The nicest compliment I ever got on pool

ShortBusRuss

ShortBusRuss

Short Bus Russ - C Player
Silver Member
Played a real good player in CO, Joey Ryan, some barbox 8 ball. Had no idea who he was, but figured I should be able to hang with anyone in CO that I didn't know, at least in BB 8 ball. Played awful the first set, fished for a spot, and got it.

Continued to play bad, and was down 6-2 in a race to 7, with my opponent running out. He inexplicably failed to get out, and I sat there for an extra few seconds trying to get my mind right, and thought to myself, "No more of this bunting the ball. He might beat you, but at least try to let him know you were in the match."

I then got up and ran out that game, and ran another 4 racks behind it to get even. The greatest compliment was when Joey and I ended up on a BCA team together at nationals, and we are walking and Joey sees Shaun Wilkie.. Joey says hi, since they know each other, and I get the idea that Shaun respects Joey's game from when Joey lived in the same area. Joey turns to me and then tells Shaun, "This is my teammate Russ, the first time I met him, he gets me to give him a spot, and then runs the entire set out!".. I laugh, and shake Shaun's hand, and tell him that it was nice to meet him...

Another time from about the same time period (I had lost some weight and was practicing a lot..) I was playing in a local long-race (15 or so?) BB 8 ball tournament against a very good player who was known for his creative safety play in BB 8 ball. I end up winnning the set by a lopsided score, and my opponent tells me, "You are the only person I've ever played where I play a great safe, and come back to the table in a much worse position, game after game..." That compliment kinda stuck with me.
 
jason

jason

Unprofessional everything
Silver Member
I played a 300lb biker named Tiny once. Ran the set on him. A few minutes later, I get hit in the head with a beer can from across the room. I guess that was a compliment.
 
Get_A_Grip

Get_A_Grip

Truth Will Set You Free
Silver Member
jason said:
I played a 300lb biker named Tiny once. Ran the set on him. A few minutes later, I get hit in the head with a beer can from across the room. I guess that was a compliment.
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That reminds me of the Biker "Big Ed" that I was playing. After a while he eventually said that I was better than him. I mistakenly took that as license to begin to explain to him the different levels of players and where I thought I ranked, to which he then responded that I'm really starting to piss him off. I should have left well enough alone.


_______
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
jason said:
I played a 300lb biker named Tiny once. Ran the set on him. A few minutes later, I get hit in the head with a beer can from across the room. I guess that was a compliment.
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Second favorite! They're definitely getting better.
 
pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
ShootingArts said:
Second hand and I might be mistaken on details. First one I am more sure of than the second. Bustamonte is playing a set for $3500, never got to the table. Much to the railbird's surprise, he was ready to put up another $3500, "I haven't shot yet."

Seems like it was Rodney Morris, he lost the lag and never shot in a tournament match. Somebody asked how he did, "I dogged the lag."

Hu
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jay helfert said:
He was playing Johnny Archer and Johnny ran out the set, eleven (or 13) straight racks as I recall. It was at the Bicycle Club in the early 90's.
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It was indeed Bustie vs Archer....'91pretty sure....and it was at Toledo during the Glass
City....races to 13 (I was told for 5Gs)...Bustie won the first set...Archer ran the second
set...Bustie asked to double up...Archer declined...third set Archer won the flip...
...broke and ran the first game (so it was actually 14 racks he ran)..Bustie won.

I wasn't there...but I got a call within hours to hear about it.
 
N

Nick8400

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Willie

jay helfert said:
Two of my favorites - One from Danny Diliberto after watching me play Larry Lisciotti and lose. I had no idea who Larry was at the time and of course Danny wouldn't blow his cover until it was all over. I lost over $200 in 1960's money, a lot at the time (maybe half my bankroll). Danny said, "Jay, you just played a champion and you're a shortstop for life!"

Efren was watching me play a Filipino friend of his some One Pocket for a few dollars and I was a little intimidated by his presence. I was a tad nervous but wanted to show him my game anyway. The guy put me in a dead trap down on the end rail with balls near his hole and me with no way out. I remembered a shot I saw Ronnie shoot once and thought what the heck, go for it. I sent the cue ball two rails out of my opponents corner into the bottom of the pack. I hit it perfect and the cue ball stuck in the pack and two balls broke out and rolled close to my pocket. I had reversed the game in one shot. Efren piped up louder than I ever heard him before, "Jay, quit showing off!" :thumbup:

Actually the best compliment I ever got was from Willie Munson, a very good player from Milwaukee who I played in his prime (early '70's). We played a Bank Pool match that was to get into the money at the Dayton tournament ($150 minimum) with a side bet of $50. I started slow but pretty soon was raining two's and three's on Willie turn after turn. I beat him by something like twelve balls in a Race to 23 (best of three racks). After the match I wasn't sure what to say since I didn't really know Willie and I'm sure he didn't know me. He put his cue away silently and then reached out his hand to shake mine. He had a folded up $50 bill in his hand. All he said was, "I had no idea you played that good!" That was the best compliment I ever got from a good player.
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I first started going to pool halls around my area in Wisco when I was 16-17 and it was after Willie's prime. But he was always one of my favorites to see at a tournament. Such a smart player. Classy guy. Quiet. He would take naps in the chair in between matches. Anyways, I always like hearing stories about him and beating him in banks like that is quite the task!!!
 
ceebee

ceebee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We had a tournament 7 weeks in a row. It was a Short Rack 8-Ball tournament.I didn't win the first one, because I was out of town. But I did win the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th week tournaments.

When I came in the door, on the night of the 7th week, the owner met me half way across the Pool Room & asked me, if I had planned to play again. I said I was planning to. He said to me, "that bunch of guys back there aren't going to play, if you do, because they can't beat you with your break shot. I didn't get to Play.
 
