Reflections on a life of Pool
- Thread starter jay helfert
- Start date
I get up at 4 am. It's the best time of day for reflection and collecting your thoughts. It is the in between time. Go outside at 4am even in a big city and everything is muted. One hour changes everything. I wouldn't be surprised if many of civilizations great ideas were hatched at 4 in the morning.
Thanks for this thread! It's been great to read so far.
I suppose my reflections don't go back so far due to my age, although it will be interesting looking back 25 and 50 years from now. I remember traveling with my Dad a lot when I was younger. Any time we stayed at a youth hostel, I'd search for a basement pool table. I was drawn to it, for reasons I still can't fully understand. I remember when I was young, doctors were diagnosing kids left and right with ADD and ADHD. I can and have played pool for 16 hours straight. When I was old enough to decide for myself, I quit taking all medication. I was still riddled with self doubt, because I was always told that I can't do this or that. However, pool has taught me so much, built my confidence up, and humbled me so thoroughly. It's a struggle to explain it to anyone who hasn't played. Some day, I'd like to start a youth program where I can coach kids in pool and see how many get hooked on the game. Random, but I wish there was something like that when I was a kid.
Jay, I applaud you for following the life of pool that you've been able to lead. In addition, I thank you for all you've given back. Thank's to everyone else who's shared their stories as well.
I suppose my reflections don't go back so far due to my age, although it will be interesting looking back 25 and 50 years from now. I remember traveling with my Dad a lot when I was younger. Any time we stayed at a youth hostel, I'd search for a basement pool table. I was drawn to it, for reasons I still can't fully understand. I remember when I was young, doctors were diagnosing kids left and right with ADD and ADHD. I can and have played pool for 16 hours straight. When I was old enough to decide for myself, I quit taking all medication. I was still riddled with self doubt, because I was always told that I can't do this or that. However, pool has taught me so much, built my confidence up, and humbled me so thoroughly. It's a struggle to explain it to anyone who hasn't played. Some day, I'd like to start a youth program where I can coach kids in pool and see how many get hooked on the game. Random, but I wish there was something like that when I was a kid.
Jay, I applaud you for following the life of pool that you've been able to lead. In addition, I thank you for all you've given back. Thank's to everyone else who's shared their stories as well.
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yeah...
I can't say I was always drawn to pool. My father first took me to a pool hall when I was 10 and bought a house with an 8 foot when I was twelve.
It wasn't until I was 16 and my father's girlfriend popped in a vhs of the color of money that I really got into pool.
And it was another three years before I really started taking it seriously.
Then I did nothing but play pool for a few years. I remember going over to gold ball billiards and watching johnny Archer give Francisco Galindo the 8 and lose three sets for 10K each in the early 90's.
Or going into hardtimes and not having a clue how good some of the players in there were. Oh to have that youthful ignorance...
Jaden
I can't say I was always drawn to pool. My father first took me to a pool hall when I was 10 and bought a house with an 8 foot when I was twelve.
It wasn't until I was 16 and my father's girlfriend popped in a vhs of the color of money that I really got into pool.
And it was another three years before I really started taking it seriously.
Then I did nothing but play pool for a few years. I remember going over to gold ball billiards and watching johnny Archer give Francisco Galindo the 8 and lose three sets for 10K each in the early 90's.
Or going into hardtimes and not having a clue how good some of the players in there were. Oh to have that youthful ignorance...
Jaden
I knew Slim very well. I was probably the only one who called him T.J., since that's how they put up his name at Johnston City as T.J. Preston. He told me his real name with initials is T.A. Preston. He was one of my mentors as a young man, educating me about the pitfalls of casinos and helping me with my tournament poker game when I started out twenty years ago. Slim always wore a large cowboy hat when he played, and he showed me why one day. He was a very tall man (about 6'4) and he looked down at me and said can you see my eyes. Yes, I told him, I can. Now he tilted his hat down just a hair and I could no longer see his eyes. He said this is how I hide my eyes playing poker, and I never forget that. Why I wear a ball cap most of the time when I play poker.
Archie and I go way back, to our first meeting in some nondescript bar in South L.A. He challenged me to play for $50, after seeing me wipe up playing for ten a game. I won exactly one game from him for 50 and he quit. Years later he told me he just wanted to see if I would choke. We last played in my poolroom at Hollywood Park over ten years ago. I beat him for 5,500 playing 500 a game and then he came back a week later and beat me out of 9K at a 1000 a pop. Lesson learned. I remember when Archie related to me (outside the Cue Club in Vegas) how he had over 17M stashed in boxes at various casinos around town. He boasted about already having settled with the IRS for four mil, so he had all this money free and clear. I tried to reason with him to get some investment advice but he basically blew me off. A couple of years later he told me, "I should have listened to you Jay."
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The control of the sphere
Jay, if i may... have always had great respect for all you have done and given to this game ,,, you are a rock and we all are thankyou.,,!
Jay, if i may... have always had great respect for all you have done and given to this game ,,, you are a rock and we all are thankyou.,,!
