The document of our pool related road trip across the U.S. updated daily

Has this all been one long publicity stunt?

No I really did give up my home and car and phone, as I have said before I am all in and there is no other option for me. I have nothing to fall back on if we end up broke. So I am trying my best to learn from this experience. Gene will not be around forever, and I hope by the time we are no longer on the road together I will learn enough to be on the road myself or have someone else as a travelling companion.

I don't have family that would allow me to stay with them while I "get back on my feet" going back to a "regular" life would involve filing bankruptcy for sure and with my credit I would have an incredible struggle even getting a vehicle or an apartment on my own.

It really doesn't matter because things will never come to that anyway, I am improving albeit slowly at my skill and knowledge in pool. I am even starting to learn to play 1 pocket. Hopefully by next year I will have learned how to match up better instead of just accepting the first offer I get. I really never cared about getting a game that seemed impossible to lose, I always just wanted to find a coin-flip game where I knew I had a chance to win but definately not a guarantee and most of the time I take the worst of the game and try to outrun the odds. This is what I need to change, the odds need to be in my own favor if I am gonna survive indefinately on income from pool alone.

The reason I want to get good at pool is because I want to play world class someday and I am willing to work at it.

Anyway Gene just woke up and he said he is feeling great. This is the first time he has ever said that the entire time I've known him lol. So I guess he feels he can win this qualifier so that we can go to the Midlothian East Coast 9-ball tour in December for the $10,000.00 first place :thumbup:
 
The reason I want to get good at pool is because I want to play world class someday and I am willing to work at it.

That isn't going to happen. Ever. You'd be advised to forget all about that and concentrate on what IS achievable - taking money from rich saps who don't know how bad they are.

You need to slip under the radar, not see your name up in lights.
 
No I really did give up my home and car and phone, as I have said before I am all in and there is no other option for me. I have nothing to fall back on if we end up broke. So I am trying my best to learn from this experience. Gene will not be around forever, and I hope by the time we are no longer on the road together I will learn enough to be on the road myself or have someone else as a travelling companion.

I don't have family that would allow me to stay with them while I "get back on my feet" going back to a "regular" life would involve filing bankruptcy for sure and with my credit I would have an incredible struggle even getting a vehicle or an apartment on my own.

It really doesn't matter because things will never come to that anyway, I am improving albeit slowly at my skill and knowledge in pool. I am even starting to learn to play 1 pocket. Hopefully by next year I will have learned how to match up better instead of just accepting the first offer I get. I really never cared about getting a game that seemed impossible to lose, I always just wanted to find a coin-flip game where I knew I had a chance to win but definately not a guarantee and most of the time I take the worst of the game and try to outrun the odds. This is what I need to change, the odds need to be in my own favor if I am gonna survive indefinately on income from pool alone.

The reason I want to get good at pool is because I want to play world class someday and I am willing to work at it.

Anyway Gene just woke up and he said he is feeling great. This is the first time he has ever said that the entire time I've known him lol. So I guess he feels he can win this qualifier so that we can go to the Midlothian East Coast 9-ball tour in December for the $10,000.00 first place :thumbup:

90% of pro players in the U.S are broke. They have no car, no home, no credit. And that's what you're doing all this for? Johnnyt
 
Good Lord Rhea!!!!!! Get some form of training or education before it is too late. You'll never be able to live a quality life on the income from pool. There are way to many members here that are trying to get that point across to you. Many of which have years of experience in life far beyond your own.. It's nice to dream about being a pro pool player and earning a comfortable living from it BUT the reality is quite different. JMO!!!!!!!!
 
Yeah. Don't you always say ANYONE can get to be pro standard with the right dedication and teaching?

That's exactly what I say and exactly what I believe to be true. Not to belabor the point but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing about the technical side of playing pool that any person of proper physical ability and reasonable intelligence cannot master.

There is no magic pool gene. What there is tons and tons and tons of hard work and dedication, experience, seasoning, and the right amount of pure desire that must be there.

I would bet HUGE amounts of money that if there were some way to have a life-cam attached to every player on the planet the one thing you would see is that the "learning time clock" for 100% of great players would be astronomically higher than the learning-time clocks of lesser players.

I firmly believe that if Rhea were to bear down and work SVB style on her game that she would reach pro level. But FACT of it is that very few people on the planet are willing to put in that time and dedication. Thus very few people are at SVB's level or even close to it.
 
If somebody can get a pool reality TV show, it's Gene and Rhea. It sure got our attention!
 
tap, tap, tap!...especially the bolded part. Get solid fundmentals, and then get some competition!...be it gambling, leagues or tournaments. I think all three are different, and together they accelerate the learning curve. Relying on gambling alone...especially without the solid mechanics, is going to be a lost cause for many players (and I believe that's the case here). To succeed you MUST be able to "trust your stroke"...on demand, under pressure, in one try! :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

That's exactly what I say and exactly what I believe to be true. Not to belabor the point but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing about the technical side of playing pool that any person of proper physical ability and reasonable intelligence cannot master.

There is no magic pool gene. What there is tons and tons and tons of hard work and dedication, experience, seasoning, and the right amount of pure desire that must be there.

