Recent content by jay helfert

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...

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.

Sounds a little dangerous to me. I won some big money in biker bars but being a very quiet and humble hustler. I once beat the president of a notorious biker gang out of thousands and the title to his chopper. He paid me in full and showed me total respect. True that! P.S. I played my best from...

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...

Yes, he’s what we call a “player,” nothing more, nothing less. He doesn’t hustle anyone! He is just looking for a game with a little money on the line. You can simply say yes or no to that. I happen to like that there are still guys like that around. Reminds me of the old days. I used to walk...

You’re amazing Gene. Always been a well respected player and stand up guy. Keep on keeping on!

And people are worried about machines supplanting humans and taking over by force if necessary. The hard truth is we humans are giving our power to them. They don’t need to devise a strategy against us. We are doing that for them!

Yep, I was there helping Ronnie keep track of all the bets. Funny money is all I’ve got to say!

That’s not a business model. That’s an opinion.

There is no business model here. Just two guys trying to prove who the best player is, by making a healthy bet on the outcome. Pretty sure they both have backers. If they are betting their own that would make the match significant. Otherwise no big deal.

I fell in love with pool and all its challenges at the ripe old age of 18. So I was a late bloomer and started far behind the future champions. I became obsessed with pool and in a period of three years went from a beginner to a “shortstop” speed. I was beating all the guys who used to rob me...

Like I told Shane one day a long time ago, “There’s room at the top if you’re good enough!” And it turns out he was.

You knew him well, Bunny the Rogue!

We always played "base of the ball" in every 14.1 tournament I ever refereed in. Same applied in 9-Ball. The real history of Texas Express rules begins with the McDermott 9-Ball Tour during the early 1980's. It was introduced by the three guys who ran that tour, two of them still alive today...

An entire collection of pool/billiard books. Many are must-have for the serious pool fan and others are just hard to find. Lot's of good information and fun reading. Selling them all in one lot. Full List: Treasury of Trick Shots and The Wonderful World of Pool & Billiards both by Robert...