Yeah, I find those games occasionally. The Pinoys are where we were at fifty or seventy-five years ago. Fierce battles with a rail full of people watching. They may be playing for low stakes but the stakes may be big to them. There was about a six month period in my life when my wheels were dead and I had just lost somebody close to me. I was at one of the lowest points in my life and didn't care enough to dig my way out. I had to walk a mile and a half to the nearest bar with a table to win enough to eat that day. If it was raining heavily, not uncommon in South Louisiana, I didn't eat that day. I usually hung on to enough for quarters on the table and a dollar beer back then to keep up the illusion I was there for the beer and not primarily for the pool. If not I would find a way to make a few dollars in the neighborhood. The first swallow of beer would hurt going down and I could feel the cold liquid all the way down to my empty stomach or further. Those three dollar games were important then! One of the few air barrels I ever fired was for three dollars.
The characters from yesteryear didn't always eat well or sleep comfortably. One reason today's players think the road is impossible is that they are chasing a lifestyle that only existed in tales. The old road players favored big cars. Fine road machines but the other reason for them was that they slept more comfortably than smaller vehicles. One reason I didn't hit the road with Danny Medina when he wanted me to was that he was driving a Malibu and I was driving a single seat pick-up. I was too tall to sleep fairly comfortably in the Malibu and the pick-up while I slept very well in it, only slept one!
A couple road tricks: The notell motels with doors to the parking lot for every room were handy. Cruise through and find a door that wasn't closed well. Was usually good for a few hours sleep in the bed that hadn't been used and a shower. Places that sold fast food and bakeries were usually dumping things just before closing. A fine time to score food, sometimes a lot of food, cheap!
The real life of a road player was boom and bust. I did it in a small way when I needed to pay bills. I would leave out usually needing a thousand or fifteen hundred back then, once in awhile I was just in the mood for a road trip. The road trips lasted until I had the money I needed. Usually a few days to a few weeks, once a few hours! On the road the first thing was to keep a gambling stake, then the vehicle ate, I was the bottom of the totem pole! I had a thirsty 454 under the hood which came in handy when I needed to get out of Dodge in a hurry. Fortunately my road trips were when gas was fifty cents to a dollar a gallon.
I was lucky to only have alcohol as a vice. I didn't smoke and didn't do any hard drugs. I didn't gamble at anything other than pool either. Sometimes the ponies when I was flush but purely for recreation. I would put twenty or forty in a front pocket and if I lost that betting was over. Let me actually come out ahead on the ponies long run, something few could say! I knew jockeys and trainers that lost every dime they had on the ponies, enough to keep me from thinking my little knowledge was enough long term.
There was an interview with Danny Medina in his later years. He acknowledged the road was a hard hard life and he was one of the best. The road players did start keeping books on the locals and swapping information which made things easier. Knowing they came with information, I didn't hesitate to dime them if a friend was involved. I did see how things were going first. I have seen the local playing way over their head sometimes and making a very nice score!
Gamblers are eternal optimists. Great to listen to or read the stories but many should begin, "Once upon a time ..." One bragged about never losing on here. A few weeks later he was posting a story about getting busted. Nobody won all the time.
Hu
