Bad home table

[jay helfert]

And you know every table Jay ever had was set up great and always clean,
Just like his hall.

Will Prout

Right on. My Day Man's first job each day was cleaning all the tables (GC's) and the balls! It wasn't busy early in the day, so he had time for that.

My first rule for all my employees was you never kept customers waiting at the counter. You greeted them and took care of them right away. If you were busy you let them know you would be with them in a moment. Failure to do this could cost you your job!

I learned early on the customer comes first! Without them you have no business.

 

[jay helfert]

I was working in a dry county. First place to even buy a beer was thirty miles away. I was dry from working all week and a couple six packs slid right down! Another twenty miles to a pool table and a few miles off of the main highway, a town called Forest Hills LA.

The table was one step away from falling down and looked to have cloth that could be certified as antique. Some rips half the size of Texas had been glued down. There were about twenty or thirty people in there and a young man ready to play. What I didn't expect was every person in the room cheering every time he made a ball, laughing and jeering or cheering every time I missed.

He knew the table and the half case of beer in twenty minutes had hit me like a freight train. The hostile crowd was the main thing that put me off balance but the local hero knowing the table played a big part too. I lost. I went back again the next week, only a sixpack of twelve ounce beer. He got me again. I decided only two beers and I would take one more shot at him on that super ratty table he knew every roll on.

After some thought, I decided to let things be. He had beaten me twice and the project I was on was wrapping up. If I beat him he would never get a shot to try to regain his crown. Didn't seem fair after he had beaten me twice. I would have trounced him on a table. Between the thing we were playing on that could hardly be called a table and the hostile crowd, it was an uphill battle and one I had failed at, twice!

I ran into the same general deal a handful of times in my travels. A little bar that barely fit between the two lane highway and a canal that workboats and small tugs went through. The crews would stop for a beer at lunch, tying to the dock behind the bar. Sometimes they had more boats tied up than cars in the little parking lot. Playing conditions were terrible and the man that knew the conditions cleaned my clock!

Hu

I played on many junk tables (and gaffy ones) in my life. I just looked at it as being a challenge. I always felt that if I was the better player I would find a way to win, and usually did.

 

[jay helfert]

I can sympathize Hu!!
Beating the local hero can be a risky proposition.
Those are shark infested waters. A fine line to walk.
A partner is a godsend in those situations, even though I'm huge and can handle myself, did my best to avoid or diffuse confrontations, which always seem to occur when you mix alcohol with putting Their money in Your pocket.
That's why it's so important to try and read the room and find out who's who in the pecking order. Some guys might be easy marks but aren't worth the hassle of dealing with. Assholes w Attitude.
The hard part is when a bunch of peeps suddenly pop in on shift change looking for a liquid lunch and you can't tell what the hell is going on.
And NEVER flirt with the lone pretty gal who walks in!!! Recipe for disaster.
Go w the flow and hope you don't get bit.

You got that right! Gambling and alcohol can be a volatile mix. That's why I never hustled the bars. I tried to win every game! If anyone ever called me a hustler I just told them that I never hustled anybody! I played my best to win every game. That usually calmed them down. The truth is your best defense!

 

[jay helfert]

It's funny, but of all the places I've been in over the years, the ones that stood out and still do are the places that had great food or the shittiest tables you've ever played on!!
One or the other.
The nice places or the ring games on the downstairs tables after the tournaments faded fast. Very few can I recall. May have something to do with getting in and getting the hell out - as fast as you can. Quickly and quietly.
I'm sure there are those of you who know exactly wtf I'm talking about here prolly better than I do, Hu.

How about playing on an Indian reservation against the local indian champ and I'm the only white man in there. And all the indians are drinking and rooting against me. I was glad to get out of there with my toupee intact!

 

[jay helfert]

People think a player should have a million stories but pool was my first or second job when I was playing nightly. It's a lot like asking what happened on my day job twenty years ago for the most part. All just a blur. I mostly remember when things got funny or dangerous.

I know most have read the story of playing Danny Medina too often. However, I remember that because it is the most fun I have had playing pool. We were laughing and talking while there was a fierce battle on the table. With me having home field advantage we were probably as equal as it was possible for two players to be. We parted as friends, can't ask for more! I have heard that the road got the better of him later but the young Danny Medina was a true road warrior.

He tried to talk me into going on the road with him, even left his home number in those days before cell phones. I had a very good paying day job that looked like lasting so the road didn't have much appeal at the moment. I threw away the phone number to resist temptation.

Hu

Danny and I made good money together. And we got along great. I handled the money and he never complained. He was fearless and would play anybody, betting as much as 500 a game. Big money in the 1980's! Our biggest score was 12,000.

 

[maha]

Danny and I made good money together. And we got along great. I handled the money and he never complained. He was fearless and would play anybody, betting as much as 500 a game. Big money in the 1980's! Our biggest score was 12,000.

he was the best 9 ball in the world when younger. and no one wanted to play him. but he had a big head and pushed it and really couldn't get any good action later on. couldn't keep money either and died dead broke like most of the old timers.

 

[jay helfert]

he was the best 9 ball in the world when younger. and no one wanted to play him. but he had a big head and pushed it and really couldn't get any good action later on. couldn't keep money either and died dead broke like most of the old timers.

He wasn't that old. Never recovered from the beating he took in Vegas. Some thugs sent him to the hospital with a broken jaw.

 

[Mensabum]

How about playing on an Indian reservation against the local indian champ and I'm the only white man in there. And all the indians are drinking and rooting against me. I was glad to get out of there with my toupee intact!

