Jimmy Reid aka "Diamond Jim" and "Hippie Jimmy"

That's really a bummer to hear about Tor and Jimmy. Very sad deal because Jimmy ought to still be making some money off his website. I mean I can't really say much about Tor deciding to make his own videos, I guess that's his right to do. The systems Jimmy teaches are not "his" per se, they have been around a long time under various names.

I am super sad though to hear that maybe Tor has some how sabotaged Jimmy's site in favor of his own. There has to be more to it than this. It's funny I was just cleaning up my desk a little while ago and came across Jimmy's Almost All I Know set and the audio CDs about No Time For Negative and the Self Hypnosis one and thought I need to pop those in.

So basically Jimmy is NOT receiving any of the income from his site? As in when someone buys the instructionals or makes a subscription then the money is not going to Jimmy or is the website not functional at all and not able to take orders?

It looks like the site is working http://freepoollessons.com/site/instructional-dvds/

If money is not flowing Jimmy's way then this sounds criminal.

Tor, please speak up here and tell us what's up?

JB Cases said:

That's really a bummer to hear about Tor and Jimmy. Very sad deal because Jimmy ought to still be making some money off his website. I mean I can't really say much about Tor deciding to make his own videos, I guess that's his right to do. The systems Jimmy teaches are not "his" per se, they have been around a long time under various names.

I am super sad though to hear that maybe Tor has some how sabotaged Jimmy's site in favor of his own. There has to be more to it than this. It's funny I was just cleaning up my desk a little while ago and came across Jimmy's Almost All I Know set and the audio CDs about No Time For Negative and the Self Hypnosis one and thought I need to pop those in.

So basically Jimmy is NOT receiving any of the income from his site? As in when someone buys the instructionals or makes a subscription then the money is not going to Jimmy or is the website not functional at all and not able to take orders?

It looks like the site is working http://freepoollessons.com/site/instructional-dvds/

If money is not flowing Jimmy's way then this sounds criminal.

Tor, please speak up here and tell us what's up?

Click to expand...

Well put, John.

I said in the other thread if it was "Jimmy's information" which would probably have been better stated as "Jimmy's presentation" as the information is pretty much common knowledge to anyone who's delved into diamond systems. It is well presented, and again, if it's "Jimmy's presentation" I think he should be compensated for it. I don't even have a problem compensating Tor for his time in producing the videos, but credit should be given where credit is due.

Nothing wrong with showing loyalty to an old friend JAM.

I admire that quality in anyone.

If Jimmy has been ripped off, he certainly has my sympathies for sure.

Whether intentional or unintentional, I do agree with a previous response that Tor should make his presence known and offer his side.

If it does turn out to be truthful, it's not surprising that someone would try to rip off an individual. It's bottom feeding and unconscionable when it happens to a person who has an illness that can't be healed.

My thoughts go out to Mr. Reid and can only encourage him to keep moving forward to the best of his ability.

I'm just a nobody on these forums with just an occasional posting here and there. But, I do hope that Mr. Reid can still get the support and love he needs from the pool community.

JAM said:

John, I agree that anybody can produce a website and offer services or products for sale. It's a free enterprise system we live in today, and that's a good thing.

I sure hope Jimmy is able to post on AzBilliards to explain what happened. I'm not comfortable relaying hearsay, but if what Jimmy is saying is true -- and I do believe him -- it's really devastating.

Jimmy had to purchase a new computer recently because when his computers were returned to him by the surrogate webmaster he trusted, they were infested with numerous viruses and trojans.

He currently is having trouble getting on AzBilliards, as he's getting a warning about this website. I know I used to get one from Norton, which had to do, I think, with the "ad server" on AzBilliards website. I don't have that problem anymore, though.

I have no dog in this fight, only that I feel very bad what happened to Jimmy Reid's website, his income, and his work product that were not returned to him.

Click to expand...

If he sends any pc's he's got that have issues to me, i would be more than happy to fix them up for free for him.

(sent from my phone, expect fewer words)

I posted here about this thread:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=4019415&posted=1#post4019415

I have no problem posting 'hearsay' because Jimmy asked me to post and warn people, and since his computer is all messed up with trojans installed by someone and he cannot post for himself right now. JAM is much more diplomatic than me I guess.

JAM said:

Make no mistake about it, it took a lot for me to post on AzBilliards this morning.

Tor Lowery may be a very nice person, chock-full of great pool information.

I just feel an allegiance to my friend who's in a bad way now. He feels as though he's been wronged. Whatever I have written on this forum is only hearsay on my end; thus, why I provided Jimmy's e-mail *and* phone number.

Click to expand...

It's a good thing you are doing, Jennie.

It's a shame that it takes a personal tragedy to get you to post here nowadays. While I understand the "why" of it all, its still a damned shame, and a loss felt by many of us.

Hope you and Keith are doing well. At least shoot us a photo of that new pup, he must be getting pretty big by now

Ms. Jennie,

I agree with Bruce. I wish you would not let the few take you away from the many.

