So I'm In Action And This Happens - WWYD?

Kickin' Chicken said:

Thanks for all of your thoughtful responses.

Here's how things went and some back story.

I've known my opponent for a number of years and only ever started gambling with him maybe a year and a half ago. How we started was I challenged him to play my favorite carnival game - it's a 5 rail kick shot into an object ball that has a penny on top; after going 5 rails the cue ball must contact the ob *without* knocking the penny off. Long story a little shorter, I won close to a g-note over 2 sessions on that one, the first session concluded with me giving him back a $50 and telling him to go pick on the chickens across the street at Chic-Fil-A and not to mess with this chicken any more. :grin-square: There had been a fair amount of trash talking back & forth during the match, remember, it's a carnival game; and the railbirds seemed to be enjoying it.

Two days later I was given a heads up that he was on his way in and was looking to give the penny game another go with me. This time things were way more serious on his end but the game was going much the same way it did the first time and he ended up having to borrow some $$$ on the rail to keep going. Now, pretty much each time I scored he was melting down a little more, and towards the end he began punching the wall so hard that it seemed like the entire building shook. Did I mention this guy is pretty freaking strong!

We continued and he announces to the rail how he's been playing for close to 50 years and has never been in a trap until now, and he keeps repeating "I'm in a fvcking trap" "I'm in a fvcking trap". I order him a double whiskey hoping to take the edge off and we moved over 1 table at his request because he didn't like how that one was playing but things kept going my way then he committed the worst offense of all. Out of frustration, he began whacking his beautiful Balabushka on the rail then he launched whitey 5 feet into the air by smacking it with the cue bumper. I walked over to him, put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to please not hurt that gorgeous, irreplaceable cue. He seemed to take the advice. He has a long history of snapping some very high-end cues, SW's, bushkas and the like so I was genuinely nervous for this one.

This penny ball session ended with him busted and me giving him a c-note back as a walking stick and as I handed it to him and thanked him for the game I said if he wanted he could put it back in action it was entirely up to him and he said "sure, why not" so we restarted and I scored on my very first shot and he went on tilt. He says "What kind of a coxsucker are you Chicken, you give me a hundred and you take it right back like that?" and he added "I'll never play this fvcking game again as long as I live, I'm done." He hands the c-note back and that was it for our penny ball and true to his word he's never played it again.

Over the next approx year and a half he and I have had some action battles, plenty where he's bar-b-que'd this poor chicken, most recently just a few days ago he got me pretty good in banks. As I mentioned in my op, he's a strong player and in any non-carney games he has to give me a spot or I'll get my liver shot out. As my good friend and legendary road agent, Bobby Hunt, says, "that's why G-d invented weight." :thumbup:

Without turning this into an episode of Dr. Phil, my best guess would be that this guy's biggest issue is that he is ultra competitive and he doesn't do well to an extreme when things don't go his way. Because he's such a good player he thinks he can overcome anything with his firepower but as we know, true gambling is just that, a gamble. Way on the other end of the spectrum after almost an entire career of always being the complete gentleman and keeping his emotions in check were are now even seeing Efren infrequently whacking his stick when he misses something he never used to; granted, my opponent is this magnified by maybe 2 million. :wink:

SO, WHAT DID I DO?

When the shredded money was tossed on the table and he left, on principle, I did follow him out to the parking lot where I confronted him and he says "Chicken, you think it's a good idea to be this close to me right now?"

Oh crap! I have to run out to an appointment. Sorry about that. This was not intentional, I swear. Just went way longer than expected.

Will finish up when I get back a little later.

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Bob Jewett said:

You don't have a problem. These people have a problem:

https://www.ironcurtainproject.eu/e...nt/45-million-stasi-archive-shreds-glue-that/

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Kickin' Chicken said:

(continued)

SO, WHAT DID I DO?

When the shredded money was tossed on the table and he left, on principle, I did follow him out to the parking lot where I confronted him and he says "Chicken, you think it's a good idea to be this close to me right now?" I told him he needs to make good on that money; he grumbled a little got in his car and drove off. Some years ago, well I guess it's a bunch of years ago now, and being the son of an Alabama hillbilly, there likely wouldn't have been much or any conversation at all then but time and I'd like to think better reasoning skills has a way of changing how a guy responds to things.

Within 5 minutes of him leaving, I rec'd an incoming text that began an exchange between us lasting the next 2 days and shifting to some good humor and a truce. He said the next time he comes in he'll square me away and he did. After that he got the shredded pieces that someone collected and left in the office.

From when I first started going to pool rooms as a 12 y.o. kid I was always fascinated with the various characters, everyone from bums to professionals in all shapes, sizes, colors and personality types. They were all part of the interesting pool hall landscape.

