The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

In the Scott Fishmann thread I made the below statement:

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After all in pool the key to wining is not being better than your oponnent, just in matching up better (getting the proper weight) so that you have the advantage.


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and got encouragement to follow up in a seperate thread. Here it is. Initially I may be brief but will add to it as required.

In many respects this applies to most sports and games including poker. I'd have a hard time thinking of any game or sport I couldn't match up and have at least a 50/50 chance of winning. Naturally this is the definition of matching up properly. Who want's to do that? The key to matching up is for your oponnent to perceive the matchup as either equal or to their advantage while in reality it is to yours.

This is most commonly done by sandbagging, golf and bowling are two great examples of where this is done. The limitations and downsides of sandbagging are many. First it limits you to people normally outside your circle of friends and locality. Easily overcome by either travelling or living somewhere like Las Vegas where they will travel to you. The major downside is unless you stay fully in control, and are very careful about when and how well you play physical punishment may be inflicted upon your precious body. So if you are going to sandbag, be very very good at looking lucky.

In the past I matched up by simply being willing not to play if the game wasn't in my favor. Heck once I played $5 dominoes for three hours listening to a well known one pocket player (who was of course being staked himself) run back and forth between me and his backers sweetening the spot untill I knew I had both the pure nuts and room to spare. Five sets and five grand later they figured it out too. Funny thing is just when we were about to adjust where they would have had a slight edge the stakehorse pulled up so I didn't have to give back a single barrel. If you are not sure what I mean by that or why I would be willing to do so feel free to ask.

Getting the nuts is good, getting that plus room to spare is much much better. After all the best thing about matching up vastly in your favor is that you can play a session, collect your cash, adjust, play another session, collect more cash and then adjust again. Nothing is more enjoyable than the rare occurrance to be getting the weight when you should be giving it. This used to happen to me more than was reasonable for two simple reasons. One, I didn't look like or act a pool player (what ever that means, at least so I was told). I wore glases and owned three businesses at the time that this happened most frequently. All the road players knew that I would bet high, and loved to "gamble". They were always half right, I never liked to be gambling against road players. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I've got three good stories about geting weight when I could have been giving it I'll share sometime as well. One involves George Breedlove, Big John and Jeanette Lee. Another is a solid road player named Garcia from Colorado Springs, I bet Ray Zee knows all four of these players as many of you will as well.

Getting close to lunchtime, I hope this post is entertaining, please feel free to comment positively or negatively. After all if I'm gonna dish it out to others I need to be willing to take it as well.

Jimbo

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

Jimbo,

More, more, more.

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

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Jimbo,

More, more, more.

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Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

This is awesome to read and I hope you will write more. I'd like to know more about how you got started and moved up in the "levels", as well as lots of juicy anecdotes/gossip about the road players. perhaps you could detail specific advanced concepts you learned that helped you to improve (?).

Have you read the book "Playing Off The Rail"? What is your opinion of it?

thanks!

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

Keep it coming!!

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

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If you are not sure what I mean by that or why I would be willing to do so feel free to ask.

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Yes.
also i have no idea how to play (let alone bet on) dominos.

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

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Keep it coming!!

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Jimbo.....Well spoken & written!

Sounds like the makings of a very entertaining book?

Give it a shot!!

Myrt.......

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

I've been looking forward to this post since I read the fischman thread. But this has only whetted my appetite!

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment but especially to Myrtle. Maybe I should save my stories for a book. Anyone think 2+2 would deviate from Poker? LOL

In my initial post I mentioned it would be difficult for me to not be able to matchup in most any sport or game. After more thought I stand by any games but have thought about a few sports in which I'd have no ghost of a chance. A few are Jai Lai, canoing, hockey and most of the Winter Olympic sports. On the other hand I think I could handicap most of the summer Olympic sports, even being the old fart I am now. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]


tolbiny asked about this: "Funny thing is just when we were about to adjust where they would have had a slight edge the stakehorse pulled up so I didn't have to give back a single barrel."

When you are gambling and feel there is future potential, it is often wise to allow an oponnent (especially one with a healthy stakehorse) to get a shot at at least one win before the match ends. This helps to both insure goodwill as well as future potential action. Yes this can backfire and instill confidence in a player who can then beat you with the same spot he had been losing with to you just a while earlier. It is like bluffing on the river at poker, sometimes you get called down and lose but it is worth it in the long run.

To thoses ends I would usually play at least one set when I wasn't sure I had the best of it after I was already several sets ahead. Often I would lose this set but it was never a bad investment. Not being a nit is important in the gambling world.

On the subject of not being a nit: Once I offered to play anyone in the world with the eight and the break on a bar table. Unfortunately Dave Matlock came to town the same weekend I had made this offer. I had beaten several name players for $1000 sets earlier in the weekend. Heck I even won a $1500 Joss poolcue from Jimmy King with this bet. Well at the time Dave M. was probably the best bar table player in the US (perhaps the world). I could have easily turned down the action and saved myself a dime but the "nit factor" would have been way too high, especially considering his backer didn't get along too well with me in the first place. So I took the action and as I was supposed to do, I lost. So much for the anyone in the world challenge and not knowing who was in town timing. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] This still had +EV in the long run. Doing my best Sklansky imitation, "Do you see why?" [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

More later,

Jimbo

Re: The Matching Up Thread I promised
 

I am eagerly awaiting more, as I am sure others are. Stories like this have special appeal to poker players/gamblers such as ourselves. Thanks for sharing.