In professional football there is a catch known as the immaculate
reception. In basketball we're all familiar with the 3/4 court
buzzer beater. In golf there's the hole in one. Baseballs bounce
off of the pole foul ball or homerun. And of course in boxing we
have the lucky punch, all written about in high regard. In our
game many of us are bored to hidden tears as we listen to the anger
and rage of someone telling us the story of how some player got
lucky on them and how they should've won. We all know the stories
and we can even lip sync the end of the sentences! Blah,blah,blah
... and then the ball ... blah,blah,blah. Stop! D'ya understand?
Stop it! It's like bragging that you're on the wrong end of an
autopsy.
There are three aspects for us to attend to when we play pool for
money: listing the most powerful one first-they are luck, strategy
and skill. That's right, the most powerful of the three is luck!
Neither you nor I are gonna beat luck. You are going to outshoot
someone and lose. Play enough and you are going to out move someone
and lose. You are going to out shoot and out move someone one night
and you will lose. So what does this have to do with management?
The player with the best knowledge has the best luck. Another way
for you to remember it is that the harder you work the luckier you
get; so we do have the opportunity to affect what kind of luck we
have! The rest is information. The knowledge/information part is
what Cheese insightfully advised you on last month -- get an
instructor.
Now tell me if you can imagine this happening:
"Well Mr. Ali, the 15 rounds are up it looks like I've won the
fight. Y'know it's winner take all and I'd like to go 2 or 3 more
rounds and give you a chance to win your money back." NO, and it
shouldn't happen.
Phil Mickelson isn't playing extra holes to let Tiger get back in
it. The ridiculous question VERBATUM is, "you're quittin'
winners!?" and again VERBATUM "you're not gonna give me a chance
to win my money back? And even worse "you're not gonna give me a
chance to get even? Like we played so that nothing would happen.
We play to win the other player's money. Why aren't we saying,
"Yeah, I did beat you pretty easily, let me win some more." At
that level it becomes business and business requires sound
management to succeed. [and some luck.] I'll tell you what
professional gamblers do, not professional pool players,
professional gamblers. They live by laws. Even when they
deviate they have a law in place that REQUIRES that they deviate.
And then even the deviation is controlled by laws. Laws that
they don't break. This is the law they have that I used.
QUIT ON THE DOWNTURN OF AN UPSWING. Can you see what that means?
When things have been going your way for a while and begin to change
QUIT! ....... QUIT! I like writing that because I know the
controversy it's gonna cause especially in Oregon. QUIT EM!
Go home. Use the rule of 1 lopsided loss or 2 consecutive losses.
Either way QUIT. You're not gonna do it are you? I think that
some of you will. And in regards to leaving - have a time set that
you will be gone. And in order to do this successfully you'll need
some information, information that you probably never looked to.
Gamblers will tell you that the roulette wheel will make about 100
decisions in an hour; and that the dice will be thrown about 200
times in an hour yielding 50-60 decisions within that hour. They
need that information to even begin management. You should know
how many racks of one pocket you could play within your time frame.
How many races to 7 in 9 ball fit into the time frame that you
have set?
Next topic of management is to require players to freeze up the
money. Clearly this would eliminate so many of the problems we see.
So if it is such a surefire solution, why is it not standard?
Well I'm gonna tell you why. It allows two things to go on that are
to your disadvantage. First it allows them to play you a race
when they have no money in their pocket. That means that if they
win that race and continue on, you let them use your own money to
win your money from you.
The other thing not freezing up the cash allows is this: let's
say you and mark agree to play for $50.00 a set; he may only have
$50.00; he may have $100.00. You may have $2000.00. It is lousy
management for you to allow them a shot at thousands when you can
only win $50.00. And in the case of them playing you with no money
at all they have a chance to win $2000.00 and the most you can win
is the fight. Mot good sound management. Freeze up the cash.
Poolroom owners need to get back into being involved in the
gambling that goes on in their rooms. Today a lot of them think
they are protecting themselves by not allowing gambling -- well
that's like asking the monkeys to stay out of the banana puddin'.
Hold the cash, referee the calls and establish the rules for
that set. No, I'm not saying that it's your job- what I am
saying is that it would help us all and as you know they are
going to gamble. Players in return PLEASE throw the room owner
a bone when you win. Especially when you win big.
Here's my talk about alcohol etc. and it's brief. In Las Vegas as
you gamble they will GIVE you all of the alcohol you can consume.
Imagine that. The smartest and most successful gamblers on the
planet want you to drink when you gamble with them. And it is fact
that the free drinks in the pit have more alcohol in them than the
drinks in the bar that are paid for. Look it up. If you get high
and it improves your play - you weren't playing very well to begin
with.
