What do you think about folks who love to bet a little money to play matches?

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Zeio you tend to be quite critical about the US are you? ; ) I always thought South Asia region was quite big on gambling ... ?

Trolls will be trolls. He just was waiting for an opportunity to take a shot no matter how much of a stretch it is.

He is not the 1st nor the last to be down on the US. We understand there will always be those who are jealous out there. It happens.
 
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Trolls will be trolls. He just was waiting for an opportunity to take a shot no matter how much of a stretch it is.

He is not the 1st nor the last to be down on the US. We understand there will always be those who are jealous out there. It happens.

For the record I said "Critical" ; ) but it's a stretch Zeio, I agree.
 
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It is a great way to train your mind for tournaments. Get used to playing when there is something at stake.
 
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Anyone think a big time major tourney with a 6 hour dive is huge and intense... ???

Take a 1-3 month TT vacation to Korea, join your average TT club with a coach and lessons, then around 8PM lay down the challenge to a BEER and CHICKEN 6 PLAYER RR to determine who pays for how much of the mayhem for the after-RR group outing the restaurant together.

You will get a fight on your hands every match. Money is precious and beer/chicken are delicious over there...

Typical co-pay chart...


1st - Pay ZERO
2nd - Pay $9 USD
3rd - Pay $14 USD
4th - Pay $18 USD
5th - Pay $22 USD
6th - Pay $26 USD


That is an $89 Kitty... Only $30 USD is required for the chicken... and you can get 3 each 3000 ml of beer for $60 USD...

But, let's get real.... does anyone know of any group of 5 guys who would be content to consume only 9 liters of beer ???

In real life, they will drink twice that and everyone chips in another $12 or so... Well if you finish first, all you can eat/drink for $12 USD is a pretty good deal and well worth becoming a tiger in the club. Sucks to be near the bottom, I finished there once or twice, but not so often.
 
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I find these folks so annoying. They say without betting (even a dollar) they won't play too seriously. I'd think it is their problem as I always play seriously in any matches against anyone but I am not the person who likes to bet (I don't like to gamble even a quarter as winning or losing do not make me feel great). Call me coward if you like. Certain people from certain countries love betting and I just want to stay away from them.

Of course I should look up the original post from the OP.

And DAMN... As much as tropical could hate on me for my cavalier attitude towards "playing for something"... at heart, once I hear the ball and I am in a match, it is game on no matter what. Anyone who has ever seen me play more than once knows I really hate losing (if I had any chance to win that is) and really hate not performing to a reasonable standard.

Tropical, you might hate on some of my ways, but I can see and understand your position. I got the Korean mindset about the stuff, it is designed to get people energized and do stuff together during and after. You will NOT hear me say negative about your attitude towards this, it is well justified and you have long experience in this.
 
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I know some folks who love to play for a soda but they never ask me as they understand my position. These folks use soda as incentive to make the game more exciting to them like what Baal said. I have no problem with that. But I do not like folks who insist on playing for soda so they can play more seriously against someone like me who doesn't not like it. They need to understand different view on betting and don't assume players who don't bet are afraid.
 
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Nice co-pay chart Der, I think it might be quite a fun to use it one day.

@Tropical, I understand your view, but imagine this one specific situation, and I'm not talking about irritating people who would, as you well put it, dare or challenge you using money.
Say we regulary go to this club, like twice a week and one day we play for 2 hours several matches (3 or 4) and towards the end of the session I say ok, Tropical this last one is really for real : ) and the winner gets free soda ... wouldn't you accept the 'challenge'?

Remember, usually if a person does not agree, than he has to play for a wife. If I win I take his ... and if he wins he takes my friend's wife, since I have none ... ; )
Funny thing, the second option is sometimes embraced with entusiasm, even by an objectively weaker players ...
; )))
 

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I'm curious where this happens. I have played at a lot of clubs on the east coast, a few in LA area, and a few in europe, and nobody has ever suggested any kind of side bet (as in not part of the event). I wouldn't care to bet either, but if someone I wanted to play told me he would go all tournament-mode on me for a dollar or two I'd take that deal all day. Yesterday I got to play a couple sets with a ~2300ish guy at the end of a 6pm to 9pm club night (free to play). I won, and after he said he was too tired to attack as much as he would in serious play. Which is totally fine. But if $4 would have energized him to give 100%, I would pay it no problem. That works out to like $10 an hour. The nearest 2300ish players to my home are 120 miles away. The gas to drive to those clubs (where I do not get to hit with them anyway) costs more than $10.

If someone my level or below wanted to bet on a match I'd tell them to f off. All my gambling miney pays for needy students to go to college. And I guess half goes to the 7-11 where I buy tickets.
 
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I know some folks who love to play for a soda but they never ask me as they understand my position. These folks use soda as incentive to make the game more exciting to them like what Baal said. I have no problem with that. But I do not like folks who insist on playing for soda so they can play more seriously against someone like me who doesn't not like it. They need to understand different view on betting and don't assume players who don't bet are afraid.

I am totally in agreement with Tropical on this point. It should be two people who both want to do it, and as soon as you get the idea that a clubmate doesn't really like it, then you should stop asking. It should never be an expectation and club cultures where that starts to happen should be changed.

