Critical Practice!

[GLC]

Dear Friends,


When I was a young lad I fancied myself a pool player.  I spent almost all my free time down at the local pool hall.  I practiced hours on end.  One day, while I was practicing, Weldon Rodgers, the owner of the pool hall and one of the best pool players I've ever seen wield a stick, walked in.  Immediately the electricity in the pool hall reached fuse blowing levels.


We knew each other casually.  He had seen me sweating some of his marathon matches with some of the other top players who were on the road looking for action.  I probably made more money betting on the side while he was playing than I ever won with my own stick.


I noticed that he was watching me knock the balls around and so I was trying to put a lot of fancy english on the cue ball and show him I wasn't just some chump wearing the felt out on his tables.  He finally walked over to me and said,  "Son, I can see that you really love the game of billiards and you've got a pretty good eye and a decent stroke.  But, you'll never get much better than you are now by just banging the balls around.  You have to get serious about your game.  You have to do what I call 'critical practice'.  That means that you never just bang the balls around.  On every shot you make from now one you have shoot it like it's for your last $100 bucks (a lot of money in those days).  Every shot is a win or lose shot!" 


It's hard to do at first because it takes concentration and determination but after a while it becomes easier and before long it becomes natural for you.  Then and only then will you be ready to play with the big boys!"


The best advice I ever got.  Never could put it into practice 100% of the time, but my game did improve substantially after that.


Now, I tell you that little story, not to brag about my pool prowess since none of you have ever seem my name on any championship trophies, but to ask " Is there such a thing as 'critical practice' in roulette?"


Are we doing harm to ourselves by jumping all over the place with so many systems.  I look at every system posted on this forum.  I even test a lot of them even if I don't post on that topic.  I find myself feeling very scattered some times.  I just think there's a mindset we should foster that will improve our chances of being a winning roulette player.


Any thoughts from my pals?


George

[Colbster]

Great insight as always, George.

I find myself forgetting about the systems that I have created that continue to excite me, because I get so tied up in trying the "next" thing that is getting 18 pages of replies with the first hour of release.

I go in just looking for that extra little something that I can glean from the discussion that I might add to my own systems to make them more solid and end up getting so distracted by the merits of the system I'm reading about, I end up testing them to death and forgetting my own babies. 

I think that is one of the risks that we run when we use "play" money, as well.  It doesn't matter how many imaginary bucks we flush down the toilet on a system we know has nothing to it other than blind luck.  We would be better served by keeping our heads in the game, and maybe working out our own systems and improvements instead of expecting someone else to freely publish a holy grail.  If this community was more about sharing results and ideas (which many do just that!) and less about Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (many of the guests and 3-post wonders might fit this category), we might get farther faster.

Wonderful thoughts for us to think about!

[Drazen]

Very interesting post. And as a young player I found myself here somehow. I don't have much playing experience, but will for learning and improving myself in this game, are same as your was about pool playing in the begginig.

Maybe you can call it luck, but I would say my unusual wish for learning, "enabled" me through some time when I came here, to learn from the best teachers here. That is all I wanted realy. Nothing get for free but just to learn. I couldnt offer to much for that, except great will and absolutely full confidence, but that was enough. Anyway when I look back now, I can say I know pretty much about this game. These my teachers saved me few dozens of years studying and examining this game. I am more than gratefull.

And to answer you to your question from my aspect. I was taught by few good proffesionals here,  and what I can conclude now when I comapre them, is that when they playing "serious sessions" they use only one or two methods realy. Not when they are playing little more "recreational" or just to play. Although as you said all good players here know so much methods and systems, and many of them are good, but when it is time to take the money I belive most of them are not using too much methods. They use their "best weapons" or at least methods in which they have most confidence, or most experience with them.
My oldest and most experienced teacher for this game was telling me this frase all the time: "don't experiment!" don't use some method because all others are saying it is good maybe. You have to know it by yourself, and tested it to the limits, many many times, so you could know behavior of that method. And for that you will need  many hours of testing or practice. Even with best methods it is possible to fail, if we don't use them proper or at least not in the best way, and I belive experience is one of keys in that.

I still have to learn a lot, as in life, so about this game also. But I am ready. Practice is realy best teacher in life, so it is same in this game, that is my opinion in the end. Our mindset makes diferrence how to be better or not after some passed practice...

Regards

Drazen

[GLC]

Colbster and Drazen,


Thanks for the posts.  You have hit it on the head when you say that you need to play your own system(s) only after you have tested it to death and know all the nuances of it rather than try to win with someone else's systems just because they brag about how good it is.  It may be good, maybe even the best ever, but we need to make it our own.  Practice with it until we know exactly what to expect and how to react to any situation.


Excellent points.


Also, to be a "professional roulette player" you need to know the system you play so well that you could teach it to someone who doesn't even know how to play roulette yet.  You know what they say, "If you want to really learn and understand anything, prepare to teach it."  That will tell you how well you understand it yourself.


Cheers guys,


GLC

[LuckyLucy]

Thought provoking topic GLC and some excellent replies!  i hink its great so many ideas are floted around. Some work really well, some not so much (My ideas for instance ) However it only takes another forum member to tweak it and it can become a great system.

So true in what you say,  I do the same, I have a couple of systems that I have practised over and over and I am comfortable with. But I still love to try out other ideas, as who knows they couild become vital weapons in our aresnal against the casino.

[GLC]

Thanks for the reply LL,


I was just thinking that JohnLegend's emphasis on patience is very true in all disciplines of life including roulette.  I'm not so fond of his ambush type playing style, but patience and focus are still a requisite disciplines.


Keep working with us.  You're a respected asset to this forum.


GLC

[Tomla021]

this is well put and very true!! on the other hand we all think and play the game a bit differently so you sometimes find new stuff that fits your game well....again on the other hand lol--all these diff systems are confusing as hell

[Wally Gator]

George,


Great discussion.  You are so right that there are so many systems and strategies out there that it becomes confusing to most.  But, perhaps to break it down into a more simplistic description might be useful.


So, let's use basketball as an example or analogy.  There are many, many ways to get the ball into the hoop, but ultimately it's about getting the ball into the hoop for points.  So, while we all learn how to play the game from experts and then trial and error on the court, it really comes down to what shot(s) are best for us individually.  Some may prefer a layup while others a jump shot and even others a hook shot.  It really doesn't matter what type of shot you get proficient at, only that it gets in the hoop more times than the casino, errr I mean opposing, teams.


Without question, I believe the key is to learn as much as you possibly can.  Like you said, teaching is knowing.  Especially for those times when things go bonkers on you.  At some point, not sure when that was for me, you reach the point of just knowing because it's happened so many times before that you are able to react correctly for the right outcome.


Thanks for the great topic.