"Bar Rules" Situation...what do you do here?
I usually play in pool halls, but I also spend a lot of time at my girlfriend's place an hour away. When I'm there, I play pool at the local dive bar. There is this one guy who always says "I'm just here to have fun man, I don't take it so seriously" and then proceeds to take everything seriously. He really just wants to play his way. The problem is he is one of the best players there and almost always wins the table. This is the type of player who makes you call "kiss or clean" on blocked pockets. I play mostly BCA, ball in hand, where that is not a thing and it is always open on the break.
Well last night we are tied in a 3 game race. He breaks and I don't have a shot. I tell him I'm going to combo the 14 into the 4 and he goes off. "No you can't do that. You pick solids or stripes." I tell him "It's still open, all the balls are neutral." And he proceeds to act like that's not a thing. I have to only hit one or the other. The only other player at the time agrees with him. I gave in and tried to pocket a solid but missed, having no shot.
He proceeded to run the table and win. later on in the night of course he shoots the 8 in, kissing off my ball. So I told him "you didn't call that," as he stormed off. I know I'm going to run into this guy again and when I tell him Google confirms he is wrong, he's going to make a big deal about it and act like I'm being a bitch.
What is the deal with bar rules anyways? If your object ball is behind the line what is to stop you from just putting the cue ball behind the line and shooting it in on a quarter table where it can't be spotted and just giving up your turn? What is to stop you from just purposely scratching when they are on the 8 ball and it's behind the line? It seems like there are certain things that are within the rules but frowned upon, like hitting the ball only a few inches to play safety. Players often bully others when these situations come up.
There always seems to be some blowhard wanting to dictate what legitimate bar rules even are. How do you handle these situations? The last time I tried to clarify rules before the game, I was once again accused of "taking things too seriously" when this guy does exactly that when it comes to always making sure the game is played only on his terms. When he said "my table, my rules," I just feel like making him play BCA, ball in hand every time it's my table. But that also seems a bit petty. I guess it would be funny to see what he would bitch about then. I'm sure once again that would be killing the vibe.