in the action areas i got a list of all the gamblers from worst to best. and played only them in that order. this way i could always say X and i play even all the time. if you beat someone up above, you lose most action most times from those below his speed.
problem is you have to basically move into town and camp out to get it all.
that's why most road players just try to take off the best player in that area and side bet with the crowd then move on.
problem is often the best player beats them.
I was the worst hustler in the world. I wanted to play pool so badly every day that I would just walk in and go to the counter and tell them I was looking for a game. That way I usually got a game really fast. Most of the time I was playing the best player in the house at that moment. Often the best player(s) in that area might not be there right then. In those days with so many poolrooms there were also many places with no real strong players. I'd say 80-90% of the time it was someone I could handle. 10-20% of the time it may have been a tough game. I would give it a try anyway, and grind with the guy hoping he would fade. If not and he got me stuck I just quit. If I won, which was most of the time, they would find someone else for me to play. That's when the games got tougher. If a guy was just too strong at 9-Ball I might quit (a little loser) and ask him to play some more One Pocket or Bank Pool. If they agreed (almost always One Pocket) I would try that. I turned that tables on a few guys that way. Only a few times did anyone ever want to play Banks. The only ones who ever beat me back then at Banks were Youngblood and Billy Johnson (Wade Crane).
I rarely stayed around longer than that day. My M.O. was to look for new places to play all the time. Even in the SoCal area there were over 300 poolrooms in a 50 mile radius. I went everywhere to every neightborhood; black, latino, asian, you name it. If I saw a billiards or pool sign I stopped! Plus there were thousands of bars where you could play dollar or two Eight Ball all night. Like I said, I wanted to play pool and not sit around scouting the action (only if I saw a money game in progress) and wait for a game. If I couldn't find a game quick enough I just got in my car and moved on. Sometimes someone in the poolroom would steer me to where I could find a game, and I would go there next.
I was undoubtedly the world's worst pool hustler and never considered myself a hustler. I never laid down on a game, always trying to win from the get go and never stalling to raise the bet. I found out a couple of times when I was advised to stall that I just got myself out of stroke. I did consider myself a pool player and when I was on the Mike Douglas TV show he asked me that exact question, "Were you a pool hustler?" and I said no I was a pool player because I never hustled anyone. A couple of times guys got mad when I beat them out of a few dollars and called me a hustler. I reminded then that I did not stall on them and did nothing to hustle them. I played my best pool right from the start. Many times I was asked at the counter if I was a good player and my response was that I played okay. I didn't try to lie to anyone.
I almost always played even, rarely asking for weight, except from a known player. And just as rarely giving up weight (so many times in a strange poolroom guys automatically asked for the eight ball because I was coming in off the street and looking for a game). I had a little speech I used, saying we both have two arms and legs and you don't know me and I don't know you, so let's just start out even and see how it goes. You'd be surprised how many times my little speech worked.
It's fun for me to remember my life from decades ago. I guess I was pretty fearless then. I felt like I could play good enough to protect myself. If someone was too strong a player for me they would have to show it! A couple of times I got hustled and a very good player stalled with me and let me get him stuck a few games. I could smell it when they kept asking to raise the bet. I would quit when they got even and they were usually pissed about that.
