I got in four days ago and spent the first few days with my GF and my daughter. Yesterday I got the itch to play and I'm in pretty good stroke after a 2 month diet of Dennis O., Carlo B., Warren K. and Manny Chau. I've been chewed up, beaten down and run over by four of the best. Bottom line they got me playing some pretty fair country pool right now.
I know the pool rooms pretty well in this neck of the woods and Harrison Plaza has a room that is hopping in the day time. One Side doesn't even begin to roll until late at night. I take my sweet girl with me over to Harrison and sure enough the room is still there after not having been there in 2 years. The only change is three ping pong tables in front replacing a couple of pool tables. The place is fairly full at 2 PM with a couple of money games in progress. No matter, several "hustlers" greet me and ask if I'm looking for a game. I get into my game mode and begin the back and forth chatter that is so much fun for me. They know Americans like 9-Ball and One Pocket, but no one will play the latter and everyone wants to play the former :wink:.
One guy even remembers me playing Bank Pool in there a couple of years before and he calls me Mr. Bank Pool. I ask him if he wants to play Banks and he shakes his head no. No one else will accept my offer to play Bank Pool and the guy says no one plays that game here. They are all asking me to play 9-Ball, Ten Ball or Eight Ball. I tell them that since I'm in the Philippines I will play some Rotation. They love that answer, hooting and hollering! Did I tell you how much I love these poolrooms! This story is going to get good so hang on.
I finally make a game with an older guy whose name I never asked. We play Rotation for 500P a game, about $12. We go back and forth and he finally wins 1000P and I quit. He plays GOOD! And I don't know these tables like he does. That's a big advantage! I want to get the feel of the table so after more haggling I agree to play a Race To Nine 9-Ball for 2000P. It will give me a chance to play and get the feel of the table and the bet is not too big. By now a nice crowd has gathered to watch and sweat the game, maybe 30 or 40 guys all around us. I LOVE this atmosphere! These guys will applaud your good shots and hoot and holler if you do something cool. I feel confident even though I know I'm the underdog. I love my Bautista cue and I'm hitting the balls good. I feel like I can make anything. It's moving the cue ball that's still a problem.
He wins the first three games but I'm okay, still hanging in there. I know we have a long way to go. I come on strong, running out a few times and take the lead finally at 6-5. Now I play my best pool of the day and get to the hill at 8-5. This guy is good under pressure and makes a very nice run out. In my heart I know he is the better player here but I still want to win. The next game he misses a long eight ball and leaves me on the end rail. The eight is close to the far corner pocket and the nine is down at my end. I level on the eight and just fire it in sending the cue ball three rails back down table. I hit it good but the cue ball scratches three rails in the corner.
Now it's 8-7 and he's breaking. I feel like it may well go hill-hill and I really don't want that. I get a shot on the five ball, thanks to his failed safety. After the five everything else is tough. I must move the cue up and down table and in close quarters. I make the six and get on the seven good. The eight is on the rail by the side pocket, the worst possible place to be. I manage to get on the eight, but it's a long shot up in the corner and I need to draw back a foot or two for the nine. I know I must make my best shot of the match right now. I take a deep breath and level on the ball. I feel okay and I think about Earl when he said "I just want to give it a legitimate effort." And I do, firing the eight cleanly down the rail and bringing the cue ball back for the nine! OMG I did it! The crowd really lets out a lot of noise on this shot and I feel like a 25 year old young gun again. Once again I'm a hungry young player trying to get the money. I have a half table cut on the nine. This shot could be dogged but I feel good when I get down, JUST MAKE THE BALL I'm thinking. I fire it in and almost fall to the floor. The underdog has pulled off an upset. I take my cue apart. I'm done for the day, worn out after about three hours of play. Many guys are talking to me now, telling me I play good 9-Ball and stuff like that. Reminds me of another time so long long ago.
Some guy tells me that Dennis is playing Bong in another pool room a few miles away. Bong is an up and coming champion here, a wisp of a man, similar in size to Nick Varner. But a brilliant money player who challenges all the top players over here. We say our good byes and go outside to catch a taxi. Traffic is brutal at 5:30 in the afternoon. It takes 15-20 minutes to get a cab. He explains that the traffic is too heavy to get us where we want to go but he will get us close and we can take a trike (3 wheel motorbike) from there. 45 minutes later we are in the vicinity and he drops us off. Thank God for my GF. She does all the communicating for us. The trike driver goes down the wrong side of the road to avoid all the traffic and after a wild ride we are at the mall where the game is supposed to be taking place. We wander around inside, asking people where the billiards is. No one seems to know until a security guard tells us we must go to the next building over. This is very typical of Manila, bad directions or no directions at all. We walk a long way and finally we are in the right building. Now we get directed to the billiards and I can see the crowd upstairs from a long distance away. They are lining a balcony and I know this is it.
I fight my way thru the crowd so I can see my buddy Dennis. Except he's not there! I see only Bong and Jeff de Luna. Jeff gives me a big smile and I ask him where is Dennis. He tells me that he is playing Bong, not Dennis. It's a Race to 20, Ten Ball for 66,000P (about $1,500). A very big game over here. The place is absolutely packed but people make room for me and my GF. An American with a cue over there is obviously someone important!The score is 12-5 in favor of Jeff but they are not playing. It's between games and a round of betting is going on. Jeff must wait until all bets are made on the next game before he breaks. It's an amazing scenario, unlike anything you will ever see in a poolroom in the USA (or anywhere else for that matter). Several guys are walking around hawking bets on both players with a new line for that game. It resembles a cock fight arena, with all the hand signals and hollering back and forth. In fact they even call it a Pool "fight", not a pool game. When all the bets are made Jeff can finally break the balls. I'm guessing tens of thousands have been bet on this one game alone. Jeff says to me this is how they gamble here. I'm simply astonished by what I see and ask my GF to record one of these sessions between games. I will try to post it later on here. How Jeff can play after all this is also amazing to me. He gets up there and unloads that explosive break (one of the hardest in the game), makes a ball and runs out! It's a small poolroom with only five tables, but they look to be in great shape with good lighting. I can see why they chose this place to play.
We watch several games and I'm happy just to be a witness to this. It's so damn cool to see how they really GAMBLE over here. Some guy comes in who had seen me play earlier at Harrison Plaza. He tells a few people about watching me play and I get a a little respect and acknowledgment. Cool with me. We stay until the score is 16-7 Jeff and I'm ready to bail. It's been a long day and I'm tired. An hour later we are back in our hotel and I crash!
Thank you MR.JAY, another great story!
You know you should write a book someday!