This particular opponent I'm discussing here is one of those interesting pool room characters, to say the least. Way more colorful than most, flawed like many of us though he might have some extra, but alongside all that is genuinely a good guy. Without people like this, pool rooms would be pretty boring. Mind you, I'm not condoning bad behavior, just acknowledging that a little crazy color isn't always a bad thing, imo.

He and I have had some other noteworthy interactions but enough for now, but I do have one last update.

So, he's been getting some additions lately to his arm sleeve tattoo and I suggested that he incorporate a chicken somewhere on there. :grin-square: He laughed and said "Don't worry Chicken, I'm already thinking about it; maybe me as the fox chasing the Chicken and the chicken's so nervous his feathers are falling out."

I always liked the idea of beating a guy to the punch so I had a buddy who's a tattoo artist do this one for me, a very nice tribute I thought. Whaddya think, this one for my left ass cheek and maybe tape the shredded 50's to the right one? :groucho: :smile2:

best,
brian kc

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TATE said:

Cool drawing but I think for the next bet, the loser has to have that tattooed on his ass. This coming from a guy who watched all 12 seasons of Ink Master, twice.

In all seriousness, I'm glad you stood up for yourself and got it right. Having somebody disrespect you in that manner is unacceptable. You showed courage and a good sense of right and wrong. He knew he was wrong, he was just angry with himself and blamed you. I hope he learned his lesson. I know from experience, when it comes to money, the Kickin' Chicken gets real serious.

Great story. By the way, I would love to see a video of your 5 rail carnival shot.

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cue4me said:

Bert Kinister has it in one of his earliest videos. I think it was called the Ten Best Hustles. He does it with a quarter on top of the ball, but I'm sure any coin would work. Fun shot to watch as it unfolds, particularly as the c/b dies off the last two rails.

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cue4me said:

Bert Kinister has it in one of his earliest videos. I think it was called the Ten Best Hustles. He does it with a quarter on top of the ball, but I'm sure any coin would work. Fun shot to watch as it unfolds, particularly as the c/b dies off the last two rails.

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Kickin' Chicken said:

A couple of weeks ago I'm in action with a very strong player who is a big, burly, very p-r-i-c-k-ly fellow with a history of, well, let's just call it unpredictability. We're playing a set of 9b and he's giving me a generous spot racing to 7 for a c-note. I win 7-1 and he's extremely unhappy about it and shows it by banging his head hard on the slate a few times and grumbling. He throws my hundo up on a nearby shelf and starts to collect his gear. :angry:

The group of railbirds who were watching our match were all alarmed and quiet as church mice after this display; he was seriously pissed off. As usual, I like to try to inject humor into these kinds of situations and so I cut through the quiet by asking, "You wanna go again?" :grin-square: The railbirds all began laughing and to my astonishment he said "Sure Chicken, I'll torture myself some more", and so we began set #2.

He's starting to outrun the spot and goes up 4-3 but then he doesn't come back to the table the next 3 games and I'm on the hill. There is a wired 8-9 about 6" off the foot rail and I set up 2 times to bank at this dead combo both times missing it by a frog hair BUT on the first miss the object ball goes around it 3 rails and into the side pocket. Then on the second attempt the object ball whistles right past it at 100 mph and goes in cross corner. In my peripheral vision I'm seeing steam come out his ears and he's starting to grumble more and squirm in his seat. :angry: My next shot I'm off angle too far to hold for a cross-side bank so I decide to try to kick it in, it was off the rail enough to get behind it and it looked good to me. I freakin miscue but still make the shot - it sounded horrible but the ball tracked dead center into the cross side. Holy crap, I think if I was him I would've wanted to kill me, too. :angry: :yikes: :bash:

I finish off the last couple balls and in utter disgust he walks away toward a far wall and begins whacking himself in the forehead and making this noise I remember from old-cartoons when depicting a crazy person; sounds something like ayeyiyiyi. He starts getting his gear together again and no way am I asking this time if he wants to go one more time. He heads for the bathroom and then comes back and says "fvck you Chicken, I hate you' as he flings my c-note, all shredded in little pieces onto the table, and then leaves.

I know what I did.

WWYD?

best,
brian kc

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Kickin' Chicken said:

hey Chris, thanks!

Can you or anyone else hear what he's saying on that vid? I'm getting worse than Charlie Brown's teacher, can't make out one word.

The only trick I'm aware of on this penny ball game (yes you can use a quarter but they are easier, the penny makes it more difficult) is to place the penny with Lincoln's head up as the tail side can grip better. But if your playing shot for shot with someone your both shooting at the same target so no advantage.

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