If you live in the SouthWest beware of this HUSTLER.

maha said:
stiff me last game
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Where I played if I busted them an air barrel was allowed. Heck a gambling partner that went by Birdman (or Pidgeon Dave) would always offer a walking bean when the opponent went bust. Good customer relations.
Birdman and I killed a $10 a stick Scotch doubles ring game on a night we weren't speaking to each other. (Pretty sure I was in the wrong.) But the money salved the hard feelings. 🤷‍♂️
 
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maha said:
phone booth and call the cops
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Oh No another story triggered.
At the H bar B in Oakdale CA, the cowboys sport was first one to hit the ground buys the beer. Anyway somebody was getting scared. He slipped out and called the cops. When he saw the patrol car approaching he slipped back in and navigated through the ongoing commotion to the pool table and crawled under it! NO! Really laid on his back and carefully moved his feet as to not get stepped on.
Well Oakdale was and probably still is the cowboy capital of the world. That nights commotion was a good one heck even the owner clocked someone. He justified it with, "I own the place." And oh yes when the owner stepped from behind the bar to join in the fun a cunning local patron slipped behind the bar to pour free drinks to the spectators. Oh yeah Oakdale!!!
 
maha said:
im a hustler. i lie about how good or bad i play. i play only good enough to win the money. i make games i feel i always have the best of it.
i do whatever it takes to convince him to raise the bet to any amount. i act dumb and look like i make mistakes. i sell out often especially when it doesn't cost me much. i play games where i don't have to show my speed. i get repeat customers. as after they lose they are never sure why and want to play again.
that is what a hustler does.

a guy that walks in and asks people to play is not a hustler but a gambler at pool.
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jay helfert said:
We called guys like you “lock artists.” You “laid down the lemon” and always made sure to have the best of it. Or “the nuts” or better yet “the Hungarian nuts!”

The difference between you and me was that I wanted to get a game and be in action every day. I hated sitting around the place doing nothing but waiting for a game, the right game. You had much more patience than me. You knew you were going to win going in. I didn’t! I had to fight for it, every little score. But winning was so sweet when I finally made them quit and got the money.

In the end you probably made more than me, but I got to play a lifetime of pool in only ten years. And all the good memories that came with it.

I will admit this though. If a guy tried to cheat me on the score (on the wire) or the ball count in One Pocket I often let them get away with it. After awhile I realized it was a sign of weakness and I was still going to win. It might take me a little longer but they would keep playing because they thought they were getting away with something. Yep, I played dumb them too.
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you 2 remind me of the guy i play onepocket with on sundays and his brother (R.I.P)
the brother was the type to walk in to a pool room and say i will play anyone for as much as they want
he wanted to show how good he was and gamble
(he was good enough to offer 100 or no count in straight pool to lesser players according to his brother)
never able to keep money and never would go to a room to go thru the pecking order of the players
wanted to play the best
@jay helfert not that you did exactly that (and especially you knew how to make and keep money)
but you would step up and show "heart" to get in a game where you werent a lock to win
correct me if i am wrong
the brother was happy to stall and make steady money never having to show his speed
the brother always had money and is doing fine now
if pool is how you support yourself and your family
how much you win and save should be the criteria of not how good do you play but how good did you do
@maha did a good job of that
and @jay helfert seems to have did pretty good too
there is no right or wrong of the path anyone one takes
i think @jay helfert and @maha are both happy in the way they approached playing pool for money
jmho
icbw
 
ShootingArts said:
played whatever speed I needed to but basically three speeds
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More memories...
On occasion in a 1 or 2 dollar game I would hit a big Boys shot. I would immediately proclaim, "That's a 10 dollar shot."
At The Mustard Seed 2 in Bellevue there was a soft 1 and 2 ring game that I was allowed into for a year or 2. My personal rule was never make more than 3 balls without splashing the cash. Every shot included hello to the money balls on some nights. Small money that kept me in shape and the weaker players didn't mind paying a few bucks for the lessons. When it was time to move on I put two racks together and all 4 unscrewed. I thanked them for the beer money and withdrew to allow them to carry on 4 handed. No hard feelings.
 