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The control of the sphere
Jay, if i may... have always had great respect for all you have done and given to this game. I personnally was drawn at a young age to this game and it was all about controlling that white sphere....from first seeing wide world of sports Fats and Mosconi I then went to my parents basement bar table at 13 years old and was locked on this game for now 45 years....have seen the big action here around Detroit since and also witnessed the best of players pretty much broke. I thankfully also took the thoughts of a proffessional career and still always enjoying controlling this sphere....now enjoy most of my evenings at home on a beautiful 9 foot simonis felt fairway with Artemis areas to bounce upon around a fireplace with beautiful John Coltrane Jazz music playing in the background. My point is... we all get into this love, the love of controlling the sphere and its awesome and mesmerising..... i just so wish these pros of this game could be rewarded with the money of basketball players and golfers because they so deserve it because us true pool players know how much effort and practice it takes to be the best in this business.
Jay, if i may... have always had great respect for all you have done and given to this game. I personnally was drawn at a young age to this game and it was all about controlling that white sphere....from first seeing wide world of sports Fats and Mosconi I then went to my parents basement bar table at 13 years old and was locked on this game for now 45 years....have seen the big action here around Detroit since and also witnessed the best of players pretty much broke. I thankfully also took the thoughts of a proffessional career and still always enjoying controlling this sphere....now enjoy most of my evenings at home on a beautiful 9 foot simonis felt fairway with Artemis areas to bounce upon around a fireplace with beautiful John Coltrane Jazz music playing in the background. My point is... we all get into this love, the love of controlling the sphere and its awesome and mesmerising..... i just so wish these pros of this game could be rewarded with the money of basketball players and golfers because they so deserve it because us true pool players know how much effort and practice it takes to be the best in this business.
Pool treated me better than the smart choices
Funny thing, pool treated me better than the smart choices. I can't go out in the cold, my bad back won't tolerate it. Got it working a straight job, followed by reinjury peacefully driving down the highway, again as part of my straight job!
Pool got me in and out of some interesting places and perhaps I would have paid the piper but the fact is that ten years of playing pool brought me a lot of cash and no scars. The straight life has brought me a lot of scars and over thirty years of nonstop pain.
I pissed away a lot of things I regret including a free ride through a Phd. Would a been, could have been. I wasn't fit to be a student after being my own boss for years. Ah well! More regrets along the way as we all build up in a lifetime.
Funny thing, all of the places and times I have been ripped off, cheated, or mistreated, pool never did me wrong. Perhaps because I have never "matched up" in my life. Two people get on a pool table and go at it heads up until somebody quits or goes broke. There is something pure about that. Sure I usually took the other person's money, they were trying their damnedest to take mine.
Lotsa regrets looking back over life, pool isn't one of them. A few things I would do differently if I had life to do over, most I wouldn't. Guess that is the best I can say!
Hu
Funny thing, pool treated me better than the smart choices. I can't go out in the cold, my bad back won't tolerate it. Got it working a straight job, followed by reinjury peacefully driving down the highway, again as part of my straight job!
Pool got me in and out of some interesting places and perhaps I would have paid the piper but the fact is that ten years of playing pool brought me a lot of cash and no scars. The straight life has brought me a lot of scars and over thirty years of nonstop pain.
I pissed away a lot of things I regret including a free ride through a Phd. Would a been, could have been. I wasn't fit to be a student after being my own boss for years. Ah well! More regrets along the way as we all build up in a lifetime.
Funny thing, all of the places and times I have been ripped off, cheated, or mistreated, pool never did me wrong. Perhaps because I have never "matched up" in my life. Two people get on a pool table and go at it heads up until somebody quits or goes broke. There is something pure about that. Sure I usually took the other person's money, they were trying their damnedest to take mine.
Lotsa regrets looking back over life, pool isn't one of them. A few things I would do differently if I had life to do over, most I wouldn't. Guess that is the best I can say!
Hu
Jay, some people have a really good retirement package, while other people have a retirement package that's just "ok".
Only you know the answers to your thoughts.
We (I)...can only speak for myself. Me???..like you, I did well financially while the "getting was good"....so to speak.
Today things are much different. The "getting" isn't so good for most nowadays.
Jeff
I enjoy going thru these old gems.
My, how today is not yesterday...
My, how today is not yesterday...
Very true, many of the ol posters are not on much any more. Used to be some great stories
i look back on as many memories as most
action at times on the highest level other times no or small action
pool without action would have no interest at all to me
like poker for funsy
i knew the best players in cards,golf,and pool
and there is no way i would want my kids to do it
not any not ever
I admit I won some but I look back and think
I wish I had applied mydself without reserve
to family,friends,business
I am thankful for what I have ,but I have battled this
all my life,that is why you see me constantly hoping to quit
action at times on the highest level other times no or small action
pool without action would have no interest at all to me
like poker for funsy
i knew the best players in cards,golf,and pool
and there is no way i would want my kids to do it
not any not ever
I admit I won some but I look back and think
I wish I had applied mydself without reserve
to family,friends,business
I am thankful for what I have ,but I have battled this
all my life,that is why you see me constantly hoping to quit
Time wasted
As I look back I regret that I wasted almost three weeks of my life, sitting in those
college class rooms listening to some horse s--- from some jerk off that couldn't run
four balls if his life depended on it. I could have been at the Cotton Bowling Palace
with Billy, Alf and Jack Taylor,Little Hand,Georgia Slim,Jack Terry and all the rest.
