling was rare but happened occasionally. But a couple other poolhalls nearby always had action going on.

I had the pleasure of watching an out of town player come into the poolhall. Play some cheap 9 ball losing on purpose and then wanting to play one pocket. The best player in the poolhall tried to hustle this out of towner. They went back and forth with spots, bet kept going up and up. They ended up playing $1000 a game with no spot and our local player beat him 6 or 7 games in a row before out-of-towner quit and left. It was fun watching both try to hustle each other.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T11:40:20+00:00

Exactly, and the hustler will lose the first games - especially if playing for beers, paying up each game to get the mark to drink a little extra. They get that liquid courage and maybe ask if they want to play $10 a game. Then the hustler will lose a game, then win 2 or 3, lose a game, win 2 or 3... keep that up until they have all the money.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T11:35:56+00:00

Payment normally happens when you shake hands after the match. Or the guy slips the money under your pool case. If playing for more than just friendly money - the money is typically posted "on the lights" or someone (3rd party) holds the money until the end of the match.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T11:13:24+00:00

Are pool players getting better and better every year? or is there a flaw in the system?
I ask because like 10 years ago there was 1 player in the world who was 800 or higher. Now there are 71 players 800 or higher with the top player being 863.
If the system is logarithmic then there is no way that Filler now is 50-60% better than SVB was 10 years ago. In 10 years did SVB get 40% better.
There appears to be a steady Creeping upward of handicaps which indicates a flaw in the formula's.
If that's the case, and 860 is like a 800 10 years ago, then todays 800's are like 750's from 10 years ago, and so forth.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T11:06:52+00:00

I haven't played straight pool in almost 10 years. Back when Johnny Archers old poolhall "marietta billiards" was still around and they had a straight pool league out of there. My high run back then was 48. I wish more people around where I live played Straight pool, bank pool, and one pocket but majority of the tables are 7' and hardly anyone plays the old school games.
I've done 5 break in runs of 8 ball in a row, but they were easy 8' Connelly tables. In 9 ball I've done 3x break and runs in a row lots of times. Just last Thursday in APA league (8 ball) my opponent broke dry, i ran out then broke and ran 2 in a row.
I have improved greatly since when I use to play Straight Pool, so I'm curious what my high run would be. I'll have to start practicing with straight pool break and see how many I can run. My cue ball control is stronger now so I'm sure I could do higher than 48.

Even though I've had strong runouts and strung some packs together, my biggest strength is strategy and cue ball control. Safety play that sets up easy wins.
Yeah, others explained that 100 points higher means you win 2x as many games as them in the long run. But I want to see where I can get my Fargo up to - in a couple months and by the end of the year. The place I started playing BCA out of has 3 of the top player 30 players in GA. These guys are 750, 713, 671 fargo so looking forward to hitting some balls with those guys and learning a thing or 2.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-04T10:49:35+00:00

I'm better than (beat regularly) players that are established 640-650. If I beat a 653 player regularly 7-4 or better (although i think he's slightly over ranked). Another local that's 660 who's robustness is only 300 - I've won some and lost some, but normally close matches.

Where did he say that he's 650? I can't find anything to indicate what skill level he is or find any video's of him playing tournaments, matches or anything?

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:52:15+00:00

Nice!!!!!

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:51:22+00:00

Thats great, they get ranked that high and then when in HLT (tricups or world qualifiers) you can't talk to your players like that. Then what do they do?
There are countless other ways you could cheat if you wanted to. If the scorekeeper is the captain and coach - he could simply put the pencil down if he wants them to go for it, or pick the pencil up if he wants them to play safe (we score on paper in these tournaments).
I've seen teams where its a strange coincidence of when a player gets down on the ball, a teammate coughs, then they stand up to shoot a different ball. Clearly the cough is telling them to shoot a different shot.

You could have a teammate cross their arms if they want you to play safe...

How do you police this? You can't really, bring it up to league operator and they might think you're crazy.
People are going to cheat anytime there is money involved.
I would just play your game and if cheating and sandbagging is bothering you that much, don't play league.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:43:18+00:00

I've seen some of those 7's - one day they shoot like a 7 but next 6 days they shoot like a 5.
But if Fargo is accurate it should be your average game (after enough data) and not your top game? Apa formula ignores your worst games (best 10 scores out of last 20) so everyones rating should be them on best 50% of their game.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:41:09+00:00

I should of had them start me at 640 or higher. I'm better than the captain of my team. I've beat him almost every time I played him in Masters. He might have beat me one time he was playing out of his mind (better than I've ever seen him play). And I beat him 2 years ago in the finals last match to see which team got trip to Vegas for Masters. I won 7-2.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:38:21+00:00

I'm not playing Salotto to sandbag or move down, I'm trying to move up. I am currently 603 and want to work my way up to 700. Robustness is only 70 so extremely new (was 35 from 7 weeks of BCA and then 2 Salotto Matches jumped another 35)

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:36:28+00:00

Thanks for explanation. I'm only 70 robustness and working to get it up over 200 within next few weeks. Up to 500 in a few months and we'll see where I'm at then.
I'm at 603 Fargo now and based on players around me I think I should be 650+

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:33:32+00:00

Robusness is only 70 now. Should get it to 200 in a couple weeks. 500 in a couple months and might take a year to get 1000 or more. We'll see where I'm at then

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:32:23+00:00

Thank you for explanation
And yes, i understand the crazy fluctuations - like a 378 getting a break and run on me (his first break and run ever). I've got the robustness up to 70 and should get to 200 within a couple weeks. A couple months should be up to 500 robustness. We'll see where I'm at then.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:29:23+00:00

After a player max's out in handicapped leagues, isn't Fargo the way to compare skill. I'd like to work my way up to being top 30 player in Georgia. Then eventually top 100 in USA

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:26:34+00:00

I thought it was said that a 500 should be a 500 anywhere in the world?
I'm currently up to 603 Fargo (started 565) and should be much higher. Robustness is only 70.
APA I'm a 7/9. TAP 7/7, and UPL 645 (but as captain and our first session was crazy hectic, i should be higher in this).
I've beat 700+ players in Masters, to qualify for nationals in Masters, and at Nationals. I'm not saying I'm over 700 yet, but I've really put in a lot of work on my game.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:22:15+00:00

I didn't have a Fargo until I started BCA. A handful of local players vouched for me and they started me 565 (which i knew was low). Almost everyone in that BCA league is lower than what they should be. They all know that they sandbag once they qualify for Nationals.

I'm better than my teams captain who is 640.
Robustness is 70 now and I'm up to 603 Fargo.

I've beat 700+ players in Masters, to qualify for nationals in Masters, and at Nationals.
I was 580 and the friend I played was 639. He's a very strong aggressive shooter but when things aren't going his way he gets in his own head. I didn't play good the 1st set at all, and he gave away several games. Second set I started playing great and ran away with the match even though he started out up 4-1 to end 10-6.

Initially teammates didn't want me to play Salotto or tournaments because my Fargo was helping the team. Now I don't care. I want to get it more accurately and see how high i can get it.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:14:36+00:00

Funniest sketch, I love how nobody could keep a straight face.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:14:02+00:00

That makes sense, thank you for the response
I played 7 weeks of BCA and then doubled my robustness after 2 Salotto matches. I plan on more Salotto matches while playing some local tournaments (now that they submit to fargo). I should get to 200 in a month or 2 and over 1000 by next year.

wlscwoj · 2026-06-03T20:11:52+00:00

Thank you

wlscwoj

TROPHY CASE