I saw a huge guy, over 500 lbs, with a white ponytail flowing down over his grey t-shirt. He was playing on a small table with dirty gold cloth and he moved his hips back and forth while he was stroking. I’ll never forget the visual as he looked like a Silverback gorilla humping a Yorkie. His game wasn’t too bad though
 
maha said:
yea jay i let my customers cheat me, stiff me last game, mess with the count sometimes, short me money, but it only made them keep playing.

i didnt have to have the nuts, only what i thought was the best of it. but usually did as back then guys just wanted to play.
i played every day i wanted to, as had a steady supply of customers. and had many long sessions. but did not care if i didn't play as pool rooms were fun back then if you were just sitting around and bullshitting.

but what it taught me was about keeping money and investing it. it was more fun with a pocketful of money than only enough for coffee.
what you did worked well for you. and was very successful. hats off.
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I wonder if we ever crossed paths. My active period was the 60’s and 70’s. I became a TD and room owner after that. Still played but mostly on my home court. We learned many of the same lessons. I liked waking up with a few hundred in my pocket.
 
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bbb said:
you 2 remind me of the guy i play onepocket with on sundays and his brother (R.I.P)
the brother was the type to walk in to a pool room and say i will play anyone for as much as they want
he wanted to show how good he was and gamble
(he was good enough to offer 100 or no count in straight pool to lesser players according to his brother)
never able to keep money and never would go to a room to go thru the pecking order of the players
wanted to play the best
@jay helfert not that you did exactly that (and especially you knew how to make and keep money)
but you would step up and show "heart" to get in a game where you werent a lock to win
correct me if i am wrong
the brother was happy to stall and make steady money never having to show his speed
the brother always had money and is doing fine now
if pool is how you support yourself and your family
how much you win and save should be the criteria of not how good do you play but how good did you do
@maha did a good job of that
and @jay helfert seems to have did pretty good too
there is no right or wrong of the path anyone one takes
i think @jay helfert and @maha are both happy in the way they approached playing pool for money
jmho
icbw
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I usually had no idea how good a guy played before we got on the table. I felt like I played good enough to defend myself. If I ran into someone who was just too good I could quit or try changing the game to One Pocket or Banks. I could usually tell within a game or two what I was up against. I watched how he moved the cue ball and made tough shots. After that it was off to the races!

P.S. it helped that I knew most of the top players already. If I didn’t know a guy I wasn’t that worried. Only Larry Lisciotti and Billy Johnson got over on me. They snuck Youngblood in on me playing Banks, but I changed the game to 5-4 and he couldn’t shake me.
 
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jay helfert said:
If I ran into someone who was just too good I could quit or try changing the game
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Another flashback. I walked in cold and jumped into a $10 game on a new to me table. My opponent played good (he cashed in a Reno open event) and never gave me a breath to get settled. I went down a hundred immediately. So there was a different brand of table with different cloth adjacent the one we were playing on. So I proposed that we change tables and play for 20. When he hesitated I said, "Well that or we are done." So he accepted. My plan worked and I got enough air to get into stroke. Got the cash back into my pocket, then made a basic mistake of marking the games.
When the marker got to 120 on my side and my opponent was bumming quarters to rack. I asked to see some money. He had to go to his car to get it and never came back. My hundred dollar lesson that didn't cost anything but my time.
Heck he didn't even have a car.
Reminds of the Unesy Rider song. "I don't even have a garage, you can ask my wife."
 
jay helfert said:
. I liked waking up with a few hundred in my pocket.
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I always thought of the money as ammunition.
There were times that I only had one barrel.
There was a time when a guy I was beating at 10 a game mumbled that he didn't think I could play for Big Money. I made it a point to carry at least a thousand for a long time. He was just grumbling and avoided talking after I asked him to "Jack the Bet." "Jack it and Stack it" is a favorite term that came up often when the top players in the Northwet were telling stories.
 
Black-Balled said:
I recall we put together a list of all the usernames he had...it was a LOT!

Az_biclist was another one and yes, I'm pretty sure it was misspelled.

Maybe @CocoboloCowboy will honor hizzelf and us with some of the other past ones?
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Who's Got Black Balls?
Who's Got the Blackest Balls of them All?
Oops ac DC flashback
Well it is a flashback thread.
Right? Am I Right?
C'mon now, most of my friends are black. Well one is more than,...uh,.never mind. 😉
 
Shout out for Cocomo or info regarding his Where's he now?
Cocomo had a personal nick that he laid on me. Champ. 🤔 Always had a lilt of sarcasm or did I miss interpret. Gee he came from a different culture. Angle shoot was his skill. He took my weekly allowance when I first ventured into the weekly White Spot (Right Spot) 9 ball lessons.
The lessons were money well spent and after a year and a half I won A Beer! for 7/8.
 
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