i was only 18 when the Hustler with Paul Newman came out,
Jack Potter was about 12 or at least he looked 12
A generation of us were immediately hooked on pool and pool hustling
There must have been 6 or 8 of us from my little town,Oak Cliff texas
We rushed out and bought 2 piece cues and quickly started gambling
There were action pool rooms in those days,24 hour pool room like the "Cotton Bowling palace"
Great players came through and we watched them play,but even beginners were eager to play for money
There was nothing like the pool league culture or tournaments,once in a great while a TV series "The Wide world of Sports " would feature something pool,Willie Mosconi ,or Wimpy vs Jersey Red,or the Johnson City Hustlers Jamboree
But every day presented us an opportunity to play,as a rule I could wim enough to pay my tuition ,and rent to go to college,soon there were pool rooms on campus and
there was action
Social life was everywhere at North Texas State,I was able to buy a Corvette and instead of wasting it on dates i took the girls pool hustling,they loved it
Looking back ,I can see that the gangster influence at the pool room affected my outlook,the kids at school were wearing madras shirts ,no socks and ivy league stuff
There I was with alligator shoes and Rolex watches,my parents could not afford to send me to school and were glad I had a pool scholarship
I remember a certain gangster night club with a bar pool table,I would take my dates there and let them watch as i won money from characters out of Damon Runyon
There were professional gangsters like Jack Ruby,R D Matthews,and an old boxer Tony Juereo who reportedly knocked out Sugar Ray Robinson or Tony Zale
,I considered them my Scholarship
I was known as school boy to them
I won so much from the owner that I had free tab on drinks,I was really caught up in the scene
My dates thought I was a TV character
Funny how before i started playing pool and gambling,I couldn't get a date
Then all of sudden I didn't care and they stood in line to go out with me
I would be at a party and they would walk up and ask me "When are you going to take me out gambling with you?"
Cheerleaders,Miss Americas , I mean life was different,if I got a really big game,I put these broads in a cab and sent them home.
They weren't used to that and it made me even more popular,I took my money and sponsored a rock party
rented an old Drive in theater,hired a band,rented a mafia restaurant in downtown Dallas for New Years
once in a while we would take road trips to other schools or places where the students heard there was action
Guys in class would tell me where there was poker action
Golf in the day time,pool in the evening and cards
We had so many crazy betting propositions.
I once won a good size bet playing 2 man football
My friend stephen lee was an all american football player and
I could throw and run, we won money betting on everything
It was funny but I was never really any good at pool,maybe a D player but I won
consistently and good players lost consistently
It is nothing like this any more,and not just for me
It would cost a fortune to travel and then where would you find action if you went
In my day it never mattered if everyone knew me, in fact it helped if they did I never tried to sneak up on a family man
I just waited for the smarts,the good players to overload their mouth and bet on something they could not win
Pool then was not so different pool players are not smarter,they are just broke
They complain because no one will sponsor them,
"why would anyone want to?"
Do you realize that most of the so called pool players today make more money borrowing money
that they have no intention of returning,BUMS IN MY OPINION
I remember if I was short ,I could ask anyone for a thousand,because I would pay it back
If you tell someone you will do something,you do it
There is no shame for being a flake these days
You can't stake a friend to play pool or cards for fear of the dump
Forgive me for rambling,I just celebrated my 75th birthday