That's one I haven't heard!!
Clusters last stand.

 

[Mensabum]

You got that right! Gambling and alcohol can be a volatile mix. That's why I never hustled the bars. I tried to win every game! If anyone ever called me a hustler I just told them that I never hustled anybody! I played my best to win every game. That usually calmed them down. The truth is your best defense!

I knew many players with the same attitude. You want their money, you had to Beat them playing your best.
Hard won money.
As most of you already know, I have a lazy streak, so playing any harder than I had to in order to win was too much work.
The 'bum' in my avatar is there for good reason.

 

[Mensabum]

Danny and I made good money together. And we got along great. I handled the money and he never complained. He was fearless and would play anybody, betting as much as 500 a game. Big money in the 1980's! Our biggest score was 12,000.

 

[Mensabum]

Danny and I made good money together. And we got along great. I handled the money and he never complained. He was fearless and would play anybody, betting as much as 500 a game. Big money in the 1980's! Our biggest score was 12,000.

I didn't have the contacts to draw the heavy hitters until later in life, not that I wouldn't have played them back then, and did, a few, simply bcuz of the players I hung around with.
My bread and butter was anonymity which I guarded closely. Get in, get out, leave nothing. Who was that masked man sorta thing.
Like so many of you have said, I'd play anybody.
You never know until the balls fall.
I preferred the lesser known players. The local shortstops and such who usually had someone behind them.
There are far more of those players in any given hall than pros.
Easier money.
And like many of you, I've stepped in it and had my ass handed to me as well.
Take the good w the bad, mostly good.
I wouldn't have traded my lifestyle for all the tea in China, as Jay once commented.

 

[jay helfert]

I didn't have the contacts to draw the heavy hitters until later in life, not that I wouldn't have played them back then, and did, a few, simply bcuz of the players I hung around with.
My bread and butter was anonymity which I guarded closely. Get in, get out, leave nothing. Who was that masked man sorta thing.
Like so many of you have said, I'd play anybody.
You never know until the balls fall.
I preferred the lesser known players. The local shortstops and such who usually had someone behind them.
There are far more of those players in any given hall than pros.
Easier money.
And like many of you, I've stepped in it and had my ass handed to me as well.
Take the good w the bad, mostly good.
I wouldn't have traded my lifestyle for all the tea in China, as Jay once commented.

Yes I was lazy too, but got an invaluable education during those years. I learned how to take care of myself and what I was capable of. I'd like to think I developed the backbone that made me the man I became.

 

[GoldCrown]

Yes I was lazy too, but got an invaluable education during those years. I learned how to take care of myself and what I was capable of. I'd like to think I developed the backbone that made me the man I became.

Confidence is everything. Believe in yourself... I tell that to the young ones..

 

[dquarasr]

The local hall near me used to be an absolute POS. I never could understand why people would play there. They did finally move to all Diamonds but their food still sucks.

Sounds like a place I know. Is your example in FL?

 

[GoldCrown]

Somewhere in LA.... Do you think these are bad tables? Funniest place I've ever been. It's a sports bar.... drinking is the attraction. These table are perfect for drunks. We left as fast as we went in. It got loud..real loud.

 

[Chili Palmer]

Sounds like a place I know. Is your example in FL?

Negative.

 

[Chili Palmer]

How about playing on an Indian reservation against the local indian champ and I'm the only white man in there. And all the indians are drinking and rooting against me. I was glad to get out of there with my toupee intact!

LOL, I was once in a suit and tie in Roswell, NM and was beating up on the locals at the local hotel bar. I had to borrow a cue because the night before there was a bar fight and all the sticks were broken. Luckily the rough crowd left after about an hour, thought I was going to get taken out back.

 

[mnorwood]

The thought that comes to mind about most home tables whether they are nice or not is the lack of play on them. I have gone to houses before where there was no spot on the foot spot, no burn marks from regular play even rooms where the table really didn’t fit but that didn’t seam to matter the owners didn’t play on it enough to care. Tables end up as expensive decoration or an oversized piece of furniture to stack laundry or become an open air junk drawer catch all.

 

[Mensabum]

Yes I was lazy too, but got an invaluable education during those years. I learned how to take care of myself and what I was capable of. I'd like to think I developed the backbone that made me the man I became.

We all know of your character Jay. You've proven yourself time and time again to be the class act you are.
In my case, I didn't want the notariety. Due to certain spectrum issues, I shunned it. I did learn invaluable lessons tho. I use these every day and like you, I'm the man I am today bcuz of it.
Fame wasn't something I wanted. Quite the opposite in fact. I thot of myself as the giant killer.
If you were a player back then, you commanded respect. You could walk in anywhere and quickly establish your dominance. We were the Studs. The bad boys on the block. Society frowned upon us. Mother's hated us for our charm. Father's for our willingness to go against the grain.
The trendsetters, the alphas. Every guy wanted to be like us. Every girl wanted a boyfriend like us. For the most part. We were free to do as we wished at a time when societal norms restricted those freedoms on most people. That's what I found to be most liberating.

 

[Mensabum]

Yes I was lazy too, but got an invaluable education during those years. I learned how to take care of myself and what I was capable of. I'd like to think I developed the backbone that made me the man I became.

I beg to differ on the part about you being lazy Jay.
I've had the opportunity to observe you from afar and you're the epitome of hard work and dedication to what you believe. Can't hide passion like that my friend. It shines thru, nmw.