Then we have the mistake that rules the pool world's losers. It's
what I call, "Everybody's Got One" -EGO
Do you know how road players make their living? Some make a stable
living off of the weak. This is sound management and I see nothing
wrong with it as a conscious choice, and to succeed at it takes a
fine mixture of skill and management. And there is the road player,
that some of you think you are, the kind that comes to town and gets
all of the money in the room. Money that the aforementioned player
can't get. The roadie I'm talking about makes his living off of
other player's egos. And do you know who Mark and Vic are? They are
local champions. And some of you say but those local champions went
on the road. They are not road players. They are local champions
who haven't lost their car yet. True road players make their living
off of the fact that players often play to make a statement rather
than to make money. When you see calm on a road player you may be
able to stick with her/him. It's not likely. When you see that
stroke, and you will know it when you see it, you may be able to
hang with that player although it is still not likely. When you
see calm and "that" stroke on the same body- I am being kind
enough to tell you that you cannot beat that player. That is a
certain way to identify and eliminate one of your losses. And all
that noise you're making in response to this is the reason why we
get paid. Ego will get you broke. The biggest mistake ego makes
is in raising the bet after a loss.
You are putting more weight on the downswing. Large downswings
have small beginnings. Gambling has turns and surges. To succeed
you will have to master the rhythm of that particular encounter.
That is the advanced form of money management when gambling.
Most of the gamblers in pool say that they love pool and what they
really love is the action. Then they wind up going to horses, cards,
dice and so on. Fortunes can be made from gambling. For that to be
true, fortunes have to be lost. Remember that. What makes a gambler
successful is not the winning. It's what they do between winnings!
I'm givin' you gold here and I gotta go. Again please email me for
more -- every email gets answered.
I just got back from a trip to the east coast. While I was there I
realized that they were loving and using my language. From that I
decided to include one or two mcgillisms in each article: when I
was ready to play a young man in Easton and he said he could only
play for $20.00 I said to him "We can't play, your papers aren't
in order". He was laughing to tears and ran around telling everyone
"did you hear what he told me!!?" Later his friend asked if he
could get a class before I left for Oregon. I asked if he had his
learners permit with him. He asked sincerely "what is that?"
I described for him a hundred dollar bill. The last one was when
I asked the musician if he wanted to play some jackson five.
[$100.00 in twenties]
Thank you. See you next month and do the work.
KRAACK!!!!
by: Paul Marquez
I felt like Fast Eddie looking over my shoulder at this tremendous
sound only to see this punk kid Vincent blasting the rack and taking
off his horse. Except the sound was coming from one of my friends
Todd Ruhlen. Todd at this time was an up and coming player in the
area receiving lessons at Lance McGill's Billiard Academy. Kraack!!
What an unfamiliar sound in such a familiar environment. Strange that
this caught my attention so, I mean after all, arrogance and self
accompany a player like myself and I could always beat Todd. Don't
get me wrong Todd was good, but a seasoned veteran like myself he
was not, so I thought. Kraack!!! I would look over and watch two to
three balls go in, the cue on the one ball and if were drawn on
paper, he was out. Hmmm? Lance would make some adjustments as if it
was not yet there. What could be better than that I thought?
Kraack!!! WOW! It was pretty awesome to witness, Todd and I then
took a little hike down to Idaho to one my favorite tournaments at
Backstreet Billiards. This was a pretty sweet deal for me. Todd
would be able to get all the action that I couldn't. I watched him
beat player after player even steering away from certain people I
didn't think I could beat. Well it's a funny moment when you make a
jump in your game, you hardly see it coming and your only proof is
in the results. Todd won all his nine-ball action and went
undefeated in the tournament, roasting me in the process. Players
all over kept asking me if he was just playing over his head, and
arrogantly I thought sure, Todd was never this good before. Hmmm?
Wait a minute playing over his head for two days? Just face it
jack ass this guy passed you up. Damn! That break! Damn that Lance!
Does the break really mean that much? Controlling the game from the
beginning, getting more shots puts you in stroke doesn't it? Now
I need the eight because of that stupid break, except guess who
signed up for breaking lessons? Now I'm looking for you Mister
Todd! Thanks Lance.
COMMENTARY:
Before getting into the specifics of the power break I'll offer
you a few guidelines; for those of you that use them you will find
them to be invaluable in the decisions that we find ourselves left
to make in close games.
First know that in 9-ball the strongest break wins. This seems to
be the case even when 'all else isn't equal." It can be the
deciding factor in the weaker player winning against a world-beater.