I understand, as I have issues with some but I was told by a wise person that there are so many that only read AZB & it is those that need to be kept in mnd.

I hope you pick your spots but your posting again would be appreciated by many.

Best Regards to You &

As Jimmy will hopefully appreciate I'd like to give the members some background on where he grew up.

I grew up there as well playing in the same pool hall as Jimmy. It was called Nick's Pool Room a pretty small place with a shoe shine parlor in the front. There were NO GIRLS allowed even though there was no sign they just knew better than to go in there. The smoke was as thick as you can imagine and it had an old creaky oak floor. Nick Denikas was the owner and he ran the place with his son Artie Denikas. Nick's was one of three pool halls in town at the time and the place with the better players. There were ring games everyday and about the only place in town besides the YMCA for kids to go. Gloucester to this day is a difficult place to make a living because it's really a three month economy. The summer residents and tourists make up most of the income generated there which is why Jimmy and kids like myself got out of high school and left to find our way in life. Jimmy could have hand picked any college he wanted to go to but instead he chose to be a pool player. He used his intelligence, charm and skill to become one of the best in the world at the game he truly loves and my hats off to him. He earned every bit of success he attained the hard way by playing the best he could find. In those days there was no way to get better than to get down into the pit of action and shoot it out!
God blessed us all with Jimmy Reid!

JAM said:

Make no mistake about it, it took a lot for me to post on AzBilliards this morning.

Tor Lowery may be a very nice person, chock-full of great pool information.

I just feel an allegiance to my friend who's in a bad way now. He feels as though he's been wronged. Whatever I have written on this forum is only hearsay on my end; thus, why I provided Jimmy's e-mail *and* phone number.

Click to expand...

I just got off the phone with Jimmy and the man is a wealth of knowledge and a pleasure to talk to. He did ask that the truth come out about Tor staying at his place for two weeks to help with his site. Jimmy says he showed him his system and the rest is history. If you want Jimmy's side of the story you can call him about that.

And man can Jimmy talk! His stories of the past are great and his love of the game is evident. And he remembers everything. Loved hearing him mention Willie, Ronnie, Keith, Jimmy Fusco, Luther and more!

Jimmy, thanks for the great conversation, and the pool advice you offered. God Bless and I'll be in touch soon.

Jay

PS. Jimmy did mention that his videos are available from his site "Freepoollessons.com"

Jenny, thanks for posting his number. I called him and we talked for over an hour. It was neat reminiscing a bit about my visit with him back around 2003'ish. Our conversation covered a pletora of topics with Jimmy guiding 99% of it. His energy and enthusiasm was high and I was an attentive listener, adding in an occasional laugh, or "wow". He is still the tremendous storyteller that I remembered.

Of course he shared some great pool stories as well. For all of the surgeries, etc, that he has been through - his voice sounded really good. Yes, he shared some of the negative that has been going on with him as well, both healthwise and professionally, but we didn't dwell on that long.

It's funny, because I called with the intent of lifting his spirit - and ended the conversation with MY spirit lifted. I'm not sure what good it did for him, LOL.

Again, just wanted to say thanks JAM for getting me back in touch with Jimmy.

Best,
Matt

JAM said:

Make no mistake about it, it took a lot for me to post on AzBilliards this morning.

Tor Lowery may be a very nice person, chock-full of great pool information.

I just feel an allegiance to my friend who's in a bad way now. He feels as though he's been wronged. Whatever I have written on this forum is only hearsay on my end; thus, why I provided Jimmy's e-mail *and* phone number.

Click to expand...

JAM, I can understand you showing dedication toward your friend so I hope you can also appreciate me showing dedication toward my friend as well.

Jimmy's e-mail and phone number will only provide us with one side of the story. Let's wait until we hear both sides before making any conclusions.

Joe

Has anyone seen this thread?

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=308450

Zero-X responds to false accusations

Hi everyone,

This is Tor Lowry and I feel I need to respond to recent accusations made against me by people speaking on behalf of Jimmy Reid. I'll go point by point and begin by saying that in my efforts to help Jimmy during his illness, I provided services to him for approximately one year at no charge.

A mutual friend of ours who knew that Jimmy had no website but only a page asked me to help him I created Jimmy's website at no charge and at Jimmy's request.

I created his Ebay Ads at no charge and another website called "Jimmy Reid for President." I am not Jimmy's "webmaster." Complete and total control of Jimmy's website, to my knowledge, is handled by Jimmy's daughter. I have no access at all.

I created his YouTube channel at no charge. I also created at no charge all intros. and animations to each of his videos to assist in driving traffic to his website so pool players everywhere could buy his DVD's.

I also took two weeks of my personal time and traveled to Florida to help him when he was really sick. I never once asked him for any payment.

At Jimmy's personal request, I posted two updates about his health status to AZ Billiards, both times asking others to purchase Jimmy's DVD's to help him. Since I had never been a member, I had to create an account just to be able to post. Those two posts are the only things I ever made on AZ Billiards until now, other than create, but not use, my Zero-X Billiards account.

