New young guy here.
Hey everyone, and thanks for the add! I was told to hop on the forum by a good friend of mine, Ryan Birkenfeld, along with Phil Windham.
I’m fairly new to the world of billiards and collecting. I touched my first cue back in 2022/23. Most of you on here probably have underwear older than I am, and boots you’ve worn longer than I’ve been on a pool table. What got me into this crazy world actually started at my cigar store and lounge down here in Texas. A longtime customer of mine, Jerry Olivier, was, at the time, just another one of the many quirky characters my lounge seems to attract. That changed when we finally sat down and had a cigar together. He offered to make me a cue and get me into playing, and that moment turned out to be the beginning of the end for both my financial and mental stability.
Since then, I’ve been all in. One cue turned into two, then ten, and I’ve been diving headfirst into learning about the legends of the game ever since. I love playing almost as much as I love watching the game. At first, I was strictly a Jerry Olivier player. I picked up several of his cues and even had a couple one offs made. Recently, though, I made the terrible decision to enter the world of high end collecting. A truly incurable disease, as I’m sure many of you know. That path really started while watching some DCC videos. I heard Mark mention someone in the crowd carrying a big bag of premium cigars named Phil. Naturally, I had to figure out who that was… and my bank account definitely wishes I hadn’t.
After getting to know Phil, Nick Varner, Kim Davenport, and a few others during their time in Houston for Bogies Senior One Pocket Tournament, I took the plunge with my first big purchase: a Searing, along with a couple of Whitten cases. Since then, I’ve gone as far as setting up a pool room at home, well, technically a pool garage. I picked up an oversized 8’ Brunswick Century, added a perimeter light, sealed the garage up, epoxy-coated the floor, and now spend most nights out there rattling balls at home instead of the local pool hall Legends.
Anyway, that’s a little about me so far. Looking forward to learning more, meeting more of you, and (unfortunately for my wallet) continuing to grow the collection. Hopefully a Gina is next as my main mentor Ryan is harping on how much I need one.
Thanks again for the add,
Tyler