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pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Played 9-ball all night once...did pretty good...in stroke on a soft playing GCII...
...instead of going home, I went across the street to my favorite room...6x12 Anniversaries,
...guy I gambled with a lot was there...gin, chess, backgammon, and snooker..
...gave him our normal game...17 points with three reds...it could be tough.
...well, sometimes playing tired does something for your game...I made all the shots on a
6x12 that I was making on the 9-foot pool table all night...don’t recall missing...
...and don’t recall him making a ball.....13 games in a row emptied him...:happydance:

He threw his cue halfway down the room.....and said....”You @#%&%$#...”....:eek:
...I said, faking wiping a tear, “That’s the nicest thing I ever heard from a guy i just beat.”
...he replied “@#$%%^&*^%$#!”


Good thing he could take a joke...used to be a heavy weight boxer in the navy...:duck:
 
ShootingArts

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
That's Funny!

pt109 said:
Played 9-ball all night once...did pretty good...in stroke on a soft playing GCII...
...instead of going home, I went across the street to my favorite room...6x12 Anniversaries,
...guy I gambled with a lot was there...gin, chess, backgammon, and snooker..
...gave him our normal game...17 points with three reds...it could be tough.
...well, sometimes playing tired does something for your game...I made all the shots on a
6x12 that I was making on the 9-foot pool table all night...don’t recall missing...
...and don’t recall him making a ball.....13 games in a row emptied him...:happydance:

He threw his cue halfway down the room.....and said....”You @#%&%$#...”....:eek:
...I said, faking wiping a tear, “That’s the nicest thing I ever heard from a guy i just beat.”
...he replied “@#$%%^&*^%$#!”


Good thing he could take a joke...used to be a heavy weight boxer in the navy...:duck:
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That's funny! Sometimes it does seem like you can't miss. I had the opposite problem, couldn't have made a straight in shot in a number three washtub and I was shooting on a moderately tough nine foot Diamond. Tired of missing the easy shots I called the money ball four rails. It dropped nicely so I just looked at my opponent, "It was dead." It really was but the way I was shooting I had passed on a tap in to go four rails.

Confusion to the enemy!

Hu
 
HawaiianEye

HawaiianEye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
dabarbr said:
During a session with CJ Wiley on the bar table he said "I got to quit you, you never get out of line".
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First game I ever played with CJ, I broke and made 2 or 3 balls on the break and then ran out. The shot on the 9 was a long cross-table shot to the corner and I slammed it in at mach speed and he said, "you must torture people".
 
billy bones

billy bones

billy bones
Silver Member
In '77 I was fresh outta the Navy living in Dallas. One of the top players there Adam put me in my very first pool tournament , a (2 shot) 9 ball. He turns to 2 of other top local players Steve Hines and Junior Slipstroke and says (pointing at me) "I got this kid for the cash." He let me use his Adams cue. I took 3rd and Adam gave me the cue, my very first pool cue. Apparently he made a few bucks on me that day. Its a good memory. :thumbup:
 
JC

JC

Coos Cues
I played Oscar in the first round of the bar box one year. He was the first pro I had ever played in a match. Ten ball race to 7 he was up 5-0 and looking very bored. My goal for the match changed from winning to doing enough to make him pay attention.

I win 3 in a row and now he's alert again. So he closes it out 7-3

Then he comes over and shakes my hand and says "That's a nice case, where did you get it"?

Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect than my pool game.

JC
 
JazzyJeff87

JazzyJeff87

AzB Plutonium Member
Silver Member
The best compliment I’ve had was being told to slow down after a break and run, then the guys got salty after another and said we had to take turns on the table lol.
 
D

drv4

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I beat a guy pretty good one night and he told me

“Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the fire hydrant”
 
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Stones

Stones

YEAH, I'M WOOFING AT YOU!
Silver Member
I've posted this before:

I knew this guy who was a liar, cheat and a thief. Couldn't stand to even be around him. He didn't like me either since I called him out a couple times for trying to stealing cue sticks.
I'll call him the A-HOLE.

I was playing a young kid who I'd never seen in a tourney one night and I ran over him, 5-0. The A-HOLE was sitting there watching our match.

After I shook the kid hand, I could tell he was really pizzed off. He went over and started bi*ching loudly to his friends how he didn't take me serious, how I got lucky and how embarrassed he was to lose to such an ol' fart.

The A-HOLE heard everything the kid said. He looked up at the kid and said "Let me tell you something about that ol' fart. He's forgotten more about playing pool than you'll ever know in your entire life!"

Shut the kid right up!

Pretty cool compliment coming from a sworn enemy.


Stones
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
pt109 said:
It was indeed Bustie vs Archer....'91pretty sure....and it was at Toledo during the Glass
City....races to 13 (I was told for 5Gs)...Bustie won the first set...Archer ran the second
set...Bustie asked to double up...Archer declined...third set Archer won the flip...
...broke and ran the first game (so it was actually 14 racks he ran)..Bustie won.

I wasn't there...but I got a call within hours to hear about it.
Click to expand...

You're right on the location. They did play again at the Bike and Bustie won.
 
alphadog

alphadog

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I and a friend were playing barbox 8 ball in a somewhat crowded college bar. 3 tables side by side and we were on the center table. We were both playing very strong stringing racks till dry break or scratching. I was a few games ahead thanks to a few circus outs.
I went to the mens room and as I am washing my hands a guy approaches and says you guys are putting on quite a show. Would you play some $100 races ? I had a little stash and was pretty much in the zone so I told this stranger sure lets do it. He stammered oh hell no I want to play the other guy.
 
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