Bar Pool: Matters of Shrewd Gamesmanship

By Fry Koskenin

Bar Pool is a book about gamesmanship, and its goal is to survey the many comical situations and fascinating subtleties that arise from playing pool in dingy dive bars. It focuses on the psychological tactics that are so successful in achieving victory within that dark arena, while hinting at their broader applications to everyday life. It aims to be a humorous and informative resource, suitable for both drunkards and sharp-shooters alike.

games•man•ship
noun
1. the use of methods, especially in a sports contest, that are dubious or seemingly improper but not strictly illegal.
2. the technique or practice of manipulating people or events so as to gain an advantage or outwit one’s opponents or competitors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fry Koskenin
• Release date: Jun 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311489289

Fry Koskenin

Fry Koskenin is a 41-year-old nuclear-engineer-turned-artist living in San Diego, California. He's fond of intelligence, achievement, danger, and beauty, and not much else.

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BAR POOL: Matters of Shrewd Gamesmanship

By

Fry Koskenin

First Edition

Copyright © 2014 Fry Koskenin

Published by Fry Koskenin at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contact the author at: [e-mail]

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CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. What is Bar Pool?

2. Everything is Billiard Balls

3. A Bird’s-Eye View

3.1 The Venue

3.2 Drinking

3.3 Reputation

3.4 The Game

4. A Deeper Dive

4.1 The Pre-Game Ritual

4.1.1 Scoping the Table

4.1.2 Putting Quarters Down

4.1.3 Choosing a Stick

4.1.4 Racking

4.1.5 Unexpected Deviations

4.2 Singles Versus Doubles Play

4.3 Types of Opponents

4.3.1 Age

4.3.2 Drunkenness

4.3.3 Sex

4.3.4 Muscle

4.3.5 Behavior

4.3.6 Pros

5. An Aside: Dark Force and the Goals of Bar Pool

5.1 Dark Force

5.2 The Goals of Bar Pool

6. The Game and Gamesmanship

6.1 The Crowd

6.2 The Break

6.3 Choosing a Set

6.4 The Opening Run

6.5 Evaluating Opponents

6.5.1 Soft and Deliberate

6.5.2 Quick and Forceful

6.5.3 Sloppy

6.5.4 Drunk

6.5.5 Cocky and Obnoxious

6.5.6 Cheaters

6.6 Table Banter

6.6.1 Chatting with a Partner

6.6.2 Disturbing the Opponents

6.6.3 Physical Intimidation

6.6.4 Being the Target of Gamesmanship

6.6.5 Inflammatory Trivia

6.7 Irrational Actors

6.8 Gambling

6.9 Shot Selection

6.9.1 No Wasted Shots

6.9.2 Being Defensive Minded

6.9.3 Never Crush the Cue Ball

6.9.4 Sacrificial Outs

6.9.5 Bank Shots, Kick Shots, and Rail Shots

6.9.6 Never Scratch on the 8-Ball

6.9.7 Execution and Showmanship

6.10 Trick Shots

6.11 The Crowd

6.12 The Jukebox

6.13 Walking Away

6.14 Losing

6.15 Winning with Style

7. A Short Word on Singles Play

8. Conclusion

Appendix: The Canon of Bar Pool

Preface

The author has spent far too much time over the past ten years playing pool in the sketchiest diver bars that Southern California has to offer. Motivated partly by sadomasochistic urges for conflict and partly by an appreciation for the elegance and beauty of the game (and the opportunities to consume vast quantities of vodka), he’s played with the worst and best that the scene has to offer, and has seen it all. Under the fine tutelage of his mentor—a Harvard-educated lawyer-turned-burnout twenty years his senior—he became one half of a formidable and well-known local doubles team, and took great pleasure in destroying no less than five-hundred foolhardy egos.

In the years spent dispatching an almost endless lineup of would-be midnight champions, the author could not help but to become keenly aware of the underlying game within the game; bar pool, at its core, has little to do with shot-making ability or even strategy, but instead, much more to do with the stealthy application of questionable tactics and subtle methods of gamesmanship. His understanding took years to refine, but once it all clicked, it helped him earn the reputation amongst the crusty locals as: Pretty much the best ever.

Being armed with this unique perspective on a popular and exciting game (and aware of its wider applications), the author conceived this book (his second) and brought it to fruition. And so, with a sincere appreciation for the Machiavellian, and a glad heart, he hopes that readers might enjoy this work and enhance their own mastery of the psychological warfare that occurs under the influence of alcohol, testosterone, and physics at dive bars all across the country—and in every other place as well.

Acknowledgements

This book would not have surfaced without the author’s high fondness for the best dive bar in all of San Diego, California: London’s West End Pub. To its proprietors (Jenn and Tommy McMillin [may he rest in peace])