Charity
Edwin once answered a question that I and others had on the forum. We were wondering why it seemed that the Filipino players had so much luck in playing pool. A variety of reasons were given. Many suggested that hard work produces it's own brand of good luck and the Filipino players have worked on their respective games for decades with diligence. Others offered other reasons such as good players get good luck etc.
Edwin suggested that the reason they had good luck was CHARITY. At the time I didn't think much about it except that it was as good a reason as most had suggested. You know the old bibilical saying "cast your bread upon the waters". It literally means "Send your substance out upon the waters (sea) that you might find it again in the future. Give a share to seven or eight because you never know what sort of disaster might come your way". This was in essence simply solid business management. By spreading your wealth around, you reduced the odds of being wiped out completely because if you did come on hard times, the several shares that you had spread around might be prospering and your investment might be returned many times over.
But this is but part of the story of casting your bread upon the waters. The other part of the message is "Don't set your heart upon riches because everything in this world is uncertain".
Edwin reminded me that the Filipino players often share what they have with each other. Traveling thousands of miles to compete in pool tournament on distant shores costs lots of money and the Filipino players look after one another, sharing hotel rooms and even their own food. I had witnessed this myself and thought it was simply a smart way to conserve your cash. Edwin said that their luck was due to their charity. You always hear stories about Efren and his entourage and how generous he is as well as other Filipino players. You can see it yourself if you look carefully with practically any of the Filipino players. I've seen it with Bustamante and others as well.
Weeks passed, maybe months and that shared gift of wisdom settled in parts of my brain not to be disturbed but it was Edwin again that shook that memory from the recesses of my brain.
I had made a trip to the 2009 Derby City Classic and recounted my experience of visiting there.
Most of my trip had been spent hanging out with my new friends from Norway and AZ Billiards, Roy Steffensen and PoolAddict (Chris) along with "T", sjm, Chicago Mike, John Henderson and several others, competing in the tournament and even doing a little gambling with each other. It was a great trip but it started out kind of unusual.
After only being there for a couple of days I spied an old friend from Jackson, MS, "Crane" and Efren Reyes playing chess with one another at a solitary table with no sweators around. Since no one was sweating their chess match, I thought I would take a break and see how they played. As I approached the table, I noticed that neither of them had a drink sitting on the table. As a token I asked if either of them would like a drink since I was standing and mobile and had come to be entertained, I thought it only natural for me to ask. Crane responded a simple No, without acknowledging me or our decades old friendship. It wasn't necessary. We knew our respective places and I played mine to the hilt by remaining silent. Efren, looked up and with a meek voice, replied, "Water?" I eagerly went to obtain a couple of bottles of water and returned to the table giving one to Efren and Crane again refused the second silent offer of the other bottle of water. I sat there and watched in perfect silence as neither of them spoke a word and there game was close. Crane wound up winning that game, I think he broke even. They were playing for $10 or $20 I believe. The game broke up and they discussed what ifs and moved pieces around the table noting if this one had done that, this would have happened and this would have changed the outcome. I just remained silent and we all three went our separate ways. Crane is an older fellow who doesn't play much pool anymore but I have seen him at many of the larger tournaments around the country. It had been 30 years since I had frequented the bar rooms and pool rooms that he and I shared in Jackson, MS those many years ago.
Several days had passed and it was Friday night. I had forgotten that it was Friday night. It was a special night for me. I had purchased an entry to the Midnight One Pocket tournament which I always try to do. Once upon a time, I had marvelous luck myself and bested every player in the tournament. It is always my dream to repeat that once in a lifetime feat but with all of the fun I was having I paid little attention to day of the week and was having fun tossing back several beers with my buddies and regaling each other with pool tales of success and sorrow. One of the group, I can't remember who
said, "Are we going to watch the Midnight One Pocket Tournament? I looked at the time and it was 11:30 PM and I was drunk as a skunk and hardly in shape to compete with the players that would be playing in the tournament. I wailed that I was drunk and wouldn't be able to play and was trying to console myself or maybe muster some courage to sober up quickly because for the most part I play poorly when I drink, especially at a thinking game like one pocket. Roy said, "Why don't you ask Efren to take your place?". I had never even thought of giving my place to anyone, let alone Efren but in that moment in time, it seemed like a likely choice and as providence would have it, Roy looked up and there was Efren. Roy beckoned Efren to come to the table and said that I wanted to ask him something.
I sheepishly looked at Efren and complained that I was drunk and would not be able to play well in the one pocket tournament that started in about 15 minutes. I asked Efren if he would like to take my place in the tournament and he inquired, "One Pocket?". I said, "Yes" and he said "OK". I went to the ticket counter and changed out my name for Efren's name for the tournament and nothing was agreed to or even mentioned. It wasn't really that important and I never thought to ask or bargain with Efren about what he or I would get for this deal we had made. We watche match after match as THE MAGICIAN vanquished opponent after opponent. We drank coffee and sampled the pastries while Efren worked until the early morning when he won the last match of the tournament. In a race to 2 anything can happen. I am living proof of that but the KING wasn't about to let anyone get his crown that night.
By now, everyone had faded except for Roy, Efren and I so we decided to go eat breakfast. That sweating can really work up an appetite so we walked over to the sumptuous breakfast buffet where they had practically anything you could want for breakfast. I paid for the three of us and we went to the table to be seated and order our juice and coffee. Efren quietly, reached into his pocket and handed me the entire winnings, $800 in total for the first place finish. As he handed me the money, he said, "This is for my backer". He and Roy got up from the table and I remained seated, I knew first place would pay around $800 and Efren had just handed me some money and I didn't know if what kind of share he was giving me. I counted the money and it was $800. I thought that was kind of unusual but I have always expected unusual things from Efren, not just on the pool table but in regular life. I counted it and realized that he had given me the whole first place winnings. I immediately put a hundred dollars on the side for Roy for coming up with the idea and put $400 on the side for Efren with me keeping the $300. By this time, I was kind of tired but elated with the thought that I had actually made a few dollars from the trip. This coupled with a little cash from having some lucky draws in the 9 ball and I was almost even for the trip, minus my plane fare, my beer money and several meals.
Roy refused the hundred bucks and Efren pocketed the money without counting what I had given him. We each went our separate ways. Efren was accosted by yet another fan who wanted and apparently made a deal to get a pool lesson from Efren. After playing all night, here was Efren with a smile on his face, getting ready to give an anxious fan the delight of his life. I know he had to be exhausted but he never showed it for a minute. We watched for a while but the big drama was over for us and we retired to the hotel to catch a few winks of sleep.
A couple of days later we were all headed to the airport to go to our respective destinations and lo, what a surprise I had in for me. My fantasy trip wasn't over yet. You can read about my return flight with Efren
here.
The original story, "A drink of water for my kingdom" can be found
here
Upon returning home and sharing my good fortune and trip stories with the rest of the Main Forum, Edwin reminded me of his words many weeks prior about Charity and his reminder sent chills up my spine when I realized how I had just experienced the Pinoy player's luck.
I hope his family knows how much he has touched lives of others the world over and how much he was valued and appreciated. They have my sincerest condolences.
Thank you for everything, Edwin.
Joey Aguzin