Probably even got in some action. Thank goodness I came to my senses and got
out of there before my mind became permanently screwed up. I swallowed my pride
and went back to the CBP with my tail between my legs, fully expecting to be shunned
by my old buddies. Imagine my surprise and elation when they welcomed me back,
but also gave me a stern warning to wise up and don't do that again. It was a great
wild ride and I would do it again in a heart beat.
jack
As I look back I regret that I wasted almost three weeks of my life, sitting in those
college class rooms listening to some horse s--- from some jerk off that couldn't run
four balls if his life depended on it. I could have been at the Cotton Bowling Palace
with Billy, Alf and Jack Taylor,Little Hand,Georgia Slim,Jack Terry and all the rest.
Probably even got in some action. Thank goodness I came to my senses and got
out of there before my mind became permanently screwed up. I swallowed my pride
and went back to the CBP with my tail between my legs, fully expecting to be shunned
by my old buddies. Imagine my surprise and elation when they welcomed me back,
but also gave me a stern warning to wise up and don't do that again. It was a great
wild ride and I would do it again in a heart beat.
jack
playing through college
We all hear of these guys that played their way through college. Then they can't make a ball in the ocean. I really did play my way through college. I'm here to tell ya it was a long damned three weeks!
Hu
We all hear of these guys that played their way through college. Then they can't make a ball in the ocean. I really did play my way through college. I'm here to tell ya it was a long damned three weeks!
Hu
Jack Terry
that is the name i couldn't remember at lunch yesterday
Well Jack does make a compelling case for a life of pool
I seem to remember jack started his education at the Cotton Bowling Palace
back when he was in junior high school, They called him Oak Cliff Shorty
becase he was anout 4 foot 6 inches tall, but what they didn't tell you was
he was 10 years old pretending to be old enough for admission
By the time Jack got to college,through some miracle of admission
standard reduction,he was areadt schooled in the art of the hustle
I think he actually graduated from college,he might be ashamed to admit it.
I know with my heavy load of travel and night job it took me 8 years to complete the
full program
By then I was too old for law school in my opinion and practicallyunfit for
a normal life.
I remember missing many a nights sleep and having to get a barber shop shave
at 7 in the morning so I could get an hours sleep before my first class at 8
College was pretty difficult to work into my schedule, i thought i had
it made with my golf,pool and poker winnings ,but looking back i lost my chance to be
a doctor which is what I wanted when I started.
that is the name i couldn't remember at lunch yesterday
Well Jack does make a compelling case for a life of pool
I seem to remember jack started his education at the Cotton Bowling Palace
back when he was in junior high school, They called him Oak Cliff Shorty
becase he was anout 4 foot 6 inches tall, but what they didn't tell you was
he was 10 years old pretending to be old enough for admission
By the time Jack got to college,through some miracle of admission
standard reduction,he was areadt schooled in the art of the hustle
I think he actually graduated from college,he might be ashamed to admit it.
I know with my heavy load of travel and night job it took me 8 years to complete the
full program
By then I was too old for law school in my opinion and practicallyunfit for
a normal life.
I remember missing many a nights sleep and having to get a barber shop shave
at 7 in the morning so I could get an hours sleep before my first class at 8
College was pretty difficult to work into my schedule, i thought i had
it made with my golf,pool and poker winnings ,but looking back i lost my chance to be
a doctor which is what I wanted when I started.
3 words you mentioned, "I'm at peace". That is a beautiful goal to strive for. I too, am at peace and I'm content!
A pool table is my golf course, where friends and relationships are kept. If golf was le$$ and it wasn't so long between hits, the satisfaction would be equal. Pool/gambling and friendships will never go away till I'm gone, and swingin' it one more time with intent, is what lifes about.
Grandkids 3 and more on the way....make my peace.
Merry xmas to all an to the bangers that keep gettin' better.
Rack em up!!!!
In an interesting sidelight to Jackpots’ experience with College I offer up my own experience.
I was at OU studying Architecture and the summer before my second year I took off hustling pool around the US.
When I returned to register for the next year I asked my consular what kind of a salary I could expect to start with after I became an Architect.
He told me 18K a year to start.
I had just put 86k in the bank from my summer excursion.
I said thanks but no thanks.
I went back on the road for years.
Bill Stroud
I was at OU studying Architecture and the summer before my second year I took off hustling pool around the US.
When I returned to register for the next year I asked my consular what kind of a salary I could expect to start with after I became an Architect.
He told me 18K a year to start.
I had just put 86k in the bank from my summer excursion.
I said thanks but no thanks.
I went back on the road for years.
Bill Stroud
