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Good old Ernest "Nubby" Morgan, a true one armed pool player. He actually played pretty good, especially on bar boxes. I paid him $75 (his going rate) to do an exhibition in my poolroom and we put up a poster on the front window announcing it. Maybe fifty people showed up to watch him shoot...

A famous old time pool and card hustler (and a very successful one!) gave me some advice long ago that I'll share here. He told me it is not how well you manage your money. It is how well you manage yourself! This little bit of advice came after he watched me blow 10,000 playing Blackjack at...

One more on Cliff, who I happen to like very much but he has/had a major gambling problem. I stake him in the U.S. Bar Table Championships; travel money, free room, food allowance daily and paid entry fees. Probably cost me less than a thousand all told back then. He wins both divisions for 5K...

You got that right! My last real job was when I was 23. Of course running a large poolroom is a lot of work, but you are the employer, not the employee.

Years ago I made a big score (42K) at the World Series of Poker. Came in 5th in a big Hold'em event. I got the cash and put it in a Rio gift bag. As I exited the pay window who should I see but Cliff. Where he came from and how he knew I just won the money I have no idea. He greets me with...

Pool's greatest bite artists revealed: #1 all time Cliff Joyner, #2 Ronnie Allen (for big numbers!), #3 Keith (but he actually paid you back!), #4 old time champ Detroit Whitey, #5 another old timer Youngblood (recently passed away).

I learned this trick while owning poolrooms. If you had an undesirable customer, just loan them some money ($20 was adequate back then), and you'll never see them again. Voila!

I've used them all (USPO, UPS, Fedex etc.) when shipping stuff out. The prices have gone through the roof on all of them in the last two years. Pirate Ship will save you a little money (maybe 10%).

The riots had a lasting impact on off campus life. When I was there for those two days Kips had a lot of business and a few kids that liked to play Eight Ball or 9-Ball. True, they weren't good players, but I liked it that way. I didn't see Tony Bowles when I was there.

This one is in Pool Wars but if you haven't read it I'll give you the short version. After laying around L.A. getting high and playing little pool for several months I got bored and went on a road trip north to Frisco. I'll skip the stops I made in Bakersfield (played Nate at the Cue Ball which...

Keep going! I finally understand why there are pool tables in most every senior center. It's great exercise for our old bodies, all the bending and stretching. Not to mention how far you walk in a two hour session (over two miles on average!).

Of course, if you buy it on my website. Otherwise you would have to mail it to me to autograph.

Sounds familiar. Last time I played in Vegas in the Bank Pool tourney two years ago (at age 78) I was rated under 600 (like 580). It felt embarrassing to have such a low rating, but it was deserved I'm sure. I did manage to win a couple of matches before that Atencio kid destroyed me. Once upon...

I could fill this page with the names of pool.players who did time. As for me, four days in L.A. County taught me a lesson I never forgot! It's no fun being locked up.

JRB, the Vegas high roller beat him out of a telephone number in an L.A. area poolroom some years back. I'm talking six figures.

You played pretty good. Neptune Joe was an A speed player!

George Frank and Corner Pockets were one of the sponsors of the Caesars Tahoe Billiard Classic and they had the Corner Pockets logo embossed into the cloth used on the table used for the ESPN matches. Problem was the one ball and the nine ball could get lost when viewed from the overhead camera...

I love all these stories since I knew most of the players mentioned here and have been in many of the poolrooms as well. Don Willis picked his spots carefully and would play in the Ring game before all the top players showed up or were playing matches. Once the big guns started getting in...

Yep and yep!

Big ones!