I would bet HUGE amounts of money that if there were some way to have a life-cam attached to every player on the planet the one thing you would see is that the "learning time clock" for 100% of great players would be astronomically higher than the learning-time clocks of lesser players.
.
 
That's exactly what I say and exactly what I believe to be true. Not to belabor the point but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing about the technical side of playing pool that any person of proper physical ability and reasonable intelligence cannot master.

There is no magic pool gene. What there is tons and tons and tons of hard work and dedication, experience, seasoning, and the right amount of pure desire that must be there.

I would bet HUGE amounts of money that if there were some way to have a life-cam attached to every player on the planet the one thing you would see is that the "learning time clock" for 100% of great players would be astronomically higher than the learning-time clocks of lesser players.

I firmly believe that if Rhea were to bear down and work SVB style on her game that she would reach pro level. But FACT of it is that very few people on the planet are willing to put in that time and dedication. Thus very few people are at SVB's level or even close to it.

I have a friend who, although he has some slight brain damage from drugs, is very intelligent & grasps things quickly. When we were about 20 & I was playing pool every day he picked up & read one of my pool books. He had never played before but he somehow just got everything he read about it & started playing, I still have a very hard time beating him.
 
That's exactly what I say and exactly what I believe to be true. Not to belabor the point but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing about the technical side of playing pool that any person of proper physical ability and reasonable intelligence cannot master.

There is no magic pool gene. What there is tons and tons and tons of hard work and dedication, experience, seasoning, and the right amount of pure desire that must be there.

I would bet HUGE amounts of money that if there were some way to have a life-cam attached to every player on the planet the one thing you would see is that the "learning time clock" for 100% of great players would be astronomically higher than the learning-time clocks of lesser players.

I firmly believe that if Rhea were to bear down and work SVB style on her game that she would reach pro level. But FACT of it is that very few people on the planet are willing to put in that time and dedication. Thus very few people are at SVB's level or even close to it.

Agreed. There is definitely natural talent differences in people, but if you read the chapter in Outliers about the 10,000 hour rule, studies have shown that there aren't any examples of world class athletes/performers/etc that were able to get there in 3,000 hours and vice versa, where folks that practiced a craft for 10,000 hours didn't get near world class ability.
 
True...but with the right kind of combination of hands on instruction, solid fundamentals, and disciplined practice + playing practice (gambling/tournaments etc), I believe you could accomplish that goal in less than 5000 hours. I also believe that a LOT of players, if they took the route I'm describing, could get to that "pro-ability" level. Whether they had the heart to compete at the highest level remains to be seen...but they would possess the requisite skill sets. JMO :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Agreed. There is definitely natural talent differences in people, but if you read the chapter in Outliers about the 10,000 hour rule, studies have shown that there aren't any examples of world class athletes/performers/etc that were able to get there in 3,000 hours and vice versa, where folks that practiced a craft for 10,000 hours didn't get near world class ability.
 
That's exactly what I say and exactly what I believe to be true. Not to belabor the point but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing about the technical side of playing pool that any person of proper physical ability and reasonable intelligence cannot master.

There is no magic pool gene. What there is tons and tons and tons of hard work and dedication, experience, seasoning, and the right amount of pure desire that must be there.

I would bet HUGE amounts of money that if there were some way to have a life-cam attached to every player on the planet the one thing you would see is that the "learning time clock" for 100% of great players would be astronomically higher than the learning-time clocks of lesser players.

I firmly believe that if Rhea were to bear down and work SVB style on her game that she would reach pro level. But FACT of it is that very few people on the planet are willing to put in that time and dedication. Thus very few people are at SVB's level or even close to it.

In the NEW pool instructional book, "Play Great Pool", the two authors, Mark Wilson and Don Wardell, M.D. detail precisely how difficult it is to obtain pro level ability AND how to obtain pro player ability AND just how long it will take to obtain a pro player skill level. (This book is not for the dreamers; it is more so for the "determined" and for those who just want to learn.

It is a "textbook" of pool desgined for those who are genuinely serious about learning how to play pool at a high level. $70 but worth it imo.

If you think you'll learn how to play pool at a pro level in a few thousand hours, you might be disappointed........ (Something to think about for budding professionals)

JoeyA
 
Well I'm a nobody. I just started playing again 2 1/2 months ago everyday for an hour or two. I used to play as a kid, but stopped at about 20 yrs old. It's been about 15 yrs since I played. My game is getting better everyday. I run racks occasionally. I played an apa 7 a couple of weeks ago and was hanging with him all night, not even really trying. See me in 1 year, Ray. Or bring it to NC and I'll smash on you real quick and show you, you aren't pro material.
 
In the NEW pool instructional book, "Play Great Pool", the two authors, Mark Wilson and Don Wardell, M.D. detail precisely how difficult it is to obtain pro level ability AND how to obtain pro player ability AND just how long it will take to obtain a pro player skill level. (This book is not for the dreamers; it is more so for the "determined" and for those who just want to learn.

It is a "textbook" of pool desgined for those who are genuinely serious about learning how to play pool at a high level. $70 but worth it imo.

If you think you'll learn how to play pool at a pro level in a few thousand hours, you might be disappointed........ (Something to think about for budding professionals)

JoeyA

$70? For a book? :eek:
 
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