This fact alone makes it worth working on. Who will do that work?
As in life, [s]he who does the work gets paid. Paul Marquez did
the work and won at Chinook Winds; Todd Rhulen did the work and won
in Idaho.
Now, those guidelines;
In 9-ball: outbreak 'em; if you can't out break 'em then out
skill 'em.
In 1-pocket: out wait 'em.
In 14.1: out think 'em.
YES, all of these will work with each kind of game mentioned;
they are also best suited for you to rely on as they are listed
above. The newer you are at gambling the more useful you'll find
them to be. For those of you with years of experience, [seasoning]
I suggest using them when you are looking at what appears to be a
50-50 proposition. [My students will all tell you that a 50-50
proposition is where you get fifty dollars for this rack and fifty
dollars for the next one.]
ON THE BREAK:
I'll approach this by listing, first the kind of things you may be
experiencing in the break and follow with potential solutions.
NO, OR LITTLE POWER; the break is not as is usually imagined based
on how "hard" you can hit the rack. It is based on rhythm. And if
it is based on rhythm, you learning your individual rhythm becomes
the answer. This common misconception of 'HARD" is borne of the
larger and more common misconception that the cue just needs to be
moving "fast." at the END of the break stroke, that's true.
SOLUTIONS: begin by changing your view from 'how hard" to "how fast
can I have this cue stick moving?" Add to that what I think is the
largest and most important part. Have the cue stick ACCELERATE to
its final speed. In this accelerating you'll find your rhythm and
an immediate source of more power. Another source of more power is
to find a longer stroke, longer backstroke and DEFINITELY a longer
stroke toward the 1 ball. You cannot make this stroke too long.
Let the cue do what it wants to do naturally. In looking at my
break stroke I see that my cue tip ends about 1 inch beyond the
horizontal line that divides the side pockets [on a 9' gold crown
and starting from the standard rail and head string starting point.]
For those of you that are just beginning in pool you can find this
spot on nearly any used table. Look along the head string and find
two worn spots near each rail.
POWER AND NO ACCURACY:
This is an exciting one because you can change this one immediately!
For most it's a simple matter of "being present" IN THE MOMENT THAT
THE CUEBALL IS CONTACTED. It's the one stroke where I suggest you
are looking at the cue ball during contact. See and feel what is
going on. I think you'll be surprised to find that you see within
minutes the individual adjustments you can make to gain more
accuracy. Accuracy relies on stance. Adjust your stance to suit
the wide opened full swing we are using when we break. Experiment
with your gripping hand being farther back than when you normally
stroke. Some of this is to compensate for the fact that we stand
"higher' when we break. [Our chin is not as close to the cue stick.]
If you have very little power this usually goes hand and hand with
the cue ball ending up near or beyond where the balls were racked.
Go lower on the cue ball and you'll gain more power and control of
the cue ball. Don't make wholesale adjustments, the adjustment that
works may be slight or nearly imperceptible to you right now. Spend
the time looking accurately and remember to adjust your stance
however slightly.
POWER / CUE BALL ON THE FLOOR:
This is another thing that is improved by being present at and
during cue ball contact. The balance can be in striking the cue
ball higher or being more accurate as to where we are hitting the 1
ball. In deciding to go higher on the cue ball [if you are getting
power it is unlikely that you have to hit the cue ball lower]
understand that it may require new looking on your part. Let's
say that the cue ball jumps the table to the side that you break
from. Hit more to the opposite side of the 1 ball. Hit more of the
1 ball AWAY from the side that the cue ball jumps the table. Look
to have more wrist action on your break stroke; this will have to
be done with extreme care and accuracy or you may never gain
control of the cue ball. A little more wrist will add speed to
your stick movement and be an even greater help in finding a smoooth
flowing powerful rhythm.
Most of the problems that I see with powerless breaking are that
players aren't putting in the work. Here are some hints; rack the
balls in numbered order whenever you are working on the break. This
will allow you to become more familiar with how the balls are
reacting. [The 5 ball will be where the nine usually sits.] For
you players, hire someone to rack for you or exchange lessons for
their help with racking. You will be breaking instead of walking,
retrieving balls and racking; the benefit is exponential.
There is a new learning tool on the market designed to assist in
improving on your break in the most effective and efficient way
possible. It is called 'BREAKRAK.' We will be using one at MCGILL'S
BILLIARD ACADEMY and I suggest you get one or have the room owner
where you play get one. This is a most effective way to work on
your break stroke.
Thank you and..."Do the work"
Lance E McGill
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