I used to not mind once in awhile for the reason I gave above. It helped me practice getting my mind into a tournament set. A little, anyway. I doubt I've had any wager on a match in ten years. Thinking back, most of the guys at my club who loved to bet were all a little better than me. And one of them was my absolute worst nightmare as a style to play against. (Kind of a 2250 version of He Zhe Wen). The only time I even came close to beating him I had 3 or 4 match points and lost. I sort of stopped being a charity operation.
 
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Personally I do not see any problem with gambling during matches. However I know too many players who simply do not do their homework before making bets which results in them losing anywhere from a few hundred dollars up to $10,000. There are a whole host of people I know who purposely lose in USATT events so they can gamble and win money against lower level players. The sharks will say something like "look at my current rating. I am 1900 and you are 1925, plus you beat me in practice. Lets play $25 a game." I saw one guy get taken for over $1000 really quickly this way but he played for more than $25 for the first few games and got nailed with agreeing to "double or nothing?" and losing. Trying to explain to the losing player what is going on is also an exercise in futility: "Umm, did you know the guy who just beat you was on his country's national team when he was younger?" "Uhh, last year the guy was 2350. Do you think suddenly he forgot what he was doing and now is a rock solid 1875?" "If he is really 1900 like he says, why are the 2500 level players in the club practicing with him for free?" Trying to warn a player they are about to get eaten by a shark is useless as they almost never listen.
 
In my club we often use betting as a stimul challenge.
But not with money.
Everyday casualty for a beer, weekly for a botle of wine and monthly for a botle of whiskey.
Top club players and coaches are always to be callenged for a botle of whiskey as a minimum.

P.S. - I always have at least 7 brands of whiskey for my gests :cool:
 
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Couple folks I know take the bet because they want to play with better player and to them it is a cheap coaching lesson. Good for them but I have not seem them improve at all after almost 10 years losing bet with the better player (total >$10K:rolleyes:) There are a lot of hustlers in many kinds of sport.

My problem is I deal this crap with only people I've known for a while in the club. These folks normally stick together and rarely bet against people they don't know. They do it for their own "fun" and don't care about opponent feeling. Now whenever they raise the betting topic before we play I just tell them to get lost even that may cost the "tt friendship".
 
Couple folks I know take the bet because they want to play with better player and to them it is a cheap coaching lesson. Good for them but I have not seem them improve at all after almost 10 years losing bet with the better player (total >$10K:rolleyes:) There are a lot of hustlers in many kinds of sport.

My problem is I deal this crap with only people I've known for a while in the club. These folks normally stick together and rarely bet against people they don't know. They do it for their own "fun" and don't care about opponent feeling. Now whenever they raise the betting topic before we play I just tell them to get lost even that may cost the "tt friendship".

Yes, what you describe is a decease, a betting decease.
This kind of betting is like a sport, using another sport as a host.
 
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I myself never proposed any money, just beverages from time to time. Actually I like the whiskey idea ... ; )
@Tropical, I absolutely agree that what you described sounds like a bullying tactics of those people, no question about it.

@Brs, in case of a stronger/weaker player I guess playing for something might not always work. Like he/she will win anyway, so even having a beer or 5 bucks at stake might not help. You would need to get few free points and in case of a player you do not know, it's hard to judge ...

The best case is when you have a partner/partners you practice with and your winning ratio is about 50/50, so after a whole session of practice, from time to time you want to make it special and challenge your "nemesis" ... : ) This makes perfect sense for me.

I really like the thing that Langel has in his club. If I understand you correctly, if you feel strong enough, from time to time you might want to challenge the well established "tt authority" in your club and to make it special you bet for a beer, wine and on special occasions for a good whiskey. Sounds really interesting.

PS. I just bought a wallet friendly Singleton 12 yo of Dufftown - has nice reviews and I cant wait to taste it tomorrow with somebody ... which one do you prefer?
 
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I really like the thing that Langel has in his club. If I understand you correctly, if you feel strong enough, from time to time you might want to challenge the well established "tt authority" in your club and to make it special you bet for a beer, wine and on special occasions for a good whiskey. Sounds really interesting.

PS. I just bought a wallet friendly Singleton 12 yo of Dufftown - has nice reviews and I cant wait to taste it tomorrow with somebody ... which one do you prefer?

Most often its exactly the way you describe.
About playing with coaches - many players can't afford more than 2 or 3 coaching sessions monthly, coaching is expensive everywhere. So a bottle of whisky, which is 2 or 3 times cheaper than a 2 hour coaching session, is a good way to excercise a real match with a coach. Coaches know that and do that as a complimentary activity. Sometimes the coaches participate in the group round of our weekly tournaments and monthly opens, not to win and not for prize, but just to push the players to show their best.

About the whisky - my favourite is Lagavulin, but its not in the betting menu of course. On the betting table are cheaper whiskys like the Grants, sometimes Famous Grouse as a max.
 
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This isn't exactly betting because I get nothing in return, but sometimes at the end of a long coaching session, we play matches with the students (12-14years old) and they get a free drink for each set they take off us. It really gets the students motivated.

As for actual betting, it happens sometimes at my local club and I really don't mind. It's always just for a drink. The guy who likes to bet is much stronger than me so I lose every time, but he often buys everyone a drink at the end of practice easily 3-4 times more often than we have these bets.

A very nice guy :)
 
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Men who bet money on their matches are real men.

I approve
 
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