1. One accusation is that all the money from DVD sales from Jimmy's website is going to me. When you go to his website, click on the "purchase" and you can clearly see that all funds go directly to Jimmy's own e-mail, which means all funds are directed to his personal Paypal account.

2. Another accusation is that I am redirecting Jimmy's traffic to my own website. If you go to back link watch on google you can clearly see there are no backward links that go to my site.

3. I've never had possession of Jimmy's computers. When I traveled to Florida to help him, I brought my own laptop computer. The accusation about me installing viruses on his computer is ironic given that he had viruses on his computer when I arrived. At that time I used his system restore CD to reset his computer for him, again at no charge. I haven't seen Jimmy for over one year, so the "installing viruses" accusation is completely unfounded. I really don't even understand why or from where the accusations are coming because none of them make sense.

If he has viruses again, it's not because of me - also, he didn't need to buy a new computer, he just needed to again use his system restore CD and install a good virus protection software.

4. As far as presentation, there are only so many ways to explain Diamond systems. When I created my Zero-X Kicking video, I did so from a long-time belief that there was a need for a less complicated way to explain diamond systems. I've played pool for well over 30 years, even playing for a living for nearly 10 of those years. In the 1980's and 1990's, I was fortunate to receive professional training by Dallas West, Hal Mix and Jerry Briesath. I believe most method's taught are taught in a complicated manner and assume the viewer is a mathematician.

I always felt there was a need for easy to understand instructional videos, what has always been my motivation and teaching style for many years, as I have trained many pool players myself over the years in one-on-one instruction.

The first hour of my Kicking System video is a system that I've been using for years - it's a system that no one else is teaching except me. If people want to buy Jimmy's DVDs on his website, (yes, all that money from the website goes to him not me) as I always have and will continue to do, I encourage it and hope many people will choose to help Jimmy, just like I did.

Anybody who has seen my videos should easily be able to detect that there's a stark contrast in teaching styles between mine, Jimmy's and numerous other diamond system instructional videos. As far as similarities in methods taught between any videos, everybody's using a variation of the same methods, so the only thing that can be different about any video is teaching style.

5. In all the time I've known Jimmy he never once asked anything about me or my background. It never bothered me because I loved to hear Jimmy's pool stories as I do any pool player I've fortunate enough to meet and know on my long pool playing path.

6. As far as banking, the system I use and teach has been around a long time, but I also have included a lot more information that isn't readily available on video.

7. When I first met Jimmy, he was very upset with domain-provider, Go Daddy, enough to be threatening them with a lawsuit. I worked with Jimmy to help him understand that Go Daddy didn't steal his domain, but that he had two different accounts and was confused.

I spent a year helping Jimmy, never asked for anything in return. I respect and like Jimmy and believe his DVDs are an excellent investment for anybody wanting to learn the game of pool, why I've always encouraged people to buy his DVD's.

It could be that Jimmy's sales have declined. I can't speculate as to the reasons, but I know I've done a lot for Jimmy. I even encouraged Jimmy to digitize his videos and sell them as streaming videos. As recently as a month ago, I offered to help him with that at no charge. I saw somewhere in one thread that somebody else is offering to fix his computer's for free.

I would still help Jimmy at no charge because I do respect and like him and hope he gets better soon.

I'm sorry that my first post ever has been necessary to respond to false and reckless allegations. I've worked hard to meet my long time goal of creating multiple easy to understand instructional videos (not just kicking and banking) and offer them at affordable prices - nothing over $8.99.

As for not participating in the forum before or advertising, I'll say what I've told everybody who's directly inquired, even inviting me to do so. I've never had intention to participate until production completion of my new 'Secrets of Pool' video, over two hours in duration which will be available for free on YouTube.

Joe Pickens said:

Has anyone seen this thread?

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=308450

Click to expand...

There we go. Every story has two sides.

Thanks for posting.

Yep. Before he even posted it was easy to figure out what probably happened. Good for him.

I have not posted so much as a comment for a long time for the negativity and judgment which often occurs on these forums. I feel very sad for and pray for Jimmy Reid's recovery, but am also sad to see another person I have known since 1985 being judged prior to having any opportunity to even respond. Especially for those whom have not even viewed Tor Lowry's videos, please at least try "wearing the shoes of another." In other words, how would you feel to be attacked without opportunity to defend, especially by people who are not even familiar with your work?

This all reminds me of why I quickly changed my mind after joining this forum, feeling as I made a mistake. Having originally come here hoping to connect with other people who love pool, I quickly learned that my skin is not as "thick" as needed to feel good to be here. However, I am very familiar with the truth, and will not hesitate to speak it.

Before anybody is judgmental and harsh though, they should at the very least read Tor's own initial response. How sad it is that his first ever thread has to be a defense of allegations made against him and attacks on his character, rather than to lend his talents, skills and experience to this forum and fulfilling his only goal, which for many years has only been to 'pay it forward.'

I no longer wonder why more professional level players do not participate in this forum. I believe I know the answer.


http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=308450