Most drugs other than booze, nicotine, caffeine and weed basically make all players games drop with the exception of small doses of coke and amphetamine in my experience (and these are very rare).

Most players play more aggressively and bold when tipsy, and will often think they are better drunk, when in reality their game is usually too passive/timid and alcohol just loosens them up enough to grow a pair and believe in themselves. After a short period this drops off and most people become way too aggro and miss too much as the booze takes over. Stoned players are often good but over think and lose their rhythm. Caffeine and nicotine keep people on track pretty well.

Good drink/drug players generally are the same guys who are awake at the end of the party despite having drunk more than everyone else in my experience. They slowly build up over time and although they eventually run out of steam, they will beat all those around them who are also drinking and go off too soon and don't understand and/or how to react to the signs of getting the wrong side of out of control.

Much like the immortal line from the Hustler:

Good drinking players generally stay sober when their opponent does, but if the opponent starts drinking they join in to add yet another level to the edge. If you can out drink/out pace your opponent you increase your edge even further while preserving the fun atmosphere fish need.

Its also worth remembering that in most cases very good players vs amateurs even if blind drunk vs sober cant lose - the margin between a good player vs a bad one is just so huge it makes very little difference. As the abilities get closer so considerations like the above become ever more pressing.

Thanks for the post Wamy. The hustler is a favorite of mine, great movie. It's interesting to me how many different factors become a part of the game that most people never think about, its one of the reasons I love pool. just like Fats was able to hold himself together, not lose control, and clean out Eddie even though he may not play to quite the same level on the table.

This if you're willing to trust a random

Just finished reading this well, and just wanted to thank you for a good read.

I am 28 and have played maybe 50 games of pool in my life (usually over the holidays with family) but between reading this well and the Kid Delicious book I've been looking for pool tables on ebay and craigslist over the last few days, lol. I also leave in a smallish town in Virginia now, after living in Vegas for 1.5 years, so picking up any hobby at all is probably a good thing. Oddly enough there are 3-4 decent places to play pool here.

Any advice for the absolute noob? I will probably go in the hall by myself as I don't have any friends here and probably try to go mid day during the week. Luckily, like you, I am a writer so I can probably find an hour or two a day to play if I really want to. I am worried about the social aspect of it, as I really just will want to play alone, as I'm awful and would want tons of practice before I even play a game casually with people. I suppose if I just play games with people for fun I could learn faster. Sorry, just thinking aloud, but any advice you have for a pure noob going out alone would be cool.

Look at it this way: in any form of cue sport you are always awful in relation to someone else. I'm a terrible player compared to thousands (if not tens of thousands at this exact point in time with my current chronic lack of practice ) of the World's best, the World's best in one game are terrible compared to others in different games, and so it goes on.

Don't worry about playing badly around people. Everyone was awful compared to how they are now at one point in their life, everyone is still awful in relation to someone else. The faster you get hitting balls with good players, the faster you will improve, and the faster you will reach your overall goal (and the more fun you will have in 99% of cases).

Buy a few drinks, pay the lights, take your beating like a man, watch carefully and ask a few questions and you will very quickly get to a solid standard if you put in the hours - something you simply will not be able to do playing at home and trying to learn by yourself.

Thank you very much Wamy, not just for my response, but for the entire well.

I was sitting around drinking beer earlier when I started wondering about handicaps in pool. 9 ball specifically, there's spotting x number of racks, spotting a lower numbered ball, or giving odds. If given the choice by a superior player, how would you decide which handicap to take? Or given the choice by a weaker player, how would you decide which one to give? I should probably provide specific examples.

I never bet on pool except with one guy and that's because we're RL friends and poker buddies and we bet small amounts (nothing over 20 or 30 bucks) on pretty much anything competitive. But pool's become a semi-serious hobby for me and he rarely plays so obviously I have to handicap myself. In races to 5 these would be my offers. 1. 6 ball plus break. 2. 2 racks plus break. He has to sink the 9 ball to win a rack. 3. 3-1 odds plus break. I've realized odds is probably the worst he could take and therefore the best handicap for me to give because it does not help him whatsoever in winning racks or matches.

So in this specific case, how would you decide which to take if you're the weaker player? And are there any rules of thumb to decide on how to handicap in general?

Bump to make sure this gets archived.