The Real Life 'Color of Money' - You Saw the Movie, Right?

PoolFan101 said:

That was Cool . You did see the movie right ! lol . It is cool to hear from someone who was out in the real life Color of Money world.

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CJ Wiley said:

When the Color of Money movie came out I was on the road hustling pool and seeing the real life "LA Keith" McCready, St Louie Louie, "The Rifleman" Buddy Hall and "Omaha John" playing for the cash.

The popularity of the movie created a wave of popularity which had a very beneficial effect on my income. One of these situations happened in Pittsburg Pennsylvania where the owner didn't realize he was going to be "part of the movie" in real life.

Here's the Story - https://youtu.be/xDqniLx80GI

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jay helfert said:

Love that punchline CJ!

I was with Keith in Arizona in 1987, and he was playing in their state All Around Championship featuring a 9-Ball division, an Eight Ball division and a 7-Ball division (yes really 7-Ball!). First prize in each division was 2K and there was a 3K bonus to the overall champion. All week long people were saying, "It's like a nightmare isn't it" to Keith every time they won a game from him, and he was just smiling and laughing along with them. At the end of the week he had won the 9-Ball, the Eight Ball and finished second in the 7-Ball for 1K. Along with the all around money they handed me and Keith 8K when it was all over in cash! They handed Keith the trophy and he looked around, smiled and bellowed, "It's like a nightmare isn't it!" I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that one.

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CJ Wiley said:

Yes, Jay, Keith is an awesome personality, I grew up hearing about "LA KEITH" he was a legend in California especially on the bar table with the Big Ball.

The first time I actually saw Keith was in Clinton Iowa at the huge bar table event they had there. Everyone that was anyone in the pool world was there and Keith had a shirt on that said "The World Gets the Last Two" or something to that effect. Those were great days, seeing St Louie, Louie, Buddy Hall, Jimmy Reid, Jimmy Mataya, Dallas West, Jimmy Rempe, Dave Yaeger, Scott Kito, Steve Manichi, Mike Massey, Omaha John, Kimi Davenport, Earl Strickland, Nick Varner on and on......and most of them had suit and tie, or dressed like movie stars!

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CJ Wiley said:

I agree, David Matlock was the king of the bar table for a number of years and few would play him, especially in Ponca City Oklahoma where he was virtually unbeatable!

Alabama had some huge bar table events back in the 80s and I was at one that had most of the best players in the country. My road partner Weldon Rogers matched up a game with Matlock that I played him with Billy Johnson (Wade Crane) breaking for me.

We matched up a $10,000 set, race to 10 ahead and at one point Matlock ran 8 racks in a row. Wade didn't seem concerned and whispered to me "when I get my break working we'll beat him 30 ahead!'

What happened after that was supernatural, I tell that story in detail, I'll post it for anyone interested. Those were some exciting times, the action at those bar table tournaments was amazing and the level of play superb!

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chitownnorth said:

i'd love to hear the story. I'm all about playing the bar tables back in the 80s and currently.

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CJ Wiley said:

I agree, David Matlock was the king of the bar table for a number of years and few would play him, especially in Ponca City Oklahoma where he was virtually unbeatable!

Alabama had some huge bar table events back in the 80s and I was at one that had most of the best players in the country. My road partner Weldon Rogers matched up a game with Matlock that I played him with Billy Johnson (Wade Crane) breaking for me.

We matched up a $10,000 set, race to 10 ahead and at one point Matlock ran 8 racks in a row. Wade didn't seem concerned and whispered to me "when I get my break working we'll beat him 30 ahead!'

What happened after that was supernatural, I tell that story in detail, I'll post it for anyone interested. Those were some exciting times, the action at those bar table tournaments was amazing and the level of play superb!

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CJ Wiley said:

As you wish, it's posted now, and should bring back some fond bar table memories.

There was a group of us that were all gamblers that would match up and play for 20+ hours of the "bar rag" - players like Buster Douglas, Eugene Browning, Arkansas Calvin, Reid Pierce, Scotty Townsend, Paul Turner, Mike Johnson, Joe Lawerence, Gary Lutman, Rusty Brandemier, etc - these were great gamblers, but stayed low key on the pro circuit.

Another player I gambled with for 12 hours in Indianapolis was Vernon "The Faceless Man" Elliot - Vernon was an amazing player and played ALL games pro speed. He stayed away from professional tournaments, his classic line was: "I'd rather cop a store than play in a pro tournament!" lol - that's road player slang, I'll not translate it at this time and place.

I have the story about Vernon I'll share one of these days as well, he inspired me with his stroke and style I later modeled into a system that could be taught called "The Touch of Inside" - {I have a 90 minute video on the technique on my private membership website}

This was coined from how Mike Lebron described Efren Reyes' secret. After playing Efren many times it was apparent we both had similar styles of cue ball contact, although we looked different physically, as far as the stroke, I'm more aggressive and he's more graceful but the outcome is similar.

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