You've just got to keep at it and figure out why you lost, decipher what leads to "tilt" mode for you, and come up with a strategy for stopping it. Losing sucks. I remember that when I was new to the game, losing was about all I could do. When I moved to St. Louis, about thirteen years ago, I had never played 1pocket. Just nine ball and straight pool, (with a four year hiatus of bar table eight ball up in Montana). I was on the tail end of a ten year layoff from pool when I started playing again and I quickly found out that 1pocket was all anyone would gamble at here. So, I decided I'd learn.
I hated it. I'd lose to everybody: $200 sets lost to guys like Bid Ed, Butch, Iranian Billy, Robbie, and Kramer; $50 a game to Big Jake. $75 sets to Darmen, $100 sets to Mustache John, Terry, Jeremy, and Kip. $25 sets to Bill and Ralph. I couldn’t stand it, loathed it. All the bumping, nipping and tucking. Sometimes for what seemed like an eternity. Shot after shot after shot. And here's the worst part: I was losing to white haired old men and fat good ol' boys, and even young kids half my age.
And, the game would get me out of stroke. All the shots at pocket speed - laying up balls. Twisting and spinning balls. And the brutal realization that I never knew what the *right* shot was. And then, the even more brutal realization that even if I recognized the right shot, years of 14.1 and nine ball hadn't prepared me for so many of the shots I needed to be able to execute at 1pocket. These guys were giving me 10-7 and feeding me a lie that I actually believed: "I can only give you a couple of balls 'cause you shoot so straight" and then robbing me.
For months I would play, and lose, and curse the game. But then, I started to learn the shots. I would watch Accu-Stats tapes, and began recognizing the *right* shots, the correct strategy. I’d occasionally win. The spots became smaller, but still, "I hate this game."
Then, I started to book a few winners here and there, and more and more of the guys had to play me even. I started to change my opinion, "Maybe this game isn't so bad."
Soon there after, I had to start giving up weight to get a game. My opinion moved a bit more, "Hey, I kinda like this game."
Then the ultimate: the guy who had started out giving me 10-7, refused to play a couple of years later when I offered him 11-7.
I really like this game now
Lou Figueroa
yobagua said:
We've all talked about victory. But what about Defeat. How do you deal with it. Poker playing instruction deals with "playing on tilt". Last nite I played with the best player in my room and he drilled me so bad I couldnt play anyone else that evening. I was "Playing on tilt". The worse player in my room ended up beating me on the hill. I was a shriveling mess. I kept selling out and overrunning my rock and rattling balls in my hole. I wanted to retire. HELP!