For anyone that would prefer to get out of the gate last, I would like to be their opponent.
Bill, I'm not in love with this aspect of my game but I've come to know it and understand it through the years.
Starting fast in a gambling match, or in a tournament sends the message that you're prepared to play and your backing it up by performing.
This only sends the message in your mind, I don't receive messages when I'm gambling. You continuing to beat me is the only message received and then you must do it for quite a while. Imo you have the psychological edge because you have already proven to your opponent and also yourself that your answering the challenge to perform.
I couldn't possibly care less about the performance challenges you are answering, that's in your mind, I'm just getting warmed up. Not only that but your putting more pressure on your opponent then he had before the match started, and pressure is always an ally when it's burdening your opponent.
Trust me when I tell you, you cannot put pressure on me, only I can do that. There's a couple other factors that needs to be acknowledged, emotion, momentum, and confidence. Momentum and confidence are the advantages favoring the player that jumps out of the gate the quickest.
Momentum & confidence often go south when the frontrunner starts losing. Emotion is the burden placed on his opponent, and it's not the emotion of joy we're speaking of.
If you played me, you would see no emotion whatsoever. No joy & happiness from winning and no misery & sadness from losing. I've seen too many matches where the player starting fast, never looked back.
No doubt you have seen this but it's never once happened to me.
You say that you relish the challenge of having to perform and you prefer to start slow and make a charge. The position you favor placing on yourself is a more taxing position, and in more cases than not that player will wear down first.
A player who has confidence in his game will not wear down at all, in fact, we quite often wear down the frontrunner by sticking around and playing better every game. They can throw everything they have at us and we're still there, that's when they start to doubt. It's a proven fact that a player that is under pressure for a longer period will wear down faster than the player that has the luxury to pace himself.
Again, I feel no pressure when losing or winning, that's in your mind.
If that's the way you like it, more power to ya. But I wouldn't want to be ya.
Sweet, I hate playing guys who think like I do .
Billy I.